Stop! Explore! Go!

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This lesson will provide students a three-step method for making good decisions. Students will then practice this method in a role-play activity.

OBJECTIVE
Students will: 

1. Learn a three-step decision-making process.
2. Understand the term peer and how their peers can influence their decisions.
3. Learn the terms option and consequence.
4. Suggest several possible options and explore the positive and negative consequences of these options.
5. Make decisions based on their analysis of the choices during a role play activity.
6. Reflect on what they know and feel about an issue.

MATERIALS

1. The Meanest Thing to Say or you may substitute another title about children dealing with peer pressure and making difficult decisions.
2. Markers
3. Chart paper or chalkboard
4. Poster Board/Butcher Paper
5. Positive/Negative Consequences Printable (PDF)
6. Puppets - optional

SET UP AND PREPARE

1. Using poster board or butcher paper, prepare a T Chart graphic organizer entitled Consequences, similar to the student printable. Write Positive on left and Negative on right. Leave room to label each option in the group discussion on Day 3.
2. Using poster board, create a large traffic signal sign with three colored circles. In the top red circle, write Stop! In the middle yellow circle, write Explore. In the bottom green circle, write Go!
3. Copy the printable for each student.
4. Although you do not need puppets for the role playing activity on Day 4, children will be more eager to participate if they can “act” with puppets or other props.

REPRODUCIBLES

1. Positive/Negative Consequences Printable (PDF)
   

DIRECTIONS
Day 1

Step 1: Begin by introducing the word peer and asking students if they know what it means. Record several student responses on chart paper or board. Define the term for the students: Peer - one that is of equal standing with another.

Step 2: Ask students to name their peers. Help them understand that classmates, friends, other children, and first/second graders all over the world are their peers: they may share similar characteristics, but differ in many ways as well. Explain that a peer could be your best friend or someone you do not know very well, and sometimes you might encounter a peer who wants to do something that may not be very nice. Whether this person may encourage you to do the wrong thing or pressure you into doing something you may not want to do, we call this behavior peer pressure.

Step 3: Generate a discussion about the reasons children do things that other peers may pressure them to do even though they may not want to or they know it is wrong. Ask the students why peer pressure is difficult to deal with.

Step 4: Introduce the book The Meanest Thing to Say. Instruct students to pay close attention to how Little Bill handles a tough situation with his peers. Stop periodically during the story and allow students to comment on the pressure that Little Bill feels.

Step 5: After reading, ask questions to help students recall how the children in the neighborhood felt when the new boy began making jokes by saying mean things to them, such as: Do you agree that Little Bill made the best decision to get even by saying mean things? Was it difficult for Little Bill to make his decision to go against the group? Was Little Bill able to avoid peer pressure? Who did he talk with to get help? Ask students if they have ever been in a similar situation where they felt pressured and uncomfortable. How did they handle it? What happened in the end?

Day 2

Step 1: Begin by telling students that, this week, they will learn and practice an important decision-making skill called Stop, Explore, Go! that will help them when they have to make difficult choices like Little Bill did in the story The Meanest Thing to Say. Introduce the traffic signal displaying Stop! Explore, Go! Teach the following:

• Stop! You need to stop and think about it.
• Explore Look at all the possible choices and choose the best one.
• Go! Go ahead and do what you chose to do. This may not be so easy. You may need help from someone.

Step 2: Help the students explore the ways Little Bill used Stop! in the story The Meanest Thing to Say. Remind them that Michael Reilly’s game sounded like a lot of fun at first, but Little Bill stopped to realize that saying mean things makes other people feel mad. Ask the students to share when they have stopped to think about a situation in the past.

Step 3: Help the students consider ways Little Bill explored possible choices when he considered playing Michael Reilly’s name-calling game. Little Bill realizes early in the game that he feels quite uncomfortable with this game and wonders if he can find a way to but still be nice. What does Little Bill do when he gets home? Who helps Little Bill come up with a solution to his problem?

Step 4: Help the students understand how Little Bill put his plan into action – Go! What strategy did Little Bill and his dad decide would be the best? Does Little Bill’s strategy work? Was the result positive or negative? Ask the students to share about a time when they had a few options to choose from and how they made their decision.

Day 3

Step 1: Begin by reminding the students that Little Bill had a few choices to make in the story The Meanest Thing to Say. Today they will learn how to explore the positive and negative consequences that come with making a decision.

Step 2: Ask students to recall Little Bill’s choices. Share the Consequences T Chart. Write Little Bill orders Michael to stop playing the game on the chart. Ask the students what might happen if he confronts Michael and tells him to stop playing the game. Explain that a choice is also called an option. What good things might happen as a result of choosing this option? What bad things might happen as a result of this choice? Record their responses under the appropriate column. Explain that the result of a choice is called a consequence. Talk about the difference between a positive and negative consequence and refer to the J and L faces to help them remember their meanings.

Step 3: Explore other possible options with the students and repeat the procedure. Guide the discussion about consequences with questions such as: What might have been a negative consequence of continuing to participate in “Playing the Dozens?”

Step 4: Ask the students to compare the positive and negative consequences for each option. Explain that a good option is safe, healthy, considerate of others, and obeys rules or laws. Talk about how Little Bill’s choice he made was the best decision he could make in his situation.

Days 4-5

Step 1: Inform students that they will complete their own consequences chart with a partner. Brainstorm with the students three realistic — real or imagined — circumstances, similar to Little Bill’s, that might involve peer pressure. Encourage students to come up with appropriate scenarios that have positive and negative consequences, such as a new student joins the class, but your friends discourage you from inviting him to sit with your group during lunch. Record at least three class-generated scenarios and their options on the board or chart paper.

Step 2: Instruct students to choose an option from the list and copy it on the line provided onto their Positive/Negative Consequences sheet. Instruct students to find a partner and help each other brainstorm all the positive and negative consequences for that option onto their sheet. Tell them to make a decision as a team on how the scenario will be solved because they will be role-playing this scene with each other and possibly the class.

Step 3: Once students have completed their sheet and made their decision, instruct them to make up a skit on this particular situation, demonstrating the Stop! Explore Go! process, the options, the consequences, who they went to for help, and how a good decision was made. Allow time for them to create the skit. If you have access to puppets, provide them as props.

Step 4: Students play out their skit with each other. Partners who wish to perform for the class can do so.

SUPPORTING ALL LEARNERS
Encourage the more talkative, animated students to take lead roles in the skits to be performed in class.

LESSON EXTENSION
Have students create Say No to Peer Pressure posters that depict Stop! Explore Go! to be displayed around the school.

ASSESS STUDENTS
Teacher Observation: Observe students’ ability to create multiple options for a scenario and differentiate between positive and negative consequences.
Written Outcome: Evaluate the Positive/Negative Consequences sheet.

ASSIGNMENTS

Participate in a role play activity

Complete a Positive/Negative Consequences sheet

HOME CONNECTION
Have students write about a time when they went through the Stop! Explore Go! process to make a decision for homework.

EVALUATE THE LESSON

Were students able to role play in the decision making activity?

Do I need to follow up with additional practice opportunities?

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