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Using Social Stories to Teach Social Skills and Appropriate Ways to Behave

Social stories can be a very visual and concrete way to teach students social skills. Some students naturally understand social expectations and ways to behave, and others need more explicit teaching. In my opinion, social stories do the explicit teaching when done correctly.

Students need to be able to easily understand the social skill that is being taught in the social story. If the student is able to read, I normally read the social story with them first. Then, I will have them read it to me, or read it independently. This way they are taking ownership in the skill that is being taught.

Students should read a social story many times in order to master the skill. It should not be a “one and done” lesson. A lot of my students will keep their social stories in their book box or reading folder and refer to them as needed.

Another way I like to use social stories is printing off the black and white version of the story. The students can color or paint the pictures to make it their own. This is a great way to have them take ownership in the social stories.

Social stories can also be used as a calming strategy before problem behavior. For example, you might have a student that is working on controlling their frustration. If you see they are getting frustrated before a negative behavior (kicking, hitting, yelling), you could prompt them to read their social story about getting frustrated. This allows them to have a natural break and to review appropriate replacement behavior(s) BEFORE a problem behavior occurs.

Students need a way to show they have mastered the social skill. One great way to do this is role playing. I have found this to be very helpful and the students enjoy it. Taking the social story with them as they are acting out the skill is super beneficial.

Having students show they understand a topic is important. These quick and easy foldables come with each social story for teachers to be able to check for understanding. They are quick and easy to use, and students can keep them to refer to as needed!