Grades 3–5
Goal-Setting Words
Fill in six goal words, plan, progress, obstacle, deadline, motivation and celebrate, then describe a goal with them.
SEL worksheet · Goal setting
Helps or Gets in the Way?
Kai wants to read 20 minutes every night. Sort twelve things into what helps his goal and what gets in the way.
- Grade level
- Grades 3–5
- Time
- About 20 minutes
- Topic
- Goal setting
- Answer key
- Yes, page 2 of the PDF
- Kids practice
- Goal setting, Planning, Tracking progress, Self-reflection
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- Kai’s goal: read for 20 minutes every night before bed.
- Write each one in the right box.
- Helps Kai’s goal
- Something that gets in the way, and my fix:
Teacher tip
Ask kids what gets in the way of their own reading time.
How to use it
- Check in on goals every Friday for a few minutes.
- Let kids choose a school, home or fun goal.
- Model your own answer first. Kids open up more when the grown-up goes first.
Watch for
Goals that are too big or too vague. Help kids make them specific.
Talk about it
- What might get in the way, and what will you do then?
- How might someone else see it differently?
Take it further
Hold a goal celebration when kids reach theirs.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More goal setting worksheets
Grades 2–5
Goal Progress Thermometer
Write a goal and ten steps up the thermometer, then color it in as you get closer to the top.
Grades 2–4
School, Health or Kindness Goal?
Sort twelve goals into school, health and kindness goals, then write one goal of your own for each kind.
Grades 3–5
Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan
Plan a goal four ways: your wish, the best outcome, the obstacle inside you that could get in the way and a plan to beat it.
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