• Social Skills Instruction: A Handbook for Teachers

Social Skills Instruction: A Handbook for Teachers

Author(s) Shobana Musti-Rao
ISBN10 9810850344
ISBN13 9789810850340
Format Paperback
Pages 180
Year Publish 2010 April
  • $30.00


Synopsis

Social Skills Instruction: A Handbook for Teachers was written for teachers interested "in teaching" social skills. Though the intended audience was teachers in mainstream schools and special schools, parents interested in teaching social skills to their children may find the book useful. Emphasis, in the book, was placed on using a positive and preventive approach in teaching students to behave in appropriate and acceptable ways. The book is divided into two parts:

Part A: Deals with the steps involved in the assessment and teaching of social skills

  1. Chapter 1, begins with highlighting the importance of teaching social skills as part of a school curriculum, and how these skills are aligned with the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) framework set forth by the Ministry of Education.
  2. Chapter 2, then, provides teachers with informal methods of assessing students’ social skills performance and how to identify present levels of functioning.
  3. Chapter 3 a lesson plan framework is presented that teachers can use to teach social skills. While the focus in this book was on social skills, the lesson plan framework can be used for direct teaching of any academic skill.
  4. Chapter 4 focuses on strategies to promote maintenance and generalization of social skills beyond the instructional setting. Self-management strategies that can help student self-regulate behaviour are also discussed in this Chapter.

Part B: Includes seven lesson plans that teachers can use to teach specific social skills.

Begins with a description of the process used to identify the seven social skills that are included in book, followed by lesson plans for each of these skills. Each social skill is broken down into smaller skill steps, making it easier to introduce and teach the skills. The lesson plans include scripts for what teachers can say when introducing the skill steps. Teachers can choose to follow the script as provided in the lesson plans, or can use the scripts as a guide and improvise when teaching the lesson. The entire book is written in a very teacher-friendly manner, providing teachers with easy-to-use forms and tables. Each lesson plan includes teaching ideas and relevant resources. The strategies suggested in the book are empirically-based; that is, the strategies have been validated through research and are well-documented in the literature.

About The Author:
Shobana Musti-Rao, Ph. D., is an assistant professor in the Early Childhood and Special Needs Education (ECSE) academic group at the National Institute of Education – Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She teaches courses that focus on the academic and social development of children with mild to moderate disabilities. Originally from India, she completed her doctoral studies at The Ohio State University in 2005. Her research interests include academic and behavioural strategies for students with learning disabilities and emotional and behavioural disorders, reading interventions for students at risk of school failure, and family and school partnerships.

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