Problem
&
Solution
Story elements
in stories and books.
by Carolyn Wilhelm
Illustrations by Siri Wilhelm
Attachments:
Problem - Solution
Student Assessment
Rubric
Problem Solution
Bookmarks, art
by Siri Wilhelm
Sample class chart
using Young Cam
Jansen and the
Dinosaur Game
What in the world are we learning about today?
PROBLEM
and
SOLUTION
Did you ever have a problem? Did you
know stories have problems, too? That
is what makes them interesting.
When Reading, you will place this bookmark in your
book where the story problem is found.
Place this bookmark on the page in your book where
the story solution is found.
You will have two bookmarks to place in your story.
The correct answer will
move when clicked:
Passage from Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax:
Is this a problem or a solution?
He snapped, “I’m the Lorax who speaks for the trees
which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please.
But I’m also in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots
who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loots suits
and happily lived, eating Truffula Fruits.
“Now . . . thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground,
there’s not enough Truffula Fruit to go ’round.
And my poor Bar-ba-loots are all getting the crummies
because they have gas, and no food, in their tummies!
From Six by Seuss: A Treasury of Dr. Seuss Classics
(Random House, 1991), p. 319
Problem
Solution
The correct answer will fade
when clicked:
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Williams:
Is this a problem or a solution?
Mom immediately sees that "Knuffle Bunny" is
missing and so it's back to the Laundromat they go.
After several tries, dad finds the toy among the wet
laundry.
Problem
Solution
Class example:
Young Cam Jansen and the Dinosaur Game
by David a. Adler
What we noticed about the writing of the problem and solution in
this story:
Robert's guess was too
amazing. Everyone else
guessed a round number,
and Robert's was the only
not rounded off number.
Cam said to Robert
that he wrote his
exact guess after Mrs.
Bell told the number
and revealed clues.
Class discussion pages:
Can we figure out this story?
Move the sentences to the right story elements:
Characters
When and
Where
Problem
Cell phones don't work well in the school.
A tornado had hit the school and we were locked in with
automatic locks.
My friend and I!
Reasons for the Problem
Possible Solutions
We could signal with mirrors out of the window in the
moonlight!
At school at midnight!
We had no food and the phones were dead.
There was no electricity.
Online links :
PBS online stories to consider
problem and solution
Problem Solution
Online lesson: setting, plot, and theme
Setting, Plot, or Theme
Discussion:
Did these people have problems to solve?
Match the person with the problem.
MLK
Lincoln
Civil Rights in
the 1960's
Washington
The Civil War
Should he become
the first president?
Attachments
Problem Solution Bookmarks.pdf
Young Cam Jansen and the Dinosaur Game.pdf
ProblemSolutionStudentAssessmentRubric.pdf