Life Success
For Students With Learning Disabilities:
A Teacher Guide


Proactivity: Elementary Grades

Introductory Activity 

As you introduce proactivity, add it to the chart entitled “Keys to Success.”  (You will be adding more attributes to the chart later.)  Have class define “proactivity” in their own words.  Post word cards, posters, and lists brainstormed and created through classroom activities. Review at the beginning of each day or class period and infuse through the curriculum.  Reinforce and refer to each attribute using ‘teachable moments’ throughout the school day.  Have students find examples of success attributes in current events, news stories, TV programs, peer experiences, and their own experiences, and create a bulletin board with the appropriate attribute as a label.

General Activities

• Present students with case examples of people facing problems in various contexts and have them discuss or role-play action-oriented strategies for resolving the conflicts.
• Have students write down important decisions they made, the strategies they used to make the decisions, and the outcomes and evaluations of the decisions.
• Present students with examples of people’s actions and outcomes, and discuss the extent to which the individual had control over the situation.
• Present students with a number of “risky” scenarios, and discuss the possible consequences of specific actions.

Extension Activities

Act or Pass

• Role-play (with students, if needed) several situations of being “active” and “passive” and ask students for words to describe each role-play (e.g., pro = carry the ball until the end of a game; pass = pass off the ball to another person).  Place the words in two columns on the board.
• Put the word “active” on a large word card and post it on the board.  Another word card with the word “pro” is placed in front of it.
• Lead a discussion about what each part of the word means (“What does it mean to be pro active?”  “What are you pro or for?”).
• Discuss the outcomes of being proactive in several situations and contrast with what would have happened if these people had remained passive.
• Have students make their own posters.  One side is labeled “active” and the other side “passive.”  Have them fill each side with pictures, words, drawings, or diagrams showing the things about which they are either proactive or passive.
• Link this activity with students’ strengths/weaknesses by having students circle pictures/words on their chart that indicate areas of strength and box pictures/words that indicate areas of weakness.

Ask the Experts

• Assign each student to be an expert on a particular thing, based on your knowledge of the student and on past self-awareness exercises in which strengths and special talents are listed, or let students self-select.  (There might be a jump-rope expert, comic book expert, as well as experts in academic subjects.)
• Set aside a 10- or 15-minute time block when children can meet with experts to ask questions, get coaching, etc., to give each child the opportunity to be assertive by helping or informing others.  Announce, “It’s ask the experts time.  The comic book expert will be meeting at Table A, handball expert will be at the handball court, math expert will be at Table B.”
• Rotate experts each day until all students have had a chance to be an expert.