Teaching Students How to Size Up a Problem

Get it here!

I haven't advertised a TPT item in a while, so I thought I would showcase one of the

more popular items in my store: a "Problem Solving Pack" created to show students how to accurately define the size of a problem and to teach basic critical thinking and beginning problem-solving skills. 

I have a lot of kiddos on my caseload that have a complete meltdown when they lose a game or during some other trivial mishap, which is what inspired me to create this resource. Since this is usually an area of need for students on the ASD spectrum or those with social communication disorder, most SLPs can probably find value in this packet.

Problem sizes are grouped by little, medium, and big, and in order to fit a particular size, students are encouraged to think of the four aspects that make up a problem:
(1) the number of people involved in or affected by the problem
(2) the duration of the problem
(3) the level of physical danger involved
(4) the time it takes to solve this problem

I assigned numerical values to each characteristic, which helps students "calculate" the actual problem size in a very structured manner. Students can then fill out an accompanying worksheet to help them organize and guide their thought process.
Overall, this packet includes the following PDF files:
• A collection of 120 premade problem scenarios in two separate formats (as 3.6” X 2.6” cards as well as in black and white list format)
• 9 blank cards to add your own scenarios as they occur in your students’ lives
• A step by step lesson plan / presentation to go over with your students
• A letter-sized visual poster to remind students of the characteristics of each problem size (both color and black and white)
• A worksheet template to help guide students through analyzing a problem's size
• 4 sample worksheets to guide the teacher / therapist on how the questions should be answered
I created and improved upon this packet throughout the last school year as I was developing and using these lessons with my own students in a social skills group and small group therapy setting. It really seemed to work for many of them – I, as well as other support staff have noted some marked improvements in target students’ reasoning and behavior control skills about daily challenges.
I have used these materials with 1st through 5th graders (although the worksheet is geared towards my older groups), but will work well for middle school and high school students as well due to the relative complexity of the subject. You can also just use the problem solving cards as a quick therapy activity to work on identifying and solving problems. 

For some other great resources on problem-solving using the four problem characteristics, visit Jill Kuzma's blog. There are also some great resources on Pinterest. Problem-solving is such a basic skill that we take for granted. It is important to remember that many of our students need guided teaching to improve and master this concept.

~Viola

Halloween Social Skills Activity

Available on TPT.

One of the things that I am always in need of are new materials to target social skills and problem-solving. I figured that Halloween brings with it some unique or unusual situations in which students may need to problem-solve, so I created a bunch of scenarios.

To make this activity more motivating, I presented them in a game format: Each student receives a candy bucket that they will have to fill. Each scenario depicts a piece of candy of a different color. On their turn, the student picks a card and tries to solve the problem on the card. The cards include scenarios such as:

• 

  

  Example of game play.

  Amanda is going trick or treating. In front of one of the houses, there is a filled candy bowl with a sign that says, “Take one.” Amanda takes almost all of the candy and puts it into her bag. What did Amanda do wrong? Why were her actions wrong?
• Eric is going trick or treating. In front of one of the houses there is a large dog tied up right next to the door and it is growling at him. Should Eric go up to the house? Why or why not?
• Hailey is participating in a costume parade at her school. A classmate accidentally steps on her costume and it rips. How could this problem have been prevented? What could Hailey do?
• Jane is going trick or treating. A man opens the door and says, “I have a bunch of candy. But you have to come inside the house so I can give you some!” What should Jane do? Why?

 If this game sounds like a fit for students on your caseload, you can find it in my TPT store.

~Viola

Social Skills Curriculum / How I Spent My Summer

When I began working in the public schools, I quickly realized that there was a great need for social skills groups. Parents and staff seemed to be under the impression that this was an area of expertise for SLPs -- which most of you would agree is definitely NOT an accurate assumption! The only instruction on social skills that I have received in my graduate program is to be taught the definition of the term "pragmatics." That's pretty much where it ended. However, I was expected to work on this with a large number of students.

Not sure where to begin, I purchased tons of books on the subject. Unfortunately, most programs out there didn’t meet my needs – the lessons and activities were either too challenging / not engaging / too easy / required materials that you had to make yourself / etc. And - don't hate me - but even Michelle Garcia Winner's materials were a bit too dry for my students.

Over the last three years I have taught elementary level social skills groups by piece-mealing my own curriculum and developing my own lessons and activities. This summer, I decided to relinquish my break and finally sat down to type up actual lesson plans, including some of the activities that I have done with my groups and adding many, many more ready-to-use materials and activities. While this project pretty much consumed my summer break, I felt it was something that I really had to do. The finished result is a resource that is (hopefully!) easy to implement and can be used with different elementary populations to work on social skills.



Click on the picture to see the product in my TPT store!

The completed bundle contains 37 lesson plans and 229 supplementary activities for Elementary to Middle school level social skills groups. Each lesson is designed to last between 30 – 60 minutes (although you can stretch each lesson across several sessions by doing multiple of the included activities). Of course it is ready for sale in my TPT store (I have also made the individual sections available).

 Each lesson contains a variety of activities to choose from so that you can pick the one that most suits the group you are teaching and/or your teaching style. While some of these activities focus on relevant children’s books and require that you own the book, most of the activities are original creations by myself.

Each lesson is set up as follows: Students are being taught the skill during a whole group discussion. The second part of each lesson is comprised of activities. Each lesson contains 3-13 suggestions for relevant activities, and this section will hopefully grow over time as I discover more things to do with my groups. The topics covered in my curriculum are as follows (each individual section is also available for sale if you do not want to purchase the entire program):

Some sample activity pages.

I.FRIENDSHIP BASICS
Lesson #01: Introduction to Social Skills Group (+3 Activities)
Lesson #02: Behavior Expectations and Rules (+6 Activities)
Lesson #03: Introducing Yourself (+3 Activities)
Lesson #04: Getting to Know Each Other (+6 Activities)
Lesson #05: What Is a Friend? (+4 Activities)
Lesson #06: Filling Buckets (+3 Activities)
Lesson #07: Giving and Receiving Compliments (+3 Activities

II.CONVERSATION SKILLS
Lesson #08: Whole Body Listening (+6 Activities)
Lesson #09: STEPS (an acronym developed by myself) (+3 Activities)
Lesson #10: S = Space (+5 Activities)
Lesson #11: T = Take Turns (+6 Activities)
Lesson #12: E = Eye Contact (+6 Activities)
Lesson #13: P = Polite (+3 Activities)
Lesson #14: S = Stay on Topic (+6 Activities)
Lesson #15: Volume (+5 Activities)

III.FEELINGS & ANGER MANAGEMENT
Lesson #16: Basic Emotions  (+8 Activities)
Lesson #17: Complex Emotions (+9 Activities)
Lesson #18: Body Language & Prosody (+5 Activities)
Lesson #19: Dealing With Anger (+10 Activities)
Lesson #20: Relaxation Techniques (+8 Activities)
Lesson #21: Sensory Techniques (+13 Activities)
Lesson #22: Dealing With Change (+7 Activities)
Lesson #23: Self-Control (+5 Activities)

IV. BEING PART OF A GROUP
Lesson #24: Joining a Group (+5 Activities)
Lesson #25: Playing a Game  (+7 Activities)
Lesson #26: Dealing With Losing (+6 Activities)
Lesson #27: Sharing (+8 Activities)
Lesson #28: Fairness & Compromising (+9 Activities)

V. PROBLEM-SOLVING & MANAGING CONFLICTS
Lesson #29: Identifying Problem Sizes   (+4 Activities)
Lesson #30: Solving Problems (+8 Activities)
Lesson #31: Group Problem-Solving (+5 Activities)
Lesson #32: Bullying (+9 Activities)
Lesson #33: Dealing With Teasing (+7 Activities)
Lesson #34: Tattling (+4 Activities)
Lesson #35: Resolving Conflicts (+9 Activities)

VI. SOCIAL THINKING
Lesson #36: Perspective-Taking (+10 Activities)
Lesson #37: Thinking & Talking Bubbles (+5 Activities)

I am planning to add more lessons on SOCIAL THINKING within the next months and have drafted outlines for the following topics:

Lesson #38: Social Filter
Lesson #39: Flexible Thinking
Lesson #40: Empathy

These lessons offer a great pre-cursor to higher-level social skills programs and are designed to be a comprehensive first exposure to a social skills group. While I organized these lessons by category, you can of course use them in any order you see fit, and they can be stand-alone lessons. You can do these lessons in a social skills group setting, in a whole classroom setting, or during a speech therapy / counseling session as needed.

I have started using this curriculum with my groups last week and will post a lot of updates this year about how it is working out for us! I think this is the first year where I don't have to go into the social skills group with just a vague idea of what we're doing that day, and that feels great!

~Viola

Book Review: "Interrupting Chicken" by David Ezra Stein & activity

"Interrupting Chicken" cover - available here.

One of my favorite events during the school year is our book fair -- I always find some good books to use in therapy. This year I got really lucky again - I discovered the book "Interrupting Chicken" by David Ezra Stein. I was immediately drawn in by the title and cover image, since it features talk bubbles. I had just introduced thinking and talking bubbles with my social skills group and we had also been working on not blurting out and interrupting. This book is relevant for both of these skill areas, and may be for you!

Sample pages.

The story deals with a young chicken who begs his father for a bed time story. Papa Chicken warns him not to interrupt the story, and the little red chicken promises. Of course it doesn't take long for the little red chicken to break his promise, and he blurts out a possible ending for the story. The author lovingly illustrated this  by adding in talking bubbles that look a little bit chaotic. Papa Chicken attempts to read three stories, but gets interrupted each time, at which point he has had enough and tells the little red chicken to create his own story. Little red chicken does so, only to get interrupted by Papa Chicken's snoring. My students (1st through 4th grade)  thought this story was hilarious and got a few good laughs in every time the little red chicken interrupted the story with his goofy antics. We discussed how little chicken's interrupting affected the story and how it made Papa Chicken feel. We also talked about how to interrupt appropriately (something we had been working on throughout the year). 

Interrupting activity set-up.

Next, I introduced a game to work on not interrupting others' turn to talk. I gave each student three glass gems (these can be found in the home decor aisle at Walmart or Michael's) and placed a container with the rest of the gems in the middle of our circle. Students took turns talking about a topic of their choice (e.g., what they had done on the weekend, their favorite movie or video game, etc.). Other students had to sit and listen. If they interrupted the student whose turn it was to talk, they had to place one of their gems back into the container. They were able to "earn" gems by using appropriate interrupting strategies. At the end we compared who had the most gems. Since our students tend to be really competitive in nature, they really enjoyed this lesson. Once you have introduced this activity, you can continue using it for future social skills sessions to keep practicing this skill.

~Viola

Social Skills Take-home Worksheets

I don't want to brag, but I dare say that I may have completed my magnum opus: a packet of weekly social skills worksheets to last me throughout the year. This was a long-term project that I had been planning and working on for a while, since there was quite a need among my caseload. 

I created 365 social skills prompts /scenarios and distributed them across a 52-page document so that they can be sent home on a weekly basis. The activities are designed to target a variety of skills, including:

-Social problem solving
-Conversation skills / pragmatics (Topic maintenance, Turn-taking, Eye Contact, Proxemics, etc.)
-Critical thinking skills
-Cooperative play skills
-Figurative language
-Feelings / emotions
-Anger management
-Manners / Etiquette
-Social Inferencing
-Perspective taking
-Positive character traits
-Cause & effect / Predicting outcomes
-Flexible thinking
-Conflict resolution

This makes these worksheets the perfect Speech homework for students on the Autism Spectrum (HFA), those with Social skill or problem-solving deficits, those working on pragmatics, or even just our language kiddos. In addition to the activities, I included an “Advice Wizard” on each page, that offers a little tidbit of social advice. I also included a blank page so that specific scenarios can be added as needed. A sample page looks like this:

Sample social skills homework page

I did make this product available in my TpT store here. It is a little bit more expensive than the rest of my materials due to the extensive amount of time I put into it.

I really hope that my own students will benefit from this program -- it is so difficult to find relevant worksheets for social skills and I always have parents asking me what they can do at home to practice social skills. And I know my students will be so excited to get Speech homework!

Okay, I'm off to take some Motrin! This project really did a number on my head!

~Viola