The Everything Educator
Three triangular windows set into a deep layer of snow

December 17 to 23

Before winter break: look back on the year and plan one goal with WOOP, in 30 minutes

A free, no prep lesson for the last days before winter break, grades 4 to 8: a year in review, then a goal plan built on WOOP and if-then plans.

Grades
4 to 8, with changes for younger and older
Time
30 minutes
Prep
None. Project this page or read from it.
You need
Paper and pencil for each student

What it is

The last days before winter break are a good time to look back and look ahead. This lesson has two parts: a short year in review, and a goal plan built with WOOP, a four-step method developed by Gabriele Oettingen, who draws on more than twenty years of research on human motivation. WOOP stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan.

WOOP rests on two ideas. Mental contrasting means picturing a wished-for future and then looking honestly at what stands in the way. Implementation intentions, studied by Peter Gollwitzer, are if-then plans: "Whenever situation x arises, I will initiate the goal-directed response y!" Put together, they turn a wish into a plan for the moment the obstacle shows up.

What does the research say? A 2006 review by Gollwitzer and Sheeran combined 94 independent tests and found that if-then plans had a positive effect of medium-to-large size (d = .65) on goal attainment. In a 2013 study of 77 fifth graders, students who learned mental contrasting with implementation intentions had higher report card grades, better attendance and better conduct in the third quarter than a comparison group. Their advantage in the fourth quarter was smaller and not statistically significant. The study was small, so treat the method as promising, not proven for every student.

Teacher note: wishes can be about school, a hobby, a friendship or a habit. Students keep their plan private unless they choose to share it, and nobody needs to share plans about the break itself.

How to run it

30 minutes, 5 steps. The time on the left is when each step starts.

  1. 0:00

    Year in review

    5 min
    On the board

    Finish three sentences about this school year so far. The best moment was ___. The hardest part was ___. One thing you can do now that you could not do in September is ___.

    You do
    • Students write alone for three minutes.
    • Pairs trade one sentence each. Remind students that they may skip any sentence they want to keep private.
    • Ask two or three students to share the thing they can do now that they could not do in September. Keep the focus on skills, not grades.

    Say: Looking back is not bragging. It is evidence of what you are able to do.

  2. 5:00

    WOOP in five facts

    5 min
    On the board
    • WOOP stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. Gabriele Oettingen developed it.
    • Pick a wish that is challenging but still achievable.
    • Look for an inner obstacle, such as an emotion, a belief or a habit, not an outside barrier.
    • The plan takes this form: "If [obstacle], then I will [action]." Make the action short and concrete.
    • The four steps work only in order: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan.
    You do
    • Read the five facts aloud, one at a time.
    • After fact 5, write this model on the board and read it: Wish: read for 15 minutes before bed three nights a week in January. Outcome: you feel calm and finish your book. Obstacle: you get tired and reach for a screen. Plan: if you reach for a screen at bedtime, then you put it in another room and read two pages.

    Say: The obstacle is the part most people skip, and it is the part that makes the plan work.

  3. 10:00

    Write your own WOOP

    12 min
    On the board

    Fold your paper into four boxes: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. Wish: something you want to do in January that is hard enough to matter and possible to try. Outcome: how you will feel if it comes true. Obstacle: what inside you might get in the way? Plan: If ___, then ___.

    You do
    • Students fold a paper into four boxes and label them.
    • Walk through one box at a time and give about two minutes to each, always in the same order.
    • Circulate. Check that each obstacle is something inside the student, such as a feeling or a habit, and that each plan follows the form "If ..., then I will ..." with one small action.
    • Wishes can be about school, a hobby, a friendship or a habit. Steer students away from wishes about other people's behavior.

    Say: Your wish has to be hard enough to matter and possible enough to try.

  4. 22:00

    Check the plan

    5 min
    On the board

    Trade with a partner. Check three things. One: the obstacle is inside the person. Two: the plan has an If part and a then part. Three: the action is small enough to picture. Suggest one change, then revise your own plan.

    You do
    • Partners read each other's boxes and suggest one change. They do not need to read the wish aloud.
    • Students revise their own plan after the feedback.
    • Ask one volunteer to read an if-then sentence that has no wish attached, as an example for the class.
  5. 27:00

    Exit ticket

    3 min
    On the board

    Write one if-then sentence you could use over the break or in the first week back. You may hand it in or keep it.

    You do
    • Students write one sentence. Collect the ones students want to hand in and let the rest keep theirs.

Discussion questions

Open an answer when you want it.

Why does WOOP ask you to think about the obstacle, not only the dream?

Mental contrasting pairs a wished-for future with the obstacles in the way. In the 2013 study, the comparison group wrote about another good outcome and built an if-then plan around a positive feeling, and the group that planned around obstacles did better on grades, attendance and conduct in the third quarter.

Why does WOOP ask for an inner obstacle, such as a feeling or habit, rather than an outside barrier?

WOOP asks for an inner obstacle, such as an emotion, a belief or a habit. Accept reasoned answers, for example that you can plan your own response to a feeling more easily than you can change what other people do.

How is an if-then plan different from saying "I will try harder"?

An if-then plan links a specific situation to a specific action, so the situation itself becomes the cue. Gollwitzer's 1999 paper says implementation intentions hand control of the response to anticipated situational cues, which then bring on the response when they are met.

Exit ticket

Write one if-then sentence you could use over the break or in the first week back. You may hand it in or keep it.

A complete if-then sentence names a specific obstacle and one small action, such as "If I feel like skipping practice, then I will put my shoes by the door the night before."

Make it fit your class

Younger students

For grades 1 to 3, use three boxes with pictures: Wish, What gets in the way, and Plan. Students draw each box and say the if-then sentence aloud to a partner. Keep wishes small, such as reading a book. The 2013 study tested fifth graders, so treat this as an adaptation.

Older students

For grades 9 to 12, add a second obstacle and a second plan. Have students read the abstract of Gollwitzer and Sheeran's 2006 meta-analysis and ask what d = .65 does and does not tell them. It is an average over many studies and goals, not a promise for any one student.

Want it printed? These files from our TPT store go with this lesson: Winter Break Social Story.

Where the facts come from

Image credits

Updated October 31, 2026