Making Health Choices

Overview

In this first lesson of Wellness Choices in Action, students define health literacy and explore how knowledge, access, and personal values shape health decisions. They practice evaluating health information by asking reliable, evidence-focused questions before accepting or sharing a claim.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• Define health literacy in their own words.
• Explain how knowledge, access, and personal values can influence a health decision.
• Ask questions that help determine whether health information is reliable.
• Use relevant details from a short health-information text to support an evaluation.

Success criteria

• I can explain health literacy as the ability to find, understand, evaluate, and use health information.
• I can identify at least two influences on a health decision.
• I can ask useful questions about the author, evidence, purpose, date, and source of health information.
• I can support my judgment with specific details from a text or example.

Curriculum links

• Reading: cite relevant and sufficient evidence from informational texts when analyzing health information.
• Reading: determine the meaning of academic and domain-specific words in context, including terms such as reliable, evidence, and access.
• Technical writing: organize information to show important connections and distinctions.
• Technical writing: develop a topic with relevant facts, concrete details, and examples.
• Technical writing: gather and assess useful information from authoritative print and digital sources, integrating it without plagiarism.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Hook: “Would you trust it?” Teacher displays two fictional posts using the opening comparison slide: one says, “A viral post proves this health tip works,” and one identifies an author, date, evidence, and credible organization. Students silently choose which they would trust and write one reason.

2. 4–9 min · Build the definition. Teacher uses the health literacy definition slides to introduce health literacy as finding, understanding, evaluating, and using health information to make informed choices. Clarify that health literacy is not simply “knowing health facts”; it also involves asking questions and knowing where to seek help. Students annotate the health literacy notes and evaluation worksheet by completing the definition and matching the four actions with brief examples.

3. 9–15 min · Influences on decisions. Teacher presents a familiar example, such as deciding whether to follow advice about sleep, exercise, or an over-the-counter product, and uses the influences diagram to distinguish knowledge, access, and personal values. Students work in pairs to identify how each influence could change the same person’s decision, recording one concrete detail for each on the worksheet.

4. 15–23 min · Evaluate a health claim. Teacher distributes the health information evaluation worksheet and models the first question with a short fictional claim: “This supplement guarantees better focus in one week.” Teacher then directs pairs to evaluate a second short claim on the sheet. Students answer: Who created it? What evidence is provided? When was it published or updated? What is its purpose? Is the language exaggerated? Where could the claim be checked? They underline details that support their judgment and label the claim “more reliable,” “needs checking,” or “not reliable enough yet.”

5. 23–27 min · Share and challenge. Teacher uses the discussion and question prompts to facilitate a report-out from four pairs, pressing students to distinguish a personal opinion from evidence. Students share one question they asked and one detail that influenced their rating; classmates may respectfully challenge an unsupported conclusion by asking, “What in the text makes you think that?”

6. 27–30 min · Exit check. Teacher displays the plenary slide and asks students to complete the final section of the exit response section: define health literacy, name one influence on health decisions, and write two questions they would ask before trusting a health claim. Collect responses to plan the next lesson.

Resources

• the health literacy slide deck
• the health literacy notes and evaluation worksheet
• Projector or interactive display
• Pens or pencils
• Board or chart paper
• Timer
• Printed fictional health-information claims
• One worksheet per student

Assessment

• Listen during pair discussion for accurate use of knowledge, access, values, evidence, and reliable; correct confusion through brief questioning.
• Check worksheet responses for relevant details, clear distinctions between opinion and evidence, and questions that address source, purpose, date, or evidence.
• Use the exit response to identify students who can define health literacy and evaluate information independently versus those needing additional modeling.

Differentiation

• Provide a word bank and sentence starters: “I think this claim is ___ because the text says ___” and “I would check ___ because ___.”
• Read the fictional claims aloud, chunk longer text, and provide a partially completed evaluation table for students who need literacy support.
• Allow students to discuss ideas with a partner before writing; provide speech-to-text or scribing support when appropriate.
• Challenge ready students to rank the evaluation questions by importance and explain why a claim can be useful but still require further checking.
• Avoid asking students to disclose personal health choices. Use fictional examples and remind students not to treat class discussion as medical advice.