Let’s Discuss Staying On Task
Wouldn’t it be great if students stayed on task…all day…every day? Well, yes, of course it would be! But wouldn’t perfection be boring? Let’s discuss different ways you can teach students the importance of staying on task while at school!
I use social stories for everything in my class. I really think that social stories are such a great tool to use when introducing a new topic as well as for review. I will pull these stories out on a daily basis if needed to review expectations for students. I have three different levels of social stories to that all of my students can learn the same skill!
The first level social story is a simple picture book that I laminated and binder for easy re-use.
The second level social story a one page story with simple text and illustrations.
The third level social story is a one page story with detailed text with NO illustrations.
Once I have introduced the social story I like to discuss the importance of staying on task in more detail. We do simple yes/no discussion activities in my class to promote student engagement. I use the student response sticks (yes/no icons) for students to participate and stay engaged.
I find that reading and talking about behaviors is not enough for my students to master the skill and to really explore all that staying on task entails. I created simple workbooks for students to work on their behavior basic skills.
One activity I always like to do is a simple coloring page activity. These coloring pages help reinforce the simple skill of staying on task. While students are coloring I like to casually talk about the contents of the social story to reinforce the skill.
Also, in the behavior basics workbook is a simple assessment page. I do this at the end of the week to allow students several opportunities to master the skill of “staying on task.” Like everything in my class, I need 3 levels to meet all of my students needs. The first level is simple matching, the second is multiple choice and the third is question and answer.
I jumped on the bandwagon and LOVE interactive notebooks in my classroom. I created a simple behavior interactive notebook to allow a hands on, fun way to learn about the skill of staying on task.
Students followed the visual step by step directions to help promote independence with the activity. Students described on task and off task behaviors in the pocket folds.
Looking for a fun read aloud to pair with the Behavior Basics skill of Staying on Task? Check out one of my favorite books from the Bernstein Bears!
I love to use videos to reinforce the behavior of the week. I found a few videos we watched over the course of the week for my visual learners! Here are a few of my favorite I found 🙂
Interested in finding these materials for you classroom? Check out my behavior basics curriculum. Grab the Staying on Task materials to help build a successful classroom!
