Activities, Games, and Lessons for Social Learning
A Practical Guide
Foreword by Kari Dunn Buron, Julie Erdelyi for Stern Center for Language and Learning
In these games, the prize is success in school—and life.
Having good social skills doesn’t just affect classroom behavior—it’s the key to making learning stick. When students improve their self-regulation, social communication, and perspective-taking competencies, they are better prepared to challenge themselves academically, take on tough tasks, and collaborate with teachers and classmates to achieve real, lasting school success. And since these skills also improve life outside school, the benefits come full circle.
Designed for both explicit instruction and “learning by doing,” this practical guide provides hands-on activities that are easily adapted into any curriculum and can be used in general education, special education, after-school settings, and in the home. The design of each game keeps kids engaged and motivated, while educators benefit from clear, thorough explanations that unpack the complexities of social learning. Other behind-the-scenes features include:
- Evidence-based, teacher-tested lessons
- Anecdotes and real-world examples
- Links to relevant research
- Expansion ideas for applying learned skills to broader situations
- Templates and reproducibles for easy implementation
This curated collection of activities puts social-learning theory into practice, helping even the most challenging children develop the social skills necessary for real success in school—and beyond.
Free resources
Self-Regulation: The Basics
In this excerpt from Activities, Games, and Lessons for Social Learning, you'll discover what self-regulation is, its importance, and understand how to teach critical self-regulation skills to your students.
"This book is a perfect guide for teaching social learning in a fun, collaborative, and simple way for people of all ages! It provides practical, realistic and useful guidance, as well as ease and utility for practitioners and teachers with the content and in the way the book is structured."
"It can be challenging for educators to find resources for students who struggle with social skills and self-regulation. This book is a good resource for those working with students with autism spectrum disorders."
"This book has everything you need to teach students with fun, engaging, hands on lessons and activities that will transform their social skills!"
"Teachers require a broad pedagogic skill base as they address the issue of educating the whole-child. This book provides a repertoire of practical, proven SE strategies that work in a variety of classrooms. It is an essential resource for hardworking teachers and educators."
"This book provides accessible, ready-to-use lesson-plans with research links to build understanding and practice of key social emotional skills such as self-regulation, social communication, and perspective taking."
"The format of the book provides practical and realistic strategies by presenting a research base follow by explicit strategy presentation for each topic. The authors present the best of both worlds in providing brief theory/rationale while including techniques that can be used by a wide variety of child-serving professionals. It has a solid research base and the authors convey thorough knowledge of the subject matter, as well as real-world experience."
"Teachers know that if we want students to be able to learn, we have to build a foundation of trust. This book is one of those foundational, handy books that combines research, implementation techniques, and activities that are easy to use. Every new teacher, as well as veteran teachers, need to have this in their hands."
"Demystifying social learning through games is not only an effective and engaging strategy, it is paramount to supporting students in today’s world of multifaceted communication. This book has a number of “ready-to-use” lesson plans that will provide explicit instructions and “learning-by-doing” activities."
