In need of a resource for teaching problem-solving to your elementary students? Look no further, download our free elementary problem-solving worksheet!
Teaching Problem-Solving to Elementary Students
You can successfully teach problem-solving using Everyday Speech’s free problem-solving worksheet! Problem-solving is a complex goal that pulls together multiple cognitive skills used in order to make decisions. New thinking pathways are created as students practice a series of steps to analyze the problem, determine if there is a need for help, devise logical solutions, and use critical thinking skills to choose the best solution.
Lesson Plan – Using Your Free Problem-Solving Worksheet
1. Introduce the Problem-Solving Steps
Before using our free problem-solving worksheet with your student, introduce the problem-solving steps. The five problem-solving steps become a mental checklist that learners can use to solve their problems without needing an adult’s assistance. The problem-solving steps are: identify the problem, decide if you need help, come up with multiple solutions, choose the best solution, and decide if the problem is solved.
2. Practice Using the Problem-Solving Steps
Provide your student with the opportunity to apply the problem-solving steps by giving them 2-3 hypothetical problems they need to solve. Help them work through the 5 problem-solving steps to find the right solution!
3. Use Our Free Elementary Problem-Solving Material
Our free elementary problem-solving material called ‘Pick the Solution to the Problem’ provides your students with the opportunity to pick the correct solution to a problem based on its size. You can teach your students that we must remember that small problems are problems we can handle independently or on our own, whereas big problems need help from an adult to be resolved.
Sample Elementary Problem-Solving Video:
This sample elementary video on problem-solving is s great enhancement to this lesson! Everyday Speech provides real-life scenarios as age-appropriate actors model new skills. We offer a 30-day free trial for all of our social skills materials!
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