Part of my job as a speech therapist is to teach kids what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. We’ve all
been in those awkward moments with people that lack social skills. This is an area that so many kiddos
struggle with and so is a huge part of my job (and also, one of my favorite parts). There are so many social activities you can do with kids and they love it. I have yet to meet a student that does not love social group. This past year, I had the pleasure of forming 3 social groups: 1st grade, 4th grade and a high school level one. We would meet once a week for social activities. These often included role-playing and problem-solving activities. I choose 2-3 students struggling with social skills and 2-3 students with teacher recommendations that have great social skills. My goal: kids with social skills will rub-off on those that don’t.
One of my favorite apps to use during these groups is Toca Tea Party App. Once played, the kids always request it and at the end of the year, we have a real tea party!
I tell the kids that this is a very formal event and we talk about our (pretend) formal outfits. Because this is a formal event, we have to use “formal talk.” This means we say “Please pass the tea” or “May I please have another cookie?” I’m a stickler to this. If a student says “I want a cookie,” quite simply; he or she will get ignored. They figure out what “formal talk” is pretty quickly. At the end, all kids must ask “Can I help clean up.” The app is 5 stars in my book and only costs $1.99! Grab it here and let me know how you teach social skills!
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kjohnson4 says
June 21, 2012 at 7:44 pmI like how you are able to have students with good social skills join your group as models for students who need to improve their social skills! At this school I was at for the past two years, we were kinda discouraged from doing that. I’m not sure if I will have to teach social skills next year, but if I do, I’m hoping that I can meet with the kids for like 15-20 minutes before recess once or twice a day to talk about what is appropriate to play at recess, rules for popular recess games, how to ask friends to play with us, what to do if someone is doing something we don’t like, practice skills, etc. Then I would go out with the kids for recess, and we would practice those skills. We’ll see if that works or is do-able in my new school:)
We are ALL Special!
Nicole Allison says
June 22, 2012 at 5:39 pmThanks for your comment, KJohnson! I wandered over to your blog and love it! I also work with a few students with emotional disturbance. Perhaps the reason for your school district’s hesitation in letting “role model” students join your groups is that they are worried about the bad behaviors being transferred more than the good ones…? However, I believe we need to surround our students with as many “good behaviors” as possible, and… the best place for this to occur is in a controlled environment. With you as the observant dictator of the group, you can have more control and can reward the good behaviors as they come up.
I do love your idea with meeting with the kids before recess to go over rules and acceptable behavior. Keep me updated on what you do next year-I’m always looking for more ideas!
kjohnson4 says
June 22, 2012 at 5:51 pmAnd funding and parents not wanting their children in the “special ed” setting and blah blah blah, it all boils down to them not wanting any non-spec ed kids in the group, but with RtI we’re slowly bridging the gap here! Which is exciting.
Side note, I love your blog! So I’ll definitely keep you updated with new ideas:)
We are ALL Special!
Nancy says
July 3, 2012 at 8:28 amHi Nicole! I’m your newest follower. I’m an Intervention Specialist for grade K. I look forward to reading your ideas.
Hey, did you graduate from Univ. of Akron in Akron Ohio???? If so, me too…small world.
🙂
Nancy @ Joy of Life 2011
Emily says
September 4, 2012 at 1:32 pmHi there! I too am an SLP running social groups in the schools. I have been running my middle school one now for 4 years and I’d like to keep things fresh. Is there any way you’d like to collaborate on a few ideas? I’d love to hear some of the other activities you are doing and would be willing to share some things that are working for me as well .
Nicole Allison says
September 5, 2012 at 10:45 pmHi Emily!
My social groups are my favorite part of my week (it helps that they’re also on Fridays, too!) I currently am scheduling one for 1st grade, 5th grade and a high school level. Last year, I did a lot of role-playing activities. For my high school group, we would role-play interviews, going to a restaurant, and then we actually went to one for real-life practice! It was so much fun. I would love some fresh ideas as well….what activities do you do?