Grades
3—5
Subject Areas
Supported
Health Education
Objective
Students will
practice identifying
who to ask for
help in various
conflict situations.
Students will also
role play asking
for help.
Time Needed
30 minutes
Preparation
Copy one Asking
for Help activity
sheet for each
student.
Cut and gather
Conflict Cards to
use in Step 2.
Ways to Ask for Help
Step 1: When Do We Need Help? Discussion
Share the following talking points:
 What are some conflicts that you ALWAYS need to talk to an adult about? (any
time you are in danger; conflicts involving violence, weapons, or abuse)
 Today we’re going to talk about different kinds of conflicts, think about the best
people to talk to for each one, and practice what to say when we ask.
Step 2: Conflict Cards
Gather your conflict cards. The conflict cards are a tool that can be used in conjunction
with several activities in this guide. The cards address several types of conflicts, at
varying levels of severity. Many of the conflicts have several possible resolutions, one of
which could be talking to an adult. However, several of the cards describe dangerous

conflicts that must be reported to an adult. These are marked with the Help Icon:
.
You can also use the blank Conflict Cards to write new conflicts specific to your class’
needs.
Step 3: Asking for Help Activity Sheet
Pass out the Asking for Help Activity Sheets. Choose a Conflict Card with a Help Icon to
use as an example. (If you would rather start with a less serious conflict, choose one
without a Help Icon, but that could lend itself to asking for help.) Read the conflict aloud
to the students. Review the “Should I ask for help?” questions introduced in the “Do I
Need Help?” lesson to assess the danger of the conflict. (How dangerous is this
conflict? If I don’t ask for help, what might happen? How fast do I need to find an adult?
Is someone in danger right at this moment?)
Next, lead introduce students to the “How can I get help?” questions below and identify
the answers to each question as a class. Students record their answers in the
corresponding areas of the table on their activity sheets.
HOW CAN I GET HELP?
 WHAT is the conflict?
 WHO could help me with this conflict?
 HOW will I contact that person?
 WHEN will I contact the person?
 WHY did I choose that person to help me?
Note
This activity could
bring up strong
emotions for
children and may
need extra time
for processing if
you choose
serious Conflict
Cards.
Step 4: Role Play Asking for Help
Pair students up. In each pair, one student will be Partner A and the other will be
Partner B. Partner A will pretend to be the person with the conflict, and Partner B will
pretend to be the adult. Partner A practices telling Partner B about the conflict you have
just read and asks for help. The partners then switch and Partner B practices asking for
help. The whole class can do the role play simultaneously, and if a pair would like to
share their role play, they can perform it for the class.
Additional rounds of this activity can be done with new Conflict Cards. Students have
room for 3 conflicts on their activity sheet.
ASKING FOR HELP
Sometimes when you have a conflict, you need to ask for help. Use this sheet to plan…so you’ll be
ready when you need to ask!
For each conflict your teacher reads aloud, write down WHAT, WHO, HOW, WHEN, and WHY.
See the “Sample Conflict” column for an example.
Conflict #1
Conflict #2
Conflict #3
WHAT
What is the conflict?
WHO
Who will you ask for help?
HOW
How will you get in touch?
Phone call, talking in person,
online, text message?
WHEN
When will you talk this
person? What day? What time
of day?
WHY
Why did you choose that
person to help you?
ROLE PLAY CHALLENGE: For each conflict, practice what you will say when you ask for help
with a partner. Let your partner pretend to be the adult and help you out by listening.