About this activity
Ten problems to write a solution paragraph about: the school hallway is too crowded; too much trash is left in the cafeteria; students are tired during first period; there is not enough space in the bike rack; the playground floods after every rain; phones are distracting during class. All of them are real and most are local, which matters — a student writing about a problem they have actually stood in produces better text than one writing about the ocean.
How to use it in a session
Require the problem to be stated before the solution, and require the solution to name a consequence. The structure is state the problem, say why it matters, propose something, say what would happen — and students almost always skip the second element. Start with the school-based problems, which the student can see; the ocean plastic and city traffic prompts are harder because the student has to supply the context too. Fifteen minutes covers one paragraph properly.
What to listen for
Listen for the causal link between the problem and the solution. A student who proposes a solution unconnected to the stated cause has produced two paragraphs stapled together. Watch for solutions that are wishes rather than actions — people should stop littering is not a solution, and asking who does what makes that visible without criticising the idea.
Carrying it home
Complaints are problem statements. When a student objects to something at home, asking what would fix it and what would happen then is the same structure, delivered at a moment when they care about the answer.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Fifth through eighth, where problem-solution is a standard expository structure in both reading and writing.
- Do I need to sign in?
- No, all ten prompts are free to use.
- How is this different from the descriptive board?
- That one builds a topic sentence with supporting details. This one requires an argument — a problem, a proposed action, and a predicted result — which is a harder and later structure.