Identifying Story Problems and SolutionsActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning works well for this topic because young children understand problems and solutions best when they can see, touch, and act them out. Movement and discussion make abstract story elements concrete, helping students connect classroom ideas to their own experiences and feelings.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify the central problem faced by a character in a familiar story.
- 2Explain how a character's actions lead to a specific solution in a narrative.
- 3Compare two different solutions presented in a story for overcoming a challenge.
- 4Design an alternative solution to a story's problem and explain why it would work.
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Drama: Problem-Solution Freeze Frames
Divide the class into small groups and assign each group one story moment: the problem, a failed attempt, or the solution. Groups create a frozen tableau of their moment and hold it while the rest of the class guesses which part of the story is being shown. Each group then narrates their moment in one sentence.
Prepare & details
Explain how a character's actions contribute to solving the story's problem.
Facilitation Tip: During Problem-Solution Freeze Frames, give each group only one prop to use so they focus on the specific problem the character faces.
Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging
Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet
Think-Pair-Share: What Would You Do?
The teacher pauses the read-aloud just before the character finds a solution and asks students what they would do if they had the same problem. Each student tells a partner their idea and gives one reason for it. After sharing, the class finishes the book and compares their proposed solutions to what the character actually did.
Prepare & details
Compare different solutions characters use to overcome challenges.
Facilitation Tip: During What Would You Do?, pause after each turn-and-talk to call on students who haven’t shared yet to build confidence.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Sorting Activity: Problem or Solution?
Students receive picture cards showing scenes from a just-read story and sort them into two labeled boxes: Problem and Solution. Partners check each other's sorting and discuss any card they disagree on before sharing with the class.
Prepare & details
Design an alternative solution to a story's problem and justify its effectiveness.
Facilitation Tip: During Problem or Solution?, place the yes/no cards on opposite sides of the room so students move their bodies while they sort.
Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging
Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet
Gallery Walk: Story Structure Wall
Post large paper at stations around the room, each labeled with a different familiar story. Students rotate and draw or write the problem and solution for each story. The class then tours the wall together and discusses any responses that surprised them.
Prepare & details
Explain how a character's actions contribute to solving the story's problem.
Facilitation Tip: During Story Structure Wall, provide sticky notes in two colors so students visually mark problems and solutions as they walk around.
Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter
Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback
Teaching This Topic
Teachers often begin by modeling with a familiar story, thinking aloud about the problem and how the character solves it. Avoid jumping to the end too quickly; instead, pause to show how the problem grows or changes. Research suggests children benefit from repeated practice with the same story across days, which builds confidence and depth of understanding.
What to Expect
Successful learning looks like students identifying and explaining the problem and solution with clear language, using gestures or props to show their thinking, and listening to peers with focused attention. They should connect the character’s actions to the outcome in the story.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Problem-Solution Freeze Frames, watch for students who say every action is either a problem or a solution.
What to Teach Instead
Use the freeze frames to model how some actions are attempts that don’t work right away, so students see the problem can shift before it is solved.
Common MisconceptionDuring What Would You Do?, watch for students who say the problem is solved in a single step.
What to Teach Instead
Ask them to describe what happens after each suggestion and whether the problem is fully resolved or just starting to be fixed.
Common MisconceptionDuring Problem or Solution?, watch for students who think help from others means the character didn’t really solve the problem.
What to Teach Instead
Point to examples where characters work together and ask, 'How did the teamwork help the problem go away?' to reinforce collaborative solutions.
Assessment Ideas
After Problem-Solution Freeze Frames, give each student a picture from a familiar story and ask them to draw a line from the character to the problem and then draw the solution the character found.
After What Would You Do?, read a short story aloud and ask, 'What was the main problem for the character?' Then ask, 'What did the character do to solve the problem? How did that action help?'
During Problem or Solution?, hold up two objects that could solve a simple problem and ask students to choose one and explain why it is a good solution, listening for whether they connect the object to the problem.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge early finishers to create a new problem and solution for the story and act it out with a partner.
- Scaffolding for struggling students: Provide picture cards of possible problems and solutions to sort before reading a new story.
- Deeper exploration: Invite students to write or dictate a short story with at least one problem and one solution, then share it with a partner.
Key Vocabulary
| Problem | A difficult or challenging situation that a character in a story needs to fix or overcome. |
| Solution | The way a character in a story solves a problem or overcomes a difficulty. |
| Character | A person or animal who takes part in the action of a story. |
| Action | Something a character does in a story that helps to solve a problem. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for English Language Arts
ELA
An English Language Arts template structured around reading, writing, speaking, and language skills, with sections for text selection, close reading, discussion, and written response.
Unit PlannerThematic Unit
Organize a multi-week unit around a central theme or essential question that cuts across topics, texts, and disciplines, helping students see connections and build deeper understanding.
RubricSingle-Point Rubric
Build a single-point rubric that defines only the "meets standard" level, leaving space for teachers to document what exceeded and what fell short. Simple to create, easy for students to understand.
More in Worlds of Wonder: Exploring Narratives
Identifying Characters and Their Traits
Exploration of how characters act and feel within a story and how those feelings change over time.
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Understanding Story Settings
Identifying where and when a story takes place using both illustrations and text clues.
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Sequencing Key Events in Narratives
Understanding the sequence of events and how problems are solved by the end of a narrative.
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Connecting Text to Self, Text, and World
Students make personal connections to stories, relate them to other texts, and link them to real-world experiences.
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Recognizing Author and Illustrator Roles
Understanding that authors write the words and illustrators draw the pictures, and how both contribute to the story.
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