[INTRODUCTION. Animated scene – teacher and students working individually at their desks]

Narrator: Teachers give their class directions all day long. The directions often have a few steps.

Teacher: (gives instructions to students)Before you line up, worksheets go in the bin on my desk and all books should go on the shelf.

Narrator: Everyone in the class should follow the directions by themselves without needing help or reminders from the teacher. Make sure you’re paying attention anytime the teacher talks so you don’t miss a direction. First, we notice when the teacher is giving the entire class a direction.
Boy1: (looks at teacher)

Narrator: Next, focus on the key words so you don’t have to remember so many.

Boy1: (directions steps breakdown: 1. Worksheets in bin 2. Books on the shelf 3. Line up)

Narrator: Then, repeat the key steps to yourself one or two times.

Boy1: (directions steps breakdown review)

Narrator: Get going right away on the first step. It’s never a good habit to avoid work.

Boy1: (puts worksheet in bin at teacher’s desk)

Narrator: Check that you’re done before you move on to the next step. This is just a quick glance to make sure you didn’t forget something.

Boy1: (puts book on shelf)

Narrator: Move through each step and make sure all steps are done before you put materials away or clean up.

Boy1: (line up)

Narrator: Being able to follow directions yourself can make you feel proud of yourself, and your teacher will be proud of you.

Boy1: (proud emotion)

[SKILLS]

Narrator: Let’s review. To follow directions without reminders:

Notice when our teacher is talking to the class and listen to the directions.

Focus on just the key words in the directions.

Repeat the key words in your head.

Think about what you need to do first.

Check that you’re done with one step before moving on. It’s smart to look around at others if you aren’t sure what to do.

Let’s see Shay learn to follow directions.

[SCENE 1 – students are sitting at their desks]

Teacher: Okay, I need everyone’s attention for a minute. 

Students: (looks to direction of the teacher)

Shay: (distracted)

Teacher: You guys are going to first check that your lead sentence is copied from your organizer. Then, check that you have dialogue in your paragraph. And last, you need quotation marks around your dialogue.

Students: (working on instructions)

Shay: (fiddling with pencil)

Teacher: (checking student’s works, approaches Shay and notices he isn’t working) Shay, why haven’t you gotten started? You haven’t written anything.

Shay: I forgot the first direction so I couldn’t get started.

Teacher: Sitting doing nothing is not an option. I’m really disappointed in you.

Narrator: What happened there? Shay wasn’t able to follow the directions, so he never started his work. Let’s see what they’re both thinking.

Shay: (thought bubble) I couldn’t remember the directions, so I panicked.

Teacher: (thought bubble) If Shay can’t follow the directions, I have to help him with every single step. That takes a lot of time away from the other students.

Narrator: Shay felt embarrassed that he forgot the directions, and his teacher was disappointed in him. If he had repeated the steps in his head, he would have remembered them and been able to do his work. Let’s watch him try again.

[SCENE 2]

Teacher: Okay, I need everyone’s attention for a minute. 

Students: (looks to direction of the teacher)

Teacher: You guys are going to first check that your lead sentence is copied from your organizer. Then, check that you have dialogue in your paragraph. And last, you need quotation marks around your dialogue.

Shay: (directions steps breakdown) Copy lead sentence, check for dialogue, check for quotes. Those are actually three small steps. First, I need to copy the lead sentence. (starts working)

Shay: and… done. Step 2, Check for dialogue. Where is it? (scans organizer) There. That’s done. Last, I need to check for quotes.

Teacher: (goes around to check students’ work, approaches Shay) Nice job, Shay.

Narrator: Let’s see how this made everyone feel.

Shay: (thought bubble) I used to just wait for my teacher to help me, but now I can do it all on my own. It’s a lot faster this way.

Teacher: (thought bubble) I used to have to tell Shay every single step. I’m so proud that he can handle this work by himself now.

Narrator: Following directions takes some thinking. We repeat the steps in our head and do one at a time until they’re done. When we do this, we’re acting like an independent student, and our teacher will be proud.

[WHAT DID WE LEARN?]

Narrator: So, what did we learn?

To follow directions without reminders:

Notice when our teacher is talking to the class and listen to the directions.

Focus on just the key words in the directions.

Repeat the key words in your head.

Think about what you need to do first

Check that you’re done with one step before moving on.