Helping Kids Avoid the Hook: Social-Emotional Learning with Simon’s Hook

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a student take the bait when someone said something mean. Whether it’s “You have cooties!” or “You talk funny,” elementary-aged kids are constantly figuring out how to navigate the tricky world of teasing. That’s where Simon’s Hook comes in. It’s the perfect springboard for SEL lessons that are both empowering and practical—because let’s face it, we all need help learning how not to take the bait.

This Simon’s Hook Activities Pack is your classroom’s secret weapon for helping students handle teasing and put-downs with resilience and confidence. Instead of escalating the drama, your students will learn how to calmly respond, laugh it off, or steer the conversation elsewhere. It’s social-emotional learning with a fishing metaphor—and it works.

What’s Included in the Simon’s Hook Activities Pack?

This resource includes everything you need to turn Simon’s Hook into a week of meaningful SEL mini-lessons (or a powerful reset when your classroom needs a reminder). Here’s what’s inside:

🧠 Anchor Chart Cards

Use these cards to introduce the five strategies for dealing with teasing:

1. Do little or nothing
2. Agree with the hook
3. Distract/change the subject
4. Laugh or make a joke
5. Stay away from the hooks

These can be displayed during your read-aloud and used as reference points all year long.

🎭 Role Play Cards

Students take turns practicing how to respond to a variety of teasing phrases. Use the printable “hook” graphic to make it interactive and memorable. It’s like drama class… but with a purpose.

✂️ Cut-and-Sort Activity

Students read teasing responses and sort them by strategy, solidifying their understanding through hands-on learning.

🖍️ Comic Strip Responses

Give students comic scenarios and let them create thoughtful or humorous responses. Perfect for literacy centers or writing warm-ups!

🎲 Board Game

Because nothing motivates kids quite like a game, this printable board game gives students low-stakes, repeatable practice responding to put-downs using sentence stems and strategy selection.

How Teachers Can Use It

• During SEL blocks or morning meetings to introduce social problem-solving.
• After reading Simon’s Hook as an interactive follow-up to solidify key messages.
• In small groups with students who need targeted support with peer conflict.
• As a reset tool when teasing starts to pop up in the classroom (we’ve all been there!).

These activities are easy to prep and reuse as needed throughout the year. Plus, they’re designed to promote reflection and self-regulation—two things every classroom benefits from.

Why It Works

The beauty of this resource lies in its simplicity and alignment with real-life scenarios kids face every day. Teasing and put-downs are unfortunately common, but this resource empowers students to respond rather than react. It encourages kids to take control of their words, build empathy, and support their classmates. And as every teacher knows, the more students can practice handling conflict calmly, the less classroom time you’ll lose managing those conflicts.

Hooked on Healthy Responses

Teach kids that not every hook deserves a bite. With the Simon’s Hook Activities Pack, you’re not just teaching conflict resolution—you’re building a classroom culture where kindness wins and teasing loses its power. 🎣

Your students will walk away with tools they can use for life. And you’ll walk away with fewer tattles, tears, and tension. Now that’s a win-win.