Making Good Choices Role Play Scenarios
Marigolds that bloom today or a tulip bulb that waits for spring? These making good choices role play scenarios turn small decisions like that into twenty scripted scenes for Grades 2–5.
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About this resource
Marigolds that bloom today or a tulip bulb that waits for spring? These making good choices role play scenarios turn small decisions like that into twenty scripted scenes for Grades 2–5. In each one, the Decision-Maker stops, weighs the options and thinks ahead before choosing, so students practice Responsible Decision-Making, the SEL skill behind good choices, by acting it out.
What students practice
- Spotting a real choice
- Choosing between two good options
- Predicting what happens next
- Weighing fun now against better later
- Thinking about who a choice affects
What’s inside
- Twenty scenes with a cast, a setting and full dialogue, at a toy store, a museum gift shop, the public library and the aquarium
- One hundred discussion cards, five for each scene, such as “Fun Now or Later?” and “Who Is Affected?”
- A word-for-word teacher script and an outline you can teach in your own words
- Teacher notes, a materials list and tips; 50 pages
A look inside
- Drums at Naptime: Ruben wants to practice his drum part just as his baby brother goes down for a nap, and finds a plan that works: “I still get my practice, and nobody gets woken up.”
- The Two Kites: Gemma checks the hanging flag and the barely moving leaves before picking a kite: “Cooler on the ground isn’t much fun. Let’s fly the diamond.”
- Two Parties, One Day, The Allowance Decision and Too Many Library Books? are among the other scenes.
How to use these making good choices role play scenarios
- Launch with the 5–7 minute discussion, starting from “Has anyone ever had to choose between two things, and it was hard to decide which one to pick?”
- Give out roles for a scene and act it out in 10–15 minutes, from the script or in students’ own words
- Sketch the options on the optional “Options and What Happens Next” chart while students predict each outcome
- Redo a scene with the character choosing differently and compare how things turn out, then share for 5–10 minutes
Grade fit
The decisions are ones elementary students really meet: two birthday parties at the same time, ten dollars of allowance, an easy or an ambitious science fair topic. Several scenes set two good options side by side, which gives older students something to weigh while younger ones follow the role play scripts.
Pairs well with
For more making good choices activities, see Making Good Choices Worksheets or Making Good Choices Task Cards.
Questions teachers ask
Are the choices always right versus wrong?
No. Several scenes, like The Rainy Day Recess Choice and The Science Fair Topic, ask students to choose between two good options.
Which props do I need?
None are required. The materials list suggests paint cards, a stack of books, a puzzle box and two kites or kite pictures for specific scenes.
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