In the episode “Procrastination,” Willa needs help focusing on counting the cranes. As a result, she can’t go to the movie with her friends because she needs to finish her work. Willa was struggling with procrastination, and it caused her to miss out on something she was looking forward to. 

Today you will create a public service announcement (PSA). The goal is to bring awareness about the consequences of procrastination.

• Allow students to work in small groups or on their own. PSAs can be delivered in the most convenient format for you and your students: poster, skit, video, audio recording, or even comic book. 
• Each PSA should include the following:
  • A definition of procrastination
  • At least two possible consequences of procrastinating
  • Three or more strategies for preventing procrastination

Students present their PSAs to the group. 

Closing discussion questions:

• What was your favorite part of the PSAs? Why?
• Did you see any strategies that you want to try?
• Have you ever had experiences with procrastination? What were some of the consequences?

In the episode “Procrastination,” Kaylee asks Willa to fact-check a story. Willa is happy to help until she realizes the project involves counting 1,000 paper cranes. She has dyscalculia, a learning difference in some brains that makes it harder to work with numbers. Willa tells Kaylee, “I’m bad with numbers,” but doesn’t tell her what might help her be able to complete the task successfully. Kaylee doesn’t ask Willa any more questions and assumes that Willa will be fine because she has a lot of time to complete the task. 

Today you will have a chance to rewrite the script! Go back to the conversation between Willa and Kaylee. Now, rewrite their conversation. How could Willa have better described her needs to Kaylee? How could Kaylee and Attias have been more curious about Willa’s needs?

• Start the activity with a group discussion of the following questions:
  • How could Kaylee have been more supportive of Willa?
  • Was there another way Willa could have advocated for herself?
• Have students work in pairs to rewrite the script with their new ideas.

Ask for a pair of volunteers to read the original script. Then have each team read their new version, playing one of the two characters. Encourage students to applaud the performers. 

Closing discussion questions:

• What were some of the common ideas that came up in the new scripts?
• Have you ever decided to advocate for yourself by discussing your learning differences? Did you use any of the strategies from the scripts? 
• What are some positive outcomes of talking about our learning differences with the people we trust? What are some of the challenges?

In “Procrastination,” Willa takes on a project that is so big and challenging she feels overwhelmed and starts to procrastinate by playing on her phone. We often procrastinate because the task we need to accomplish seems too big or too complicated to know where to start. One of the best ways to help ourselves is to look for the smaller steps inside the task and only try to complete one step at a time. Did anyone notice how Willa did this in the episode? *Guide students to notice how Willa took a break after counting 500 cranes.

Today, we will practice this skill by taking everyday tasks and challenging ourselves to find as many small steps as possible.

• Allow students to choose the task they would like to tackle. The task does not have to be school-related, but it should be something they consider difficult or overwhelming. Some examples could include:
  • Cleaning your room
  • Completing a school project
  • Getting ready in the morning
• Students can work individually or in groups to think of all the steps to complete the project. They should write each step in a different box.
• Next, students can decide in what order they will complete the steps. Students can write numbers in the small circle at the upper corner of each box to indicate the order they would complete each of the steps they wrote out.

Closing discussion questions:

• What parts of this activity were easy? What parts were challenging?
• What is one task this strategy might help you accomplish in your life?

When Willa is having a hard time procrastinating with counting the cranes in “Procrastination,” she realizes that she can do something fun and exciting if she finishes her work–a pizza party with her friends. Sometimes when we have to do something we don’t like, it can be a big help to create a reward that we can look forward to when the task gets tough. 

Today we will play a game where we come up with rewards for different tasks and think about rewards that fit the accomplishment. For example, if I made my bed one morning, going on a trip to an amusement or theme park afterward would not be a right-sized reward! On the other hand, if I worked really hard and got good grades in all of my classes, having five extra minutes at the park might not feel like a reward that matched the huge amount of work I put in.

• Have students sit in a circle. The person with the ball calls out an accomplishment and tosses the ball to someone else in the circle. The person who catches the ball must think of a right-sized reward for the accomplishment. Some ideas for accomplishments could be:
  • Getting all A’s
  • Finishing a big assignment 
  • Practicing a song on the guitar until you can play it confidently
  • Getting all your chores done for a month
• When the catcher of the ball names their reward, the other students use their thumbs to show whether they think it is a right-sized reward or not. Thumbs up shows agreement that it’s an appropriate reward for the accomplishment. Thumbs down shows disagreement. Teachers can ask students who disagree why they think it’s an inappropriate reward. If most students hold up a thumbs down, the catcher can offer a new idea for a reward. 
• Once the class agrees a good reward has been identified, the child who caught the ball can think of a new accomplishment and toss the ball to a different student.

Closing discussion questions:

• What are some guidelines that we can identify for what makes something a right-sized reward?
• Why is it helpful to use rewards to motivate yourself?
• Are there any situations where you think using rewards to get motivated is a bad strategy? Why?