Visualizing Social Skills

Connections

Students do not automatically use appropriate social skills when working with others. Teachers must identify skills ahead of time that need to be addressed.

Directions

• Reflect and discuss the following questions:
  • As you complete cooperative activities with your class, what are some skills your students will need to be successful?
  • What role might your classroom norms play in this process?​

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• Participate in a Group Write activity by dividing into groups of 3 to 4 according to your facilitator's directions.
  • Groups will need a piece of chart paper (placed in the middle) and a different colored marker for each person in the group.
  • Take one minute to individually reflect on the social skills you think students need to function successfully in a cooperative group. Record your ideas on your group's chart paper.
  • When time is called review the contributions of other group members.
  • As a group, craft a title for your brainstorming and record it on your chart paper.​

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• Individually access and make a copy of the Social Skills handout.
• Review the skills listed on the handout. Add any skills that you or your teammates have on your chart that are not already included on the handout. 
• Highlight or circle social skills you would like to focus on in the near future with your students. Secondary teachers may want to consider just one class of students.​

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Discuss the following questions with your group:

• What reasons were group members given different colored markers?
• Which elements of cooperative learning were evident in this activity?

Teacher Tip 
To introduce social skills to students:  Front the skills by asking students to identify what social skills will be needed to complete the task successfully. 

Model by pointing out the social skills that occurred by posing questions for discussion such as, "How were social skills modeled when we completed the Mix-Freeze-Pair activity?"

Create and complete "Looks Like/Sounds Like" charts prior to the activity.

Teach one social skill a week. For more information refer to the articles "Teaching Social Skills" and "Social Skill Activities for Children and Teens"

Reflection

Share your thoughts on the following questions: 
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• What skills do you feel are most critical for establishing a cooperative classroom?
• What are some strategies you might use with students to introduce and reinforce the social skills you identified?
• How might you use the Group Write strategy in your classroom?

Reflection Strategy 
Group Write is an excellent way for all members in a group to jot down their thoughts and still benefit from other's ideas. Summarizing thoughts and creating a title for the chart allows for further interactions and discussions.