Title: Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Your Classroom: Social Skills Interventions
1Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Your
Classroom Social Skills Interventions
- Liz Asmuth
- Rachel Wonner
- Mollie Koshak
2Whats in it for me?
- A brief overview of social emotional
development, - social skills, and their importance in our
classrooms - You will learn how to use childrens literature
to teach - and promote social skills
- You will better understand the features of
teaching - social skills
- You will walk away with a wealth of information
- book lists, evidence-based social skills
programs, - and additional resources about social skills
3What is Social Emotional Development?
- A sense of confidence competence
- Ability to follow directions
- Ability to develop good relationships with peers
and adults (e.g., make friends, get along with
others) - Ability to persist at tasks
- Ability to identify, understand, and communicate
ones feelings - Ability to constructively manage strong emotions
- Development of empathy
Adapted from
4Social Skills
- A set of abilities and behaviors that create
positive interactions with both peers and adults.
- Being a Friend ? Feelings ? Problem
Solving ? Teasing - ? Empathy/Caring for Others ? Good Behavior
Expectations
5Essential Social Skills for Academic Success
- Getting along with others (parents, teachers, and
peers) - Gollowing directions
- Identifying and regulating ones emotions and
behavior - Thinking of appropriate solutions to conflict
- Persisting on task
- Engaging in social conversation and cooperative
play - Correctly interpreting others behavior and
emotions - Feeling good about oneself and others (Smith,
2005)
The emotional, social, and behavioral competence
of young children is a strong predictor of
academic performance in early elementary school
(Zero to Three, 2003).
6Why Teach Social Skills in your Classroom?
- Nationally, early child care and education
providers report that challenging behavior and
social skill problems are their greatest
challenges (Gilliam, 2005 Hemmeter et. al,
2007). - Social skills in young children are more closely
associated with school readiness and success in
kindergartenthan cognitive and academic skills
(Raver Knitzer, 2002 Smith, 2004). - Children who enter kindergarten with positive
Social- Emotional Learning profiles also develop
positive attitudes about school, successfully
adjust to the new experiences there, and
demonstrate good grades and achievement (Denham
Weissberg, 2004).
7Promoting Social Skills through Childrens
Literature
8Promoting Social Skills through Childrens
Literature
- Direction instruction is a key feature of social
skills training (Vaughn, S., Ae-Hwa, K., Claire,
V., Sloan, M., Hughes, M.T., Batya, E., Dheepa.
S., 2003). - Educational research and literature highlights
the use of childrens books as a beneficial
approach to direct instruction of social skills
(Forgan, J. W. Gonzalez-DeHasse, A., 2004
Riley, D., San Juan, R. Klinkner, J. Ramminger,
A., 2008). - The use of childrens literature allows children
to explore feelings about self-esteemand the
ability to relate to a main character with
similar experiences (Iaquinta and Hipsky, 2006). - Using literature allows school professionals to
help children battle and explore internal
conflicts (Heath, Sheen, Leavy, Young, Money,
2005).
9Promoting Social Skills through Childrens
Literature
- Example Lesson Hands are Not for Hitting
- http//www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/preschool.html
- (scroll down to Module 2, 10 under video clips)
- Teacher Activity ? How you might design
activities to support emotional development in
learning centers and outside play? - Example Activities from CSEFEL
- http//www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/booknook/hands/ha
nds.html
10Categorized Social Skills Books for Your
Classroom CSEFEL Childrens Booklist (see
attached)
11Ive read the book now what?
12Features of Social Skills Interventions
- Prompting Rehearsal of Desired Behaviors
- Guide and practice
- Modeling of Specific Social Skills
- Model using students, adults, puppets
- Play Related-Activities
- Embed skills into regular class activities or
freeplay - Free-Play Generalization
- Cooperative learning, outside play
Vaughn, S., Ae-Hwa, K., Claire, V., Sloan, M.,
Hughes, M.T., Batya, E., Dheepas., S, 2003
13Features of Social Skills Interventions
- Reinforcement of Appropriate Behaviors
- Verbal praise, rewards, etc. will motivate
children to demonstrate the desired behaviors
more frequently - Storytelling
- As narrators and listeners, children can infer a
characters emotions in hypothetical situations - Imitation of Appropriate Behaviors
Vaughn, S., Ae-Hwa, K., Claire, V., Sloan, M.,
Hughes, M.T., Batya, E., Dheepas., S, 2003
14Promoting Social Skills through Evidence Based
Programs
15What Makes a Benefical Social Skills Intervention
Program?
- The program should be embedded into regular
classroom activities by the teacher in the
classroom - Children should be instructed in social skills as
well as the behavioral contingencies for
appropriate and inappropriate behaviors - Use of integrated social interaction groups for
children with and without disabilities - Includes trained parent or peer models
Vaughn, S., Ae-Hwa, K., Claire, V., Sloan, M.,
Hughes, M.T., Batya, E., Dheepas., S, 2003
16Evidence Based Universal Social Skills
Intervention Programs
- Second Step
- http//www.cfchildren.org/programs/ssp/overview/
- Incredible Years
- http//www.incredibleyears.com/
- PATHS
- http//www.channing-bete.com/
- Als Pals Kids Making Healthy Choices
- www.wingspanworks.com/educational_programs/about_
als_pals.php - Open Circle
- www.open-circle.org/
- Project ACHIEVE
- http//store.cambiumlearning.com
Research clearly demonstrates that social and
emotional skills can be taught through
school-based programs. SEL improves students
positive behavior and reduces negative behavior.
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and
Emotional Learning, 2009
17Additional Resources
The Center on the Social and Emotional
Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) is
focused on promoting the social emotional
development and school readiness of young
children birth to age 5. They provide training
modules, practical strategies, and a wealth of
free resources!
http//www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel Collaborative
for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
(CASEL) is a not-for-profit organization that
works to advance the science and evidence-based
practice of social and emotional learning (SEL).
They provide books, articles, and briefs
detailing evidence-based programming.
www.casel.org The Gray Center for Social Learning
and Understanding is a non-profit organization
providing resources to create individualized
social skills books for your students.
www.thregraycenter.org
18References
- Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations
for Early Learning. (2003). Promoting the
social-emotional competence of children. Training
modules Online. Champaign, IL Author.
Available http//csefel.uiuc.edu/modules/facilita
torguide/facilitators-guide1.pdf. - Denham, S. A. Weissberg, R. P. (2004).
Social-emotional learning in early childhood
What we know and where to go from here. In E.
Chesebrough, P. King, T. P. Gullotta, M. Bloom
(Eds.), A blueprint for the promotion of
prosocial behavior in early childhood (pp.
13-50). New York Kluwer Academic/ Plenum
Publishers. - Dise-Lewis, J. E., Calvery, M. L., Lewis, H. C.,
Puls, M., Griebel, C., Denlinger, K. (2002).
Brain injury Strategies for teams and
re-education for students. Denver, CO U.S.
Department of Education, Office of Special
Education Programs. - Forgan, J. W. Gonzalez-DeHasse, A. (2004). How
to infuse social skills training into literacy
instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36,
24-30. - Heath, M. A., Sheen, D., Leavy, D., Young, E.,
Money, K. (2005). Bibliotherapy A resource to
facilitate emotional healing and growth. School
Psychology International, 26, 563-580. - Iaquinta, A., Shellie Hipsky, S. (2006).
Practical bibiliotherapy strategies for the
inclusive elementary classroom. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 34(3), 209-213. - McArdle, S., Byrt, R. (2001). Fiction, poetry
and mental health Expressive and therapeutic
uses of literature. Journal of Psychiatric and
Mental Health Nursing, 8, 517-524. - Raver, C., Knitzer, J. (2002). Ready to enter
What research tells policymakers about strategies
to promote social and emotional school readiness
among three- and four-year old children. New
York, NY National Center for Children in
Poverty. - Raver, C. (2002). Emotions matter Making the
case for the role of young childrens emotional
development for early - school readiness.Social Policy Report of
the Society for Research in Child Development,
16(3), 1-20. - Riley, D., San Juan, R. Klinkner, J. Ramminger,
A. (2008) Social Emotional Development
Connecting Science and Practice in Early
Childhood Settings. St. Paul, MN RedLeaf Press. - Smith, B. (2005). Recommended Practices.
Recommended practices Linking social development
and behavior to school readiness. Retrieved on
April 27, 2009 from http//www.vanderbilt.edu/csef
el/modules/module4/handout3.pdf. - Vaughn, S., Ae-Hwa, K., Claire, V., Sloan, M.,
Hughes, M.T., Batya, E., Dheepas. (2003).
Social Skills Interventions forYoung Children
with Disabilities A Synthesis of Group Design
Studies. Remedial and Special Education,
1(24),2-5.