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Why This Unit Matters

To be successful in school, students must be able to regulate their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. This ability to self-regulate allows for more productive participation in learning activities and successful relations with peers and adults. Self-regulation skills support both academic achievement and the development of social-emotional competencies in elementary students.

The elementary CLISE program promotes the development of self-regulation skills and improved participation in learning through its focus on skills for learning. Focusing attention, listening, using self-talk, and being assertive are skills students must be able to integrate and apply in order to be successful in diverse learning environments. Since the skills for learning are foundational to social-emotional competencies necessary for having empathy, managing emotions, and solving problems, they are also woven into the program's other units.

Students with higher self-regulation are more likely to:

• Have better math,literacy, and vocabulary skills

• Have higher academic achievement

• Graduate from high school

• Choose prosocial responses

Students with poor self-regulation are at greater risk for:

• Low academic achievement

• Emotional and behavioral problems

• Peer rejection

• Dropping out of school

• Expulsion from school

Brain Builders

Students play short,five-minute games called Brain Builders as a warm-up at the beginning of every lesson in the program. Brain Builders challenge students' executive-function skills, including attention, working memory, and inhibitory control. These skills contribute to students' ability to self-regulate, an overall goal of the program. Brain Builders help develop students':

• Attention by requiring students to focus on the game leader, the game rules,and their own performance during the game

• Working memory by requiring students to remember and apply increasingly complex game rules

• Inhibitory control by requiring students to stop or start actions to comply with game rules

For more information about Brain Builders, see the section How to teach in CLISE Wiki.

Lesson Overviews

Lesson 1: Listening to Learn

This lesson introduces Listening Rules that can help everyone learn. The first Brain Builder game that supports the development of attention, working memory, and inhibitory control is taught. The “Think" part of the interactive learning strategy Think, Turn, Tell is introduced.

Lesson 2: Focusing Attention

This lesson develops students' ability to use their eyes, ears, brain, and self-talk to focus their attention. This lesson also teaches students to use an attent-o-scope, a metaphor to help students focus attention.

Lesson 3: Following Directions

This lesson focuses on how to listen carefully, and remember and follow directions. Students learn that listening involves their eyes, ears, and brain.

Lesson 4: Self-Talk for Learning

This lesson builds on previous lessons and explicitly teaches the use of self-talk as a strategy for staying on task, following directions, and ignoring distractions.

Lesson 5: Being Assertive

This lesson introduces the skill of asking for what you need or want in an assertive manner. The"Turn"and "Tell”parts of the interactive learning strategy Think,Turn,Tell are introduced.

Using Skills Every Day

For long-term effectiveness, the skills and concepts presented in this curriculum must be applied to daily activities. This provides the repetition necessary for students to make skill use automatic. To integrate CLISE skills into your daily activities, use this three-step process: 1) Anticipate. 2) Reinforce. 3) Reflect.

1. Anticipate

Before starting an activity, have students ANTICIPATE which skills for learning they might use during the activity: Now we are going to practice writing the letters b,d,p,and q. Which of the skills for learning do you think you will need to use? Point to each item on the Skills for Learning Poster and ask students to show a thumbs-up if they will use that skill for the activity.

In addition,have students anticipate how they can use skills for learning in other situations,such as during after-school activities or at home with their families.

2. Reinforce

Notice when students use the skills for learning, and REINFORCE the behaviors with specific feedback: Alexis, I see that you are really focusing your attention on this activity by how you're sitting and the way your eyes are looking at what you're doing.

Model out loud for students when you use the skills for learning during the day: Calvin wants to tell me something. I really need to focus my attention on what he is saying right now.

Remind students to use their skills for learning. Refer students to the Skills for Learning Poster as necessary: You are going to need to use your eyes,ears, and brain to really focus your attention on my words as I explain what we are going to do next.

3. Reflect

Have students REFLECT on what lesson skills they used during an activity and how the skills helped them be better learners: Before you practiced writing your letters, you predicted which skills for learning you might need to use. How many of the skills did you use? How did using your skills for learning help you complete the activity?

Academic Integration Activities

Literacy

Attent-O-Scopes on a Character Have students use their listening, focusing-attention, self-talk, and following-directions skills to indicate each time they hear the name of a main character in a story you are reading out loud. Before reading the story,direct students to turn on their attent-o-scopes and listen carefully to your directions. Write the name of a main character from the story you have selected on the board. Read the name of the character to students. Then have them say the name of the character out loud to you. Show them a picture of the character.Ask students to listen very carefully for the character's name as you read the story. Have students raise their hands when they hear the character's name. After you finish reading, have students take turns reading out loud with the class or in small groups, while the rest of the students raise their hands when they hear a selected character's name.

Science

Attent-O-Scopes for Observation Have students use their listening,focusing-attention, self-talk, and following-directions skills during a science lesson on how different forces, such as pushes and pulls, are used to move objects. Have several objects ready, such as a small car with wheels, a small toy or cart with wheels on a string, a shopping bag, a sponge, and a book. Direct students to turn on their attent-o-scopes and listen carefully to your directions. You are going to demonstrate either a push or a pull with each of the objects. Students need to focus attention to determine whether you used a push or a pull to move the object. If they think it was a push, they raise one hand. If they think it was a pull, they raise two hands. Have students repeat the directions out loud before you start. For example, lift the shopping bag up by the handles. Ask: Did I use a push or pull to move the shopping bag? Wait for raised hands. (Pull: two hands raised). Repeat with all of the objects. To summarize the lesson: What did you observe about the difference between a push and a pull? (A push moves objects away from you. A pull moves objects toward you.)

Social Studies

Skills for Reading Map Have students use their listening,focusing-attention, self-talk, and following-directions skills during a social studies lesson: an introduction to maps. Prepare a map of the classroom that can either be projected or distributed one to each student. Before beginning the lesson, direct student to turn on their attent-o-scopes and listen carefully to your explanation and directions. Explain that this is a map of the classroom as if you were looking down at it from the ceiling. Ask students to locate the teacher's desk on the map. Tell them to show thumbs up when they have found it. Call on a student to show the class the teacher's desk on the map, while the rest of the students listen with attention. Ask students to locate the door, a window, their own desks, and other items on the classroom map. Have students make their own maps of the classroom,school, or playground. Remind students to use their skills for learning throughout this activity.

Fine Arts

Skills for Learning Posters Have students work in small groups or individually to create their own posters. Each poster should show one of the skills for learning. You may wish to assign students to skills so there is an even distribution of posters. Write each skill for learning on the board, or display the Skills for Learning Poster where students can easily copy the words onto their own posters.Have various materials available for decorating the posters. Display the posters around the classroom.

Math

Skills for Telling Time Each day, have students practice telling time while using their listening, focusing-attention, self-talk, and following-directions skills. At different times during the day, direct students to turn on their attent-o-scopes and focus on the clock in your classroom. First, have students work on identifying the hour. Ask students: Which hand points to the hour? What hour is it now? What hour is it if the hour hand is between the 1 and the 2? As students become confident with the hours,add minutes. After each explanation,call on students at random to repeat the information you've just told them.