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New Year's Resolutions

The act of making resolutions and striving to meet them has many positive benefits. Students will explore their advantages and create a helpful reminder to hang on a doorknob.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

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  • Heavy Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Many people make New Year's resolutions. Evidence shows that creating them and striving to keep them has positive benefits. Have students discuss some of the beneficial effects this practice can provide. For example, resolutions keep us intentional about moving forward and achieving results, they can give us a positive view of our future, they can impact others in a meaningful way, and they can inspire us to do better.

  • Step 2

    Ask students to create a list of some goals they'd like to achieve, then have them cut strips of construction paper, decorate them, and write a resolution on each strip. These will be placed in a pocketed doorknob hanger (a pouch) to remind them of their goals.

  • Step 3

    To make the doorknob hanger, have students cut heavy pieces of paper into 2 sections, one a long base and the other a similar but shorter shape for the front of their pouch. To form the hanger part, have them cut a circle out of the top of the base, making sure it is large enough to fit over a doorknob. Ask them to decorate the front of the pouch, leaving room for a label/name. Attach the front to the back with glue, tape, or staples, being sure to leave the top open so paper strips can be pulled in and out. Label the front with either a general New Year's Resolution plaque or a customized label with the student's name and goals statement. Glue this to the pouch front.

  • Step 4

    Have students discuss the resolutions they made and talk about ways they will keep track of their progress.

Standards

LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

LA: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

LA: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

SS: Compare ways in which people from different cultures think about and deal with their physical environment and social conditions.

SS: Give examples of and explain group and institutional influences such as religious beliefs, laws, and peer pressure, on people, events, and elements of culture.

VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of experiences and ideas.

VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of ideas.

Adaptations

Create a classroom goals bulletin board. Have students contribute notes that state goals they'd like to achieve during the school year. They might include academic goals such as number of books they'd like to read or concepts they'd like to master, or they could include personal goals such as learning to play an instrument, basic coding skills, or joining a new club.

Ask students to collaborate and write resolutions for the planet and how they can be achieved. For example, they might write "We can reduce the amount of waste by recycling appropriate items" or "We can conserve water by remembering to turn the water off while we brush our teeth."