Staying on task1
- 1. Staying on Task Learning Goal: To teach students appropriate behavioral expectations for the skill of “Staying on Task”
- 2. Skill of the Week Learning Objectives • Learning the steps to “Staying on Task” • Practicing the skill • Generalizing the use of the skill to different places and different situations
- 3. Introduce the Skill (Day 1) • Brainstorm Activity: • On Post-its: Write down things that happen in the classroom that distract you and interfere with you trying to complete your work. • On a separate set of Post-its: Write down a strategy to cope with the distraction • Turn and talk
- 4. Sentence sort activity (Day 2) • As a group, take the words and try to form a sentence that relates to staying on task. • Once you have sorted the sentences, try to put the steps in the right order. • Hint: There are 5 steps and each sentence is punctuated correctly.
- 5. Steps to staying on task • • • • • Step 1: Look at your task or assignment. Step 2: Think about the steps needed to complete the task. Step 3: Focus all of your attention on the task. Step 4: Stop working only when instructed. Step 5: Ignore distractions and interruptions from others. • Discuss how these steps relate to yesterday’s activity, glue steps in your X-block NB
- 6. Give a reason/Practice (Day 3) • Brainstorm: • List 3-5 reasons why you think it would be important to stay on task using these steps.
- 7. Sentence Sort How to make • Copy and cut up each sentence part/ mix up and have students put together • Example: Look + at +your +task +or +assignment.
- 8. My Examples • 1) You don’t interrupt others who are trying to work • 2) The teacher might get to you more quickly to help you if he or she sees you are trying to continue to work • 3) You are more likely to complete your assignments and not have homework
- 9. Quick Write (Choose 1) • Write about a time when you stayed on task while other students were distracting you. • What was the outcome? • Write about a time that you did not stay on task but should have. • What was the outcome?
- 10. What are my options? (Day 4) • Use the SAME strategy to stay on task. • Skip the particular question or problem and go back to it later • Ask Three Before Me: Ask three other students for help if the teacher is not available. Ask teacher if help is still needed. • Make a plan to use DEAR (drop everything and read) when it is an option. If you are stuck and know one is available, this may be an option • Encourage yourself to have “Buddies” in the class. Or pair up with students based on strengths and weaknesses.
- 11. Class Discussion (Role Play) Day 5 • Pick a situation out of the bucket and act it out by modeling the appropriate steps to stay on task.. • When you are finished with the situation, give your partner and compliment.
- 12. Situations • The teacher is helping another student with his or her work and you don’t understand how to work on the next math problem. • The students are taking a test and some finish before time is up. • A student comes to the door and calls out to someone in the class to come into the hallway and talk.
- 13. Situations • The principal knocks at the door and asks to speak to the teacher immediately. The students are reading a novel aloud in class. • As the teacher is lecturing, one student begins to talk to another and tries to get him involved in a conversation.