Unstuck and On Target! Ages 11-15: An Executive Function Curriculum to Support Flexibility, Planning, and Organization

The popular, evidence-based Unstuck and On Target! curriculum has helped elementary school students across the country develop critical flexibility, planning, and organisation skills.

Now there’s a version of Unstuck for ages 11–15, with all-new lessons specially designed to help middle school students build the strong executive function skills they need to manage more complex independent work.

The curriculum includes 23 lessons on topics that are key to success in school and life: flexibility, big-picture thinking, planning, compromising, and self-monitoring. These 45-minute lessons are taught in small groups in any setting, including general and special education classrooms, pull-out groups, or after-school clubs. Through catchy scripts, memorable visuals, engaging role-plays, and positive reinforcement, students will learn skills that will help them in middle school and beyond. Lessons and scripts build on each other, and students get many opportunities to practice and generalise their new skills to school, home, and community settings.

With this proven, highly effective approach to executive function intervention, middle school students will develop the skills they need to set and reach goals, flexibly collaborate with peers, use organisation strategies independently, and lay the groundwork for a bright future.

Unstuck and On Target! Benefits:

• Explicitly designed for middle school students. Developed with the input of young teens, this new version of Unstuck speaks to the challenges of students in this age range and helps them be flexible, well-regulated problem-solvers.
• Helpful for a wide range of students. While Unstuck was designed for students on the autism spectrum, it can help any student who struggles with executive function, including those with disabilities such as ADHD.
• Meets the needs of MTSS Tier 2 learners. This curriculum is one of the few tailored to the needs of Tier 2 students who need more focused instruction.
• Engaging and easy to implement. You’ll get explicit, step-by-step routines, scripts, and age-appropriate activities that keep students engaged as they learn.
• Ideal for in-person and virtual classrooms: includes digital posters, home extension activities, and digital student and parent workbooks.

Table of Contents

About the Online Companion Materials Included With Unstuck & On Target: Ages 11-15

About the Authors

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Unit 1: Flexibility, Power, and Planning

• Topic 1.1: Flexible Thinking
• Topic 1.2: Plan A/Plan B = More Power
• Topic 1.3: How to Increase Your Power to Help Yourself and The World
• Topic 1.4: Flexible Feelings – Accepting and Letting Go of Frustration and Disappointment
• Topic 1.5: Putting a Plan on Trial (checking your plan before trying it out)
• Topic 1.6: Celebration Day! The Plan B Party

Unit 2: Compromise

• Topic 2.1: Compromising a Win-Win
• Topic 2.2: Should I Compromise?
• Topic 2.3: Try Out Your Compromise Skills
• Topic 2.4: Plan Another Special Event Together Using Compromise Skills
• Topic 2.5: The Special Event
• Topic 2.6: Reviewing the Special Event

Unit 3: Efficient Planning

• Topic 3.1: Getting (and Staying) Excited About a Future Goal
• Topic 3.2: Efficient Planning – Staying Focused on the Big Picture Goal
• Topic 3.3: Efficient Planning – Watching the Clock
• Topic 3.4: Pulling it All Together – Using All of the Skills/Key Vocabulary to Finalize the Plan
• Topic 3.5: The Longer-Term Event/Project – Efficient Planning = Power!
• Topic 3.6: Reviewing the Longer-Term Event/Project: Learning from our Successes and Challenges

Unit 4: Making Executive Function Skills Work in Your Life

• Topic 4.1 Developing a Personal Goal: Using Executive Function Skills in Our Real Lives
• Topic 4.2 Using Executive Function Skills for Personal Goals
• Topic 4.3: Putting Personal Plans on Trial
• Topic 4.4 Preparing for Graduation – Celebrating our Executive Function Skills
• Topic 4.5: Graduation

Appendices

• Appendix A: Questions for Reflection
• Appendix B: Troubleshooting Frequently Asked Questions