LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Evaluate potential obstacles involved in making New Year’s resolutions; describe a variety of ways to set a goal and stick to it. 

HEALTH ED STANDARDS

NHES 8: Use goal-setting skills to enhance health. 

 

CASEL: Self-management 

KEY VOCAB

admirable

daunting

harmonious

intentionally 

Lesson Plan: Hack Your New Year's Resolution

Read to find out how to hack your plans for 2022 so you’ll stick with them all year... and beyond. 

Table of Contents:

1. Preparing to Read

2. Reading and Discussing

3. Building Comprehension and Vocabulary

4. Expanding SEL Opportunities

1. Preparing to Read

Before you read the article “Hack Your New Year’s Resolutions,” ask your students the following pre-reading question:

What are your New Year’s resolutions, and to what extent do you think these resolutions are achievable? 

2. Reading and Discussing

  • Have your students read the article “Hack Your New Year’s Resolutions” independently; read the article out loud to them; or have students partner-read the article out loud. 
  • After they’ve read the article, revisit the pre-reading question. Have their answers changed? 
  • Next, have your students answer the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking questions, either working in small groups or independently. 


Close-Reading Questions
The following questions can be shared in printable or interactive form from the Resources tab. 

  1. Why do most New Year’s resolutions fail? List at least two reasons mentioned in the article.
  2. What does it mean to make a goal that is S.M.A.R.T.? 


Critical-Thinking Questions

  1. Do you believe making resolutions is important? Why or why not? 

  2. Have you ever set a goal or intention for yourself, and later failed to achieve it? After reading the article, can you identify why you failed in achieving that goal? Explain.

3. Building Comprehension and Vocab

Check students’ comprehension of and engagement with the story with the following assessment tools:

  • Quiz

  • Vocab Builder

4. Expanding SEL Opportunities

Continue the learning journey with the following extension activity:

In NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS: BEFORE AND AFTER, have students rewrite their New Year’s resolutions from the pre-reading question in light of the information they learned in the article. Then, have them share their improved resolutions with one another and explain how their thinking about goal-setting has changed. 

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