Objective: Strengthen students' ability to focus on a specific target (letter) while filtering out other information.
Materials Needed:
A printed or projected list of letters (randomized in rows or columns, with frequent appearances of the target letter).
Writing utensils or tally counters.
Target letter chosen beforehand (e.g., the letter "e").
Instructions:
Introduce the Task: Explain that students will focus on identifying a specific target letter within a long list of randomized letters. Each time they see the target letter, they should perform a specific action, such as making a tally mark, tapping their paper, or placing a small dot above the target.
Review the Target Letter: Show the letter chosen as the target (e.g., "e"). Ensure that students understand the task and what action they will take when they identify the target.
Distribute the List: Give each student a copy of the randomized letter list, or display it on the board if done as a whole-class activity.
Begin the Task: Set a timer (e.g., 1–2 minutes) and ask students to go through the list, finding and marking each instance of the target letter with the chosen action. Encourage them to stay focused, as there will be other letters that can serve as distractions.
Check and Discuss: Once the time is up, have students count how many times they found the target letter. Then, as a group, review the total number of appearances to see if students caught them all.
Reflection and Discussion: Ask students how they felt during the task. Did they find themselves distracted by the other letters? What strategies did they use to stay focused on only the target letter? Discuss how this skill of filtering distractions can help in other areas of learning.
Extension Activity: To add complexity, introduce multiple target letters. For example, you might ask students to find both “e” and “a” but tally each separately. This will require students to stay focused while also shifting their attention between two specific targets.
Example of Randomized List: A list like this can be presented as rows of letters:
H E Z Q E R T E L E M A P N O E Y A S E D F E R Q A P L J K E T Y E A R E I C A T E O E A L E M P
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