Cooling Down, Starting Over: teacher key

Arguing and Making Up, grade 5 edition, written for 5th grade. Fights with friends can be sorted out. Read how listening, calm words and a good apology help people start over.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What can a person do when a fight gets heated?
   • Keep arguing louder and louder
   • Take a break and talk later (answer)
   • Bring up all the old problems
2. What does active listening include?
   • Looking away from them quickly
   • Cutting in with lots of advice
   • Eye contact and nodding (answer)
3. What did the children in the study think of the child who apologized?
   • That the child was nicer (answer)
   • That the child was very funny
   • That the child was too bossy
4. What does the passage suggest about forgiveness?
   • It happens the moment someone says sorry
   • It may take the other person some time (answer)
   • It should never happen at all
5. Why might "I felt sad when this happened" work better than blaming?
   • It ends the whole argument at once
   • It proves that nobody was wrong
   • It helps the other person listen (answer)

Words

• empathy: understanding feelings
• forgiveness: takes time
• apology: repairing connection
• listening: paying attention