Social Problem-Solving Skills - Grades 1-5
Identify consequences of a decision to oneself and others prior to action
Identify possible behaviors and anticipate reaction in response to a specific social context
Respond to others given a sense of the others' point of view
Identify consequences of a decision to oneself and others prior to action
- Identify possible outcomes prior to making a decision.
- Explain how a decision's outcome will affect others.
- Identify how self-care practices affect oneself and others.
| - Have students develop skits on bullying and the different roles (i.e., target of bullying, student who bullies, bystander, and defender) to present to elementary students.
- Discuss with students what they would do when confronted with a moral dilemma (e.g., finding a lost cell phone, being with a friend who steals).
- Bring in a guest speaker who works to prevent or investigate incidents of cyber-bullying.
- Discuss with students logical consequences for positive and negative actions in school and in the community.
| - Have students research the influences (negative and positive) of social media and present findings either in a paper or presentation.
- Have students identify bullying and harassment situations in history, literature, the workplace, and/or current events, and ask them to analyze the strategies used by persons involved for effectiveness.
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Identify possible behaviors and anticipate reaction in response to a specific social context
- Describe how one may react in familiar and unfamiliar contexts.
- Describe how differing social settings may require different responses.
| - Allow students the opportunity to make decisions about appropriate class rules and identify the consequences when rules are broken.
- Teach students to use "when-then" and "either-or" statements to determine consequences of their actions in a variety of settings.
- Provide students with role-play scenarios on peer pressure that take place in and outside of school and discuss possible responses.
- Have students create a chart of the pros and cons of either a personal decision or a classroom/school decision.
- Teach students a formula for making good decisions (e.g., identify the problem, consider the
alternatives, make a choice, try it out, re-evaluate)
| - Discuss consequences of making both good and poor choices in a workplace setting.
- Read stories to students in which characters have made a choice or decision, and discuss the consequences, both positive and negative.
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Respond to others given a sense of the others' point of view
- Demonstrate active listening techniques to gain a deeper understanding of other's point of view.
- Respond to others based on an understanding of their needs and preferences.
| - Have students work in small groups to discuss and report out on the verbal, physical, or situational cues that indicate how others may feel.
- Give student teams separate lists of emotions. Have them design and perform skits showing all the emotions, while the other teams try to guess what emotions were on their list.
- Discuss with students how recognizing different points of view is important for different jobs (e.g., judge, teacher, police officer, reporter, teacher, etc.).
| - Have students dress up as characters in history or literature and act out how those individuals were feeling and how it affected their behavior.
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