64 Prompts to return student’s attention to task
Definition
Verbal and/or physical cues to return a student’s attention to the task at hand
In action
Collaborate with the student to establish a system of prompts, that will be both useful for and acceptable to the student, to assist in redirecting their attention during an assessment.
Support Strategies
- Teach, model, and practice self-management of self-prompting to maintain attention
- Gestural Prompts (e.g., pointing, simple signing)
- Physical/ proximity prompts (e.g., lightly tapping the student’s desk, standing near the student
- Visual/ Written prompts (e.g., passing the student a post-it note with a reminder, putting up a sign on the wall near the student’s desk, displaying reminder images)
- Verbal/ auditory prompts (a countdown, sounds such as a rain stick, spoken words or phrases such as “remember what you’re working on”)
Case Study
Student: Grade 2 student navigating a transition
Content: The class has just finished having indoor recess. The students are sitting at the carpet as the teacher asks a series of questions about the book the class has been reading as a form of assessment as learning.
Problem: The student is distracted by the toy car that they were playing with during the indoor recess and is, therefore, not participating in the informal assessment.
Solution: The teacher uses verbal prompts to help the students transition to the new activity after recess. When the teacher notices the student is not engaged in the assessment, they use prompts to direct their attention back to their questions, such as by pointing to the book and then making a gesture that represents thinking.
