It’s the start of a new (and very bizarre) school year, so I wanted to share some activity ideas for facilitating peer-peer relationships and connections. Since this is my first time blogging with SSE, let me start out by first connecting with you!
My name is Jenna and I am a speech-language pathologist working and living in MA. After completing graduate school, I started my clinical fellowship at a private, day and residential school for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Flash-forward 5-years later and I can confidently say that I love what I do. I go to work and laugh every day… what more could I ask for?
My school’s philosophy places a large emphasis on social communication and emotional regulation. As an SLP, a large portion of my day is spent helping my students make social connections with others. This concept can be broken down into so many different facets, including one pretty important question: how do I teach my students to make social connections with others?
One way that I target forming social connections is through the use of “Friend Files”. “Friend Files” is a topic originated by the social communication guru, Michelle Garcia Winner. The lesson called “Friend Files” is a part of the Social Thinking® curriculum and is a great, visual-based unit to help students gather information about their peers to make social connections and establish relationships. You can find more information and activities about Social Thinking® here: https://www.socialthinking.com/
While I use “Friend Files” with ASD students, this lesson can also be great for general education kiddos at the start of the school year. I conduct this lesson with a small-sized group (i.e., <8 students). If you have a larger-sized group or class, you can modify this in a way that best suits your students. Since your students will need to gather information from their peers and then hopefully retain the information, a large group could be overwhelming.
Here’s how you can structure this lesson:
1. Provide a rationale about why it’s important to make connections with others. I tell my students that remembering information about others shows that you care, that you’re invested, that you’re flexible, and that you’re willing and open to being a good friend.
2. Then, take turns asking questions to gather information for “Friend Files”. I’ve adapted Michelle Garcia Winner’s version to best suit my students’ needs in a “fishing game”.
Sometimes my students are able to independently ask their peers the included questions. Sometimes they need me to pose the questions… as we all know, flexibility is key.
3. Encourage your students to remember the information in their “friend files”. I use a visual for support. Here’s what my adapted version looks like:
4. Once the “data collection” of sorts (hehe) is completed, you have tons of options. Here are a few things that I do:
– Make it a game! Tell your students: “You have 10-seconds to find someone who has the same favorite color as you. Go!”
– Make it a conversation. I typically start off the interaction by saying: “My favorite color is green. Kayla, what’s yours?” After Kayla shares her favorite color, provide an indirect prompt (if needed) for Kayla to ask a peer (e.g., “What could you ask Chrissy?”) Keep it going.
– Make it an art project. Let your creative juices run wild here. I typically go for posters that can be hung up in the classroom reflecting all of the important “friend file” facts that make up each student’s personality.
– Make it a writing assignment. Some of my fabulous teachers have turned “Friend Files” into writing assignments. The teachers will instruct students to write about themselves by sharing personal facts.
Generalization component: One of my favorite things to do when I end a session is assign fake “homework”. It’s always fun, light, and posed in a way that challenges my students. When I’m using the “Friend Files” lesson to target building social connections, I’ll say: “Your homework is to remember 1 ‘Friend File’ fact about anyone here for next week!” Some students love it and some students ignore me, alas…such is life.
Enjoy & good luck!