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Social Skills - Advanced Level

Following Rules and Norms of Social Activities
Advanced Level
Shasta Quigley
  • Description of Skill - Following rules and norms is the ability to adhere to expectations in a social situation. This may include written rules, memorized rules, or rules that are inferred. Difficulties following rules and adhering to norms can be the result of a lack of understanding, or a lack of motivation to recognize social norms.
  • Examples of what the skill looks like -
    • Jason is able to walk into an unfamiliar social setting and infer the rules of the activities that are occurring. When he enters the school carnival he waits in line at a game, watches how others perform, and looks for any other clues. When it is his turn he asks appropriate questions and participates with other students.
    • Marsha sees students playing basketball after school. She watches them for several minutes to see what the process is for joining the game, choosing team roles, and adhering to standard rules. Once she is comfortable with the way the game is being played she is able to successfully join and participate.
  • Skill Sequence
    • Playing novel games after asking appropriate questions about the rules.
    • Inferring rules and game variations by observing others' behavior and actions.
    • Following the inferred rules and social model of others during novel activities and adjusting behavior according to feedback from others.
  • Assessment -
    • Joining games and activities across a variety of settings and peers
    • Following written or verbal rules for a variety of games and social activities
    • Playing novel games after hearing or reading the rules 1-2 times
    • Asking questions about the rules or norms of a novel activity
    • Following the model of others during novel activities and taking feedback from peers
    • Inferring and adhering to social rules based on past experience
Lesson Plan
  • Student Outcomes - At the end of this lesson the student(s) will be able to:
    • Play novel games after hearing or reading the rules 1-2 times.
    • Ask questions about the rules or norms of a novel activity.
    • Follow the model of others during novel activities and take feedback from peers.
    • Infer and adhere to social rules based on past experience.
  • Materials -
    • Group games and activities; larger paper and pen (to create rule poster).
    • Video or pre-taught role play of 2 or more people playing a game.
Teaching Format
  • Introduce the skill - Watch others playing a game (or a video of others) – Have students make a list of the rules they see others adhering to, and how a new person is able to join and play.
  • Model - Generate a list of rules and/or strategies for this skill. These may include:
      • Watch other people and notice what they are doing
      • Think about something you have done that is similar and what the rules were
      • Ask questions about the rules you don't understand
      • After you join, watch how other people react. If they seem happy, keep going. If they seem upset, try to figure out why.
    • Show a movie clip or act out examples of the skills. Activities should be varied - sports, playground games, card games, social events (school dance, carnival, etc.). Walk students through the above steps and identify how you used the strategy.
    • Repeat the above for several examples. Slowly involve the students in helping to identify and discuss the strategies for inferring rules. When students demonstrate that they understand the strategies, begin role play.
  • Role-play for practice - Create a variety of activities that a student must join and infer the rules for. Send 1-3 students out of the room while the rest of the group decides on an activity and rules. When the student enters the class their challenge is to join the activity and use the above strategies to adhere to the rules.
  • Skill maintenance/Generalization Activities (identify real-life situations to apply the skill) -
    • Send "homework" that involves interacting with a group of students after school or on the weekends. Have students report on what they did and how they identified the rules.
    • Watch video clips of a wide variety of social games and activities. Ask questions about the social rules and discuss how they can be inferred through observation and appropriate questioning.
  • Extensions - Have students break into groups and play several versions of a common game. Require them to rotate through groups and adjust their play according to the new set of rules.
  • Resources -
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