Ready to Chat or Not Right Now? Reading Body Language
Eight body language signals sorted into two groups: signals that someone might be ready to chat, and signals that it might not be the right moment.
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0/8 sorted
How to run it
Introduce the idea that everyone has times when they want to talk and times when they do not, and that both are fine. Read each card aloud and let the student place it. Then ask what they could do in each case: join in, or try again later. A student who notices the not right now signals is saving themselves a rejection that was never about them.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentSet up the situation and wait for the student to respond on their own.Log as correct
- Nonverbal cueUse a look, a gesture or a point to the visual cue card.Log as cued
- Indirect promptAsk 'What could you say now?' or 'What might they be thinking?'Log as cued
- ModelShow what to say or do, then run the moment again so the student can try it.Log as cued
Adjust it
Act out each posture or gesture yourself so the student can see it, not only read it.
Ask for a second possible meaning for each signal, and what the student could do next.
Matching IEP goal
Given described or pictured situations, Student will describe what a person's body language may communicate and name one clue in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Eight signals people give before a conversation starts: turning toward you and smiling, waving you over, making room on a bench, or headphones on and eyes on a book, walking fast with a full lunch tray. The student sorts each into might be ready to chat or might mean not right now. Neither group is bad; both are useful information about timing.
What to listen for
Notice whether the student reads signals literally or in context. Says maybe later is a polite not now for many people, and some students hear it as a promise. Watch for students who sort everything into ready to chat, which can mean they are focusing on their own wish to talk. Ask how they show others when they need a break, too.
Carrying it home
At home, talk about timing: when is a good moment to tell a parent a long story, and when are they busy cooking? Name your own signals out loud, such as I have my coat on, so I need to go, but tell me in the car. It helps the student link signals to what people mean, and shows that asking is always allowed.
What's in this activity
- Might be ready to chat
- Might mean not right now
Questions
- Who is this for?
- Students in grades 3 through 7 learning to read when a peer is open to conversation. It works well before practising how to join a group.
- Is this teaching students to hide their own signals?
- No. It is about reading other people, not changing how the student shows themselves. Talk about the student's own signals as valid, and about asking directly when a signal is unclear.
- Can I change the items?
- Yes. Open it in the Activity Studio, edit or add items and keep the same board, or switch it to another template that fits the content.
- Is it free?
- Yes. It plays free in the browser with no login. An account adds session data, goal scoring and assignment to a student.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.