Prompting and fading are valuable teaching strategies that can be used in the Physical Education classroom and even in the home environment. We are constantly providing prompts for our learners, but probably aren’t doing it intentionally. In the Special Education world, we use intentional prompts because our learners require it. They learn in a different way and at a different pace, so we ensure that skills are taught in small pieces or steps in order to get the most accurate and sustainable skill. It is important to have a good understanding of what prompting is and how it supports the mastery of a skill for your learners. Now lets flush this out and get down to the basics...
A prompt is a cue or a hint to help the learner perform a desired skill and/or behaviour. For example, you come to a 4 way street and you see a stop sign. The stop sign is a prompt to signal to the driver to slow down and to stop safely.
You want your toddler to put their shoes on, so you give them a nudge in the direction of the front door. Weaning your toddler off your prompts will also ensure that that they will not become dependent on your support. This is called fading. Fading is the process of gradually decreasing the need, strength or level of a prompt in order for the learner to be successful at achieving the desired outcome on their own. Independence is the goal in every skill. When learning how to put their shoes on, you probably like most parents, do it for them. Over time you will hopefully notice your child attempting or showing an interest in doing it themselves or at least helping you to do it. At this time, you might start prompting.
- Physical: Putting your hands over theirs to grab their shoes and using your hands to push their feet in.
- Partial Physical: Helping them get started by little touches here and there to help them put the shoes on, like a touch on the knee to remind them to push.
- Verbal: Standing by and reminding them of the steps they need to do
- Gestural: Pointing at the shoes or parts of their body as a reminder of what to do next
- No Prompt: Your child can do it themselves and you’ve hit a JACKPOT of an independent skill when it comes to leaving the house (but we can’t guarantee it will be on time).
Prompting and the fading of prompts are valuable when teaching learners with disabilities in the Physical Education classroom. You can download our Prompt for Progress organizer to help in your programming.
Here are some tips and tricks to get you going:
- Start in the right place: Knowing and assessing your learner will help you identify what level of prompt to begin with. See what they can do on their own, first.
- Keep it moving: Once your learner has demonstrated success at one prompt level for a certain amount of time determined but you, move onto the next one in the hierarchy (i.e. We like to use “4 days out of 5” because it allows for some error for an off day, we don’t expect everyone to be perfect everyday).
- Reflect: Have you been doing a physical prompt for 4 weeks with no improvement? Maybe the expectation is too hard. Scale back your expectation and you might see change.
Below are some examples from our Physical Education program that show the different levels and types of prompts that we have used to teach a new skill for our learners.
Student profile:
Grade 3 student with ASD, Global Developmental Delay, Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome
2019 Health & Physical Education Curriculum, Grade 3 Expectation:
C1.1 Perform controlled transitions between static positions, using different body parts and shapes and different levels, with and without equipment.
Modified IEP Goal:
Student will step up and onto a stepper bench with a height of 2 risers.
Level of prompt being used in the picture:
Full Physical Prompt
Zoom in:
A full physical prompt is being used for this student because her physical limitations may prevent her from being totally safe when climbing up and onto objects. To maximize safety and to teach her this new skill, a peer buddy and a teacher are on both sides of her providing a hand-over-hand prompt.
Zoom out:
Next steps include fading the physical prompt so the student can complete the task on her own, and then thinking about learning the movement skills necessary to step down from the bench. From there, she can move towards stepping up and over different objects of varied heights, such as a pool noodle or agility ladder.
Student profile:
Grade 3 student with ASD
2019 Health & Physical Education Curriculum, Grade 3 Expectation:
C1.4 Send and receive objects of different shapes and sizes in different ways, using different body parts, at different levels, and using various types of equipment.
Modified IEP Goal:
Student will throw items of different sizes and shapes into a 3 foot target from a distance of 5 feet.
Level of prompt being used in the picture:
Partial physical prompt
Zoom in:
A partial physical prompt is being used here because this student has difficulty hearing a direction and then following through with the correct motor movement. After giving the instruction, the teacher must stand behind the student and touch her elbow to remind her to lift her arm to get ready to send the object.
Zoom out:
Next steps include fading the partial physical prompt so the student can complete the task on her own, and then thinking about increasing her distance from the target and/or changing the height or size of the target itself (i.e. moving to a bucket target).
Student profile:
Grade 2 student with ASD
2019 Health & Physical Education Curriculum, Grade 2 Expectation:
C1.3 Perform a variety of locomotor movements with and without equipment, travelling in different directions and at different speeds, and using different pathways.
Modified IEP Goal: Student will perform gross motor movement actions when shown a visual picture cue.
Level of prompt being used in the picture:
Verbal Prompt
Zoom in:
This learner is close to mastering this skill, but still requires a gentle prompt after she sees the gross motor movement in picture form before she is able to do it. Here, the teacher is giving the verbal prompt “sit” as she looks at the picture so she can attach meaning to it.
Zoom out:
Next steps include fading the verbal prompt so the student will perform the sitting movement when she sees the picture. This will help the student to perform other tasks independently in her integration class, such as centres where students are required to look at pictures at complete tasks. She may also move on to performing more complex tasks such as 2 pictures saying “get pinnie” and “sit” so the student knows what to do when she enters class each day before being asked.
Student profile:
Grade 3 student with ASD
2019 Health & Physical Education Curriculum, Grade 4 Expectation:
B1.1 Actively participate in a wide variety of program activities.
B2.1 Daily physical activity: participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity, with appropriate warm-up and cool-down activities, to the best of their ability for a minimum of twenty minutes each day.
Modified IEP Goal:
Student will participate in a partner game by finding the student who matches their object and greeting them (i.e. high five, wave)
Level of prompt being used in the picture:
Gestural Prompt
Zoom in:
A gestural prompt is being used to help the student attend to the task she is doing, and the teacher pointing to her partner’s object is drawing her eyes down to look and notice it.
Zoom out:
Next steps include fading the gestural prompt so the student will learn to look down at her partner’s object independently in order to connect with them. This skill can be expanded to include other partner games such as finding a specific person or a partner and copying the partner’s actions.
Student profile:
Grade 1 student with ASD, Developmental Delay
2019 Health & Physical Education Curriculum, Grade 1 Expectation:
C1.3 Perform a variety of locomotor movements, travelling in different directions and using different body parts.
C1.4 Send objects of different shapes and sizes at different levels and in different ways, using different body parts.
Modified IEP Goal:
Student will complete an obstacle course consisting of 2 activities (i.e. jumping from dot-to-dot on the floor, and then sorting equipment into colour-coded bins)
Level of prompt being used in the picture:
No Prompt
Zoom in:
This student has been working on this skill for some time and has progressively learned the skills necessary to be independent.
Zoom out:
Next steps include fading the physical prompt so the student can complete the task on her own, and then thinking about learning the movement skills necessary to step down from the bench. From there, she can move towards stepping up and over different objects of varied heights, such as a pool noodle or agility ladder.
Prompts are a great teaching tool to add into your Physical Education program. Once the goal is identified, embedding prompts will increase the likelihood of your learners to respond correctly. When a class arrives for Physical Education, pointing to the warm up picture card will help them learn what is expected of them first. You blow your whistle during a whole group game and say, “What do you do when you hear that sound?” and have your learners pause and look at you for the next instruction. These are prompts that we use to cue our learners to support them with specific skills. For learners with disabilities, responding to these cues may not always come naturally, however utilizing a prompt hierarchy can help the learner achieve the desired goal. For us and all of our learners, the end goal is independence.
Intentionally prompting for progress supports our learners to respond to naturally occurring cues to demonstrate their skills. With a little help along with appropriate and attainable goals, your learners will succeed. There is no greater feeling than your learner achieving independence and gaining confidence in their own abilities.
