Search Results for: social skills

Outdoor Activities to Build Social Skills

June 6, 2020 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Outdoor activities to help build social skills including patience, attention, conversation skills, responsibility, and much more. Use these activities to help kids work on social emotional learning at home over the summer or anytime of year! #sel #socialskills

Working on social skills isn’t just an activity to take place in the classroom. We, as kids and adults, use social skills every day out in the real world. This gives lots of opportunities for practicing and strengthening those skills everywhere – even outside.

Whether you are a parent looking to boost your child’s social skills at home over the summer or an educator seeking some non-worksheet strategies for improvement, I hope these ideas are helpful to you.

Some important points to help as you work on these social skills through outdoor activities:

Be intentional with the skills you are working on. Talk about the social skills and why they matter.
Give plenty of practice. So often, one experience isn’t enough to really target a skill. Give it time!
Allow choice. Give kids an option of two different activities. This will help them buy-in and feel empowered before they even start.

Here are some activities to build social skills outside the four walls of the classroom.

Gardening

Gardening can sometimes be a favorite activity for kids and teens. Even though there is a bit of work up front, it’s so fun to see something you yourself have grown! Most obviously, this can build a great deal of patience. This can also be extremely rewarding and even act as a coping strategy to see something grow over time.

In addition to these skills, you can work on skill for planning while listing out ideas for a garden, choosing what you want to grow, and designing a map for where to grow each item. This can also involve some research, as it’s helpful to know what conditions different plants need.

Writing Sidewalk Chalk Messages

Grab some sidewalk chalk on a nice day and write thoughtful messages. This activity lends itself to promoting kindness, empathy, and compassion for others.

If you’re not sure what to write, spend some time looking up positive and kind quotes before you head out.

Walking and Talking

A simple activity, walking and talking is just what it sounds like – building conversation skills while walking together. Spend time talking about feelings, interests, thoughts, and hopes for the future. Give plenty of time for back and forth discussion. This activity also provides practice with turn-taking, active listening, and empathy. All the while, you will also be improving relationship skills.

If you’re running out of ideas, grab these free discussion starters to give some ideas.

Birdwatching

Birdwatching is an activity that can help build attention skills while also practicing mindfulness and coping strategies. To start with birdwatching, you don’t need anything special. Just pick a spot in a yard or while out on a hike. Then, use your senses to notice the wildlife around you.

This is a favorite activity, as it also encourages a sense of curiosity, leading to more discussions and learning. If you see or hear something that you’re not familiar with, take extra note of it or take a picture. Then, look it up once you’re back inside. This is a great way to create a positive connection with nature while working on social skills at the same time.

Tidying the Yard

Cleaning up after ourselves is a critical self-management and organizational skill that we all need in our daily lives. You can use these activities to teach about why it’s important to clean up and stay organized on a regular basis. When we have routines for staying organized, it really makes the clean-up process much easier.

Just a few activities kids and teens can help with include weeding, raking, spreading mulch, cleaning patio furniture, and gathering toys.

Picking Up Trash

Taking care of the environment is important! Spending time picking up trash can promote responsibility and respect for the world around us. It can also encourage discussion about responsible decision-making and learning that our choices impact those around us.

Picking up trash can be done at any local park or just when you are out on a hike. Make it fun! Give yourself “one point” for every trash item you find and put in a bag.

During the clean up process, discuss that even though you didn’t leave the trash, it is part of our collective responsibility as humans to help clean up. Of course, this also fosters compassion and care for the environment.

Going on a Scavenger Hunt

Work on attention skills with an outdoor scavenger hunt. You can make the list ahead of time or find one to print out. Have kids mindfully look for different items, like a green leaf or a rock. Mark it down on the checklist and keep looking for more.

Jogging

Jogging, running, and walking are extremely healthy ways to practice coping strategies outdoors. Just like any other aerobic exercise, jogging is known to raise heart rate, burn calories, increase lung capacity, and improve the immune system. While these are generally seen as physical impacts, it’s worth noting that this boosts mental and emotional health, too.

Going for a quick jog is a great way to promote a positive coping strategy when feeling stressed, angry, or even sad. Even more, jogging can be used as a proactive self-care strategy.

Basketball (or any sport)

Basketball, or really any sport, is an ideal activity to work on sportsmanship, fairness, and perseverance, to name a few skills. Choose a sport that your kids and teens enjoy most, whether it is basketball, baseball, soccer, or bowling.

If you want to work on flexibility skills, try a sport or activity that your child doesn’t know well. Practice and learn together!

Leaf Rubbing

Another strategy for focusing on mindfulness, leaf rubbing is an easy and quick activity that can be done almost anywhere. All you will need is paper, a clipboard, and a crayon (or two). Have kids find a leaf on the ground that they like. Place it under the paper on the clipboard and shade in the paper.

Planning a Picnic

Grab a clipboard and start a checklist to work on planning your ideal picnic. Have kids take the lead to work on their planning and organization skills. Rather than telling them what they should bring, ask prompting questions like, “What do you think we might need?”

Letting kids and teens lead an activity like this also helps build self-confidence!

Play Freeze

In this activity, you will be playing music and giving dance time. After a minute or so, pause the music and make sure everyone freezes on the spot. After a quick pause, play the music again and resume.

Use this as a memorable way to practice and talk about self-control. Of course, this is a game that can be played either indoors or outdoors!

Again, it’s important to note that the possibilities are working on social skills outside are limitless!

Social Skills

Social skills are the interpersonal skills that we need to communicate, work with others, and develop lasting relationships along the way. Having a strong foundation for social skills allows kids and teens to feel confident, prepared, able to take risks, and ready for challenges that come their way.

The term social skills is actually very broad. There are actually many social skills that we all need and use every day. They include more basic skills like using manners and following directions, but also more advanced skills like conflict resolution and developing empathy. Because social skills encompass so much, it is critical that we teach and practice them every day.

STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS

Teaching social skills is important. Some learners pick up on social skills on their own, with families at home, or just through interactions with others. However, many kids and teens don’t. It is critical to lay a strong foundation for social skills.

Explicitly teach social skills. It’s important to not assume that kids and teens know the right things to do in a situation. We need to teach them! Spend time talking about and practicing social skills. You can choose to discuss one skill per week, teach it, and highlight it as you see it.

Use literature. Read alouds are one of the most effective and efficient ways to integrate social skills instruction. You can do this with any read aloud or select a text specifically to highlight a skill. Read the text and discuss the skill as you go along. For example, one great text to start the discussion about acceptance is All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman. Read about more texts you can use to target social and emotional skills with read alouds.

Play games. Many games lend themselves to practicing social skills. Some of my favorites are Jenga to practice self-control and Simon Says to practice attention. Almost all games and activities can work on social skills in some way, especially because many require teamwork and turn-taking. When playing games, be purposeful about what social skills students are using and integrate them into your instruction.

Start with morning meeting. Morning meeting is the perfect way to start your day with students. They greet each other, talk about topics that matter, and begin their day with confidence. Something simple you can do is integrate social skills into your morning meeting time. Just choose one skill per day to discuss and practice.

Use writing prompts. Start each morning with a daily social skills prompt. Ask students to list out all the manner words they know or write a story about a time they might use a manner word. You might even come up with a social situation and ask students to give advice to someone. There are so many options for this strategy. This is a simple and easy way to integrate social skills instruction while still focusing on academics.

Discuss social expectations. Openly discuss social expectations before activities and situations. For example, before group work, make it a point to list out some group ground rules. Before a schoolwide assembly, review what children should look and sound like. This can help all learners, but especially those who really need an extra support.

Model and practice social skills together. Make it an everyday practice to work on social skills. For example, before a big test, model what positive self-talk sounds like and talk about how it can help. This type of modeling serves as a very natural way to integrate social skills instruction when your learners need it most.

Teach social problem-solving. Start the morning with a social scenario and have kids discuss. For example, you might work on self-control by asking, “Your best friend has a toy that you really like. You ask to see it and they say no. What do you do?” You can have partners discuss the scenario first and then bring it to a larger group discussion. This can be a great activity to build on social skills when you only have a couple of minutes before switching to another class or activity.

Discuss movies and video clips. Just like with literature, movies and shows can be a great source of information about social skills. You can find short age-appropriate video clips online to watch during a quick brain break or at the end of the day. Spend a couple of minutes talking about the social skills seen or used by the people in the video. This can be especially helpful for more visual learners.

MORE INTENSIVE INTERVENTIONS

Sometimes, kids and teens struggle with learning social skills even with social skill instruction. This calls for more intensive interventions and supports.

Create a social skills group. Whether you meet once a week during lunch or after school as an extra activity, help kids learn social skills with a social skills group. When creating your group, it’s important to make sure you add peer role models. These are classmates with stronger social skills who can provide support as they learn alongside your students needing interventions. If you aren’t sure how to fit a group into your schedule, talk to the special education teacher, social worker, school counselor, or any other support staff to make it happen together. Read more about tips and ideas for leading a social skills group that works.

Use explicit lessons and activities. Kids struggling with basic social skills often need very explicit and clear instruction on what the skills are, why they matter, and how they can use them. This involves clear instruction and practice on a regular basis. Plan your lessons to target the skills your learners need the most and make sure to give time to review them on a regular basis.

Use social scripts. Social scripts are short stories that explain how and when different skills should be used. If a student is struggling with group work, it might help to have a social script about what they should do during group time. Social scripts should be written in first person so that learners can internalize the skills they need to use.

Create a social scripts binder. Often, when kids struggle with social skills, it’s not just one thing. Create an individualized social scripts binder for your learner by putting together all the different social scripts they need. For example, your student might need different scripts on working with partners, playing at recess, and taking a test on their own. Before each challenging activity, have your student read that specific social script to help them prepare. Creating an individualized social scripts binder can help develop independence while teaching skills.

Role-play. Acting out scenarios can be such a fun and memorable way to learn social skills. Give learners a scenario based on a social skill, such as asking a friend to play, and have them act it out with a partner or small group.

Use video-modeling. After practicing role-play, help your students remember the social skills they’ve learned by allowing them to record and make a video about the skill. This can be a fun and memorable strategy to get even your most reluctant learners involved in the practice.

Integrate art. Art can be a powerful tool to teach many different skills, including social skills. Have students draw a picture of what working well together looks like. Teach about diversity and self-awareness by having students create their own self-collages. Art can be an especially helpful way to reach students who struggle to learn social skills in a more traditional way. Learn about other art activities to teach social and emotional skills.

Post visual reminders. Visuals can be a helpful tool because they require little or no verbal interaction. Post up reminders for different skills that your learners need with both visuals and text.

Create social cue cards. A cue card is a more discreet visual reminder for students that they can keep with them in their desk or binder. For example, if you have a student struggling with waiting in the lunch line, create a card for them outlining what they can do while waiting patiently in line. Encourage them to read the card to themselves before waiting. They could even take one with them and keep it to read as they wait.

Use social skills tasks discussion cards. Social skills discussion cards, or task cards, are short questions and discussion starters that allow for teaching social skills. For example, you can work on empathy and perspective-taking by asking: “You see a classmate trip in the hallway. She gets up and runs inside the classroom. How might she be feeling or thinking?” You can create your own scenarios to discuss a few per week with your students, or use this social skills task card set that is ready to use right away.

Use a coping strategies notebook. If your learner is struggling specifically with managing emotions, consider a coping strategies notebook. Essentially, the notebook is both a teaching activity and a calming tool. It is a binder that holds one page for every coping strategy a child or teen uses. For example, he or she might have a page for listening to music and another page for coloring. As you teach and practice the skills, add them to the notebook. Then, keep the notebook where the child can access it. When they feel angry or overwhelmed, have them use the notebook to select a coping skill to help them calm down.

MORE INFORMATION

Learn more about social skills with some of the blog posts:

GETTING STARTED

Social skills instruction is important. If you need to get started right away, consider some of the resources to help.

If this is a topic you could use more support with, consider signing up to be a Pathway 2 Success member! As a Pathway 2 Success member, you will get updates on blog posts and access to exclusive free resources in the member library, like free social skills lessons you can use right away!

Social Skills Resources for Elementary

Social skills include the social knowledge, skills, and abilities that help all learners be successful. Learn more about social skills here, or consider some of these resources to get started right away.

Use social skills task cards to target and discuss basic interactions, conversations, empathy, friendships, and dealing with conflicts. These cards are perfect for morning meeting, discussion starters, or group work.

Integrate social skills and writing with a yearlong social skills journal. Over 200 prompts and activities are included to target a variety of skills.

Use these lessons and workbook pages to teach understanding feelings, perspective-taking, using I-statements, and more.

An interactive board game to teach and practice building empathy. Learners can play with partners and small groups as they discuss and role-play empathy situations.

A lesson and hands-on craft that teaches strategies for managing emotions and developing self-regulation skills.

An interactive board game to highlight social problem-solving skills. Learners will practice problem-solving their way through real-life situations as they complete the game.

A set of 100 task cards highlighting social problem-solving situations for kids. Scenarios target situations with friends, family, in the classroom, at recess, and at lunch.

An interactive board game focused on self-control and self-regulation skills. Learners test their self-control knowledge and practice stopping and thinking through situations.

A complete unit with over 45 individual activities to target self-regulation skills. With a fun train theme, kids will learn how to be the conductor to their own thoughts, feelings, and actions.

A huge compilation of social skills activities and lessons for elementary learners. With over 400 pages, you will have the resources to teach everything from basic interactions to conversation skills.

Social skills visual posters to highlight over 80 unique social skills for kids and young adults. Post as reminders around the room or use as a bulletin board.

Social Skills Resources

Social skills include the interpersonal skills and social knowledge that help all learners be successful. They can range from using proper greetings and small talk to being able to effectively manage emotions. Consider some of the resources below to get started teaching social skills right away.

Resources for Older Learners:

A pack of 100 unique tasks cards to target basic interactions, conversations, empathy, relationships, and conflict resolution skills. Just print and discuss!

Four complete units focused on social skill instruction for middle and high school learners. Units include basic interactions, managing emotions, empathy, and communication skills.

Task cards filled with social scenarios to work on problem-solving skills for young adults. These include situations at home, with friends, in classes, in the hallway, and online.

A huge compilation of social skills activities and lessons for middle and high school learners. Resources include lessons, task cards, social scripts, and more.

Social skills visuals to teach, practice, and encourage positive social skills for kids and young adults. Post as visuals around the classroom or create a bulletin board.

Practice social inferencing with 30 unique photos and situations. Learners will review a real-life photo and use perspective-taking skills to infer what is happening.

A complete unit to teach young adults how to effectively manage emotions. These lessons cover understanding emotions, expressing yourself, adapting to change, coping strategies, and more.

A complete unit to teach young adults how to perspective-taking and develop empathy. These lessons cover accepting different perspectives, understanding social cues, developing empathy, and more.

12 Basic Social Skills Kids Need

May 1, 2019 by pathway2success 1 Comment

Social skills are a critical element to helping kids succeed socially, emotionally, personally, and even academically. These are the skills are the behaviors that help kids join in conversations, collaborate with peers, develop lasting friendships, self-advocate when they need help, and so much more. It would be ideal if all learners walked into classrooms equipped with strong social skills ready for success. The truth is, though, that kids are kids; they are still developing, learning, growing, and trying to make sense of the social world around them. As adults, the biggest impact we can have to help kids learn social skills is to teach them.

Quite often, I get asked, “But doesn’t everyone need social skills? Why do you target kids specifically?” To me, the answer is obvious. If we teach kids and young adults these social skills from an early age, they will have the foundations they need as adults. So, when kids need social skills, let’s teach them!

To help highlight how important these social skill are, I created a complete set of Social Skills Visuals. You can use them as a bulletin board, post them as reminders all around, or use the pages to highlight a few skills each week. And if you’re looking for even more ways to teach social skills, feel free to check out my social skills activities for elementary and social skills lessons for older kids.

Here are 12 basic social skills and strategies for teaching them:

Following Directions. This is having the ability to listen, understand expectations, and follow through in a timely manner. Learners need to learn how to follow directions to help them complete tasks, whether it is an assignment in class or instructions from a future boss.

Strategies to teach:

Play games for following directions, like Simon Says and Freeze.
Practice giving both verbal and visual directions.
Teach and practice how to read directions BEFORE starting an assignment.
Have learners highlight or underline directions on assignments before starting.
Have learners make a checklist for following directions for any task (like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich) to help them see why directions should be clear and followed well.

Using Manners. Our manners are the courteous behaviors to we to show we are kind and respectful. All kids need to understand manners so they can be socially appropriate in a variety of settings, such as a restaurant, at the library, or even answering the phone.

Strategies to teach:

Post visuals of “manner words,” such as please, thank you, and you’re welcome as reminders.
Make it a habit to model and say these words with students and colleagues.
Explicitly teach about manners and discuss what manners we use in different settings.

Having a Positive Attitude. A positive attitude is the first step to having a growth mindset. By having a positive attitude, kids can learn to be more optimistic and see the bright side of things.

Strategies to teach:

Model having a positive attitude, even when things don’t go as planned (ex: “I was really looking forward to outdoor recess today, but now I am excited to play some chess instead!”).
Practice and discuss positive self-talk.
Read picture books about a positive attitude: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds and Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein.

Working with Others. All learners need skills to positively work with others by listening, collaborating, helping, and doing their fair share.

Strategies to teach:

Explicitly teach skills for working well with others.
Make a list of “group ground rules” for how to work successfully with others (listening to each other, staying with the group, staying positive, etc.).
Give lots of practice in partners and small groups.
Make sure students are frequently working with different people.
Sometimes give learners the chance to pick their partners, while assigning students at other times.
Keep a list of sentence starters kids can use in groups to collaborate such as, “I really like how you…” and “Can we try…”

Good Hygiene. Proper self-care means keeping yourself well-groomed and neat. This is an important skill because not only is it about being clean, but it helps everyone make a positive first impression.

Strategies to teach:

Talk about what good hygiene means, such as washing hands and showering/bathing daily.
Give reminders for hygiene, depending on age level.
Talk to the school counselor or social worker about coming in for a lesson on hygiene.

Using Polite Words. Using kind and polite words is just another way to spread kindness to others. Sometimes, I call this “using kind words only.”

Strategies to teach:

Teach about kindness and why it matters.
Discuss polite and kind words.
Teach about using a social filter, including thinking about how our words impact others.

Taking Turns. Learning to turn-take involves alternating between two or more people. This is an important skill to show courtesy and respect during conversations and other activities.

Strategies to teach:

Explain what it means to take turns and discuss scenarios, such as in sports, conversations, games, and more.
Practice turn-taking with board games.
Practice turn-taking with conversations (whole class and small groups).
Have students hold a special tangible (a ball or stuffed animal) when it is their turn to talk.

Greetings. Welcoming others and making them feel valued is an important social skill. By teaching kids and young adults how to properly greet others, it can help create a positive community for all. This is also an important lifelong social skill for the workplace and beyond..

Strategies to teach:

Model greetings each morning with each student as they walk in.
Teach different greeting and allow students to choose how to greet each other.
Start the day with a morning meeting and a greeting.

Waiting and Having Patience. Developing patience is a critical skill during times when we have to wait. Kid and young adults might have to wait in line at the pencil sharpener or wait for their turn to speak in a group, just to name a few. By having patience, they show that they are courteous and respectful to all.

Strategies to teach:

Teach strategies for what to do when waiting (doing something else, using positive self-talk, etc.).
Discuss scenarios when kids have to wait and discuss how they can handle it.
Read picture books about patience: Waiting by Kevin Henkes and Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat.
Use social scripts to help teach skills for how to wait in social situations.

Being a Good Sport. Learning to be a good sport can help kids and young adults be respectful when they engage in games and activities. It can also help them positively cope with losing by focusing on having fun instead of winning.

Strategies to teach:

Teach and discuss expectations for being a good sport.
Focus on having fun, playing, and learning rather than winning.
Give reminders about being a good sport before activities.
Use social scripts to remind about being a good sport before activities.
Practice being a good sport during games (anything from board games to outdoor sports during recess).
Practice and discuss having a growth mindset to help when students lose.

Listening to Others. Skills for listening are critical to building positive relationships with others. Kids and young adults should learn how to focus their attention to others, put away distractions, and really think about what someone else is saying.

Strategies to teach:

Start the day with a morning meeting and give time to share thoughts.
Teach the basics for listening: making eye contact, putting distractions away, thinking about what someone is saying.
Give discussion time in your content area subjects.
Practice listening with discussion times.
Teach students how to summarize what they heard: “So what I heard you say is that…”.

Understanding Personal Space. Having a good understanding of personal space helps everyone feel more comfortable in social situations. It also gives way to teaching that consent is needed to be in someone else’s personal space.

Strategies to teach:

Teach students that they have an invisible bubble around them called their personal space. Explain why having personal space is important.
Teach and discuss expected behaviors with personal space such as standing an arm’s length away while talking and keeping hands to self.
Act out what personal space looks like in different scenarios.
Teach students how to ask permission if they would like to give a friend a hug.
Read picture books about personal space: Personal Space Camp by Julia Cook.

If you have more suggestions or ideas for teaching these skills, feel free to share! I would love to add to the list. Be sure to also check out all of my social skills resources to get started teaching these important skills right away!

15 Tips for Leading a Social Skills Group

March 5, 2018 by pathway2success 2 Comments

As a middle school special educator, social skills have been one of my favorite areas to teach. These skills are so important but often get left behind, especially in the upper grades. These are a number of roadblocks to teaching social skills to kids and young adults, including now having enough time, difficulty scheduling a group, or just not having the right resources to get started. That’s why as a curriculum specialist now, I feel it’s so important to help educators find a way to teach these important skills. So many kids struggle with understanding others’ perspective, engaging in peer conversations, making friends, managing their emotions, dealing with conflicts, and much more. These are all critical skills that help kids have success in school, with friends, and for the rest of their lives.

Sometimes it might feel like there is not enough time in the day for social skills instruction due to scheduling, academics, and other needs throughout the day. Still, there are ways to fit it in. If a middle or high school student still needs social instruction, it’s critical they get it right away! Consider pulling a group out of study hall once a week for instruction, having a lunch group every day for a week, or structuring time for a morning meeting. It’s important to think outside the box to find a time that works. Once you figure out the timing, here are some tips and strategies for making social skills groups work for you and your students:

Identify social needs ahead of time. Consider the students you are thinking of and what specific social skills they need the most. Start with the most important skills first and work your way through. For example, if a young adult is getting into trouble for acting out in aggressive ways, focus on managing emotions first. If you have a student who is constantly arguing with peers because they only see things one way, focus on perspective-taking. The term “social skills” is really a huge umbrella, so work to be purposeful about what specific skills you are teaching.

Involve peer role models. This can’t be stressed enough! Inviting peer role models into a group can help kids feel more excited for the activities. Of course, it’s no secret that kids learn best from other kids. Peer role models are perfect supports to help give appropriate social responses throughout activities. You really need these learners around to help support the other students who need the social skills the most.

Communicate with other educators and professionals. Let the students’ teachers and other professionals know what skills the students will be working on. Encourage them to reinforce certain behaviors to help kids generalize the skills they are learning. I always found this extremely helpful because if I wanted to work on conversations with a group, the speech language pathologist could use strategies to help highlight the same skills. Communication and collaboration is key.

Give time to get to know each other. If students in your group aren’t already friends, it’s important to give time for them to develop relationships. Some students might feel nervous to meet in a small group with other kids they don’t know well. Use your first session to give kids time to just get to know each other and start to feel more comfortable. Let students share important facts about themselves through activities or games. My favorite is “Two Truths and a Dream”. In this activity, kids write down 3 things about themselves: two that are true and one that isn’t true yet but is a dream for the future. Have students read their three statements and see if others in the group can guess what is true and what is a dream. Whatever icebreaker activities you choose, it’s important to give that time so that all students can feel comfortable and open in the group.

Incorporate interests. Find out some interests for each student in your group. Work to incorporate those interests into your lessons. For example, if a few students love basketball, you can use references of playing on a team to teach about friendship skills and sportsmanship. If students are into art, you can teach acceptance by painting a picture and discussing how each of ours are different and unique. Adding those interests into the group will help kids feel more invested in the group, which of course leads to increased learning over time.

Teach social skills explicitly. Once you know exactly what skills you want to target, spend the time to explicitly teach those skills. Note that it’s most helpful to really define your group to focus on the skills your students need. “Social skills” is a huge umbrella, so it helps to narrow down what social skills really need to be targeted explicitly. Some of my favorite social skills units to teach include perspective-taking, communication skills, and managing emotions. If you are struggling with where to start, consider this complete set of social skills lessons with activities and more. Let students know what skill you are working on, why it matters, and give practice with each skill in action. Kids and young adults need to know exactly what skills they need to improve and how to get there.

Use role-play. One of the most fun and effective way to learn some of these social skills is acting them out! Students can work in partners or small groups to act out a variety of situations. Have students role-play having a group conversation at lunch. Encourage kids to act out how to solve a disagreement with a friend. Those are just a few small examples! The options are really endless. Best of all, with the added practice, this strategy can really help the skills stick over time.

Encourage real-life connections. Give time for kids to relate their new skills to what is going on in their real lives. You can ask questions to prompt these connections, such as, “When have you seen someone use this skill in your life?” or “When do you think you might need this?”

Incorporate hands-on activities. Middle and high school kids need something active to keep them focused and engaged in social skills groups! Have students create interactive crafts, color, act out situations, and just get up and move. Kids will always remember more when they are doing something!

Add incentives (and make them learning activities, too). Let your students know that they will get 10 minutes of activity time at the end of the group if you get through what you need to. Then, of course, plan that activity to be centered around critical skills! Give time to play basketball, but discuss and encourage turn-taking as kids play. Watch a funny (but appropriate) YouTube video and see if kids can use their self-control to not laugh right away. In the small amount of time educators get to support kids with social skills, we really need to make every minute count.

Discuss real-life scenarios. Real-life situations can help kids understand social skills in a meaningful way. My favorite way to do that is to give a scenario and pose a question. For example, “You notice your partner in math has their head down. How might they feel? What can you do?” In this situation, kids can work on learning social cues, building empathy, and developing social problem-solving skills all from one scenario. You can make your own or use sets already created for you.

Give encouragement. I can’t stress enough that learning new social skills will often take lots of practice, discussion, encourage, and repetition. Learning these skills is often challenging, especially for the kids who struggle socially. Know that it will take time, so provide lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement along the way.

Play games. Social skill learning can be tough for kids who struggle in this area. Sometimes kids even avoid participating because they are embarrassed or nervous to work on the skills head on. A perfect strategy for this is to play games. Blurt is one of my favorites to practice self control, while games like Pictionary can help encourage teamwork. I’ve even developed some games to specifically target skills like building empathy, improving social communication skills, or working on social problem-solving.

Provide follow-up. A few weeks after the group, check in with the students to see how they feel about what they’ve learned. Learning social skills is often an on-going and evolving process.

Get in the classroom. If possible, spend time in the students’ classrooms to see those social skills in action! This is the best place to provide extra encouragement and reinforcement to make sure our learners are following through with what we’ve taught them. This can also be a great way to provide support to the classroom teacher, too.

Teaching social skills can be lots of fun and extremely rewarding when you see kids making social gains. If you are teaching older kids, give this complete set of Social Skills Lessons and Activities for Older Kids a try! It includes units and activities teach about basic interactions, managing emotions, conversations, empathy, and perspective-taking. Just some of the lessons and activities target being respectful, following directions, accepting criticism, working with others, understanding emotions, dealing with anger, understanding perspectives, accepting different perspectives, flexible thinking, understanding social cues, developing empathy, using perspectives to resolve conflicts, and more.

If you’re needing resources for younger kids, try this set of Social Skills Activities for Younger Kids. It includes social skills task cards, lessons, worksheets, and social stories for teaching positive social behaviors. Skills targeted include basic interactions, conversations, empathy, friendships, dealing with conflicts, and more.

Social Skills for Middle and High School Kids

September 4, 2016 by pathway2success 4 Comments

Most middle and high school teachers like to hope that students come to them already pre-programmed with strong social skills and abilities. It would definitely make classes easier, but we know that it is not true in many cases. Sometimes, problems with lacking social skills actually manifest themselves as behavioral challenges. For example, the student who is always interrupting in class may not know or understand the social rule that he should wait his turn. The student who constantly gets in trouble during group work might not know the group ground rules and how to work with others. Lastly, the student who gets involved in lots of drama and arguments with peers in your class might struggle with peer relationship skills. All of these behavioral challenges that cause such distress in our classrooms can be aligned with a lack of strong social skills.

Once your recognize that a student or group of students need some social skills support, the next step is providing the instruction that will teach them the social skills. If they do not have good social skills by middle or high school level, they will likely need a lot of direct instruction, practice, and support to make good progress. Kids CAN learn social skills though, regardless of their age.

What makes social skills instruction so challenging at the middle and high school level is that there usually is not any time in the day to focus on these skills. In elementary school, there might be a morning meeting time, small groups, and recess – all great times that teachers, school counselors, and social workers can target teaching social skills. At the middle and high school levels, though, the level of academic rigor is increased significantly, leaving minimal time for social teaching. Still, there are ways to weave social skills instruction into your classes.

Use literature to discuss social behavior. While reading a passage or book, use the characters to highlight social skills and behavior. Ask questions like, “Why do you think he did that?” and “How did his actions impact the others?”. Even more, highlight and discuss specific skills that some of your students might have challenges with. This is a great way to incorporate teaching social skills because it makes it less personal for kids.
Use small group work to review social skills. This goes for any group or partner work, such as science labs, partner reads, think-pair-shares, and more. Prior to starting group or partner work, review how your students should work with others. Explain and show what it means to keep eye contact with your partner, to listen to your group members, and to do your fair share of the work. These are essential social skills when working with groups or partners. You can find more direct instruction with the Working with Others – Groups and Partners workbook.
Allot a short period of time to social skills each week. This can be done during resource room, study hall, or an advisory period. Focus on explicitly teaching and practicing the social skills your kids need. Consider running a social skills group once a week for 20 minutes. Adding peer role models will help significantly.
Train peer role models to support social needs. Kids just learn better from other kids. This is especially true when it comes to social skills. Spend time training some peer role models to give cues and reminders to their “buddies”. Training them is simple – just privately meet with the student and direct them: “When you see Jimmy _____, just remind him to ______”. For example, in a science lab, “When you see Jimmy out of his seat during group time, just remind him to stay with his group”. The peer reminder will go farther than one from an adult.
Talk with the school counselor and social worker. The other support staff in your building may have other ideas and strategies for how to support kids inside and outside of your classroom. Find out if they are running any social skills groups and give names of kids who you think could benefit.

If you find yourself needing to practice social skills in your middle and high school classroom, try these Social Skills Task Cards for Middle and High School. It is a pack of 100 task cards specifically designed for middle and high schoolers. The cards are organized into five different sets that target different skills: Basic Interactions, Conversations, Empathy, Friendships & Relationships, and Conflict Resolution Skills. You can use them during a lunch group, study hall, resource room, advisory period, or anytime you have a few minutes left over in you class period to review.

Practice social skills with these task cards for middle & high school kids

Take the time to teach social skills and it will pay off – not only for your students but for your classroom management, too!

Teaching Social Skills & Why It’s the Most Rewarding Subject To Teach

May 23, 2015 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Social skills are what allow people to communicate and interact positively with others. Most children learn these skills through positive role models, adult guidance, and interactions with others. They just learn them and the rest is pretty easy! Others, though, don’t pick up on the social skills that way. These are the kids who are getting into arguments with peers, like to follow their own set of rules, don’t see why they have to wait their turn, and sadly, often don’t have many (or any) real friends. Teaching social skills isn’t easy. It’s something extra you have to teach on top of everything else, so sometimes it gets forgotten or put off. It is, however, the most rewarding thing to teach because it REALLY makes a difference. It doesn’t happen quickly, but you can see a kid transform from being avoided by other kids to really being *liked* by his or her peers. That’s special, really.

Use real-life social scenarios to teach social skills.

If you want to teach social skills, but don’t really know how to get started, the easiest thing you can do is discuss real-life social scenarios and situations. For example,” Tracy is sitting alone at a lunch table.” In a small group, have students come up with ideas for how Tracy might feel? Why might she be sitting alone? What could someone do to help in this situation? It’s most important for kids to focus on how *THAT* person might feel, not themselves. That helps develop their ability to take the perspective of someone else. Coming up with a variety of real-life social scenarios like this can help kids problem-solve social situations. Plus, it’s super fun getting to see how they feel about certain situations.

Similarly, you can teach social skills like this with ANY literature. As you read a story, encourage students to consider some of those same questions about social situations. Why did that person act like that? How do you think the main character felt when..? Why did the character react like that when..? This can allow you to help students work on social skills while still staying true to your content in your classroom.

Social Skills Lessons, Task Cards, & Materials

Another important thing to remember when targeting social skills is that it’s highly important to include peer models for whatever you are teaching. I once tried to teach social skills to a group of students who all needed support in this area without any peer models due to a scheduling conflict. It didn’t last long before I realized it was just not going to work! You really NEED the support of strong role models in a group to help teach your struggling kids. It’s so true that children learn much more from other children than they do from us, no matter how hard we try!

My biggest advice is that if you know you have a child struggling with social skills, just try an intervention to help. Even if you aren’t 100% sure on the best techniques, methods, strategies, or materials, just try it. These kids with social skill deficits need supports and interventions as soon as possible so that they can begin to learn the skills and make new friends. Even if you learn with them, it won’t be quick and it won’t be easy, but it WILL be rewarding!

Social and Emotional Skills Are More Important Than Academics

September 15, 2019 by pathway2success 1 Comment

It’s true. I said it. Social and emotional skills are actually more important than academic skills. Of course, academics matter. But the truth is that social and emotional skills are actually a prerequisite to success in the classroom (and outside of the classroom, too). Skills like empathy, self-awareness, managing emotions, and decision-making are some of the most important skills kids and young adults need to learn.

Helping All Learners Find Success

Of course, all educators want students to be academically successful. We want our learners to read well, excel at math, have a strong knowledge of history, understand the world of science, and so much more. There are some strong reasons why social and emotional skills need to come first, though.

Sometimes, in our data-driven and test-focused world, educators are encouraged (and even pushed) to make sure academics are the sole focus in the classroom. It might feel like there isn’t enough time for social emotional learning because we want academic achievement to take center stage.

This mindset is backwards, though. That’s because social and emotional skills are actually foundational for academic success.

If we want our learners to excel academically, we need to pave the way for them to excel socially and emotionally, first. It’s important to make time for teaching and integrating skills like empathy, conflict resolution, and decision-making into the classroom.

Reasons to Consider

Here are some reasons to consider why social and emotional skills are actually more important than academics:

Learners need SEL skills to work with others. There are an endless amount of social expectations in the classroom. When students work with classmates, they have to get along with others, read social cues, communicate effectively, perspective-take, and use conflict resolution strategies during disagreements. If students struggle with these skills, it can often be a huge roadblock to their success, even sometimes creating behavioral challenges that get in the way of others’ instruction. Of course, those skills listed are all social and emotional skills that can be taught and practiced throughout the year.

Learners need SEL skills for academic instruction and work. During class instruction and schoolwork, learners are expected to stay organized, start work right away, manage time well, plan for assignments, use effective study strategies, and persevere through challenges. These are all examples of self-management skills that can be taught and strengthened through social and emotional learning practices.

Students need to know how to effectively manage their emotions. On a day-to-day basis, kids and young adults go through a roller coaster of emotions. We all do. Those with strong self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and coping strategies can deal with those ups and downs in more effective ways to allow for success in and outside of the classroom. For example, if a student constructive criticism on a project they are working on, rather than shutting down or refusing to work, they might reflect, take some deep breaths, and make a plan to move forward. These emotional management skills are a core element of social and emotional learning, as well as critical needs for academic success.

Social emotional learning supports academic growth. A meta-analysis research study completed in 2011 showed that students who participated in SEL programs demonstrated significant improvement in academic performance over those who didn’t. Simply put, academic skills are strengthened by integrating social and emotional learning.

Without social and emotional skills, even the strongest academic skills won’t be enough. It doesn’t take a research study to show that people struggle when they don’t have strong social skills. As humans, we need to know how to get along with others, perspective-take, and problem-solve. In the workplace, we need to know how to stay organized, do our fair share of the work, and meet deadlines. Without these skills, even the brightest and most academically gifted learners will have bumps in the road.

Luckily, it is not an either-or situation. As educators, we can teach social and emotional skills while teaching solid academics at the very same time. There is room for both. And when there is not enough room for SEL, we need to make the time for it. It’s that important.

If you are interested in teaching SEL, but aren’t sure where to start, I developed a complete yearlong curriculum for elementary learners and a complete yearlong curriculum for older learners, too. Having the resources, lessons, and ideas at your fingertips can make it that much easier to start your journey in teaching social and emotional learning in the classroom.

Here are some other blog posts that may help you as you learn about integrating social and emotional learning in the classroom:

100+ Read Alouds to Teach Social Emotional Learning Skills

August 24, 2019 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

100+ Read aloud short stories to integrate social emotional learning into the classroom. Elementary teachers and even middle school educators can use these texts to discuss SEL skills like empathy, friendships, emotions, decision-making and more. Read and grab your free printable list! #sel #socialemotionallearning #pathway2success

Social emotional learning skills are important. Every educator wants their learners to understand their own strengths and challenges, effectively cope with stress, persevere through challenges, have empathy for others, develop lasting friendships, and make positive decisions. These are really just a few examples of what skills social emotional learning can cover.

There are numerous benefits to teaching SEL skills in the classroom, such as a reduction of behavioral problems and giving learners tools to problem-solve on their own.

Sometimes, the best solution is to dedicate a time period to social emotional learning each day. If this is something you are planning in your classroom, I’ve developed a COMPLETE yearlong SEL curriculum for elementary learners (and I have a SEL curriculum for older kids, too)!

With that said, sometimes time in the classroom is short. Although it can be extremely beneficial to teach SEL skills explicitly, there are always helpful ways that teachers can embed them into what they are already doing. For example, educators might use a daily SEL journal during writing time, have class discussions during break time, or use art activities to highlight SEL skills. One of the most helpful strategies for integrating SEL can be through literature.

The idea behind using literature to target social emotional learning skills really is quite simple. Educators can read the text as they normally would, stopping along the way to highlight critical skills that come up.

One of my favorite examples is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. In this short story, Alexander is having an awful day. It is such a terrible day that he wants to go and live in another country. However, rather than packing up his belongings and ignoring what is happening in his life, Alexander learns to cope with his emotions. He also learns about starting fresh each day. There are so many social lessons that can be learned from this one short read aloud.

With this, I put together a complete list of read alouds to use for social emotional learning. Grab a copy of your free printable SEL read aloud list to get started right away.

To get started, just find a skill you want to work on and select a book! As always, you know your learners best. It’s possible that not every book will work for your students, and that’s okay. Find the ones that suit their individual needs and see how much fun integrating SEL with literature can be.

Here are just a few examples from the complete list:

DEVELOPING SELF-AWARENESS

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr
The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
Hooray for You! A Celebration of You-ness by Marianne Richmond

BUILDING CONFIDENCE

I’m Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
I Like Me! By Nancy Carlson
Zero by Kathryn Otoshi

UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS

Visiting Feelings by Lauren Rubenstein
Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
The Way I Feel by Jonan Cain
The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek

HOPES AND DREAMS

Hiromi’s Hands by Lynne Barasch
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Big Al by Andrew Clements
Matthew’s Dream by Leo Lionni
The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin

STUDY HABITS

Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell
Planning Isn’t My Priority by Julia Cook
Don’t Forget the Bacon by Pat Hutchins
See You Later, Procrastinator! By Pamela Espeland and Elizabeth Verdick

SELF-CONTROL

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
How to Be a Superhero Called Self-Control by Lauren Brukner
What If? by Collen Doyle Bryant
What Were You Thinking? Learning to Control Your Impulses by Brian Smith

PERSEVERANCE & RESILIENCE

Salt in His Shoes by Deloris Jordan
Brave Irene by William Steig
Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson
Unstoppable Me! By D.r Wayne W. Dyer
Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

RESPECT

David Goes to School by David Shannon
The Way I Act by Steve Metzger
Respect and Take Care of Things by Cheri J. Meiners

EMPATHY

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig
The Bicycle Man by Allen Say
Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller
Stand In My Shoes by Bob Somson
Zen Ties by Jon J. Muth

KINDNESS

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
Pinduli by Janell Cannon
Good People Everywhere by Lynea Gillen
Kindness Starts with You by Jacquelyn Stagg
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams

FRIENDSHIP SKILLS

How to Lose All Your Friends by Nancy Carlson
Making Friends is an Art by Julia Cook
Love Monster and the Last Chocolate by Rachel Bright
Jessica’s Box by Peter Carnavas
Louise and Andie: The Art of Friendship by Kelly Light

INCLUDING OTHERS

The Boy Who Wouldn’t Share by Mike Reiss
Rulers of the Playground by Joseph Kuefler
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
The Invisible Boy by Patrice Barton
Same Same But Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Eat Your Peas by Kes Gray
Sharing a Shell by Julia Donaldson
There’s a Bear on my Chair by Ross Collins
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Iris and Isaac by Cheterine Rayner

BEING RESPONSIBLE

The Paperboy by Dav Pilkey
I Just Forgot by Mercer Mayer
Arthur’s Pet Business by Marc Brown
The Emperor’s Egg by Martin Jenkins
The Way I Act by Steve Metzger

MAKING GOOD CHOICES

What If Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick
Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller
Making Smart Choices by Lucia Raatma
Land of Or by Katie Mullaly

PEER INFLUENCE

The Juice Box Bully by Bob Somson and Maria Dismondy
One by Kathryn Otoshi
The Hueys in the New Sweater by Oliver Jeffers
A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon
Bully on the Bus by Carl W. Bosch

REFLECTING ON CHOICES

David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Kenkes
Beautiful Oops! By Barney Saltzberg
After the Fall by Dan Santat

Happy reading! If you’re interested in more ideas for SEL, here are a few posts that might be helpful:

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