It can be challenging for middle school students to appropriately navigate the decision-making process. Middle school students need to be provided with opportunities to learn and improve upon their decision-making skills, and there are a variety of activities and lesson plans out there to help them do just that. Whether it involves analyzing decisions that they have personally made or analyzing decisions that have been made by others, there are many activities to help students navigate the decision-making process.
Read on to learn more about 20 fun and impactful decision-making activities that middle school teachers can use to help students become effective decision-makers.
1. Decision-Making Worksheet
In this activity, students are asked to analyze and respond to various real-life scenarios involving topics such as healthy eating, smoking, and goal-setting. Students are challenged to identify the problem, list potential options, consider potential consequences, consider their values, and describe how they would respond.
Learn more: Mentoring for Success
2. Decision-Making Rate Yourself Worksheet
This student worksheet provides middle school students with the opportunity to reflect on how confident they are in their ability to make decisions. After rating themselves on a scale of one to five, students then provide written responses to several reflection questions about decision-making in their own lives.
Learn more: Worksheet Place
3. Decision-Making and Refusal Skills Activity
This activity is an excellent practice activity to encourage middle school students to use their decision-making skills, whether it be independently or in a small group setting. Students are given five fictional scenarios that they have to analyze and discuss how to appropriately respond.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
4. Decision-Making & Integrity Activity
In this decision-making activity, students are asked to respond to give separate prompts about decision-making and managing negative emotions. This activity is the perfect way to practice decision-making while also building upon essential skills in reading and writing.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
5. Comparing & Contrasting Activity
In this activity, students are challenged to use their comparing and contrasting skills to respond to four short scenarios and consider long-term consequences. Each scenario addresses common real-life issues and real-life challenges faced by middle school students.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
6. Weighing My Choices Worksheet
This student worksheet requires middle school students to analyze a real-life example. After analyzing the example, students must identify both the positive and negative consequences that could surface as a result of the decision that they choose to make.
Learn more: Media Centervention
7. In a Pickle Task Cards
These pickle-themed task cards and classroom posters are a good way to encourage the use of students' critical thinking skills. With 32-question cards included, there is a variety of challenging situations and scenarios that students get to explore.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
8. Shake Out Your Future Activity
This activity is specifically designed to model what a good decision-making process looks like for middle school students. After rolling a set of dice, students are asked to decide how they would respond to a given scenario and reflect on their decision.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
9. Why Decision-Making is Important Activity
In this unique activity, students are asked to use a movie to investigate and reflect on real-life events that took place in upstate New York as well as the decisions that were made. Topics of discussion include intoxication, gun safety, and alcohol and marijuana use.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
10. Decision-Making Worksheet
After learning the “I GOT ME” decision-making model, students choose from one of ten real-life scenarios to practice making tough decisions. Students may also be asked to create authentic scenarios and respond to those as well.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
11. Decision-Making Cut-and-Stick Worksheet
This cut-and-stick worksheet handout for students is a great way to help them break down the steps of making responsible decisions and the importance of remembering that every decision has real consequences.
Learn more: Twinkle
12. Good Fruit Bad Fruit Activity
After listening to a scenario and the decision that was made, students run to the right side of the room if they think the decision was “good fruit” or to the left if they think it was “bad fruit.” Students then share why they went to either side.
Learn more: Micheal Byrd
13. Decision Making Scenario Cards
For this activity, middle school students are asked to respond to one of six scenario cards and make difficult decisions. Whether it be orally or in writing, students must consider what they would do in response to the given scenario and consider potential outcomes.
Learn more: Ha‘i Mo‘olelo - Tell Your Own Story
14. Decision-Making Question Cards
On each question card included in this activity, students must read a situation, analyze it, and determine what the best response would be. Students respond to question cards that describe scenarios they may come across in their everyday lives and generate informed decisions.
Learn more: Twinkl
15. Is This the Right Thing to Do? Worksheet
This worksheet is an excellent class activity to teach middle school students about which decisions and behaviors are considered appropriate in any given situation. Overall, it is a great tool to use to help students differentiate between actions that are right and actions that are wrong.
Learn more: Twinkl
16. Decision-Making Matrix Activity
In this unique activity, students use a “rated” decision matrix to determine what the best choice is for a man that needs to decide which sandwich to buy. Students must use the decision matrix to help them develop evidence and reasoning to support their claims.
Learn moreL Teachers Pay Teachers
17. Decision-Making Pamphlet
This activity-based lesson is another great way to engage your middle school students and encourage them to reflect on the decisions that they next make in everyday life. Students are asked to complete their pamphlet by responding to various prompts about making decisions and considering consequences.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
18. Decision-Making Analysis Activity
In this research-based activity, students are asked to select a well-known person, such as the president or an entertainer. Students then choose one decision that their person made, discuss it, and analyze it to assess how that decision impacted the person as well as those around them.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
19. Decision-Making Mix and Match Cereal Treat Activity
This fun activity challenges students to think outside the box and make strategic decisions while designing a new cereal treat. Students use the mix and match approach to evaluate every decision that they need to make throughout the activity.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
20. Stuck in a Jam Decision-Making Activity
The primary goal of this activity is to encourage students to consider how they can make good choices. After reading a scenario, students must consider what they would say or do in response to the situation they have been presented with.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
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