We started out our lesson with a quick review of the Skills for Learning we had previously discussed:
Focus Attention and Listen. Next, we did a Brain Builder called "Who is Talking?," where students had to lay their heads down and close their eyes. I would pick one student to move to a different spot in the classroom and read aloud. Students had to point to where they thought the noise was coming from, then give a thumbs-up when they knew who was reading. After the first round, I added in some distractions to make this game more difficult. Once the Brain Builder was over, we talked about what Skills for Learning they used in the game (focus attention and listen). We also talked about whether it was harder for them to focus when I was making noises (they said yes). We talked about why I made noises: to make it harder, to make them use their skills for learning more.
We spent the rest of the lesson talking about a boy named Omar, who was trying to work on a book report but was having a hard time due to distractions in his classroom. Students took turns using Think, Turn, Tell to share what distractions they saw. We talked about how Omar may feel like they felt during the game when I was causing distractions. Next, they used Think, Turn, Tell to share anything they told themselves during my distractions to help them stay focused. After we shared the answers with the class, we talked about self-talk, a skill for learning where students talk to themselves in their heads or in a quiet (whisper) voice to help them stay focused. For our final Think, Turn, Tell students shared what Omar could tell himself using self-talk to help him be successful.
