Grades 4–5
SODAS Decision Maker
Use SODAS for a big decision: name the situation, list three options with their advantages and disadvantages, then choose a solution.
SEL worksheet · Problem solving and decisions
What Would You Do? Cards
Nine cut-apart problem cards, like finding $5 or being dared to climb the fence. Pick one and talk through what you would do.
- Grade level
- Grades 2–5
- Time
- About 20 minutes
- Answer key
- Not needed: answers vary
- Kids practice
- Problem solving, Decision making, Thinking about consequences, Safety
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- How to play: cut the cards apart and put them face down. Take turns picking a card, reading it out loud and telling what you would do. Stop, think, then choose!
- You can’t find your group on a field trip.
- You knock paint onto a friend’s picture.
- A friend dares you to climb the school fence.
- You break a dish when no one is looking.
- Your friends start a game without you.
- You don’t understand the homework.
- A friend asks to copy your test answers.
Teacher tip
Use one card a day during morning meeting.
How to use it
- Use real (and safe) classroom problems as extra examples.
- Let kids share how they decided, not just what they picked.
- Use it during morning meeting or right after recess, when the topic is fresh.
Watch for
Some scenarios involve safety. Make sure every child knows which grown-ups to tell.
Talk about it
- Is there another choice no one thought of?
- How might someone else see it differently?
Take it further
Act out a scenario two ways: one choice and then another.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More problem solving and decisions worksheets
Grades 2–5
Plan B: Flexible Thinking
When Plan A falls through, think flexibly: write a Plan B for six letdowns, from a rainy picnic to a lost game.
Grades 3–5
Ask the Advice Column
Be the advice columnist: read three letters from kids with problems and write what they could do and your best advice.
Grades 2–4
Problem-Solving Word Search
Find twelve problem-solving words, like option, calm and fair, hidden across, down and on a slant, then use one in a tip.
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