Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Explore: Moving towards goals

40+ minutes

Discover: Board game creation

15+ minutes

Thrive: Play and reflect

Explore: Moving towards goals

Teacher note: This lesson builds upon concepts taught in another lesson titled ‘Purpose: Growing Towards Life Goals.’ If you haven’t taught the ‘Purpose: Growing Towards Life Goals’ lesson, it is recommended you read over the lesson and ensure students are familiar with the basic concepts before proceeding.

Step 1

Watch the video Michelle Obama’s Best Advice For Students, then facilitate a class discussion about Michelle Obama’s message.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

Michelle Obama values inner qualities and strengths more than things like school grades. Why?
How can these strengths assist you on your life journey?
Knowing what you know now, what advice would you offer to a younger version of yourself?

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

It is not about what you do in life but about who you are while doing it. By recognising the strengths and gifts you can offer, you can create purpose and fulfilment through daily actions and interactions with others. There are always going to be challenges and setbacks; however, it is how you handle these times that truly helps shape your future path.

Step 2

Invite students to form groups of 3-4 and give each group a piece of butcher’s paper. Instruct them to divide the sheet in half, with one side titled ‘Slow’ and the other side titled ‘Grow’.

Ask students to brainstorm and list actions that cause them to ‘slow’ their progress towards goals and those that help them ‘grow.’ Provide a few examples to get them started.

Examples:

Grow:

Having a positive mindset
Using your strengths
Not comparing yourself to others
Regularly reviewing goals
Having an accountability buddy
Trying new things to see what you enjoy
Giving back to others

Slow:

Not asking for help
Having a negative mindset
Being easily influenced by friends
Comparing yourself to other people
Spending too much time on social media
Procrastinating

Share and discuss answers as a class and summarise key points. Ensure students understand that the daily choices we make can steer us away or towards our goals and impact our sense of purpose and overall fulfilment in life.

Discover: Board game creation

Step 1

Explain that in groups of 2-3, students will have the opportunity to create their own board game. The board game needs to be built purposefully to teach the players a message about strategies they can use to move towards a fulfilling life.

At this point, refer students back to the board game played in the ‘Growing Towards Life Goals’ lesson to help students understand the importance of game mechanics that are focused on making decisions and how particular events can result in moving forwards and backwards in life.

Examples:

Snakes and Ladders: snakes represent negative self-talk, and ladders are positive self-talk.
Wheel of Life: spinning the wheel will determine the player's next steps, and they will get to choose how they respond.

Encourage students to use the ideas brainstormed in the first part of the lesson as a starting point for game concepts.

The board game should have a starting point and end point, and it is up to the student's creativity to design the rest. They may wish to make it by hand, digitally or a combination of both.

Step 2

Provide each group with a Board Game checklist. This checklist is a guide for students to follow to ensure their board game stays on track and fulfils the intended purpose.

The checklist:

Must have a name
Target a specific age group (eg primary classes 4-6 or teenagers 14-16)
Clear instructions
Include a start point and end point
All players need to make decisions to progress in the game
Choices/events that take place in the game should move players backwards or forwards
All necessary game elements need to be created, which may include:
- Player tokens
- Board
- Cards
- Additional elements such as spinning wheels, question cards, etc.

Step 3

Give students 40+ minutes to create their game. They will have the opportunity to play their game in the final part of the lesson.

Teacher Note: This lesson could be run across multiple periods to allow students more time to create and play their games.

Thrive: Play and reflect

Step 1

Invite students to present their board games to the group. They should present the overall aim of their game and the lesson players will learn during gameplay.

Step 2

Spread the board games out around the room. Remaining in their board game creation group, students should move to a game that is not their own. Allow 3-4 minute rotations (or longer if time permits) so each student can experience 2-3 games.

Step 3

Facilitate a discussion to reflect on what students have learned about making choices and moving towards their goals, and generating a sense of purpose in their life.

Use the following questions to prompt reflection:

Do any of these games accurately reflect your own life experiences? How so?
What are some choices you’ve made that have led to positive outcomes? What about negative outcomes?
Do you regret any of the choices you’ve made? Why/why not?
What have you learned about yourself based on the choices you’ve made so far?

Step 4

Finally, ask students to share with a partner 1 choice they will stop making and 1 choice they will start making based on the ideas from the board games (e.g. notice and redirect negative self-talk, encourage my friends, etc).

Purpose: Self Awareness and Making Good Choices

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

In this lesson