Problem and Solution

Problem and solution seem to be skills we are continually working on. I have found that my students understand the terms and can repeat their definitions verbatim, but still struggle with identfying the elements in texts.

For this lesson, we began by reading aloud A Chair for My Mother. This is one of my favorite books, and I find that it works for a variety of skills and lessons. After the read aloud, we began creating an anchor chart. We filled out the chart as we read different stories. 

Students created their own versions of the anchor chart in their reader's notebooks. I modeled finding the problem and solution for A Chair for my Mother. For the guided practice portion of the lesson, students independently read the short story Just Another Game. This is a story published by Highlights in which a boy is nervous for his first soccer game in the starting lineup. This game just happens to be the championship game as well! Since he is nervous, he keeps messing up. After some advice from his brother, he finally relaxes and helps his team win. (You can get your own copy of the story by clicking on the link.) We identified the problem and solution for the story together and added these to our anchor chart and students' individual charts.

For the independent practice portion of the lesson, students independently read Just a Girl. (I used a version from EBSCOhost, but you can find a plainer version without the illustrations here.) I love this story because it is about a young girl in Yemen who is not allowed to attend school. She saves her brother's life after he is stung by a scorpion. With this act, she proves to her father that she deserves to be allowed to go to school. After students read the story, they recorded the problem and solution on the charts in their reader's notebooks. 

My students did a fantastic job with the independent practice portion of the lesson. We will continue to practice identifying problem and solution in a variety of texts. How do you help your students identify problems and solution in context?