Task Initiation Activities
Executive Functioning Skills · Beat Procrastination
- Grades
- Grades 6–12
- Formats
- Google Slides, PDF, PowerPoint
- Pages
- 44
- Answer keys
- Included
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Help students stop stalling and start! These task initiation activities teach teens why starting is hard and exactly how to get going on homework, chores, jobs and applications. Students identify their own start blockers, learn 10 practical start-up strategies, practice with 24 real-life scenario task cards and test a personal start-up routine with a 2-week tracker. Teen-respectful, evidence-informed and ready for advisory, special education or counseling groups.
What's included
- Teacher guide: learning goals, materials, how the unit is built and where it fits (advisory, special education, counseling)
- 10-session pacing guide, differentiation (support, on level, challenge) and sample IEP goal wording
- Standards page (CASEL, ASCA Student Standards, optional CCSS SL.1) and table of contents
- What Is Task Initiation? notes: the start gap, 3 myths and where starting shows up
- Procrastination Self-Check (18 statements, Now and In 2 Weeks columns) with blocker scoring
- The 6 Start Blockers: overwhelm, perfectionism, boredom, unclear first step, distraction, low fuel
- 2 guided notes pages
- Stuck Moment Replay: the avoidance loop plus a worked example
- Blocker Detective (12 scenarios)
- 2-page Start-Up Strategy Playbook: first tiny step, 5-minute start, chunking, when-then plans, environment setup, body doubling, reward after, define done, ugly first draft, refuel & reset
- 7 practice pages: Strategy Match, Shrink It (first tiny steps), Chunk It, When-Then Plans, Spot the Start-Killers desk scene, Start With Support, 5-Minute Start Lab
- 24 scenario task cards (homework, home & chores, jobs & applications) + recording sheet
- 6 Start-Up Coach role-play cards + debrief & discussion page
- Templates: First-Step Planner, Chunking Template, Start-Up Routine Builder
- 2-week task initiation tracker + reflection & graph
- 8 desk strips (ready-made, fill-in and a visual step strip)
- 8 exit tickets
- Task Initiation Quiz (22 questions, 30 points) + 20-point Start-Up Challenge rubric
- 5 pages of answer & discussion keys
How to use it
Teach it as a 10-session unit (30-45 minutes each), one session a week in advisory, or a 5-session core. Students start with the self-check, learn the strategies, apply them to realistic scenarios, then use the planner, routine builder and 2-week tracker in their real lives. It works for whole-class lessons, resource rooms, small counseling groups and one-on-one sessions. Print and go: just cut apart the cards, strips and exit tickets.
Skills practiced
Task initiationbeating procrastinationbreaking tasks into stepsplanning a first stepself-monitoringself-awarenessasking for help
