The purpose of this lesson is to help students take an active role in their learning and study habits.

Executive functioning is a set of brain-based skills that help us plan, focus, remember instructions, manage multiple tasks, and regulate emotions. Often called the brain’s “management system,” these skills include working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, planning and organization, time management, and self-monitoring. Strong executive function allows people to stay on task, manage responsibilities, and adjust behavior as needed, while difficulties in these areas can make organizing, starting tasks, meeting deadlines, multitasking, and controlling impulses more challenging.

attention, focus

Activity 1: (15 minutes) BIG BRAIN BOSS

Prior to this activity, gather the following items or something similar and place them in a bag: a flashlight, a medal or trophy, a toy ladder or staircase, and a magnifying glass.

Read through the “I’m Good At” statements on the slides. Invite students to give a thumbs up if the statement describes something they are good at or a thumbs to the side if the statement is something they are not good at yet. (Teacher Tip: Remind students that it would not be appropriate to make fun of or shame anyone for doing or not doing any of these things.)

Explain that all of these skills have to do with an area of our brains called executive functioning. Executive functioning is like the boss of our brains that help us get things done.

Show students the bag with the items inside. Invite students to take turns pulling each of the 4 items out of the bag and use the corresponding slides to explain each of the brain boss strategies. Alternatively, if the physical items were not available, just go through the slides.

Pass out a blank paper to each student. Students will draw a picture to represent something they learned about how their brain works and write 1–2 sentences to explain their picture. 

Activity 2: (20 minutes) JUGGLE THE JOBS

Ask students if they have ever tried reading a book and talking to a friend at the same time. Was it easy to concentrate?

Explain that our brains work best when they only have one job at a time. If we try to do too many things at once, our focus gets messy, and our brains do not work properly—which makes it much harder to succeed. To help our brains stay calm and get the best results, we should always try to pay attention and focus on just one task at a time.

Share the definition of the terms “attention” and “focus” from the slides.

Play a game of “Juggle the Jobs.”

Round 1: In pairs, students will toss a small item (e.g., ball, beanbag) back and forth for 30 seconds.

When the time is up, ask students to set their objects on the ground. Have a discussion:

• How did it feel to pass the object back and forth? Was it hard to do? 
• Were you able to concentrate on the one task? (EQ)

Round 2: Students will toss an item back and forth for 30 seconds while also singing the ABCs.

Round 3: Students will toss an item back and forth for 30 seconds while singing the ABCs and pretending to write their name in the air with their non-dominant hand (optional: students should actually hold a pencil in their hand and pretend to write).

Gather the class for a group discussion: 

• Which round was easiest? Which round was hardest? Why?
• What happened when you had to do too many things at once?
• How can you apply what you have learned about paying attention and focusing on one task at a time when you are doing homework or working in class? (EQ)

Emphasize that it is important to pay attention, focus on one task at a time, and finish your work before moving on to something else so you can always do your best work.

Activity 3: (20 minutes) DETECTIVE ATTENTION 

Prior to this activity, place 10–15 small objects on a tray.

Ask students to imagine that they are a detective trying to solve a mystery. Detectives look for clues. If you do not pay attention to your surroundings, then you could miss a clue that could lead you to something big. Today you are going to be like a detective and practice focusing and paying attention.

Pass out a piece of paper to each student. Give students 30 seconds to look at the tray of small objects. (Teacher Tip: You can do this multiple ways, depending on what works best for your class. You can walk around to every student with the tray, invite groups of students to the back table to view the tray, or project the tray of objects onto your whiteboard.) Once all students have viewed the objects, cover the tray and invite students to write down everything they remember seeing on their papers. Reveal each of the items on the tray and have students put a check mark next to each one they remembered. (Teacher Tip: Consider offering a small prize or reward for the student(s) who remembered the most items.)

Try the activity again, but this time, students will be paying attention to what changed. Show the tray to the students for 30 seconds. (Teacher Tip: This round will work best if you show the tray to all students at the same time.) Once all students have seen the tray, ask them to close their eyes. Remove 1–3 objects from the tray. (Challenge: Rearrange the objects on the tray after removing some.) Let the students look at the tray of objects again. Ask them to write down what items were removed.

If time permits, repeat this activity a few times, removing different objects.

Point out that students had to pay attention to the tray of items to notice what was there and what was missing. Had they not been paying attention, then this activity would have been really difficult.

Explain that it is important to focus and pay attention in class. Think about it: If you do not listen to the directions, how will you know how to do the assignment? If you are not paying attention when someone asks you for something, you probably will not be able to get the right object for them. Paying attention is important because it shows you care about the other person and makes sure you complete your own tasks correctly.

Ask students to list ways they can pay attention in class. Record their ideas on the whiteboard. (e.g., look at the speaker, ask questions, try to ignore distractions, take a deep breath.) Have a discussion:

• Why is it important to focus and pay attention in school? (EQ)
• When are times that it is important to pay attention? 
• How does paying attention help us learn or stay safe? 
• What can we do when we notice that we are distracted?

Activity 4: (20 minutes) FOCUS STRATEGIES

Ask the students to think about one task that they really do not like doing that they find difficult to finish (e.g., cleaning your room, doing homework, vacuuming the house). What helps you finish tasks you do not like doing?

Validate that it can be hard to stay focused on one task. Many people try to avoid finishing tasks by starting something fun instead. The problem is, this leaves you with lots of unfinished tasks. For the sake of keeping your brain calm and feeling the pride of a completed job, it is best to focus on one activity at a time until it is done.

Give each student an index card. As you go through each of the focus strategies on the slides, have students write down the 2 strategies they think would help them the most the next time they need to pay attention to a difficult task.

Display the focus strategies from the slides. Discuss each strategy, reminding the students to write down 2 that they would like to try.

Have a discussion:

• What is one strategy you can use to keep your attention focused on completing one task? (EQ)
• Why is it important to finish tasks before beginning new ones?
• What tasks are difficult for you to want to finish?

Activity 5: (20 minutes) STEP BY STEP 

Prior to this activity, watch the video and see if it is the best fit for your students. Feel free to select another art tutorial video from the channel to use instead if it would be better for your students.

Hand out a blank piece of paper to each student. Display the image of a panda from the slides. Give students 2–3 minutes to try and copy the picture. After a few minutes, have students stop, put down their pencils, and look at their pictures. Have a discussion:

• How do you feel about completing this task? Explain. 
• Did it feel overwhelming to try and complete this task all at once? 
• Have you ever felt overwhelmed about completing a school-related task? Explain. (EQ)

Explain that we can break big jobs into smaller steps, so things do not feel too hard to start or finish.

Have students turn their papers over to start again. Watch the video, “How To Draw A Panda” by Art for Kids Hub. Have students follow along with the steps in the video to draw their panda. (Teacher Tip: Pay attention to the students as they work and pause the video as needed so students can keep up.) If time permits, let students share their art with the people around them. Have a discussion:

• How did it feel to break up a large task into smaller steps? Explain.
• How can you apply this skill to your next school or homework assignment? (EQ)