Taking Turns: Behavior Basics
Social Emotional Learning should be a component of every classroom. Teaching students how to behave and to set expectations is a huge component of any classroom management system and is also a necessity in todays world. Today I am going to talk to you about teaching students the importance of taking turns.
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Why Teach the Behavior?
Taking turns is an early skill that students are taught. Students must learn to take turns when in a conversation. Students who continuously talk are often tuned out by their peers causing frustration and alienation. Student who learn to take turns are showing respect to others.
How to Make a Strong Student?
Students who can join a conversation once it has started or allow others to join their conversation are demonstrating turn taking skills. Taking turns while talking shows respect for all people in the conversation. This is a skill that teachers continuously teach and model in social skills lessons.
Generalizing the Behavior Skill
Therefore, this skill is generalized to all school settings. Students will need to master this skill to be an effective communicator in public. As students age into their teenage and adult years, this skill will continue to be important.
What is Behavior Basics?
Behavior basics uses direct instruction each week to build strong students and it also sets them up for success in learning and in life. Direct instruction, discussions, interactive activities, review pages, reading extension activities and data collection make this program a complete program to meet student, teacher, parent and administrative needs. To learn more about the Behavior Basics Program, read all about it HERE.
The three individual components that make up the entire program are:
How to Teach Taking Turns:
To learn more about the Behavior Basics Curriculum, read more HERE. Each behavior basics lesson has a lesson plan with a weekly overview for the teacher or staff to implement at a work center.
To teach taking turns, the Behavior Basics Curriculum lesson includes:
*While a weekly guide is provided, the materials can be used in any way that fits your students needs in a shorter or longer period of time!
Classroom Posters
A poster is included to post in your classroom to easily reference throughout the week of instruction. It includes the title of the behavior lesson and one real photo.
Family Resources
It is important to communicate with families when working on big skills such as behavior to generalize the skills in all settings. Two formats are provided for you: a half sheet parent newsletter and a newsletter/ homework worksheet are included. Some teachers may decide to send home a copy of the social story as well.
Social Stories (4 levels)
For direct instruction, use a social story to teach the behavior skill of taking turns. Social stories help visual leaners and students with limited reading ability.
Four levels of social stories are also included:
- 1: Simple book with one picture per page
- 2: One page social story with picture supports
- 3: One page social story paired with one real image photo
- 4: (2 versions) One page social story with higher level text & one page social story with higher level text with one real image photo
Discussion Questions & Worksheets
Following direct instruction with social stories, you can facilitate a classroom discussion. A staff discussion page, student participation sticks and student response worksheets are all included with 10 yes/no questions. Teachers are able to add to these questions how they see fit for their kids needs or to elaborate to require more than a yes/no answer.
Also included are student response sticks. Teach students to simply raise the yes/no stick to answer the question. There are two levels to these sticks to make for easy differentiation within your classroom:
Coloring Pages
Disguise learning in a fun way with coloring pages. While coloring students can discuss what they are coloring and why it relates to the behavior of the week.
Interactive Notebook Pages
Here is a hands on, interactive notebook activity to help generalize the skill of taking turns while speaking. It includes one page to create, shown below. Each behavior basic interactive notebook page also comes in two versions and is all black/white for easy printing.
Each behavior basics interactive notebook activity comes with clear, visual instructions for students. Each page comes with a picture step by step for students to follow along. You can print these out and store in a binder from year to year or project them on the smart board for easy use.
All the materials you need to set up interacts notebooks in your classroom are also included:
Review Pages
Simple review pages are included to assess student’s knowledge on taking turns while speaking.
There are 4 levels of assessments included:
- 1: Errorless non-writing
- 2: Matching
- 3: Q&A (2 levels: multiple choice or answer the question)
- 4: Journal reflection page
Focus Board Pieces
Each behavior basics lesson ends in a way for students to share the new skill they have learned with others. Students so often are able to read and recite facts from a story, but struggle with applying it to the “real world.” Simply set up a focus board in the beginning of the year like this:
Focus board slips are included because they help build a loving and happy community within your classroom. They also build successful students. There are two levels of focus board slips for easy differentiation within your classroom. Each focus board slip comes in two versions:
Certificate of Completion
Also included is a certificate of mastery for students to receive!
Reading Extension Activities
Picture books provide a fun alternative to direct instruction to teach the basics of behavior. These books provide critical thinking and hands on activities for extension activities in your classroom! To read more about the Behavior Basics Book Club, click HERE.
For teaching taking turns to students, I like reading the book, My Mouth is a Volcano, by Julia Cook. You can find the book on amazon (affiliate link) or your local library!
Story Lesson Plans
A lesson plan/guide is provided to help teachers and staff with an in depth read aloud activity. Included in the lesson plan:
- Behavior focus section
- Pre-reading questions
- Discussion questions aligned to certain pages of each book
- Extension activities/questions.
Anchor Charts and Reading Response Worksheets
Following the read aloud, complete a whole class anchor chart. This discussion anchor chart is a great way to implement deeper discussions and build further understanding of taking turns.
Following the whole group anchor chart, students can complete their own reading response worksheet.
Directed Drawing Activity
Also included is a directed drawing lesson to incorporate arts while also discussing taking turns while speaking.
Take Data and Assess
Teaching behavior skills is important. It is also important to track students progress in mastering behavior skills. To help you implement IEP goals, track progress and communicate progress to all members of the IEP team I have created a taking turns behavior basics data bundle. Included is:
To learn more about the Behavior Basics Data Bundle, click HERE.
Want to See More?
Behavior basics uses direct instruction each week to build strong students and set them for success in learning and in life. Direct instruction, discussions, interactive activities, review pages, reading extension activities and data collection make this program a complete program to meet student, teacher, parent and administrative needs. The three individual components that make up the entire program are:
The Behavior Basics Program consists of 60 different lessons focusing on 60 different common behaviors. These lessons are broken up into 4 units. To read more about each unit, click below:
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