Why homework for social skills?
I’m not a fan of homework for homework’s sake, especially with middle and high school students. Sometimes, there is a need to reinforce certain social skills concepts with students both within and outside of our speech therapy sessions. Also, the pandemic has changed the way many of us provide services and we may need something we can provide both as a printable and on a digital platform. If you run brick and mortar social skills groups, you might also need a short activity for early finishers, the ones that say, “I’m done, can I go?” There’s always at least one student in social skills or other therapy groups that finishes up with a task well before everyone else and asks to leave.
You might also like this post on using youtube for social skills instruction!
Flexible social skills materials?
It can be a challenge to find social skills homework materials that a student can do alone but still work on aspects of social skills outside of speech therapy! So, I’ve created some materials in a series called, “I’m done early.” This series for middle and high school students contains one page, no prep activities that work on social skills. These one-page graphic organizer-type activities can be printed out, assigned in google classroom from TPT’s EASEL or used during distance learning.
How do I work on Social Skills with paper-pencil tasks?
How can you work on social skills, individually using pen and paper, or via a computer keyboard? Doesn’t that negate the social piece? Certainly, social communication is best practiced in a setting with peers. However, there is are ways to teach valuable social skills through paper-pencil and digital activities. These activities help students understand the language involved in the skill and promote understanding of the skills at a deeper level. These multiple skills pages intertwine a variety of language and cognitive skills into the tasks. There is a conversation starter box too and students can practice a conversation with you, another student or as a homework task.
This packet includes one-page black and white activity sheets that address social skills topics including:
- tone of voice,
- sarcasm,
- giving and receiving a compliment,
- dating,
- conversational reciprocity,
- conversational turn-taking,
- perspective-taking
- and more!
There are three sections of the packet and the sample page shown above works on multiple language skills that help your student understand the topic in a more meaningful way.
Craft a Conversation!
Also included are these “craft a conversation” pages where the student fills in speech bubbles on various topics. Students are encouraged to include questions and comments as ways to keep a conversation going beyond one turn! You can assign the entire page or select boxes. Then, have your student practice one at home for their social skills homework!!
Taking Multiple Perspectives!
I’ve also included a section on working on taking multiple perspectives, something we often work on in speech therapy. A social situation is presented with a picture and the student writes in what each person in that situation might be thinking! There are also sheets included that allow you to individualize it to the needs of your student! This gets students thinking about the perspectives of those around them!
These activities work well for mixed speech therapy groups too. You can have one part of the group working on articulation or language while your students with social communication needs work on an activity from the packet. Then, maybe they can all come together and practice a conversation! You can check out “I’m Done Early: Social Skills.” and the newest additions to the series,
“I’m Done Early: Vocabulary Activities for Character Traits”,
Bundle of four “I’m Done Early” products, and
I’m Done Early: Emotions in my TPT store.
Thanks for reading and good luck with your social skills interventions!
Leave a Reply