How to Apply Emotion Vocabulary to Problem Solving!
Vocabulary for emotions is an important life skill to teach all children! It helps them to be able to think about and deal with the emotions they are feeling, as well as talk about it. The last post shares tips and resources for teaching emotions vocabulary and extending it to solving problems. To really be able to solve social problems, though, students need to be able to see another person’s point of view.
Problem Solving
Use problem scenarios to apply the vocabulary your students just learned. Let them identify feelings and take the perspectives of other people in varied situations, explaining the points of view on what events in the situation cause them to feel that way.
This type of activity is great for groups, as students may have different takes or opinions on how the characters in the scenario might feel, and often want to convince their friends of their own perspective. Coming up with alternative ways to solve the problem situation and practicing what to say (and how to say it!) are important skills, too.
Perspective Taking Worksheets and Activity Ideas
Teaching Ideas – Perspective-Taking Skills
If you haven’t seen Jill Kuzma’s website yet, you should definitely go there first! It is one of the best resources I have found!
Let’s Face It – Talking Perspectives
This free download gives teaching hints for using interpreting faces in photos to figure out the person’s perspective. It includes actual photos to use, also! 
Once my students can discuss these situations, it is time to get them using them in a more realistic time frame. Real-life doesn’t let us stop, think, discuss it with an adult and then respond!
Games
Bubble Talk is one of my favorite games! The pictures are hilarious and students need to interpret facial expressions and nonverbal cues to figure out what the people could be saying. Other games and ideas can be found at:
Games that promote problem-solving skills
This free download gives lots of ideas for group games to play.
This free download has activities for teens.
Role playing
Busy Teacher Role Playing Games
You have to sign up for a free account here, but new materials are uploaded weekly by ESL teachers. Just in case you are looking for additional help, these links are worth checking out, too!
Normative information, Research on adolescents and social skills
Healthy Social Skills – US Dept of Health & Human Services
Great resource for varied topics related to learning disabilities
LD Online Teaching Social Skills
If you are looking for engaging activities, printable games, and homework worksheets. try this clinician tested packet that works for mixed-level groups!
Enjoy!
