Goal-Setting Design Lab ✨ cross-curricular
Teacher: TeacherAI | Grade: 3 | Subject: Technology, Social-Emotional Learning, Health Education | Duration: 60 minutes
📝 Description: Students use a design process to create personalized health goal plans and select organizational tools to track their progress.
Standards
- TECH.3.4.a (Use a design process to generate ideas and solve problems)
- TECH.3.4.b (Select digital tools appropriate for design challenges)
- SEL.3.SM.5 (Demonstrate organizational skills to manage tasks and time)
- HE.3.6.2 (Explain the health benefits of reaching a personal health goal)
- HE.3.6.3 (Develop a plan for achieving a personal health goal)
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Apply the design process steps (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test) to solve a personal health challenge
- Select appropriate organizational tools (charts, calendars, checklists) for tracking their health goal
- Create a visual plan that organizes tasks and time for achieving their health goal
- Identify and explain three specific health benefits of reaching their chosen goal
- Design a weekly action plan with measurable steps toward their health goal
Supplies Needed
- Chart paper
- Crayons/colored pencils
- Rulers (with halves and fourths of inch)
- Glue sticks
- Construction paper
- Scissors (child-safe)
Lesson Structure
Opening (5 minutes)
Display the design process steps on the board: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test. Tell students: "Today you'll be designers creating solutions for your own health goals. Just like engineers solve problems, you'll solve the challenge of staying healthy!"
Main Activity (50 minutes)
Step-by-step instructions:
- Ask Phase (8 minutes): Students identify their health challenge using the Goal Planning Worksheet. Guide them to choose from: drinking more water, eating more vegetables, getting enough sleep, or being more active. Have them write their chosen goal and explain why it matters to their health.
- Imagine Phase (7 minutes): Students brainstorm solutions on their worksheet. Ask: "What tools could help you remember your goal? What would success look like?" They sketch 3 different ideas for tracking their progress (calendar, chart, checklist, etc.).
- Plan Phase (10 minutes): Students select their best tracking tool idea and plan their design. They use rulers to measure and sketch their tracker on chart paper, deciding on size, sections, and daily/weekly organization. Encourage them to plan for 7 days of tracking.
- Create Phase (20 minutes): Students create their health goal tracker using chart paper, construction paper, and art supplies. They must include: their goal statement, three health benefits, daily tracking spaces for one week, and a reward section. Circulate to help with measuring and cutting.
- Test Phase (5 minutes): Students pair up to "test" their tracker by explaining how they'll use it and having their partner ask clarifying questions. Partners check if the tracker is organized and easy to understand.
Closing (5 minutes)
Students display their trackers and share one thing they learned about organizing time and tasks for health goals. Connect back to the design process: "You used the same steps engineers use to solve problems!"
Quick Check: Ask: "Which design step was most important for your project? What organizational tool did you choose and why? Name one health benefit of your goal."
Formative Assessment
During the lesson, look for:
- Students following the design process sequence and referring to each step by name
- Goal trackers that show clear organization with daily sections and time management features
- Students explaining specific health benefits connected to their chosen goal
Differentiation Strategies
Support for Struggling Students:
- Provide pre-drawn tracker templates they can customize rather than creating from scratch
- Offer sentence starters for explaining health benefits: "When I _____, my body will _____"
- Partner struggling students with strong organizers during the planning phase
Challenge for Advanced Learners:
- Have them design trackers for family members with different goals and explain adaptations needed
- Ask them to research and include additional health benefits with simple citations
- Challenge them to create a digital version plan of their tracker using classroom technology
ELL/ELD Support:
- Provide visual examples of each design process step with picture cues
- Pre-teach key vocabulary: goal, benefit, organize, track, design process
- Encourage drawing and labeling instead of lengthy written explanations
Printable Materials
Goal Planning Worksheet
Name: __________________ Date: __________
ASK: What is your health challenge?
Circle one: Drink more water | Eat more vegetables | Get enough sleep | Be more active
Why is this goal important for your health?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
IMAGINE: How could you track this goal?
Idea 1: ____________________________________
Idea 2: ____________________________________
Idea 3: ____________________________________
PLAN: Design your tracker
Best idea: __________________________________
Size needed: _______________________________
Sections needed: ____________________________
Three health benefits of reaching my goal:
1. _______________________________________
2. _______________________________________
3. _______________________________________
TEST: Have a partner check your tracker
Partner's name: _____________________________
Partner says my tracker is easy to use: Yes / No
One suggestion: ____________________________