Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.2B Grade 8 CPI 1

 

Standard: 2.2 - Integrated Skills

 

Strand: B -   Decision Making 

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 1 - The student will demonstrate and assess the use of decision-making skills in health and safety situations.

 

Grade: 8

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY - Ask the class: “How many of you regularly use the Internet? Why do you enjoy using the Internet? What kinds of sites do you visit?” After listing the current choices of the group, caution the class that all Web sites may not be what they seem to be. Divide the class into groups. Give each group two scenarios based on an actual event that occurred online. One example should be a positive one (e.g., a physician seeking a person with a rare blood type) and the other a negative scenario (e.g., a Web site that promises a miracle cure for a large sum of money). Each group discusses the scenarios and presents their ideas to the entire class. Brainstorm two lists: “Warning Signs” and “Positive Perks.” As a concluding activity, each group designs a pamphlet or handbook for younger students who are beginning to use the Internet. The booklet should offer tips and cautions.

Variation: Give students a list of Web sites to investigate. Include a few that are potentially dangerous (e.g., asking for credit card information or other personal information). Monitor student access to the sites and ask questions as they proceed. Are they heeding the warnings? Students complete an evaluation sheet on at least three health-related Web sites, noting the positive and negative points and any concerns they might have.

 

·        DOUBLE DIPPING - In the front of the room, set up a table as in a restaurant (use linens, flowers, etc.—this is not a fast food restaurant!) Use three yellow paper triangles to represent tortilla chips (or any kind of dipping food). Sprinkle each chip with a different color glitter. Pour creamy dip into a bowl and place in the center of the table. Invite two volunteers to the “restaurant” and instruct them to pretend to dip their chips and eat as they would at a party. Tell them to be sure they “double dip” at least one of the chips. After the students have “dipped,” show the bowl of dip. Students describe the appearance of the dip and discuss what the three colors of glitter represent (obviously the glitter represents the germs in the saliva of the “dippers”). Students list other behaviors that increase the risk of germ/disease transmission (e.g., sharing lipstick or eye makeup, sharing soda cans, kissing, sexual
intercourse, sharing hairbrushes). Students list strategies to reduce one’s risk of germ/disease transmission.

Variation: Students investigate the incidence of food-borne illnesses. As part of the research process, students contact local and state health departments for information, use online resources, and cut articles from local newspapers to describe the incidence of food-borne illnesses. Students develop a handbook or pamphlet on handling foods and preventing food-borne illness.

 

·        TREASURE HUNT - Prior to this exercise, develop a series of cards that describe a young person with a health problem that requires professional assistance (e.g., a young person suspects he/she has a STD, is very depressed, or has a nagging injury from sports). Prepare a series of very general questions that guide the students through an information treasure hunt. Questions might include the following:

      -        What is the problem?
-        What caused the problem?
-        Where should I go for advice?
-        What should I do next?
-        What happens if I can’t find help?

 

      Set up stations in a large area such as a gym or cafeteria. Use high school peer educators to represent various school and community health specialists, agencies, and organizations that assist students to solve their problems. (Be sure to include a station marked parent.) Provide the peer educators with props, such as phones or computers, that can be used as they role-play their assigned parts. Some of the healthcare providers may charge money for services and some provide free or low cost services. Provide some students with play money that can be used to pay for services. Distribute one
problem card to each student. Students visit the various stations trying to solve the problem noted on their card. When the problem seems to be solved and all the assigned questions have been answered, students submit their cards to the teacher or supervisor who offers them a treasure (e.g., a button, T-shirt, hats). Follow this activity with a discussion of the experiences, frustrations, and successes in defining the problem and navigating the system. Focus on the following questions:
-        How did you find out more about your problem?
-        Was it hard to get this information? Did you understand it?
-        Is it a common problem for kids your age?

Students complete a journal entry describing what they learned from this experience.

 

·        PEER PRESSURE INTERVIEW - Students interview a parent, guardian, or other adult about peer pressure they experienced as a teenager. Students ask the following questions:

      -        When you were a teenager, do you remember feeling peer pressure? What was it like?
-        In what areas and at what age did you worry most about what your friends thought?
-        How did you resist peer pressure?
-       Did you ever have an embarrassing moment as a teen as a result of any of this? Tell me about it.

Students share the responses and develop a list of peer resistance strategies used by the adults. Ask: “Are some of the strategies used in the past still effective today?” Meeting in small groups, students develop a list of at least five refusal strategies to use when confronted with peer pressure. Students
create and perform a role-play illustrating one of the strategies. Students complete the exercise by developing a class list of “100 Ways to Say No” and create a poster, mural, or bulletin board illustrating the list.

 

·        BE SAFE, NOT SORRY: SAY NO! - Students may find themselves in situations that pose a threat to their safety. Other situations may ultimately get them into trouble with authority figures (e.g., parents, school officials, police). Divide the class into small groups. Each group develops a role-play that addresses one of the following situations:

      -        You’re at a party where the parents serve alcoholic drinks to the teenagers.
-        You need a ride home from a party. The only person who offers you a ride is drunk.
-        You get a ride home with one of your brother’s friends. You notice several empty liquor bottles on the floor of the car.
-        At a party, you accidentally knock over a vase and find a stash of marijuana.

Students rate each role-play for the effective use of decision-making, refusal, or negotiation skills or the appropriate use of assertiveness. (Students use a teacher-designed rating chart for this part of the activity.) Each student writes a short story about a potentially threatening situation focusing on the character’s use of skills to safely diffuse or resolve the situation.

Variation: Videotape the role-plays and have each group critique its own skill performance. Groups rewrite the role-plays to more effectively demonstrate the skills, then tape the revised version. Students critique the second version using the same criteria and compare the two versions.

 

·        COMPARING SKILLS - Students compare a decision-making model with a self-management process. Ask: “How are they the same? different? When are they used simultaneously?” Students complete a comparison/contrast map and discuss their findings.

Variation: Invite a corporate executive to speak to the class on strategic planning, goal-setting as part of managing a large corporation. How does this parallel day-to-day skills that the students already use? Students write a reaction to the presentation and compare the information to their own
personal goal-setting processes.