Problem
At 10:00, in Mr. LaBombard's third grade class, it is reading time. That means that students are supposed to be focused on quiet reading of their own books. Camden, Billy, and Eli are sitting together. Camden flicks a paperclip he has found on the floor at Billy. When Billy ignores him, Eli starts laughing, picks up the paperclip, and flicks it at Camden. Soon, the two boys have forgotten that they are supposed to be reading; they start laughing and throwing the paperclip back and forth. You go over to the group, talk to the boys, and remove the paperclip. Billy remarks that he was trying to read, and Camden and Eli were bothering him.
Five minutes later, the same two boys find some tape. Camden and Eli decide to attach the tape to various surfaces in the surrounding area. The two boys are now laughing hard, the books are forgotten, and they are totally off task. Billy starts to get upset and yells at the two other boys.
• What do you think will happen next?
• How would you intervene?
• If Billy wants to concentrate on reading, what could he do to avoid getting involved with what the other boys are doing?
• What strategies could you teach Billy to help with future incidents?
• Using this scenario, fill out the Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence chart.