During the first semester of first grade, students will be introduced to the definition and concept of choice. This will be accomplished through stories and poems that are read aloud to the class, and then the choices made by the characters in these stories and poems will be discussed as a class.

By the end of the first semester, students should be able to recognize a situation where a decision has to be made and identify different choice options involved in that situation.

Definitions:

Choice Context: A situation where a choice has to be made.

Choice Options: Alternatives or possibilities generated internally or externally. More simply put, the choice or choices that the student lists.

Lesson Plans:

You will be reading highly entertaining and involving stories that will enable students to see examples of choices being made by the different key characters.

Individual lesson plans for the stories that illustrate the concept of choice have been included as a guideline to help assist in group discussions. The lesson plans represent examples of context situations and two of the positive choice options for each situation. There are a variety of ways that these GOOD Decision Model pathways can be utilized when teaching students about making choices. Books, games, videos, role playing, and class speakers are just some of the methods that can assist in teaching students about decision-making and choices. It has been found extremely useful to reinforce the concept of choice in the everyday classroom environment, in particular, when dealing with undesirable behavior. Asking the child what his or her choices are at the time the behavior is being exhibited does this. Significant changes in classroom behavior have been attributed to using this simple technique.