Social Skills Lesson for staying on task

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
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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.