Flexible Thinking Lesson Plan

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Standards Addressed

• Social Awareness:  the ability to demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives of others and show respect and empathy
• Responsible Decision-Making: learning how to make decisions after analyzing information, data, and facts

Objectives

• Students will be able to generate at least two possible solutions to a problem

• Students will practice considering different perspectives

Assessment

• Students can be assessed in the following areas:
  • Participation in group discussion
  • Number and variety of solutions generated for sample problems

Materials

• Whiteboard and markers
• Paper and pencils

Activating Prior Knowledge

• Start a discussion by asking, “When you want to play a game but your friend wants to play something else, what do you do?”

Lesson Steps

1) Define flexible thinking: being able to change our plans or ideas when needed.

2) Present a scenario on the board (e.g., “You planned to go outside for recess, but it starts raining”).

3) Ask students to brainstorm as many solutions as possible. Write their answers on the board.

4) Divide students into pairs. Give each pair a different scenario, and ask them to come up with at least two solutions.

• Sample Scenarios:
  • Missed the bus
  • Forgot homework
  • Partner doesn’t want to do the same project idea
  • Computer stops working in class
  • Two students want to sit in the same seat
  • Spilled water on your school work

Add more scenarios if necessary.

5) Have pairs share their solutions with the class. After each pair, ask the whole class: Are there other solutions that could work for this scenario?

Optional: Encourage students to evaluate the quality of the solutions by asking: Which of these solutions is the fastest? Most creative? Easiest? Etc.

Reflection

• Ask students: “Why is it helpful to have more than one way to solve a problem?”

Here is the printable version of  Flexible Thinking Lesson Plan.

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