Size of the Problem, Small, Medium or Big

Practice star breathing together before starting the other pages. When sorting problems by size, talk about how a big reaction to a small problem can make it bigger. Keep each student's calm down plan somewhere they can find it on a hard day.

Six self-control pages for 1st and 2nd grade. Students read and sort helpful and unhelpful calm down strategies, sort problems by size, put the stop and think steps in order, and decide whether each picture shows self-control at school. They also trace a star while breathing in and out, and make a calm down plan for different feelings. Four pages have an answer key.

Yes, both. We made it for 1st Grade social-emotional learning, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with self-control and calming strategies. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Children trace a star with a finger, breathing in as they trace up to a point and out as they trace down. Five points give five slow breaths, which is often enough to settle a big feeling.

The strategies a child chooses for different feelings, like deep breaths, a drink of water or asking for a break. Writing it down when calm makes it easier to use when upset.

At 6 to 8, children are ready for bigger feeling words like frustrated, nervous and proud, and for noticing what caused a feeling. They practice solving friendship problems, giving compliments, seeing a situation from someone else's point of view, telling a small problem from a big one, and choosing a calm down strategy that works for them. These worksheets add short reading and writing to each skill.

A growth mindset is the belief that you can get better at something with practice and effort. A child with a fixed mindset says I can't do it, while a child with a growth mindset says I can't do it yet. The growth mindset pages have children sort fixed and growth mindset sentences, add the word yet, and read a short story about a girl who learns from a mistake.

Size of the problem is a way to help children match their reaction to what happened. A small problem, like losing a pencil, needs a small reaction and can be fixed alone. A big problem, like someone getting hurt, needs a grown-up right away. Sorting problems into small, medium and big on paper makes it easier to remember in the moment.

No. Social-emotional learning is taught alongside the core subjects, and these pages are not tagged to a Common Core or C3 Framework standard. Many schools follow their own SEL program, and these worksheets fit next to any of them as practice and discussion starters.