PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
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SESSION 7: Problem-Solving Process
Sections
Materials
I. Review Homework
Activity and Practice Skills
Time
10 minutes
II. Problem-Solving
Process
Problem-Solving
Poster, ProblemSolving Cards for
each student
15 minutes
III. Practice ProblemSolving Process
Flip chart and
markers
15 minutes
IV. Homework Activity
Homework
Handout
5 minutes
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
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PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
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SESSION 7: PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS
I. Review Homework Activity and Practice Skills (10 minutes)
 Purpose: Reflect on students’ experience and comfort level with skills from
last session.

Go over Homework Handout.

Skill instructor should provide additional instruction and practice of skills from
previous sessions as needed.
II. Problem-Solving Process (15 minutes)
 Purpose: To teach students how to engage in effective problem-solving and
decision-making.

Provide overview of problem-solving skills:
 In any situation, regardless of how you are feeling, you can make a good
choice. There is a process you can use to help you make the best choice
possible called the problem-solving process. We are going to go through
the steps of the problem-solving process and then talk about different
examples of how to use the process.

Cut up and hand out Problem-Solving Process Cards to each student.

Skill instructor goes through the problem-solving steps:

Step 1: What is the problem?
 First, it is important to determine the problem. A helpful way to figure out
the problem is to think about how you are feeling and determine what
triggered the feeling. So two important questions to ask yourself are, “How
do I feel?” and “Why do I feel this way?”

Step 2: What are the choices?
 After you figure out what the problem is, it is important to come up with
different possible choices. So in the second step of the problem-solving
process it is important to brainstorm different solutions or choices for the
problem. When you brainstorm you should list out all possible choices,
even if they do not seem perfect at the time. Do not judge the ideas at this
point, just list out all possible choices.

Step 3: Select the best choice.
 After you brainstorm ideas and have a lot of possible solutions, the next
step is to decide which idea is the best choice. To decide the best choice
you need to consider the advantages, or what is good about the solution
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
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PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
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idea, and the disadvantages, or what is not good about the solution. Once
you have figured out the advantages and disadvantages of each solution
you can then see which solution has more advantages and will result in a
successful outcome. To help you think about the advantages and
disadvantages of each solution there are questions you need to ask
yourself about each solution.
 Let’s brainstorm some questions that you think would be helpful in figuring
out the advantages and disadvantages of solutions. Skill instructor should
write questions on flip chart and list the following questions if students do
not identify them.
 For each solution, ask yourself:
 Is the solution acceptable here in this situation or is it against the rules?
 Is the solution safe or is it dangerous?
 How will I feel afterwards? Will I feel good about the solution afterwards or
will I feel sorry afterwards?
 How would I feel if someone did this to me?
 Is this going to make the problem better for a long time or just right
away? Explain to students that a problem may need an immediate
action or solution but that the student may need to consider long-term
solutions to address a reoccurring problem.
 Once you’ve determined the advantages and disadvantages of each solution,
determine which solution has more advantages than disadvantages and
which solution has the most important advantages.

Step 4: Do it.
 Once you have looked over your decisions, the next step in the problemsolving process is to choose the best solution and do it. Put the solution in
place.

Step 5: Did it work?
 The last step in the problem-solving process is to ask yourself whether the
choice you made worked. It is important to ask yourself this question so
you can decide if you should use this choice the next time you are in
the situation or if you need to try something else.
 How do you know if the choice worked? Instructor should guide students to
consider the following:
- Did I get the results that I wanted?
 If no, why did it not work? What went wrong? How can I improve the
situation next time? Do I need to change this solution or do I need to
use an entirely different solution? If the solution you chose did not
work, go back to your list of possible solutions and try another one.
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
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PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
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
Read scenario to group.

Choose the most appropriate scenario based on function of student
behavior. If applicable read both scenarios separately.

Attention-motivated scenario:
 Terrence’s class is having recess. There are some boys playing together and
Terrence wants to join in but he doesn’t know how to. He feels sad
because he wants to play with the other boys.

Escape-motivated scenario:
 Julia’s teacher assigns the students to read in small groups. Julia doesn’t like
to work in groups because she has a hard time reading and other kids
laugh when reads. When it’s Julia’s turn to read, just like they always do,
the other group members start looking at each other laughing. Julia feels
herself getting very embarrassed and angry. Her body starts to feel really
hot and she starts to sweat.

After reading the scenario, prompt students through the problem-solving
process.

Step 1: What is (Terrence/Julia) problem? Instructor should have students
consider how (Terrence/Julia) is feeling. Prompt students to think about
physical clues and triggers. Guide students to identify the problem as
(Terrence wanting to play with others/Julia being made fun of).

Step 2: What are (Terrence’s/Julia’s) choices? Encourage students to
brainstorm a list of choices and not evaluate them. Don’t worry about
whether this is a good or bad choice, just think about all the things that
(Terrence/Julia) could do. We’ll talk later about which ones are good and
bad choices.
 Possible choices for Terrence’s: asking the boys if he can play, join in the
game without asking the other boys, ask the teacher for help, stand by
the boys and wait to see if they will ask him if he wants to play, play
another game.
 Possible choices for Julia: walking away, telling the other students how she
feels, asking them to stop, yelling at them, telling on them to the
teacher, asking another student for help, telling the teacher ahead of
time how she feels, asking the teacher for help.

Step 3: Select the best choice.
 . For the choices brainstormed, discuss the following questions with
students:
 Does the choice follow the rules or go against the rules?
 Is the choice safe or is it dangerous?
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
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PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
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 How will (Terrence/Julia) feel afterwards? Will (Terrence/Julia) feel good
about the solution afterwards or will (he/she) feel sorry afterwards?
 How will the others in the situation feel?
FOR OLDER STUDENTS ALSO DISCUSS:
 Is this a short-term or long-term solution? Explain to students that a
problem may need an immediate action or solution but that the student
may need to consider long-term solutions to address a reoccurring
problem.
 Discuss evaluating the choices:
- Which solution has the most advantages?
- Which solution will result in the best outcome?
- Do you think the solution will work?
- Which solution has too many disadvantages? (Skill instructor should tell
students not to use this solution)

Step 4: Do it!

Step 5: Did it work?
 Let’s pretend that (Terrence/Julia) picked the choice that we came up with
and it worked. (He/she) felt really good about the situation and so did the
people around (him/her).
 But what if the choice didn’t work, what would (Terrance/Julia) have to do?
Discuss with students how sometimes the solution chosen may not work,
and when that happens we may have to try something else.
III. Practice Problem-Solving Process (15 minutes)
 Purpose: Provide students with an opportunity to practice the problem-solving
process and learn from group members.

As a group, go through the Problem-Solving Process:
 Have students identify problems they have encountered (can refer them to
their trigger maps). List problems out on a flip chart.
 You can also choose examples listed below that are most appropriate
based on the function of group member’s behavior.
 Possible example scenarios to discuss (or can use scenarios group members
have identified):
- A student comes up to you and says to you, “You are an idiot.”
- You are in class and are bored with the assignment.
- At lunch, you ask to sit with some students and they say no.
- You are walking in the hallway and someone pushes you.
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
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PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
- You
- You
- You
- You
are
are
are
are
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in class and feel lonely.
playing basketball and someone elbows you.
in gym class and do not want to participate in the activity.
in class and don’t know how to do the assignment.
 Write the Problem-Solving Process Steps on flip chart and record all
responses.
 You will now take turns practicing using the problem-solving steps. You
should go through each of the steps listed and think aloud so we all
know what you are thinking at each step. Don’t worry if you get stuck,
we’ll help you out!
 Questions/prompts to facilitate student role-plays
 Step 1: What is the problem?
- How do you know this is a problem?
- How do you feel? What cues are signaling to you that you
feel a certain way? Why do you feel this way trigger? What was the
trigger?
 Step 2: What are the choices?
- How can you calm down in that situation?
- Are there relaxation strategies you could use?
- Who are people that could help you (friends, peers, adults)?
- What are strategies you have seen work for other people in a similar
situation?
 Step 3: Select the best choice (on flip chart have a pro and con column to
help students decide which solution is the best)
- Is the solution acceptable in this situation or is it against the rules?
- Is the solution safe or is it dangerous?
- How will you feel afterwards? Will you feel good about the solution
afterwards or will you feel sorry afterwards?
- How would you feel if someone did this to you?
- How will others in the situation feel?
- Will this solution keep the problem from happening again in the future?
- Which solution has the most advantages?
- Which solution will result in the best outcome?
- Do you think the solution will work?
- Which solution has too many disadvantages? (Skill instructor should tell
students not to use this solution)
 Step 4: Do It
 Step 5: Did it work?
- How will you know if the solution worked or did not work?
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
6
PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
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- If the solution did not work, what questions should we ask? (e.g. what
prevented the solution from working? What can I do differently next
time?)
- If the solution does not work what else could you try? Direct students to
go back to the list of solutions.
IV. Assign Homework Activity and Departure (5 minutes)

Before the next session, ask students to practice using the problem-solving
process.

Handout Homework Sheet.

Students should come to the next session prepared to discuss their
experience using problem-solving in a challenging situation.
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
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PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
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Session 7 Homework
Problem Solving
State the The problem is:
problem
Think of
possible
solution
Solution Option 1
Evaluate Pro:
pros/cons
of each
solution
Con:
Solution Option 2
Solution Option 3
Pro:
Pro:
Con:
Con:
Choose
the best
option
The best option for me is:
Try out
the
solution
Do I need help from anyone?
Evaluate
how it
worked
What went well:
What should I do differently next time:
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
8
PBSIS Social Skill Lesson 7
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Problem Solving Prompt Card
State the Problem
State the Problem
Two Solutions are..
Two Solutions are..
Think about the
pros/cons of the options
Think about the
pros/cons of the options
Choose the
best option for me
Choose the
best option for me
Try out the option
Try out the option
Evaluate how it worked
Evaluate how it worked
State the Problem
State the Problem
Two Solutions are..
Two Solutions are..
Think about the
pros/cons of the options
Think about the
pros/cons of the options
Choose the
best option for me
Choose the
best option for me
Try out the option
Try out the option
Evaluate how it worked
Evaluate how it worked
NJ PBSIS (2014). NJPBSIS is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in collaboration with The Boggs Center, Rutgers
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. PBSIS is funded by I.D.E.A., Part B. www.njpbs.org
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