Name: Conversation Behaviors Expected vs. Unexpected | Animated PowerPoint and PDF
SKU: 612e5c0e9e9f5f5b63773789
Price: 39.99 USD
Availability: InStock

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Engaging in successful conversations requires many social skills. This activity will help students learn the basic ‘expected’ and ‘unexpected’ behaviors necessary to talk with their peers and engage in a meaningful conversation where everyone feels heard and respected.

Use in your classroom or for online learning. This resource is great for students K-2nd and 3rd-5th. It can be used in a presentation style, as worksheets, or made into a 'book.'

What's included

Level 1 "Pictures and Text" section, introduced by an About This Resource page carrying Material Prep and To Use directions
Level 2 "Text Only" section with its own Material Prep and To Use directions
Definition prompts — "What Is The Definition of Expected Behaviors?" and the matching unexpected prompt — each followed by a page giving the definition
"What Are 3 Examples" prompts followed by "Here Are A Few" model-response pages (Level 1: using polite words, waiting for your turn, listening to others; Level 2: think about what the other person is saying, use appropriate body language, notice how the other person is feeling)
Ten numbered behavior cards in each level, each asking whether the pictured or named behavior is expected or unexpected during a conversation with a friend, with space to write or say the answer and a "what could be done instead?" follow-up
Footnote definitions on the Level 2 cards for whole body listening, a conversational "bridge", and an "open space" in a conversation
A "Terrific Work!" closing page and a clip-art credit page
A PowerPoint show (.ppsx) companion file alongside the PDF

Resource types: Presentations, Teacher Tools

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

State a definition of expected and unexpected behaviors and give three examples of each
Judge whether a named conversation behavior — asking questions, blurting out, changing the topic with no warning — is expected or unexpected when talking with a friend
Explain the reason behind that judgement and propose a replacement behavior whenever the behavior is unexpected
Use the terms whole body listening, conversational bridge and open space to describe how a conversation is entered and how topics change

Teaching tips

Print on regular paper and answer in pencil for a single use, or print on cardstock and laminate for repeated use with a dry erase marker, as the Material Prep page directs
Select one level rather than working through both — the instruction page says to choose Level 1 or Level 2, and the two levels cover the same sorting task at different reading demands
Take responses out loud when writing would interrupt the discussion; every prompt carries the direction to write it here or say it out loud
Follow the To Use direction to bring in examples from real experiences and to role-play the replacement behavior before turning to the next card
Staple or bind the pages into a booklet if a level will be worked through over several sessions

Skills covered

Social behavior classification — students decide, on twenty numbered cards, whether a conversation behavior is expected or unexpected during a conversation with a friend.
Perspective taking — the definition pages tie expected behaviors to making others feel comfortable, safe and respected and unexpected ones to making others feel uncomfortable, unsafe or disrespected.
Replacement-behavior planning — each card closes with the prompt to tell why and, if the behavior is unexpected, what could be done instead.
Conversation vocabulary — Level 2 footnotes teach whole body listening, a conversational bridge for changing topics, and an open space for joining in.
Oral or written responding — every prompt gives students the choice of writing the answer in the space provided or saying it out loud.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How do Level 1 and Level 2 differ?

Level 1 is headed "Pictures and Text" and pairs each behavior with an image; Level 2 is headed "Text Only" and presents the same expected-or-unexpected judgement in words alone. The instruction pages tell you to select one level rather than working through both.

What is the conversational "bridge" the cards refer to?

A footnote defines it as a phrase that helps lead the listener from one topic to a new one, giving "That reminds me…" as the example. Two consecutive cards use it: one asks students to judge changing the topic with no warning or bridge, the next asks about making a bridge before changing the topic.

Do students have to write their responses?

Writing is optional. Each prompt reads "Write it here {or say it out loud}", and the instruction page asks students to answer the given questions verbally or in writing and discuss further.