CHARACTER COUNTS! Kindness 101

Problem Solving – How a 7-Year-Old Won the Battle to Make Female Toy Soldiers

Effective problem solving can help us make changes to the world.

Problem Solving
Grade Level: K-12
 
Character Skills
  • Respect
  • Citizenship
SEL Skills
  • Social Awareness
Academic Skills
  • Effective Problem Solving

Definitions

Respect
  • Follow the Golden Rule.
  • Be accepting of differences.
  • Be courteous to others.
  • Deal peacefully with anger, insults, and disagreements.
  • Be considerate of others’ feelings.
Citizenship
  • Do your share to make your home, school, and community better.
  • Cooperate.
  • Stay informed. Vote.
  • Be a good neighbor.
  • Make choices that protect the safety and rights of others.
  • Protect the environment.
Social Awareness

Assess and be sensitive to the feelings and needs of others.

Effective Problem Solving

Make rational, ethical, and effective decisions to find the best solutions to problems.

Learn more about our character, SEL, and academic outcomes.
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The Ray Center at Drake University
CBS News

Students will consider things that need improving in the world and how they could go about making those improvements.

Download Google Slides
activiate prior knowledge

Activate Prior Knowledge

  • When have you noticed something that you felt should be changed?
  • What does it mean to have a problem?
Kindness 101

Kindness 101 Video

discussion

Discussion Prompts

  • How did Vivian show problem-solving skills in the video?
  • How do you know when something needs to be changed, or that there is a problem that needs to be solved?
  • Why is creating change difficult?
  • Who can make changes in your community?
materials

Activity Materials

  • Writing utensils
  • Paper
activity

Activity: Improvements

  • Break students into small groups of 3-4. Each group should have a piece of paper and a writing utensil.
  • Students will brainstorm a list of things that need improvement (e.g., a toy like they saw in the video or a social issue at school). 
  • Each group will share one of their ideas with the class.
  • After groups have shared their ideas, talk about the video.
    • What was the solution to the issue with toy soldiers in the video?
    • What were other approaches to solve this problem?
  • Break students back into the same small groups they started in. They will pick one of the things on their brainstorming list and come up with at least three potential solutions to solve the problem. 
  • Give students the chance to share their solutions with the class.  
  • Follow-up questions:
    • How did it feel to brainstorm problems and solutions?
    • How can we work together to solve problems we see?
journal prompts

Journal Prompts

K-5

  • What’s a toy or invention that you think could be improved? How would you improve it?
  • Why is change important?

6-12

  • What should be changed in your community? Why?
  • Create an action plan to make that change.
  • Why is problem solving a necessary skill to have in life?
family connection

Family Connection

Educators: Copy the Family Connection and email it to parents, or click here to download a PDF version to email or print.

Watch
Watch the video as a family: https://youtu.be/KdRWszFXqkc.

Discuss
Use these questions to start meaningful conversations about problem solving.

  • When have you noticed that something needed to be changed? What did you do about it?
  • Why is problem solving important?
  • What needs to be changed at home? Make a plan to implement that change.

Lesson contributed by Kim Fox-Kristensen, retired educator, Clovis, CA

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