Recognizing Social Cues
Recommended for grades 4-8
Have a class discussion on what social cues are. Communication involves more than just words. We also communicate non-verbally by using social cues, or signs people send through body language and expressions. Social cues can be expressed through eye contact, facial expressions, and tone of voice. Being able to recognize social cues is an important skill for students to practice because if students can't interpret social cues, they can misunderstand their classmates, teachers, and experiences.
Emotional Charades
Recommended for grades 4-8
Have students write down a bunch of feelings and emotions on pieces of paper. First, write down emotion or feeling words on small pieces of paper. Fold the pieces of paper in half and place them in a hat. Divide the class into two teams. A student from the first team picks a piece of paper from the hat and acts out the word written on the paper. His or her teammates have one minute to guess the emotion. If they do, they get one point. The game continues, and a student from the other team picks a word and acts it out. When there are no words left, the game is over. The team with the most points at the end, win.
Follow-up discussion
Recommended for all grades
1. How might it be difficult for someone to read a social cue? Different language speaker? Not born in this country?
2. Discuss other barriers, if possible.
2. Discuss other barriers, if possible.