Frustration Tolerance

About this resource

Some tasks are hard, and some days nothing goes my way. This is a short picture story a student can turn like a book, and a set of picture cards that show what to do next: stop, breathe, try again, ask for help, take a break. It comes with the log that writes down what happened, so the story does not stay a nice idea on a shelf.

EVERYTHING INSIDE — 30 pages

• An 8-page picture story, "When It Is Hard": one big picture and one short sentence on each page, a "My name" line and one instruction at the top of every page
• The whole story on one black-and-white page, for the photocopier
• 8 strategy cards in full color, cut apart 4 across and 2 down so each cut is one straight line: stop, breathe, count, say it, new way, try again, ask for help, take a break. Each has a picture, a word and a short line in the student's voice
• The same 8 strategy cards in black-and-white ink-saver
• 8 blank cards: the student draws a picture and writes the words on type-in lines
• My Plan for When It Is Hard: the student picks three cards and draws or writes them in order, then draws a hard time and writes who they can ask
• I Kept Trying: a page of 10 stars to color, one each time the student keeps trying
• A how-to page: before the first read, reading it, the cards, the plan and star pages, what counts on the log, taking a break, sending it home
• A Hard Moments Log (20 rows: date, the hard thing in your words, strategy used, went back to the task, initials)
• A weekly roll-up (8 weeks) with a percent graph
• A filled example: an invented student, one week on the log, three weeks on the roll-up and the strategies used across all three
• A family page with six small cards to cut apart and a note home
• A hand-off page so a paraprofessional or another classroom uses the same cards the same way
• A phrase bank: 23 lines in 6 groups (spoken lines for the story and the cards, written starters for the log, the roll-up and the note home)
• A storage and binder label sheet: 12 labels and a spine strip
• Start Here, a contents page with page thumbnails, and a "what's next" back page

The Strategy Cards

Eight pictured cards the student can pick from when a task is hard. Keep them in a pocket, on a ring or at the desk. Use a blank card for any idea that is not printed here.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

It is a fillable PDF: type into the name lines, the log, the roll-up, the family page, the hand-off page and the blank cards, or print and use a pen. It works offline with no account or subscription. It is NOT an editable online slideshow or word-processor document.

Who This Is For

Special education teachers and paraprofessionals who want a calm, concrete picture story for a hard moment, case managers who need it to show up as data, and the families who get the home page.

More In The Collection

This set is in the Visual Supports Collection, alongside Social Story: It's OK to Make a Mistake, Stop-Think-Act Impulse Control Picture Cards and Log, Break Cards for Special Education and Sticker Chart. Free to try first: Visual Supports Starter Set FREE.

Pictures (color pages): Noto Emoji by Google, Apache License 2.0. Pictures (ink-saver pages): Fluent Emoji, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, MIT License.