Guidelines for Real Life Issues Curriculum Infusion Module Design


Please use these guidelines in writing up the CIRLI prevention lesson plan you are designing for your class.

I. Class and Life Issues Selection 
  1. Briefly describe the class for which you are planning to design a prevention lesson plan or unit.
  2. Why have you selected this class?
  3. Which Real Life Issue (substance abuse, violence, bullying, social ostracism, HIV/AIDS, etc.) do you plan to incorporate into this class?

In selecting life issues please consider the following:
  1. Which life issues do you think are currently placing your students at greatest risk? What evidence do you have?
  2. Which life issue(s) most readily fit your subject matter?
  3. Is there a school-wide initiative underway which would support this lesson or would connect your students to the school at large?
  4. Do you know of community or school groups that are involved in this issue?
  5. Are you sufficiently comfortable with discussion of this topic?

II. Prevention Strategies and Rationale
Listed below are five key evidence-based prevention strategies, emphasized by CIRLI, with examples of how they may be implemented in a classroom setting. Please select at least one strategy (more are better) you would use to prevent the real life issue you selected. Be as specific as possible about the activities you will plan for your students and the (school, community, media, data based, etc.) resources that may be utilized for each strategy you select. For more information please see the evidence based prevention (link) section of our website, www.cirli.org.

AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL
  1. Involving students in community prevention efforts (e.g. removing alcohol and tobacco advertising from the neighborhood, neighborhood anti-gang marches, volunteer work at a HIV/AIDS prevention program, etc.)

AT THE LEVEL OF SOCIAL INTERACTION
  1. ​Promoting pro-social norms (e.g. increasing concern for harm done to others and to the community by drugs, violence, bullying, STDs and other problems, participation in student courts or school wide prevention campaigns). These are a few examples – please specify how you will incorporate this strategy into your lesson plan in the space below.
  2. Correcting misperceptions of norms (e.g. exaggerations of use of alcohol and other drugs by peers, the extent of violence among peers, or the incidence of sex among peers). Please specify how you will incorporate this strategy into your lesson plan in the space below.

AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
  1. Increasing perceptions of personal risk (e.g. creating obstacles to personal aspirations by using alcohol and other drugs, participation in violence, bullying or social ostracism, or engaging in at-risk sexual behaviors.) Please specify how you will incorporate this strategy into your lesson plan in the space below.
  2. Developing or enhancing life skills (e.g. to reject peer pressure to use alcohol/drugs, learning to defuse/withdraw from potential violence, learning to deflect/oppose bullying and social ostracism, learning to negotiate safe practices in sexual and other relationships, etc.) Please specify how you will incorporate this strategy into your lesson plan in the space below.

III. Meeting the Common Core State Standards
How will activities and assignments related to the life issues curriculum of your class meet the common core state standards? Indicate the specific common core standards(s) you will address, and the real life issues you have selected, and the class activities and assignments that met the standards(s).

IV. Service Learning
Service Learning requirements include three main components: curriculum based learning/preparation, service/action, and reflection.
  1. What is the real life issue the students are learning about? What are key learning objectives for this lesson? How will this prepare them for service/action?
  2. What kind of community or school based service/action will your students provide that addresses the real life issue studied in class? What do you hope they will learn from this service/action?
  3. Please list two to three reflection questions you will want your students to think about and write about?
  4. How will you use classroom time to supplement this community or school based service learning experience?
  5. Is there a service learning coach or coordinator at your school with whom you can consult regarding possible service learning placements for your students?

V. Culture and Community
The diversity of your students has a significant impact on your curriculum design.
  1. How will you consider realities such as the learners’ race and ethnicity (including language and religion), socio-economic status, gender, sexual orientation, age and developmental status and other elements of student diversity as you prepare your prevention lesson plan? For more information see the Diversity link here section of this website.
  2. How may you increase your knowledge of the communities in which your students live, including knowledge of the community based organizations and/or social service agencies that address real life issues? How might you utilize local organizations and institutions to promote student learning?

VII. Engaging Students as Active Learners /Student Voice
  1. How will you engage students as active learners in your classroom (e.g. through debates, role plays, in-class presentation, etc.)?
  2. How will you encourage and support student voice? How will students participate in the planning and implementation of the service learning project?
  3. How will you encourage student leadership in prevention of substance abuse or in relation to other life issues?
  4. Are there additional resources (e.g. films, other media) you need to include as part of your instructional strategy?

VII. Evaluation
  1. What forms of evaluation would be suitable for you to measure the effect the life issues curriculum has on your students?
  2. How will you measure possible increases in students’ knowledge or skills related to the life issues curriculum?
  3. How will you measure changes in students’ attitudes or behavior in relation to the life issues addressed in class?
Download Guidelines for Real Life Issues Curriculum Infusion Module Design
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