Resilient Reflections for Primary Students

Whether our students know it or not, they all have the ability to be resilient! Whether it’s having one more attempt at that hard maths problem or trying to get a basket in the hoop after ten consecutive misses, resilience is the underlying superpower that helps our students bounce back from challenges, setbacks and tough times. Resilience provides the drive needed to face difficulties, adapt to changes and, above all, keep trying!

One of the best ways for our students to recognise this quality within themselves is to reflect upon times they have demonstrated resilience in their own lives. To help your students do this, the Teach Starter team has created this set of six resilience writing prompts. The prompts allow students not only to reflect upon their past experiences but also to reflect on how resilience can be a useful tool at both school and home. The writing prompts are:

1. What is resilience?
2. What does resilience look like to me?
3. When were you resilient? What did you choose to do?
4. Is it important to be resilient when faced with challenges? Why or why not?
5. How can being resilient help at school?
6. How can being resilient help at home?

This resource downloads as a black-and-white PDF or an editable Google Slides version. The Google Slides version makes a great option if you’d like your students to complete this task electronically. 

Reflecting on our own experiences of resilience helps us understand our strengths and areas for growth. By thinking about moments when we faced challenges and overcame them, we discover the inner resources that helped us persevere. This self-discovery is like finding hidden treasures within ourselves that we can use in future situations.

Ways to Use These Resilience Writing Prompts

These resilience writing prompts can be used in a variety of ways in your social-emotional learning lessons. Check out some suggestions from our expert teacher team:

1. Daily Journalling – Why not use these prompts as a part of your daily journalling or creative writing routine? Students could pick a resilient reflection prompt of their choice and work on it for a designated amount of time. This practice helps students develop the habit of expressing their thoughts on paper.
2. Discussion Starters – These resilient reflection prompts could also be used as discussion starters. Instead of writing a response, students could discuss their thoughts verbally with a partner or in small groups. This promotes verbal communication skills and assists with the ability to articulate one’s ideas.
3. Creative Writing Exercises – If personal reflection is proving a little too difficult for your students, these prompts could also serve as starting points for creative writing exercises. Students could use them as inspiration for short stories, poems or even plays based on characters who demonstrate the characteristics of resilience.

Download to Reflect on Resilience

Use the Download button to access your preferred version of these resilience writing prompts. If you select the Google Slides file, please note that you will be prompted to copy a version to your own drive.

Looking to save paper? Project your prompt of choice onto your interactive screen and have students write their responses into their workbooks.

This resource was created by Lisamarie del Valle, a Teach Starter collaborator.

More Resilience Activities for Kids

Are you looking for more engaging resources to assist you in teaching your students about the importance of resilience? Click below for great options from the Teach Starter team!

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