Paying Attention, Being On-Task

Charlie Ahlf                                          Brian Merhar

Professional School Counselor              MSUM Intern 2001

Greenwood Elementary                       Greenwood Elementary

River Falls, Wisconsin                          River Falls, Wisconsin

Description of the Lessons

This lesson on paying attention is developed for grades 2^nd through 6^th and to be used with students in the classroom. The lessons will enable students to learn the impact of non-verbal behaviors and will assist them in becoming aware of proper attending skills.  The three lessons will incorporate auditory and visual learning styles helping students pick up on proper attentive skills.  Skills in paying attention and being on-task will help students with future memory retention, test-taking skills.  The lesson also helps students with future skills for interviewing and career skills.

Lesson #1:           

Introduce non-verbal communication to students emphasizing that they will learn to communicate more effectively using their bodies.  Have a student send the rest of the group a message using only their facial or body language.  Have the rest of the students guess what message the student is sending.  Do a classroom activity where a list of ways to communicate nonverbally is generated.  List the ways on the blackboard or overhead.  Ways include smiling, clenched fists, hands folded, scowling, and a head nod.  Introduce proper listening body behavior: sitting up straight, using eye contact, and leaning into the speaker or presenter.  Explain how each gesture lets the speaker know that they are being listened to.  Explain how these skills help the students to become more successful in school and that teachers prefer students who pay attention.  Here are the three skills they learn in this lesson:

1.      Sitting up straight – sitting nice and tall with their bottom on the seat and straight back.  Not being so firm that you feel you might break, but tall enough to signify you are listening.

2.      Eye contact – looking at the person who is talking, but not staring.

3.      Leaning in – leaning toward the speaker and nodding your head to signify you are absorbing what the speaker is saying.

Lesson #2:          

Chose a male student to model proper attention giving techniques.  Tell the class to observe the male student as he listens to the teacher for 20 seconds.  Process the activity with the class asking if the male-student used the three skills that they just learned: sitting up straight, eye contact, and leaning in.  Now have a female student do the same activity.  Give positive reinforcement to the model student and process the activity again asking if the student did anything different or the same.  Continue processing this activity asking the class what they noticed about the models paying attention.  Emphasize that teacher’s notice who is sitting up straight and using good eye contact. 

Lesson #3:           

Divide the class into small groups to practice skills they have just learned.  Each group is instructed to play the “pay attention game” where each student will have a chance to sit up straight, lean in toward the speaker, and maintain eye contact just as the models did in lesson one.  Each student should get the chance to be a speaker and all should try the skill each time they do not speak.  Twenty seconds should be counted off by a timer in the group so as to know when to switch.  All group members should help each other with the skills.  Continue activity until all have tried out each position then have them re-assemble in the large group.  Process the activity with the class asking specific questions of each group.  Ask process questions like, “How do you think using these skills will help you in school?”  “What are some ways you can pay attention even if others around you are not?”  “What was it like trying to use good eye contact with the leader?”  and “What other ways can you think of to let the speaker know you are listening?”  Review the three skills with the class and end the lesson.

Connections to the Related Standards, Competencies, and Domains

The educational domain is covered in this guidance activity in that students learn proper attention skills.  Learning about paying attention relates to area of getting the most out of a class.  The education domain is highlighted through the group activity, role-play, and processing of the activities.  This lesson prepares students for eventual careers by helping them learn elements of interviewing skills.  Paying attention, attentive listening and proper nonverbal (eye contact) are specific skills students learn that can eventually be applied to interviewing.  These skills fits into the career domain of developmental guidance.

 The personal social domain is also covered in this activity for elementary students.  The students are presented the opportunity to talk about feelings and emotions related to not-paying attention to someone.  The verbal and nonverbal communications of a person are pertinent to how another person perceives them.

References and Resources

Wittmer, Joe & Thompson, Diane  (1995)  Large Group Guidance Activities: A K-12 Sourcebook.  Educational Media Corporation, Minneapolis, MN.

Gysbers, N. C. & Henderson, P.  (2000)  Developing and managing your school guidance program.  Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.