Problem Solving Activities

FREE Book Order Proposal: Real Life Problem Solving for Classroom Library

Practice adding decimal money amounts, then use a book order form and a proposal form to select and justify books to purchase for the classroom library within a set budget; students set personal learning goals and self-assess understanding during the project.

Includes: unit description and rationale for teaching money/decimals via project · Day 1-3 GANAG-structured lesson plan with CCSS.Math.Practice standards (MP1, MP3, MP6) and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1b · sample decimal addition problems

21st Century Skills - Learning Problem Solving Gr. 3-8+

Complete pre-assessment and worksheet activities tied to reading passages; participate in role-playing scenarios, creative art projects, and project-based exercises focused on the problem-solving process; check answers using the Easy Marking Answer Key.

Includes: reproducible student handout worksheets, each with a pre-assessment activity and a worksheet activity tied to a reading passage · Easy Marking Answer Key for student activities

Critical Thinking Skills for Pre-Schoolers

Work individually or in a group with an adult (~30 min/day) on activities such as: cutting/reassembling picture puzzles and playing a 'Color Stop' music game (Monday); comparing/sorting opposites and a big/little treasure hunt (Tuesday); categorizing and math analogies (Wednesday); pattern making (Thursday); identifying missing items…

Problem Solving Strategies BINGO and Calming Strategies

For the BINGO game, students receive a strategies board, listen to a read-aloud scenario card, and place a chip/marker on the strategy they think would be helpful for that scenario (with two scenario sets differentiated for younger vs. older/upper-elementary students), discussing choices as they play. For the calming materials, students…

Includes: Calm Down Strategies poster (2 pages) · Calming Breathing Exercises posters (18 pages, individual technique cards e.g. Climb A Mountain, Belly Breaths, Butterfly Breaths, Counting Breaths) · editable BINGO PowerPoint pages (2 pages)

Michael's Mystery Game-A Fun SEL Cooperative Game

In groups of 4-5, each student receives some of 18 clue slips (cut from the handout) and reads them aloud without showing others; the group must deduce, from three columns of options (What is missing? / Who took it? / Where is it?), the single correct combination by eliminating possibilities using the clues, with one student allowed a…

Includes: Scenario/rules page: football-themed mystery setup (fictional quarterback 'Michael Tuffstuff' of the 'Washington Gorillas'), grouping and clue-distribution… · Answer-option grid: 6 possible 'what is missing', 'who took it', and 'where is it' options · 18 clue statements (cut-apart) for elimination logic

Adventures in Team Building: Problem-solving Activities to Build Community in the Classroom

Students participate in short, low-prep group games and activities (e.g. letter/word games, scavenger hunts, cooperative art and science tasks) using reproducible game cards included in the book, working in teams selected via a described team-selection method.

Includes: how-to-use guide · National Standards alignment reference

Online Astronaut Game Build-a-Mission Problem Solving Writing Extension Activity

Online Astronaut Game Build-a-Mission Problem Solving Writing Extension Activity The Online Astronaut Game Build-a-Mission Problem Solving Writing Extension Activity is a resourceful teaching tool designed to engage students in children's writing and problem solving. Available for Grade 1 to Grade 5, this creative learning solution…

NO PRINT Digital Desk Pet Vet Problem Solving Scenarios

Students hear/read a vet-visit scenario ('Dr. Orr's Notes') about a named animal and classify it as No Problem / Small Problem / Huge Problem, then predict what will happen next from three outcome choices, receiving immediate correct-answer feedback and occasional 'earned item' rewards.

Includes: ~20 'Dr. Orr's Notes' branching scenarios: read scenario, choose No Problem/Small Problem/Huge Problem, then choose predicted outcome from 3 options, with…

Sudoku for Beginners with 4 Shapes

Solve four 2x2 block sudoku puzzles so each shape appears exactly once per row, column, and block, either by drawing shapes in the squares or by cutting out and placing/gluing shape pieces.

Includes: overview/how-to-use instructions page · 4 sudoku puzzles (2x2 block, 4 shapes) · answer keys for all 4 puzzles

Adventures in Team Building: Problem-solving Activities to Build Community in the Classroom for Gr. 1-2

Students participate in short, low-prep group games and activities (e.g. letter/word games, scavenger hunts, cooperative art and science tasks) using reproducible game cards included in the book, working in teams selected via a described team-selection method.

Includes: how-to-use guide · National Standards alignment reference

Online Superhero Chef Astronaut Game Problem Solving Writing Extension Activity

About the Extension Activity The Online Superhero Chef Astronaut Game Problem Solving Writing Extension Activity is a unique educational resource designed to stimulate creativity and problem-solving skills among students. It is aimed for children studying in grades 1 through 5, with applications in Language Arts as well as Life Studies…

Chess Printable Board Game (Editable Google Slides)

Print and cut out the chessboard and pieces, learn simplified chess rules (setup, piece movement, special moves like castling/en passant/pawn promotion), and play a two-player chess game.

Includes: rules page (setup, order of play, regular moves, special moves) · printable chessboard

Strategy Mastermind: Thinking Like a Gamer to Solve Real-World Problem

A 340-page book by Syed Hammad Rizvi teaching middle- and high-school students to apply strategic-thinking skills learned from video games (focus, pattern recognition, planning, resource management, adaptive strategy, game theory) to real-world academic and life problem-solving.

Includes: title/cover page

Reading & Writing Adventures in Team Building: Building Community in the Classroom

Work in randomly-assigned teams to complete language-arts-based team activities: write detailed object descriptions for teammates to guess (Creative Clues), write a magazine-photo character introduction using adjectives, compete to write alliterative sentences using letter cards within a time limit (All Alliteration), and write a…

Includes: introductory teacher guide on selecting/forming teams fairly (by alphabetical order, birthday, street name/address, phone number, drawn numbers) · 'Creative Clues' object-description guessing game (materials: word lists, paper, pencils) · 'An Introduction with Adjectives' magazine-photo character-description activity (materials: magazine, scissors, paper, pencils) with an extension activity

Superhero Problem Solving, Debate & Writing Activity

Online Superhero Game Build-a-Hero Extension Activity The Online Superhero Game Build-a-Hero Extension Activity is a teaching resource suitable for grades 1 to 5, with a particular focus on subjects such as Language Arts, Life Studies, and Specialty Resources in the curriculum . It's an exercise designed to stimulate creativity and…

Using Helpful Strategies, Social Skills Story and Activities

Read/view an illustrated story (as an animated slideshow and/or printed storybook) about recognizing problems, controlling behavior, and choosing helpful strategies (e.g., take a deep breath, ask for help, try a different way, talk to a friend, count to 10) over hurtful ones; complete a worksheet identifying strategies to stay calm, fix…

Includes: animated slideshow story version (.ppsx, 12 slides) - 'Using Helpful Strategies: When I Am Having A Problem'

Problem Solving Puzzle Activity

Students match 'hurtful' statements (e.g. 'Give me that car!') to more 'helpful' rephrased alternatives (e.g. 'Would I be able to play with the car after you?') and record their matches on a recording sheet.

Includes: directions page · matching puzzle pairs of hurtful/helpful sayings (at least 8 pairs seen across the excerpt) · Problem Solving Puzzle Recording Sheet

Problem Solving

Students work through a sequence of worksheet exercises: getting facts from a picture/table/table of contents/calendar/graph/story, keeping count with tally marks, finding number/letter patterns, writing number sentences and addition/subtraction problems, using facts from tables or graphs, making their own graph, writing their own…

Includes: a removable four-page answer leaflet in the middle of the book

20 Logic Puzzles for Grades 5-8

Solve 20 varied logic puzzles (pattern sequences, code-breaking, family/age riddles, magic squares, logic grids, weighing/deduction problems, a locked-code puzzle, etc.), writing answers in blanks provided.

Includes: an introduction page ('Welcome, Super Sleuths!') · 20 labeled puzzles covering pattern sequences, code-breaking, family/age riddles, magic squares, a logic grid, a staircase-combinatorics problem, a… · a full 'Answer Sheet' with worked/explained solutions for all 20 puzzles

PERSPECTIVE TAKING Comic Strip Style, Black and White Version For 3rd-5th Grade

Given a scenario card, write and/or draw across three comic-strip boxes what a character says, what happens next, and the end result, adding thought/speech bubbles and an emotion word, then (in later levels) propose 'A Better Way' the situation could have gone.

Includes: instructions for 3 scaffolded activity levels (teacher-led to student-generated scenarios) · comic strip scenario cards (at least 10, black-and-white) · 3-box comic strip response templates with thought/speech bubble and emotion prompts

Use the Clues: Differentiated Collaborative Problem Solving (Grades 3-5)

Take a pre-test to be grouped by level; participate in a modeled 'fishbowl' demonstration of group-work expectations; in groups of 3-4, each read a private clue aloud, combine clues to solve a multi-step word problem, show work, agree on a common answer, then complete a written self/group reflection.

Includes: teacher preparation instructions · pre-test (3 questions, used to assign difficulty level/groups) · fishbowl activity t-chart handout

Self-Guided Logic Activities #2: Interpretations and Problem Solving:

Work individually through the packet's units (investigating, writing, drawing, or solving problems as directed), then check answers/discussion against the Student Self-Check section for each unit.

Includes: cover/title page · 'Notes on the Units' teacher guidance (per-unit background, grouping suggestions, and Targeted Learner Outcomes) for: Unit 3: Utah or Maine? (interpreting… · student activity pages for each listed unit

Power Skills (Collaboration/Problem-Solving) Project Worksheets

Students read extended expository chapters on collaboration (psychological safety, Tuckman's stages of group development, the 'Silent Synthesis' ideation protocol) and problem-solving (First Principles thinking, divergent/convergent thinking, the 'Assumption Autopsy' method) and on navigating conflict (cognitive vs. affective conflict),…

Includes: Phase 1 title page: 'Power Skills: The Architecture of Collaboration and Problem-Solving' · Introduction & Methodology section on 'Power Skills' framing and constructivist/experiential pedagogy · Chapter 1: The Architecture of Collaboration (psychological safety, Tuckman's four stages, the Tham Luang cave rescue case study, the Silent Synthesis protocol)

Problem Solving Behaviors | Differentiated Activities For K-5th Grade

Students follow an animated social story ('I Can Use Helpful Strategies... When Having A Problem' for K-2, and a parallel 'Using Helpful Strategies' story for grades 3-5) that walks through recognizing a problem, staying calm, and identifying/practicing helpful coping strategies; accompanying printable bundles and an editable PowerPoint…

Includes: K-2 animated slideshow story (11 pages) · K-2 printable bundle PDF (51 pages) · editable PowerPoint (15 pages)