Social Detectives - Part II

Expected Game Playing and Conversation Skills

During our 4th and 5th guidance lessons with First graders they have been learning about all the steps they need to follow in order to show expected game playing skills and expected conversation skills. Students are amazed as they make a chart which includes many of the steps that go into each of these social activities! Below you will see some examples of responses from their class charts, as well as examples of the checklists they use to be an observant social detective during some actual game playing and conversations.

Game Playing
Students learn that playing a game can be divided into 3 parts: Setting up the game, Playing the game, and Cleaning up the game. They discuss that it is much better to spend the most time on playing the game, while setting up should only take 5 minutes, and cleaning up should be even faster!

Setting up the game: 

• Ask a friend to play
• Decide which game to play
• Learn how to play if you don't know how
• Decide who goes first (roll a die, flip a coin, rock/paper/scissors)
• Decide who gets each piece (ask nicely, roll a die)

Playing the game:

• Follow the rules
• Take your turn at the right time
• Use nice words
• Have fun

Cleaning up:

• Work together
• Help each other
• Be careful - put away neatly

Once students have made their chart and discussed each step they work in small groups. Then they get to practice all the steps while they play a game! During this activity, if there are 4 students in the group, then 2 students play the game and the other 2 students are detectives (using the detective observation sheet - see below). Half way through the students switch roles so that everyone has a chance to play, and a chance to be a detective.

Conversation Skills

We begin our conversation lesson by watching a quick video by Model Me Kids so that the students can see other children having a conversation. After this video the students make another chart including all the skills they need to use to have an expected conversation. In addition, they make up a list of possible topics and discuss the importance of sticking to a topic for the first part of the conversation. Then they also discuss how a person can change a topic by making a connection. Below is a sample of some of their responses from a few classroom charts.

Expected Conversation Skills
Look at the person
Bodies are facing each other
Listen to each other
Take turns talking and listening
Don't interrupt
Stay on the same topic (topic ideas: sports, movies, food, pets, games, activities, weekend plans,                                               vacations, friends, toys, TV shows, school)
Use a nice tone of voice
Use indoor voice
Ask questions
Answer questions
Ask follow up questions
End the conversation nicely

Once they have finished their chart we have a conversation activity. In small groups (2 to 3 students) they have a conversation for a few minutes with one person selecting the topic. When the chime rings the other student picks a topic and they begin another short conversation. Once they have completed their conversations they use their conversation checklist and decide how they did following the expected behaviors.

It is so fun to observe the students putting their social detective skills into practice! 

Don't forget to practice these skills at home - whether they are playing a game, or having a conversation, remind them of all the expected skills that they can practice with friends and family! 

Some conversation activities and articles to read about conversations and playing games are:

• TABLETOPICS Family: Questions to start great conversations
• TABLETOPICS To Go Kids
• Chat Pack Conversation Icebreaker Cards for Kids conversation
• Click here for an article on the Benefits of playing games
• Click here for a great article on the top 10 reasons to play games with kids
• Click here for the top 10 health benefits of board games

Being a Social Detective!

First Grade Classroom Curriculum:
Being A Social Detective

     Mrs. MacKinnon and I are currently teaching our First graders the social thinking curriculum based on Michele Garcia Winner's curriculum called, "You are a Social Detective: Explaining Social Thinking to  Kids".

      You may be asking "What is social thinking?" In a nutshell, social thinking is understanding that people around us have thoughts and feelings based on what expected or unexpected behaviors we demonstrate throughout the course of the day. Based on this understanding, the more expected behaviors you use, the more others will want to be with you and develop friendships with you. So, what does this really mean?  Let's start with some definitions.

     Expected behaviors are the things we do and say that give people good thoughts about us and that also make them feel good. The way you are expected to behave in various social settings can differ, based on whom you are with and where you are. For example, we act differently when we are in library (quiet/whispering voice, calm body, walking feet) than when we are at a barbecue (normal/outside voice, animated body). 
     Unexpected behaviors, conversely, are things we do and say that give people uncomfortable thoughts about us and that can make them feel unhappy, mad or sad. Again, unexpected behaviors can differ based on whom you are with and where you are. For example, having expected recess behaviors--running, yelling--in a library, would be considered unexpected.
     A Social Detective is someone who uses their tools--eyes, ears, and what they know in their brains--to figure out what is happening in a situation and to make a smart guess what will happen next, or what they should do next.

One of the concepts that we have started teaching and talking about in our lessons is called "Thinking With Your Eyes".  Thinking with your eyes means that you are using your eyes to look at others, which not only makes them feel good, but it also lets them know that you are thinking about them. In addition, when we "think with our eyes", we can use them, along with our brain, to figure out what is expected or what can happen next. 

A game that we play to teach this concept involves using a ball.  The class sits in a circle facing each other and are told that they will be able to roll the ball to someone. However, in this game, their voices are off. The only way that they can roll the ball is if they make eye contact with someone across from them. They will need to "use their eyes" to think about a person and then to pass the ball to that person. Some interesting questions come up during this game, such as "What if the person you want to pass it to isn't looking at you?" All of this leads to the discussion of the importance of eye contact and using your eyes to figure out what to do in all situations and places.

Other games that teach the importance of using your eyes for thinking are:

• Guess what I'm looking at?---Look at an item or person in the room and have others guess what they are looking at and thinking about.
• What's my plan?--Pretend that you are going to pick something up, but don't complete the action. Then have the others guess what you are doing and about to do next. Other examples included reaching for crayons/markers, sitting in a chair, or putting a coat on a chair. These examples can lead to discussions on what to do if you see someone reaching for the same crayon or chair that you want and deciding which expected  behaviors do you choose to do next.

In the coming lessons, the classes will learn more about smart/wacky guesses as well as the expected behaviors in both game playing and conversations. Stay tuned for our next blog post describing our class activities when learning about these concepts!

Here are some additional links and information about the Social Thinking curriculum:

Michelle Garcia Winner's social thinking website

IPad game that teaches social thinking concepts

Pinterest activities and information