How I'm teaching 1st grade social skills through structured play scenarios

1 replies·1mon ago

Kaitlyn Meyer

·1mon ago

How I'm teaching 1st grade social skills through structured play scenariosKaitlyn Meyer

My first graders came back to school this year with social skills that honestly worried me. They were grabbing toys from each other, melting down during group work, and had no idea how to join playground games appropriately.... After talking with our school counselor, I started using 10 minutes of our day for "friendship practice." We role-play common 1st grade social skills like asking to play, resolving conflicts over classroom materials, or dealing with accidentally bumping someone in line. Yesterday, I watched Elijah (who used to respond to everything by hitting) finally use his words when someone knocked over his block tower 🙌 🙌

Long story short, I can't stress enough how important role-playing is to improve social skills.

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Joshua Richardson

·1mon ago

Joshua Richardson

·1mon ago

Yep, I see this every year with my fifth graders, just in a different form. They don’t grab toys anymore, but they’ll cut in line, argue over group work, or get defensive the second they feel slighted. And guess what? Just telling them to "be nice" or "use their words" doesn’t work. They need practice.

So, we do it. We role-play disagreements, practice giving and taking feedback, and I hold them accountable when they slip back into bad habits. It’s not always pretty, but when I see a kid who used to roll their eyes and snap at a classmate actually pause and say, “Okay, what do you think we should do?” that’s when I know the work pays off.

Bottom line... Social skills don’t just happen. We’ve got to teach them like anything else.