Identifying Triggers Role Play Scenarios

About this resource

Kabir is happily building a bookshelf, then suddenly says, “Forget it.” These identifying triggers role play scenarios help Grades 2–5 students work out what happened right before a big feeling. In twenty scripted scenes, the Trigger Spotter has a strong reaction, a friend, sibling or trusted adult asks questions, and the Trigger Spotter does the thinking, which builds Self-Awareness, a core SEL competency, one moment at a time.

What students practice

• Noticing what sets me off
• Spotting a pattern
• Handling hearing no, being interrupted or being corrected
• Planning ahead for a trigger
• Catching a trigger early and changing course

What’s inside

• 20 scripted scenes at a post office, a planetarium, a train platform and a children’s museum, among other places
• 100 discussion cards, five per scene, such as “The Exact Moment” and “Why Do YOU Think?”
• A detailed script and a flexible outline
• Teacher pages with objectives, a props list and tips; 50 pages

A look inside

• The Half-Built Bookshelf: Kabir traces his mood back to the moment Dad took over the screwdriver: “Somebody taking over my job. That’s my trigger.”
• The 4:15 Train: waiting for a four-year-old cousin, Ilaria plans ahead for the whys: “She’s going to ask a million whys.”
• Three, Two, One on the Sledding Hill: Itai climbs off the sled the second the countdown starts and lets Jemima go first.

How to use these identifying triggers role play scenarios

• Begin with the 5–7 minute talk: “Have you ever been having a perfectly fine time, and then suddenly you felt grumpy or upset, and you weren’t even sure why?”
• Act out a scene (10–15 minutes), with students playing the Trigger Spotter and the person helping them think
• Redo the scene with the Trigger Spotter catching the trigger at a different moment, and compare what each version teaches
• Share for 5–10 minutes, then use the discussion cards for that scene
• Gather the props the teacher pages list, like a yo-yo or a flat piece of cardboard as a pretend sled

Grade fit

The triggers are small and specific (being interrupted mid-story, a no with no reason, a sigh from a partner), so students can find their own versions. Students can read the role play scripts as written or improvise, so the scenes fit Grades 2–5.

Pairs well with

For more identifying triggers activities, try Identifying Triggers Scenario Cards or Identifying Triggers Task Cards.