Image credit: Photo by Burst on Unsplash 

My grade 8 Health class have a unit called "Staying Safe" which focuses on decision-making and risk-taking behaviour. 

When I first implemented the "DECIDE" model for teaching the skill steps of decision-making, I assessed it by providing students with a scenario and asking them to complete the DECIDE model to help the young person in the scenario decide what to do. While this was a great practice of the DECIDE model, I found that for the most part, students would simply give the "correct" answer (ex. "I would refuse the vape") and miss out on some of the nuances as to why that might be a difficult choice to make in real life. 

So looking for a new idea, I reached out to my #healthed PLN on Twitter for ideas. The idea for a Choose Your Own Adventure story came from Carey Schutte (looks like Andy Milne has also done a similar project). The project uses Google Slides which is an easy way for students to provide two (or more) choices that when clicked on take the reader to the next part of the story. My favourite part of the project is that students could really explore the potential consequences of making the wrong choice and consider the values and influences behind a person's actions. 

Keep in mind that your students might not be familiar with the idea of a Choose Your Own Adventure story (they were most popular in the 1970s and 80s!) Luckily our library had some, so I was able to bring in a few examples which we read together to get the idea. 

Below you will find the following project resources: DECIDE model practice slides, Choose Your Own Adventure student planning document, and a Google Drive folder with examples of student work.  

Try it with your class and let me know how it goes!

Project Pros: 

• Students can be creative and write some really fun stories

• Allows students to choose topics they feel most relevant to them or most comfortable writing about (vaping? dating? cheating?)

• Allows for differentiation: while there was a minimum number of slides/choices expected, students could write a lot or a little and for the avid writers, stories could get quite long. For those who struggled to come up with a story idea, I provided a choice of scenarios they could use as a springboard to get them started.

• Provides a safe (and fun) way for students to explore the consequences of making the wrong decision. Some students read their peers' stories making all of the 'poor' choices to see where it takes them.

Project Cons:

• Can be time-consuming. From introducing the project to allowing students enough time to plan, write and create the story, as well as time for students to share and read each other's work, I needed a solid four classes (80 min periods).