Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Lesson Plan

SEL Problem Solving with a Dragon on the Farm lesson plan student level: K to 2nd grade elementary

SEL problem solving and strategy planning lesson plan materials required:

• The children's picture book, Old MacDonald had a Dragon by Ken Baker, illustrated by Christopher Santoro
• SEL problem solving and strategy planning handouts and emotion cards

SEL problem solving and strategy planning lesson plan activity time: 30 to 45 minutes

Objective of SEL problem solving and strategy planning lesson plan: Help students explore and develop problem‐solving skills, emotional self-awareness, self-management, teamwork relationship skills, and responsible decision‐making by discussing and planning how Old MacDonald could have better dealt with the problem of his dragon eating the animals on the farm.

Preparation for SEL problem solving and strategy planning lesson plan: Make enough copies of the SEL problem‐solving and strategy planning lesson plan handouts for each student. Print the SEL Problem‐solving Emotion cards

Introduction to SEL Problem Solving with a Dragon on the Farm lesson plan:
Discuss with the class that we all have emotions and that some emotions can be hard to deal with. How we respond to and manage our emotions and feelings have consequences and can positively or negatively affect our interactions and relationships with others.

Hold up one of the SEL Problem-solving Emotion cards (i.e., happy face or sad face). Ask the students what emotion they think the card represents and if it's a hard or easy to deal with emotion. Ask them why it might be hard or easy to deal with. What could be some negative outcome of not properly handling this emotion? Discuss strategies for better managing these emotions, such as deep‐breathing, counting until they calm down, taking a personal timeout, building a calm‐down kit, creating a plan ahead of time for dealing with emotions, and talking with a trusted adult about their feelings in a calm manner (use their words).

Activity to Teach, Reinforce, and Assess Students SEL Problem‐solving Skills:
Read the picture book Old MacDonald had a Dragon to the whole class. After reading the book, discuss with the class the following:

• What different emotions did the farmer feel when the dragon starting swallowing the farm animals?
• When the farmer didn 't do anything about his feelings, did it make the problem go away?
• When the farmer kicked and yelled at the dragon, did it make things better? Why not?
• What emotion was the farmer feeling? What might have been better ways for the farmer to respond to his feelings of anger?

Problem‐solving Strategy Activity :
Divide the class into groups and give each child an SEL Problem‐solving strategy handout. Describe to the students a scenario of your choosing that would likely elicit some big feelings (i.e., another student taking one of their toys). Then have the students discuss different strategies for dealing with the scenario based on the steps in the handout:

1. Pause
2. Identify the problem and the feeling
3. Brainstorm and choose how to properly manage the feeling
4. Brainstorm and choose how to best address the problem

After the students in the group have discussed the steps, have each child create their own strategy by filling out the handout for themselves. If desired, after the groups have finished their strategy session, you could ask some to share their strategies and/or act them out in a role‐playing activity.

Reflection:
Ask the students:

• What did you learn about emotions and feelings?
• What are some ways you can positively deal with difficult emotions or feelings?
• What did you learn about ways to address problems?

Print Lesson Plan and Handouts
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