Learn to Make Fair Group Decisions Together

You will learn how to make decisions with your friends and classmates in ways that are fair for everyone. When groups need to choose something together, like what game to play or which book to read, you can use special ways to decide that let everyone have a say. This is called making group decisions, and it's an important part of Being a Good Citizen and Working Together.

Group decisions happen when you and other people need to pick one choice together. You might need to decide what game to play at recess, which snack to share, or what pet your class should get. Instead of one person choosing for everyone, the whole group gets to help decide.

Making group decisions is fair because everyone gets a chance to share what they think. This helps you practice Being a Good Classmate and prepares you for Voting and Elections.

Voting is the most common way groups make decisions. When you vote, you pick the choice you like best. There are different ways to vote:

You can raise your hand for the choice you want. You can put a pebble or marble in a jar. You can draw your choice on paper. The choice that gets the most votes wins!

This connects to learning about Leaders and Their Roles because leaders help groups vote fairly.

Before your group votes, everyone should get a chance to share their ideas. This means you can tell others why you like your choice. You should also listen when other people share their ideas.

Sharing ideas helps everyone understand all the choices better. Sometimes you might even change your mind after hearing someone else's good idea! This skill helps you with Solving Problems and Being a Leader.

Vote: When you pick the choice you like best from a group of options. You might raise your hand or put a pebble in a jar to vote.

Group Decision: When a group of people work together to choose one thing that everyone will do or have.

Fair: When everyone gets the same chance to share their ideas and vote for what they want.

Ballot: A piece of paper where you draw or write your vote choice.

Raise Hands: When you put your hand up in the air to show which choice you want to vote for.

Share Ideas: When you tell others what you think and listen to what they think too.

You can practice making group decisions in your classroom and at home. Try voting on which game to play at recess or which book your teacher should read. Remember to let everyone share their ideas first!

These skills will help you with Working in Groups and prepare you for understanding Responsibilities of Citizens.

Before learning about group decisions, you learned about Being a Good Citizen and Being a Good Classmate. You also practiced Working Together with others. These skills help you make good group decisions.

Making group decisions connects to many other important topics you will learn. Voting and Elections shows you how adults make group decisions in communities. Leaders and Their Roles teaches you about people who help groups make decisions.

You will also learn about Rights of Citizens and Responsibilities of Citizens to understand how group decisions work in your community. Following Community Rules shows you how group decisions become rules everyone follows.

Later, you will learn about Team Building and Project Planning, which use the group decision skills you are learning now. You will also study Citizen Participation and How Laws are Made to see how group decisions work in bigger communities.