Expected vs unexpected behavior can be tricky to teach to elementary students. There are five main steps to teaching these things to make them effective in your classroom. Read on for these steps along with some expected vs unexpected behaviors activity ideas to use in your classroom today.
Clearly Define Unexpected Vs Expected Behaviors
The first step in this process is to clearly define the terms.
Students need to know very clearly what expected vs unexpected behaviors in the classroom look like. This way everyone is on the same page. It cuts down on any confusion surrounding the matter.
To do this, expected vs unexpected behaviors explained might sound something like relating it to good vs poor choices. Most students understand “good” and “poor”. Try to refrain from using the term “bad.” Students who struggle to follow expectations might start to generalize this term to themselves. There is nothing worse than a child calling themselves a “bad boy/girl” because that is how they are relating it to the terms you are using. This also helps to keep the expectations positively stated, which is important.
It is important to note that when setting expectations, you keep a few things in mind. These expectations should be developmentally appropriate for students. Meaning what you expect from them is something they are able to do.
Additionally, expected behavior vs unexpected behavior should be culturally appropriate. In other words, make sure that what you are asking students to do is respectful of students’ backgrounds and home cultures. A great example of this is eye contact. Many teachers want students to be looking at the speaker as a sign of listening. In some cultures eye contact is considered disrespectful. So if eye contact was asked of them, it wouldn’t correlate with their beliefs at home. It is important to know each student in your classroom, including their background, as things may need to be done differently to be respectful of all.
Lastly, the expectations should also be specific and observable. Kids need to be able to differentiate correct from incorrect. They also need to be able to see what expected vs unexpected behaviors at school physically look like. This will help them reproduce the wanted behavior more easily.
Share Importance of Expected And Unexpected Behavior At School
Once you have the expected and unexpected behaviors definition that everyone understands, the next step is to get buy in from the students. If the students believe something is important, they are much more apt to follow it.
A way to do this would be to give students some input into the ideas. So if the expectation is that you ask the adult to go to the bathroom before leaving, have students come up with a way to do that. This could be a certain phrase or a hand signal or a physical object that is moved. Giving students some say can be super helpful.
Another way is to really explain why the expectations are the way they are, which is usually somehow tied to safety. When students understand that you are trying to keep them safe or for the classroom to run smoothly so everyone can learn, they usually get this. This helps with the buy in.
Direct Instruction with Expected vs Unexpected Behaviors Lesson
Telling students exactly what the expectations are is important. This is best done explicitly by teaching them.
When doing this, tell students what the expectation is as well as what is unexpected. This can give them a great idea using the right vs wrong concept.
Having many examples is also helpful during this time. You can give some overall examples yourself and then have students come up with some examples. Getting them involved is so helpful in their learning.
Here are a few expected and unexpected behavior examples:
- When wanting to use a certain colored marker that someone else has.
Expected: ask the person to use it when they are done.
Unexpected: take it from the person -or- start crying really hard and lay on the ground
- Need to use the bathroom at school.
Expected: ask the adult around you to use the bathroom.
Unexpected: leave without telling the adult -or- yell really loudly so everyone can hear you that you are going to the bathroom
Don’t have time to come up with your own? Then grab this expected vs unexpected behaviors lesson plan to save yourself time. Here you’ll find a lesson plan explaining what these things are along with some practice activities including visual reference cards and scenarios. There is also an interactive die game where students role the die, and answer the question that lands facing up. All materials that you need to teach an effective lesson are included so it’s as simple as print and go. Purchase this time-saving and engaging resource to get your students learning here.
Practice With Expected Vs Unexpected Behaviors Activities
Ever heard the saying “practice makes perfect?” Well, it definitely rings true in this situation too.
The more students practice these skills, the better their understanding will be.
Here are some engaging ideas.
Expected Vs Unexpected Behaviors Scenarios
A great way to practice is to give students different situations. They can then either tell if the person in the situation is showing expected or unexpected situation -or- they can say what the correct choice would be. And if you want to step it up even more, put students in partners/small groups and have them act out the situation.
With situations, you can even go digital. Make up some digital task cards on something like Boom Learning, Kahoot, or even in Google Slides. Have students work as a whole group, in teams, or even individually to work through scenarios. Or even assess students’ understanding of the concept by assigning them individually to see where they are at. Don’t have time to make up your own digital task cards? Check these out. There at 30 different situations on two different boom decks. Each card has a situation where students decided if it is a good or poor choice, including picture and audio support. Grab this engaging resource here.
Expected Vs Unexpected Behaviors Worksheet Practice
Sometimes worksheets can be an easy way to reinforce teaching.
Download this printable free expected and unexpected behaviors worksheet for your next reinforcement activity. It defines the key terms and poses some expected and unexpected behavior scenarios for students to read through and decided which way of acting is happening. Students will enjoy reading through real-life situations and you’ll love the rich conversations that can occur while talking about this important social skills topic. Grab it now here.
And if you like the free expected and unexpected behavior worksheet above, grab this pack of 14 different worksheets and a 5 page flip book. The flip book gives the definitions of the key terms. It also has examples of expected vs unexpected behaviors.The fourteen other worksheets contain information on deepening understanding of the concept and work towards student identification as well as generalizing the concept to their everyday lives. This expected and unexpected behaviors worksheet pdf contains various forms such as defining terms, expected and unexpected behavior scenarios, cut & sort, comic strips, and more. Grab this amazing teaching resource here.
Learning with Read Alouds
Another great learning tool is read alouds. Use a book or two to read aloud and have some great conversations with students along the way. You can even pick out the rules that you have selected for your classroom and highlight those as you read too.
Some books that would be awesome for this task are:
☆ What If Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick
☆ What Should Danny Do? School Day by Adir Levy
☆ David Goes to School by David Shannon
Expected Vs Unexpected Behaviors Game
Kids love playing games. So why not create one with around this topic to have fun while learning?
Simply make a game board (or use one you already have, like Candy Land). Then make up playing cards with different situations containing expected or unexpected behavior. Have students move around the game board answering card situations as either expected or unexpected as they land on new squares. Real-life picture cards are great for non or struggling readers. Students will have a blast, not even realizing they are learning.
Want a done-for-you game that is as easy as print, cut, and use? Then this game board and expected vs unexpected behavior question cards all done in a fun detective theme is what you need. Children will love moving around the game board answering scenarios or looking at pictures to determine behavior during social situations. Use this interactive expected vs unexpected behavior activity game to help students understand and generalize the idea of wanted social skills. Find it here.
Regularly Reinforce Expectations
As a final step, it is important to acknowledge the behaviors that you see which are expected.
This can be with something as simple as a kind statement (think “good job” or “I like how you were following the expectations”).
Or it can be with tangible items. Many teachers have a reward system already in place in their classrooms. So instead of reinventing the wheel, tie this into that already pre-existing system by adding rewards in for this too.
Another fun way to reinforce this is to send notes home telling what the student did that was great. Make sure to make these notes (or emails) home specific so the parent can comment on their child as well.
Whatever way you choose to do it, making sure to point out when students are meeting behavior expectations is important.
More on the Topic
If you want more information on this topic, check out this post. It tells more about the basics behind expected and unexpected. This includes what it is, why it is important, and gives some examples. Read on here.
Kaylee at Teaching with Kaylee B has a great post on Elementary Classroom Expectations to Help You Have a Successful School Year. You’ll find ideas for classroom displays, anchor charts, how to set them and more.
Lit By Learning has a great post on 4 Easy Steps to Create Classroom Rules With Your Students. There is some helpful guidance in creating rules for your classroom.
Routines in your classroom are also a great way to help your classroom run smoothly. They help students know what to do, which helps with displaying wanted behavior. Check out this post on routines in an elementary special education classroom for some helpful ideas to implement today.
To sum it up, there are five main steps to teaching expectations. These are: defining expectations, making them important to students, explicitly teaching them, practicing behaviors, and finally reinforcing/rewarding those meeting the expectations.
Following these steps is sure to get your students on the right track for a wonderful school year.
Happy Teaching!
One Response