Title Details

The Author

DARLENE MANNIX, M.A., has taught both general education and special education, and she has worked with students ranging from learning disabled and mentally challenged to language disordered and severely emotionally disturbed. Mannix is the best-selling author of numerous books for special educators including Social Skills Activities for Special Children and Life Skills Activities for Special Children.

About This Book v

About the Author v

Preface xv

Part One: Learning Basic Social Skills 1

Chapter 1 Skills to Make a Good Impression 3

Skill 1: Making a First Impression 6

Instructor Pages 6

Worksheet 1: What Is a Good Impression? 7

Worksheet 2: Your Appearance 8

Worksheet 3: Your Attitude 10

Worksheet 4: Getting Prepared 11

Worksheet 5: Asking Appropriate Questions 12

Skill 2: Thinking About My Behavior 14

Instructor Pages 14

Worksheet 6: Picked out of a Crowd 16

Worksheet 7: Ways to Blend In 18

Worksheet 8: Unusual Behaviors 19

Worksheet 9: Behaviors That You Can’t Help 20

Worksheet 10: Neutral Behavior 21

Skill 3: Getting Rid of Annoying Tendencies 22

Instructor Pages 22

Worksheet 11: Invading Personal Space 23

Worksheet 12: Interrupting 25

Worksheet 13: Repeating Yourself 27

Worksheet 14: Bodily Noises 28

Worksheet 15: Being Bossy 29

Skill 4: Having a Pleasant Voice and Breath 30

Instructor Pages 30

Worksheet 16: Voice Volume 32

Worksheet 17: Voice Tone 33

Worksheet 18: Using Appropriate Language 35

Worksheet 19: Just Answer the Question! 36

Worksheet 20: Bad Breath 38

Skill 5: Being a Good Listener 39

Instructor Pages 39

Worksheet 21: Identifying a Good Listener 41

Worksheet 22: How to Be a Good Listener 43

Worksheet 23: Important Listening Situations 45

Worksheet 24: What Problems Do You See? 46

Worksheet 25: Skit Revisited: Identifying the Listening Skills 48

Skill 6: Sharpening My Communication Skills 50

Instructor Pages 50

Worksheet 26: What Is Communication? 52

Worksheet 27: Communication Through Behavior 53

Worksheet 28: Communication Through Expressions 54

Worksheet 29: Messages 55

Worksheet 30: Practice Your Communication Skills 56

Skill 7: Sizing Up My Reputation 57

Instructor Pages 57

Worksheet 31: What Others Say About You 59

Worksheet 32: Developing a Reputation 60

Worksheet 33: Misjudging Others 62

Worksheet 34: What Kind of Reputation Do You Want? 64

Worksheet 35: Changing Your Reputation 65

Chapter 2 Skills for Self-Improvement 67

Skill 8: Having a Good Sense of Humor 71

Instructor Pages 71

Worksheet 36: Benefits of a Sense of Humor 72

Worksheet 37: Creating Humor Appropriately 73

Worksheet 38: Easing Tension with Humor 74

Worksheet 39: Laughing WITH, not Laughing AT 75

Worksheet 40: Using Humor to Include Others 77

Skill 9: Expressing Myself Appropriately 78

Instructor Pages 78

Worksheet 41: Expressing Myself with Words 80

Worksheet 42: Waiting Before Responding 82

Worksheet 43: Avoiding Getting Upset 84

Worksheet 44: Public vs. Private Conversations 85

Worksheet 45: Communicating via E-Mail 86

Skill 10: Viewing Things Realistically 88

Instructor Pages 88

Worksheet 46: Making Realistic Changes 90

Worksheet 47: Improbable or Impossible? 91

Worksheet 48: Making Changes for the Better: Habits and Friends 93

Worksheet 49: Making Changes for the Better: Attitudes and Actions 95

Worksheet 50: It Could Happen . . . 97

Skill 11: Standing Up for Myself 99

Instructor Pages 99

Worksheet 51: That’s Not Right! 101

Worksheet 52: What Do I Believe? 103

Worksheet 53: Why Do I Think That Way? 104

Worksheet 54: Beliefs and Behavior 105

Worksheet 55: What’s the Problem? 107

Skill 12: Making Good Decisions 108

Instructor Pages 108

Worksheet 56: Questions to Ask Yourself 110

Worksheet 57: A Decision-Making Chart 112

Worksheet 58: What Decision Need to Be Made? 113

Worksheet 59: When You Need More Information 115

Worksheet 60: Head vs. Heart Decisions 117

Skill 13: Controlling My Emotions 119

Instructor Pages 119

Worksheet 61: Why Should We Control Our Emotions? 120

Worksheet 62: First Reaction 122

Worksheet 63: What Triggers Your Emotions? 124

Worksheet 64: Controlling What You Show 126

Worksheet 65: Alternative Reactions 127

Skill 14: Making Good Friends 128

Instructor Pages 128

Worksheet 66: Is This a Good Friend? 130

Worksheet 67: Ways to Make Friends 131

Worksheet 68: Are You a Good Friend? 132

Worksheet 69: Friends Affect Us 133

Worksheet 70: Why We Want Friends 135

Skill 15: Using Common Sense 137

Instructor Pages 137

Worksheet 71: What’s Common About Common Sense? 139

Worksheet 72: Looking for Clues 140

Worksheet 73: Thinking Harder 141

Worksheet 74: Thinking Smarter 143

Worksheet 75: Using Your Common Sense 145

Skill 16: Having a Good Work Ethic 146

Instructor Pages 146

Worksheet 76: Understanding the Job 147

Worksheet 77: Staying on Task 148

Worksheet 78: Knowing When to Ask for Help 149

Worksheet 79: Making a Quick Decision 151

Worksheet 80: Job Completion 153

Chapter 3 Skills for Being Around Others 155

Skill 17: “Reading” Other People 159

Instructor Pages 159

Worksheet 81: A New Kind of Reading 161

Worksheet 82: Facial Expressions 162

Worksheet 83: Tone of Voice 163

Worksheet 84: Body Language 164

Worksheet 85: Sincerity 165

Skill 18: Knowing Expectations 166

Instructor Pages 166

Worksheet 86: Knowing What to Expect: People 168

Worksheet 87: Knowing What to Expect: Situations 169

Worksheet 88: Knowing What Is Expected: Tasks 170

Worksheet 89: Knowing What to Expect: Past Experiences 171

Worksheet 90: Knowing What Is Expected: Commonsense Clues 172xxx

Skill 19: Negotiating or Compromising 173

Instructor Pages 173

Worksheet 91: Negotiation as a Social Skill 175

Worksheet 92: Why You Can’t Always Have Your Own Way 177

Worksheet 93: Situations to Negotiate 178

Worksheet 94: Things That Aren’t Negotiable 179

Worksheet 95: Practice Negotiating 180

Skill 20: Understanding Another’s Point of View 181

Instructor Pages 181

Worksheet 96: Introduction to a Different Viewpoint 183

Worksheet 97: Identifying Different Points of View 184

Worksheet 98: What’s the Basis for This Point of View? 185

Worksheet 99: Changing Your Situation, Changing Your Opinion 186

Worksheet 100: What Are Your Opinions? 187

Skill 21: Being Flexible 188

Instructor Pages 188

Worksheet 101: Handling Changes 190

Worksheet 102: Changing Your Plans 191

Worksheet 103: Changing Your Mind 192

Worksheet 104: Being Open to New Things 195

Worksheet 105: Reflecting 197

Skill 22: Respecting Authority 198

Instructor Pages 198

Worksheet 106: Interacting with Your Supervisor 200

Worksheet 107: When Your Boss Is Wrong 202

Worksheet 108: Other Authority Figures 203

Worksheet 109: Other Types of Authority 205

Worksheet 110: What Would You Do? 207

Skill 23: Making Others Feel Comfortable 208

Instructor Pages 208

Worksheet 111: The Play 210

Worksheet 112: Embarrassing Moments for Others 211

Worksheet 113: Helping Others Through Stressful or Uncomfortable Situations 212

Worksheet 114: Ordinary Times to Be Outgoing 213

Worksheet 115: Things to Beware Of! 214

Skill 24: Working with Others 215

Instructor Pages 215

Worksheet 116: Sharing a Job 217

Worksheet 117: Working as a Team 219

Worksheet 118: Cooperating with Authority 220

Worksheet 119: Brainstorming 221

Worksheet 120: Carrying Out Your Responsibilities 222

Skill 25: Dealing with Strangers 223

Instructor Pages 223

Worksheet 121: Being Overly Friendly to Strangers 225

Worksheet 122: Strangers Who Ask Too Much 226

Worksheet 123: When You Want Something 227

Worksheet 124: Rude Behavior of Others 228

Worksheet 125: From Stranger to Friend 229

Skill 26: Reacting Appropriately to Peer Pressure 230

Instructor Pages 230

Worksheet 126: Feeling the Pressure 232

Worksheet 127: Everybody’s Doing It 233

Worksheet 128: Positive and Negative Peer Pressure 234

Worksheet 129: When There’s a Conflict 236

Worksheet 130: Resisting Negative Pressure 237

Skill 27: Revealing Yourself to Others 238

Instructor Pages 238

Worksheet 131: Mysterious or Just Plain Quiet? 240

Worksheet 132: Why Tell About Yourself? 241

Worksheet 133: Revealing Things to Be Polite 242

Worksheet 134: Revealing Things to Make Conversation 243

Worksheet 135: Take a Risk, Open Up 244

Part Two: Using Social Skills 245

Chapter 4 Using Social Skills at Home 247

Instructor Pages 247

Worksheet 136: Getting Along with Parents 251

Worksheet 137: Getting Along with Siblings 252

Worksheet 138: Balancing Responsibilities and Desires 253xxxxxxx

Worksheet 139: Intrusions on Privacy 255

Worksheet 140: Handling a Divorce or Family Split 256

Worksheet 141: Living with Abusive or Dysfunctional Family Members 258

Worksheet 142: Spending Quality Time with My Family 259

Worksheet 143: Learning About My Family 261

Worksheet 144: Becoming Independent 262

Worksheet 145: Forgiving Others 263

Worksheet 146: I’m Embarrassed About My Family 265

Worksheet 147: Being Proud of My Family 267

Chapter 5 Using Social Skills at School 269

Instructor Pages 269

Worksheet 148: Getting Along with Teachers or Authority Figures 273

Worksheet 149: Managing a Social Life 275

Worksheet 150: Asking for Help 277

Worksheet 151: Failing Classes 278

Worksheet 152: Discipline Problems 279

Worksheet 153: Intimidation from Other Students 280

Worksheet 154: Developing a Bad Attitude Toward School 281

Worksheet 155: Getting Involved in Extracurricular Activities 283

Worksheet 156: Giving Extra Effort Toward Excellence 284

Worksheet 157: School Goals 285

Worksheet 158: Work-Study Options 286

Worksheet 159: School Safety 287

Chapter 6 Using Social Skills at Work 289

Instructor Pages 289

Worksheet 160: Getting Along with Your Supervisor 294

Worksheet 161: Getting Along with Coworkers 296

Worksheet 162: Understanding the Skills Required for the Job 297

Worksheet 163: Developing Good Work Habits 298

Worksheet 164: Following Instructions 299

Worksheet 165: Dealing with Complaining Customers 300

Worksheet 166: Being Resourceful 301

Worksheet 167: Taking Initiative for Promotion 302

Worksheet 168: Sick Days 304

Worksheet 169: Cell Phones at Work 306xxx

Worksheet 170: What Not to Wear, Say, Do 308

Worksheet 171: Workplace Work Space 309

Chapter 7 Using Social Skills with Peers 311

Instructor Pages 311

Worksheet 172: Respecting Others as Individuals 316

Worksheet 173: Developing Healthy Relationships with the Opposite Sex 317

Worksheet 174: Taking Advantage of Social Opportunities 319

Worksheet 175: Deciding How Much Influence Others Will Have over You 320

Worksheet 176: Getting Involved with People with Problems 321

Worksheet 177: Feeling Outcast 323

Worksheet 178: When a Friend Is in Trouble 324

Worksheet 179: Choosing to Befriend Someone 325

Worksheet 180: Becoming a Good Conversationalist 326

Worksheet 181: Being a Peer Role Model 328

Worksheet 182: Misunderstandings 330

Worksheet 183: Taking and Giving 331

Chapter 8 Using Social Skills in the Community 333

Instructor Pages 333

Worksheet 184: Having Respect for the Property of Others 336

Worksheet 185: Demonstrating Good Manners Toward Others 337

Worksheet 186: Respecting Community Authority Figures 338

Worksheet 187: Being Aware of Local Issues 339

Worksheet 188: Supporting Efforts to Improve the Community 340

Worksheet 189: Dealing with Unhelpful People 342

Worksheet 190: Volunteering at Agencies 343

Worksheet 191: Your Local Newspaper 344

Worksheet 192: Helping Each Other 345

Worksheet 193: Promoting Your Community 346

Worksheet 194: Getting to Know People in Your Community 347

Worksheet 195: Participating in Community Events 348