Attention Building Activity: Alternating Attention Task"Target Word Hunt"

Objective: Help learners improve their ability to focus on a specific stimulus (target word) while ignoring distractions.

Materials Needed:

• A short story or passage (can be printed or projected on a screen).

  • The story can be one that learners are already familiar with

• A pre-selected target word (e.g., "and," "the," or any vocabulary word being learned).

• Student response action (e.g., raising a hand, tapping the table, writing down a tally mark, holding up a card).

Time Needed: 10-20 minutes

Instructions:

1. Introduce the Task: Explain to students that as you read the story aloud, their job is to focus on identifying a specific target word. Each time they hear or see the word, they need to perform a designated action (such as raising their hand or tapping the table).

2. Pre-Reading: Show the students the target word. Make sure everyone understands the word and knows how to respond when they hear or see it.

3. Read the Passage: Slowly read the passage aloud to the class, making sure to give enough time for students to react when they identify the target word. Alternatively, have students read the passage silently while scanning for the target word.

4. Student Action: As students follow along with the story, they should raise their hand or tap the table each time they encounter the target word. To make it more interactive, you could also have them write a tally mark for each occurrence of the word.

5. Discussion and Reflection: After completing the reading, review how many times the target word appeared. Then, ask students how they felt about their ability to stay focused. Discuss any distractions they encountered and how they worked to ignore those distractions to focus on the task.

   
   

Extension Activity: To increase difficulty, add a comprehension question at the end. This requires students to balance between focusing on the target word and retaining overall meaning from the passage.

Example Passage:"Yesterday, the students went on a trip to the park. The weather was perfect, and the sun was shining brightly. They played games in the grass and enjoyed a picnic under the trees."

Target Word: "the"Each time students hear or see "the," they perform their action (raise hand, tap, or mark a tally).