Conversation Skills Lesson

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Conversation SkillsLesson

• Ms. Woods
• Fifth Grade Classroom
• Social Skill Choosing a proper speaking distance

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Students will develop proper physical distance
for conversation

• Using the students arm as a measure of
  appropriate distance
• Reach out to shake hand or tap shoulder
• Stop at first contact
• Maintain arms length for conversation
• May touch a shoulder lightly and briefly
• With close friends and family may use a bent arm

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Prerequisite skills

• Eye contact
• Moderating voice
• Appropriate language for audience
• Appropriate topic choice for place and audience

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Present Level of Performance

• Working toward better eye contact
• Engages in appropriate topics
• Demonstrates socially acceptable language with
  peers with appropriate topic and tone
• Working toward appropriate topic with new
  students and new adult interactions
• Awareness of social practice in the general
  population for middle school goals and job
  placement

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Ways to teach proper distance

• Model
• Have a student receive you in an introduction.
• Write a script for role plays
• One for an authority figure teacher, boss, new
  adult
• One for new friends group, close friends, family
  

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Practice

• Use a yardstick
• Place on floor
• Compare to arms length
• Compare to tiles (or patterns on the floor)
• Create photo book of conversations
• Have student view teacher made album
• Have student select pictures of proper and
  improper physical distance

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Fluency

• Have students partner for role play
• Job interview
• Asking how to find the library at the new school
• Meeting new friends while waiting for the bell

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Maintenance

• Reminders
• Check the tiles Watch your toes
• Gently touch the persons shoulder
• Ask a friend to say personal space

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Assessment

• Teachers will observe proper distance during
  conversations (3x day for 3 days)
• Student will self report
• Family will observe improved self-confidence and
  social skills at home

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TEKS Grade 5110.7. English Language Arts and
Reading,

• A. connect his/her own experiences, information,
  insights, and ideas with the experiences of
  others through speaking and listening (4-8)
• B. Compare oral traditions across regions and
  cultures(4-8)
• C. Identify how languages use labels and sayings
  to reflect regions and cultures (4-8)