Choice Challenge Activity: Wait & Take Turns
Updated: Nov 5
Choice Challenge Activity: Wait & Take Turns #10
Now that you have read My Teacher Is Not an Octopus, reviewed the Choice Challenge blogs, and tried the activities from the book - here is more practice.
Three activities per choice for the specific behavior. No timer. No one size fits all. Parents know their child(ren). Teachers know their students. Give each a try. Practice builds choice fitness.
When a child understands how to use the six choices, this leads to more fun. The choice becomes their own. The result is happier children, families, and classrooms.
These activities engage PILES. Physical, Intellectual, Language, Emotional, Social. They build teamwork. And they give a child the words to say, "I can do this."
The goal is not a timer. The goal is the choice becoming part of a child's internal dialogue. The words a child says to themselves when no one is watching.
The student will perform a desired better choice without being redirected or reminded.
Here are three ways to practice.
Activity 1: "Not Now" Practice
Goal: Teach children how to say “not now” or no.
How to:
Explain: "Sharing means we can say ‘not now’ or no and still be kind."
Role-play:
Child A holds a toy.
Child B asks, "Can I have the toy, Joey?"
Guide Child A to say: "Not now, Zach. When I am finished, you can have it."
Child B asks, “How long will you be using the toy, Joey?”
Child A says, “Zach, I will be finished after the tower is built.” Or the child could ask about a specific time.
A child can also say "No" with no explanation. The meaning is understood by circumstances. It is helpful to developing this process to ask the children how they feel during each experience. Ask open ended questions like, “Is there something you can say after no to help understand your reason? What would be the kindest way you can think of to say “No, because …”
Ask the children to pretend to be the person saying no. And the person asking. Then, switch roles. Follow up with discussion about ways to interact that includes: Wait, take turns, and other sharing.
Activity 2: Turn Timer Game
Goal: Make waiting visible and predictable.
How to:
Use a sand timer, visual timer, or simple countdown.
Explain: "When the timer is done, it is the next person's turn."
Let each child have a timed turn with a high-interest item.
Narrate: “Thank your friend for waiting. Thank your friend for sharing. And be supportive when they say no. It is important to support our friends when they make a choice.”
Activity 3: Waiting Stories
Goal: Connect waiting to patience and kindness.
How to:
If you have read My Teacher Is Not an Octopus, this activity is about the story. Joey demands help four times. Every time, Miss Patience says, "I will surely help when it is your turn. Please wait."
At the end, Joey says, "I am helping you by waiting to take my turn."
Ask:
"How many times did Joey ask for help?"
"What did Miss Patience say each time?"
"How did Joey feel at the end when he said thank you?"
Review:
What is the Choice Challenge? Blog and challenge blogs one through six for extended definitions from My Teacher Is Not an Octopus for page 29.
All six choices are a collaborative learning experience. They partner with each other on most occasions.
Children need consistent practice with this strategy before the skill becomes automatic.
Each child experiences social-emotional development at different speeds and levels. As a child uses the choices interacting with others, adjustments increase competency. The foundation through patience and practice builds behavior muscles.
Every time a child says "not now" without a meltdown, and every time a child waits without a grab, the skill is building. Filling gaps or holes, as explained in the blog What is the Choice Challenge? and the Choice Challenge Guide, is practice. Practice builds choice fitness.
Choice Challenge Guide will be released in eBook and paperback. You will have the option to download for free by signing up or buy online.
The choice is yours :)
About the author
Patience Filippo is a children's author, artist, educator, and veteran with decades of classroom experience. She created the Choice Challenge: Poor to Better Decisions for Everyday Behavior to help children and grown-ups be better humans, one better choice at a time. The Choice Challenge is the framework behind My Teacher Is Not an Octopus, a self-regulating behavior management book for early learners. Begin at birth. Grow into lifelong learning.
Empowering happiness through literacy.
Find Patience online https://linktr.ee/askmisspatience
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