Problems at School

Students investigate the types of conflicts that can arise at school, their possible causes, and the ways to avoid them. They begin to strategize about how they can become problem solvers in the future, and even avoid problems to begin with.

Strategies for Solving Problems

Students investigate strategies, or plans that can help them solve problems. They generate and present strategies for solving problems that are specific to distinct school locations in order to prepare them for problem solving in the future.

Problem-Solving Skits

Students work in small groups to create skits showing a common problem in the school community and two different strategies for solving it.

Friendship Takes Work

Students use illustrations from the book Friendshape by Amy Krouse Rosenthal to consider what it means to be a friend. They discuss positive actions like patience, negotiation, and cooperation, as well as the challenges of working through problems with friends. Then, they apply these skills to a team challenge in which they create a vignette about friendship using only 4 basic shapes, in the style of the book’s illustrations.

Be an Upstander

Students read One by Katryn Otoshi to explore how being an upstander can make a difference in a community. They use evidence from the illustrations to make inferences about characters' thoughts and feelings, and explore the story’s problem and resolution. They then create a page showing how they can use their unique talents and personalities to be an upstander when others are treated badly.

Be a Problem Solver (Checkpoint Assessment)

Through this Essential Question, students have explored how they can be a problem solver. This final lesson may be used as a checkpoint assessment of cumulative learning throughout this Essential Question. Here, students use what they have learned to propose an effective solution to a common school problem.