Social Skills Activities for Secondary Students with Special Needs

Darlene Mannix, M.A., has 30+ years of experience as a classroom teacher. She has taught both general education and special education, and has worked with students ranging from learning disabled and mentally challenged to language disordered and severely emotionally disturbed. Mannix is the bestselling author of numerous books for special educators, including Social Skills Activities for Special Children, Life Skills Activities for Special Children, Writing Skills Activities for Special Children, and Character Building Activities for Kids.

About This Book iii

About the Author iii

Preface xv

Part I: Personality Traits: What Are You Like? 1

Chapter 1 Investigating Personality Traits 7

Skill 1: Identifying the Big Five Personality Traits 8

Worksheet 1: Are You Honest? 9

Worksheet 2: Are You Kind? 10

Worksheet 3: Are You Trustworthy? 12

Worksheet 4: Are You Friendly? 13

Worksheet 5: Are You Hardworking? 14

Skill 2: Identifying Yourself on Common Personality Traits:

How You Function in a Group Setting 16

Worksheet 6: Lead or Follow 18

Worksheet 7: Micromanage or Let Go 19

Worksheet 8: Working Alone or with Others 20

Worksheet 9: Introduce New Ideas or Wait to Be Asked 22

Worksheet 10: Accept or Resent Criticism 23

Skill 3: Identifying Yourself on Common Personality Traits:

How You Organize Things 24

Worksheet 11: Visually in Place or Looks Chaotic 26

Worksheet 12: Big Picture or Detail-Oriented 28

Worksheet 13: Planner or Spontaneous 29

Worksheet 14: Own or Delegate 30

Worksheet 15: Ask for Help or Figure It Out 31

Skill 4: Identifying Yourself on Common Personality Traits:

How You Make Decisions 32

Worksheet 16: Quick Decision or Think It Over 34

Worksheet 17: Regret Mistakes or Accept and Move On 36

Worksheet 18: Get Advice or Make a Good Guess 37

Worksheet 19: Weigh Pros and Cons or Go with Gut 38

Worksheet 20: Opportunities or Disasters 39

Skill 5: Identifying Yourself on Common Personality Traits:

Your General Demeanor/What You’re Mostly Like 40

Worksheet 21: Outgoing or Quiet 42

Worksheet 22: Open to New Ideas or Prefer the Familiar 44

Worksheet 23: Creative or Structural Thinker 45

Worksheet 24: Hold Grudges or Quick to Forgive 46

Worksheet 25: Sensitive to Others or Not into Feelings 47

Chapter 2 Putting It All Together 49

Worksheet 26: Verifying Your Responses 52

Worksheet 27: Your Personality Profile 54

Worksheet 28: Why Personality Matters 55

Worksheet 29: Job/Task Match with Your Personality 56

Worksheet 30: Can You Change Your Personality? 57

Part II: Learning Basic Social Skills 59

Chapter 3 Skills to Make a Good Impression 65

Skill 6: Making a Good First Impression 66

Worksheet 31: What Is a Good Impression? 68

Worksheet 32: Your Appearance 69

Worksheet 33: Your Attitude 71

Worksheet 34: Getting Prepared 72

Worksheet 35: Asking Appropriate Questions 73

Worksheet 36: Pleasantries or Short Conversations 75

Worksheet 37: Voice Volume and Tone 76

Worksheet 38: Using Appropriate Language 78

Worksheet 39: Just Answer the Question! 79

Worksheet 40: Introducing Yourself 81

Skill 7: Being Aware of Your Behavior 83

Worksheet 41: Blending in with a Group 85

Worksheet 42: Behaviors That You Can’t Help 86

Worksheet 43: Neutral Behavior 87

Worksheet 44: Invading Personal Space 88

Worksheet 45: Repeating Yourself 90

Worksheet 46: Being Bossy 91

Worksheet 47: Refusing to Be Social 92

Skill 8: Being a Good Listener 94

Worksheet 48: Identifying a Good Listener 96

Worksheet 49: How to Be a Good Listener 98

Worksheet 50: Important Listening Situations 100

Worksheet 51: What Problems Do You See? 101

Worksheet 52: Remembering Things About Others 103

Chapter 4 Skills for Self-Improvement 105

Skill 9: Having a Good Sense of Humor 106

Worksheet 53: Benefits of a Sense of Humor 107

Worksheet 54: Creating Humor Appropriately 108

Worksheet 55: Easing Tension with Humor 109

Worksheet 56: Laughing WITH, not Laughing AT 110

Worksheet 57: Using Humor to Include Others 112

Skill 10: Communicating 113

Worksheet 58: Expressing Yourself with Words 115

Worksheet 59: Waiting Before Responding 117

Worksheet 60: Avoiding Getting Upset 119

Worksheet 61: Public Versus Private Conversations 120

Worksheet 62: Controlling Your Feelings 121

Skill 11: Standing Up for Yourself 122

Worksheet 63: That’s Not Right! 123

Worksheet 64: Why Do You Think That Way? 125

Worksheet 65: What’s the Problem? 126

Skill 12: Making Good Decisions 127

Worksheet 66: Questions to Ask Yourself 130

Worksheet 67: A Decision-Making Chart 132

Worksheet 68: What Decision Needs to Be Made? 133

Worksheet 69: When You Need More Information 135

Worksheet 70: Head Versus Heart Decisions 137

Worksheet 71: Not Everything Is a Crisis 139

Worksheet 72: What Is Common Sense? 140

Worksheet 73: Looking for Clues 141

Worksheet 74: Using Your Common Sense 142

Chapter 5 Skills for Interacting with Others 143

Skill 13: Knowing What’s Expected 144

Worksheet 75: A New Kind of Reading 146

Worksheet 76: Clueing into Others’ Moods 147

Worksheet 77: Knowing What to Expect: People 149

Worksheet 78: Knowing What to Expect: Situations 150

Worksheet 79: Knowing What to Expect: Tasks 151

Worksheet 80: Knowing What to Expect: Commonsense Clues 152

Skill 14: Negotiating or Compromising 153

Worksheet 81: Negotiation as a Social Skill 156

Worksheet 82: You Can’t Always Have Your Own Way 158

Worksheet 83: Situations to Negotiate 159

Worksheet 84: Things That Aren’t Negotiable 160

Worksheet 85: Practice Negotiating 161

Worksheet 86: Introduction to a Different Viewpoint 162

Worksheet 87: Identifying Different Points of View 163

Worksheet 88: Changing Your Situation, Changing Your Opinion 164

Worksheet 89: What Are Your Opinions? 166

Worksheet 90: Being Open to New Things 167

Skill 15: Making Others Feel Comfortable 169

Worksheet 91: Embarrassing Moments for Others 171

Worksheet 92: Helping Others Through Stressful or

Uncomfortable Situations 172

Worksheet 93: Things to Beware Of! 173

Worksheet 94: Being Happy/Sad/Sharing Emotions with Others 174

Worksheet 95: Avoiding Hot Topics 176

Worksheet 96: When NOT to Be Social 177

Skill 16: Recognizing Interactions That May Not Be for You 178

Worksheet 97: Everybody’s Doing It 181

Worksheet 98: Positive and Negative Peer Pressure 182

Worksheet 99: When There’s a Conflict 184

Worksheet 100: Resisting Negative Pressure 186

Worksheet 101: Asking for Too Much Information 187

Worksheet 102: Rude Behavior of Others 188

Part III: Applying Social Skills in Life Situations 189

Chapter 6 Using Social Skills at Home 193

Worksheet 103: Getting Along with Parents 197

Worksheet 104: Getting Along with Siblings 198

Worksheet 105: Balancing Responsibilities and Desires 199

Worksheet 106: Intrusions on Privacy 200

Worksheet 107: Handling a Divorce or Family Split 202

Worksheet 108: Living with Abusive or Dysfunctional Family Members 204

Worksheet 109: Spending Quality Time with Your Family 205

Worksheet 110: Learning About Your Family 207

Worksheet 111: Becoming Independent 208

Worksheet 112: Forgiving Others 209

Worksheet 113: Family Pride 211

Chapter 7 Using Social Skills at School 213

Worksheet 114: Getting Along with Teachers and Other Authority Figures 218

Worksheet 115: Managing a Social Life 220

Worksheet 116: Asking for Help 222

Worksheet 117: Eating Lunch Alone 224

Worksheet 118: Failing Classes 226

Worksheet 119: Discipline Problems 227

Worksheet 120: Intimidation from Other Students 228

Worksheet 121: Developing a Bad Attitude Toward School 229

Worksheet 122: Extracurricular Activities 230

Worksheet 123: Giving Extra Effort Toward Excellence 231

Worksheet 124: Work-Study Options 232

Worksheet 125: School Safety 233

Worksheet 126: Remote Learning 234

Chapter 8 Using Social Skills at Work 237

Worksheet 127: Getting Along with Your Supervisor 242

Worksheet 128: Getting Along with Coworkers 244

Worksheet 129: Is This the Right Job for You? 245

Worksheet 130: Understanding the Skills Required for the Job 247

Worksheet 131: Developing Good Work Habits 248

Worksheet 132: Following Instructions 249

Worksheet 133: Dealing with Complaining Customers 250

Worksheet 134: Being Resourceful 251

Worksheet 135: Taking Initiative for Promotion 252

Worksheet 136: Dealing with Sick Days 254

Worksheet 137: When Your Boss Is Wrong 256

Chapter 9 Using Social Skills with Peers 257

Worksheet 138: Is This a Good Friend? 262

Worksheet 139: Ways to Make Friends 263

Worksheet 140: Are You a Good Friend? 264

Worksheet 141: Why We Want Friends 265

Worksheet 142: Respecting Others as Individuals 266

Worksheet 143: Taking Advantage of Social Opportunities 267

Worksheet 144: Feeling Outcast 268

Worksheet 145: When a Friend Is in Trouble 269

Worksheet 146: Misunderstandings 270

Worksheet 147: Using Social Media Positively 271

Worksheet 148: Types of Bullying 272

Worksheet 149: Cyberbullying Responses 273

Worksheet 150: Responding to Bullying 275

Worksheet 151: Making Friends Online 276

Chapter 10 Using Social Skills in the Community 277

Worksheet 152: Respecting the Property of Others 280

Worksheet 153: Demonstrating Good Manners Toward Others 281

Worksheet 154: Respecting Community Authority Figures 282

Worksheet 155: Being Aware of Local Issues 283

Worksheet 156: Supporting Efforts to Improve the Community 284

Worksheet 157: Dealing with Unhelpful People 286

Worksheet 158: Helping in Your Community 288

Worksheet 159: Showing Respect to Older People 289

Worksheet 160: Welcoming Visitors to Your Community 292

Chapter 11 Using Social Skills in Leisure Settings 293

Worksheet 161: A Few of Your Favorite Things 295

Worksheet 162: Unwritten Rules 296

Worksheet 163: Inviting Others to Join In 301

Worksheet 164: Dealing with Social Anxiety 304

Worksheet 165: Special Events 307

Worksheet 166: Popular Leisure Activities for Teens 309

Chapter 12 What Others Need to Know 311

Worksheet 167: Treating Others with Kindness 313

Worksheet 168: Treating Others with Respect 315

Worksheet 169: Treating Others with Patience 316

Worksheet 170: Sharing Your Skills and Influence 318