Positive Self Talk

About this resource

Positive self talk, one swap at a time. Every child has a mean thought sometimes: "I can't do this." "This is too hard." This set gives grades 1-5 the words to trade it for a kind one: "I can try." "I can ask for help." Twelve cards make six matching pairs, a mean thought and its kind swap, to cut apart and match. A poster puts the kind thoughts on the wall, and writing sheets let each student make their own. It comes with the log that writes down what happened, so positive self talk does not stay a bulletin board.

EVERYTHING INSIDE — 25 pages

• 12 swap cards in full color, cut apart 4 across and 3 down so each cut is one straight line: 6 mean thoughts (gray) and 6 kind thoughts (colored), each with a picture, a word and a short line, and a pair letter A to F in the corner so a student can check a match alone
• The same 12 swap cards in black-and-white ink-saver
• A match sheet: six rows, each with a circle for the card letter, a space to draw a mean thought and a space to draw its kind swap
• A kind thoughts poster with 6 kind thoughts and "I am learning, and that is OK." in color, and the same poster in ink-saver
• 8 "I can" and "I am learning to" cards (4 of each) the student finishes in their own words and draws
• A Swap It sheet: 4 rows to write a mean thought and the kind thought that swaps for it
• My Own Kind Thought Poster: write one kind thought, draw it, hang it up
• A five-day star tracker, 6 stars a day, with a line for the kind thought
• A how-to page, with the answer key for the swap cards
• A Self-Talk Swaps Log (20 rows: date, where it happened, pair letter, swapped on own yes or no, 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 pairs counted across all three
• A family page with six small kind-thought cards to cut apart and a note home
• A hand-off page so a paraprofessional or another classroom uses the swap the same way
• A phrase bank: 23 lines in 6 groups (spoken lines for 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 Swap Cards

Six pairs, in plain words an elementary student can read: I can't do this / I can try. I'm bad at this / I am learning this. I messed up / Mistakes help me learn. This is too hard / I can ask for help. I'll never get it / I can keep trying. I always lose / I can try again next time. Student pages carry only a name line, one short instruction with a picture, and big pictures and words, with room to write and draw.

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 and the hand-off page, 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

Classroom teachers of grades 1-5, special education teachers and paraprofessionals, counselors, 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, Social Stories: Using Kind Words and Actions 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.