Training

Session Plan

Department:

Social Skills

Courses (100-Level):

101.

Social Skills Basics

102.

Conversation Skills

103.

Emotions

104.

Relationships

Course 101: SOCIAL SKILLS BASICS
Shaping Social Interaction with Attitude, Behavior, Language, and Appearance
Rationale
and Benefits

Challenges

Participants will encounter common social, professional, and personal situations which will require
social and communication interaction outside of the structured environment of home or Aspire.
Taking these courses will allow participants to learn, develop, and practice skills in a safe
environment. Each course is designed to increase a participants ability to succeed in these situations.
Through completion of each course, participant accountability for learning and acquiring skills will
also increase.

Social Skills Basics provides participants an opportunity to learn and practice key skills required for
social interaction, such as listening, communicating non-verbally, using good manners, and showing
respect.

Participants will learn and practice a variety of social skill activities designed to
Increase awareness of various social behaviors, such as respect, good manners, and active
listening.
Motivate participants to demonstrate proper social behaviors of respect, good manners, and
active listening.
Increase understanding of the importance of non-verbal communication, including body
language and attire
Challenges faced by the participants include:
Varying levels of social awareness
Different cognitive levels
Ability to converse regarding abstract ideas
Challenges understanding the nuances of different social situations and requirements for
appropriate social interaction
Rote skills are easier to learn; decision making, discernment skills are more difficult
Difficulty appropriately displaying emotion or recognizing the emotions of others
Social interaction limited to a small variety of settings
Self-awareness may be limited
Expressive/Receptive language challenges
Vocabulary may be limited
Vision, mobility, etc. may be limited

Training Session Plan

Course 101: SOCIAL SKILLS BASICS
Shaping Social Interaction with Attitude, Behavior, Language, and Appearance
Learning
Strategies

Learning
Activities
Evaluation

Feedback &
Engagement

Based on research, the following best practice strategies will be incorporated into design and
development:
Presenting key information using visual PPT slides (or appropriately scaled color printouts)
Demonstrations/modeling
Participant application through group activity
Arrangement of content into pieces that are flexible and scale-able
Outline steps in small increments
Hands-on learning opportunities
Repetition
Visual aids (charts, pictures, graphs)
Pairs and small group work when possible (up to 5 participants)
One-on-one observation and guidance when available and necessary
Multiple opportunities to practice in different settings
Physical and verbal prompting to guide to correct responses
Real-life situations
Facilitator story-sharing
Social story construction
Strategies for support outside of Aspire

Active learning such as role playing, social story construction, group discussion, etc.
Taking field trip at the end of each course is highly recommended to encourage skill
application, excitement, engagement, and retention for application in the real world.

Formative Assessment Ideas (assessing learning during the course)

Assessment during and after each activity regarding application of communication basic skills
and applicable social skills criteria
o Demonstrating respect
o Demonstrating good manners
o Demonstrating active listening
o Demonstrating appropriate non-verbal behavior
o Choosing appropriate attire for different professional and social situations.
Pre and post quiz (multiple choice)
In addition, participants will be assessed for the following general social skills (these skills do
not represent all skills that will be assessed):
o Being on time
o Using appropriate loudness and tone of voice
o Learning and using peoples' names
o Looking at the person who is speaking
o Making eye contact with others when speaking
o Supporting others, both verbally and nonverbally
o Standing near the person who is speaking
o Smiles at the person who is speaking
o Waits for turn (does not interrupt)

Some ideas for learner feedback and engagement include:
Direct and immediate feedback during discussions and activities
Positive reinforcement through praise to build intrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation ideas earn tokens for positive social behavior and demonstrating new
skills
Certificate of Completion at end of course

Training Session Plan

Course 101: SOCIAL SKILLS BASICS
Shaping Social Interaction with Attitude, Behavior, Language, and Appearance
Resources

Course
Objectives

PPT Slides
Facilitator Guide
Participant Materials (folder or binder for conversation course, conversation
map/conversation outline example, topic detail map; conversation self-assessment checklist)
Home Support Materials: Family/Guardian Guide, activity booklet (suggestions and tracker)
For future development.
Office Supplies: pens, pencils, paper, flip chart/markers, white board/markers
Technology: computer, projector (with screen or non-glare white surface) or large television
screen, speakers, reliable network

Situational examples and behavioral options will serve as a basis for modeling an environment and
assessing participant performance and development across the following objectives. Examples may
include recorded video interactions, written situations that are read aloud, partially scripted
scenarios performed by participants, or guided role-plays.

Objective 1: Given guided and partially scripted professional and personal social scenarios,
participants will use respectful behavior and language for 4 different social scenarios.

Enabling Objectives
Given examples of positive and negative social behavior, learners will identify behaviors from
others that make them feel good and make them feel bad.
Given specific examples of a situation where respectful behavior is demonstrated,
participants will identify the respectful behavior.
Given specific examples of a situation where disrespectful behavior is demonstrated,
participants will identify the disrespectful behavior.
Given examples of respectful language and specific social and professional scenarios,
participants will identify what respectful language can be used for specific professional and
personal situations.
Objective 2: Given examples of personal behavior choice situations, participants will identify a
behavior action that exhibits self-respect for 2 different situations.

Enabling Objectives
Given a definition and examples, participants will choose self-respecting behaviors from a
collection of options.
Given example social behaviors, learners will differentiate between self-respecting behavior
and non-self-respecting behavior.
Given self-respecting behavior categories and a collection of specific personal behavior
choices, learners will sort actions into the appropriate self-respectful behavior category (e.g.
eat healthy is the category (choose an apple for snack is an action).

Objective 3: Given examples of polite communication phrases and partially scripted social
scenarios, participants will role-play using appropriate polite communication phrases and
social etiquette for 3 different scenarios.

Enabling Objectives
Given a definition and examples of polite communication phrases, participants will identify
key polite communication phrases.
Given polite communication phrases, participants will identify the appropriate polite phrase
that can be used for specific social and professional situations.

Training Session Plan

Course 101: SOCIAL SKILLS BASICS
Shaping Social Interaction with Attitude, Behavior, Language, and Appearance

Given examples, participants will list at least 3 proper social manners.

Given a description of a social situation and a collection of social etiquette options,
participants will choose the proper social behavior for the circumstances.

Objective 4: Given a defined active listening process and partially scripted social small group
conversation, participants will apply active listening in small group conversations by making
one comment or asking one question without interrupting the speaker.

Enabling Objectives
Given a description, participants will distinguish between active listening and not listening
behavior.
Given a defined active listening process, participants will demonstrate active listening by
listening and commenting on an oral story.
Given an example, participants will identify strategies for getting someones attention
without interrupting.
Given a modeled scenario and example strategies, participants will select and apply a strategy
to get someones attention without interrupting.
Objective 5: Given examples of non-verbal behavior and partially scripted social scenarios,
participants will model appropriate non-verbal communication behavior for 2 different
scenarios.

Enabling Objectives
Given a definition and modeling, participants will identify common non-verbal behaviors.
Given positive and negative non-verbal behavior examples, participants will explain the
message the behavior gives.
Given a non-verbal behavior description, participants will model the behavior described.
Objective 6: Given professional and social event descriptions and various attire options,
participants will choose the appropriate attire for 3 different events.

Enabling Objectives
Given a description of social events and examples of attire, participants will label appropriate
attire for social settings.
Given a description of professional events and examples of attire, participants will label
appropriate attire for professional settings.
Given examples of attire, participants will distinguish between appropriate and nonappropriate attire for professional and social settings

Objective 7 (future development): Participants will demonstrate increased awareness,
accountability, and self-reflection with regard to their own social skills and abilities.
Given a personal assessment checklist, learners will indicate how well they learned and
applied basic social skills learned by marking each skill practiced with a 1, 2, 3.
Course
Outline

COURSE INTRODUCTION: What are Social Skills? Why are they important? How can good social
skills help me?
Activity/Pre-Assessment: Participant quiz for course and self-assessment of key course
skills
Overview of Lessons
a. Modeling good behavior (respect, manners, listening)
b. Non-verbal communication (body language, tone of voice, attire)

Training Session Plan

Course 101: SOCIAL SKILLS BASICS
Shaping Social Interaction with Attitude, Behavior, Language, and Appearance
MODELING GOOD BEHAVIOR

Lesson 1: Respect
Lesson Introduction
Treating Others Like You Want to be Treated
Activity: Participants identify behavior that makes them feel good and behavior that
makes them feel bad.
Respect for Others: How do we show it?
a. Actions (helping others, respecting privacy, respecting personal space, etc.)
b. Language
Respect for Yourself: How do we show self-respect?
a. Self-Respecting Actions
Handling Disrespectful Behavior
a. Deciding if someone is being respectful or disrespectful
b. What do I do if someone is being disrespectful?
Lesson Summary
Activity: Partially scripted role-play activity demonstrating respectful behavior
Lesson 2: Manners being courteous and respectful in personal and professional situations
Lesson Introduction
The Magic Words: Please, thank you, Im sorry, may I, excuse me
More on Manners
a. Not talking with mouth full, not being loud, how to enter a room, closing a door,
covering your mouth, cleaning up after yourself, table manners, blowing your nose,
passing gas
Lesson Summary
Activity: Participants will role-play using appropriate polite communication phrases and
social etiquette
Lesson 3: Listening
Lesson Introduction
What does listening look like?
Active Listening Process
a. Listening Activity: FUN Game: Listening practice using a story with funny details
Not Interrupting how to get someones attention
Lesson Summary
Activity: Partially scripted role-play activity demonstrating active listening without
interrupting
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION: What am I saying without words?

Lesson 4: Body Language
Lesson Introduction
Facial Expressions
Eye Contact
Body Position/Proximity
Posture
Lesson Summary
Activity: Participants will model appropriate non-verbal communication behavior for
different scenarios.

Training Session Plan

Course 101: SOCIAL SKILLS BASICS
Shaping Social Interaction with Attitude, Behavior, Language, and Appearance
Lesson 5: Tone of Voice
Lesson Introduction
N. How loud or soft should I talk?
Lesson Summary
Activity: Participants will model appropriate tone of voice for different scenarios.
Lesson 6: Appropriate Dress: Choosing the right attire for the task/event at hand
Lesson Introduction
O. Attire for Social Events
P. Attire for Professional Events
Q. Appropriate versus Not Appropriate Attire
Lesson Summary
Activity/Assessment: DRESS REHEARSAL Participants come to Aspire dressed for
assigned activity (e.g. interview, first day of work, athletic event, date).
COURSE CONCLUSION
Course Summary (with reference to objectives)
Participant Quiz and Self-Assessment
Review of Topics or Activities as Needed (based on quiz/assessment results)

Time
Allotted

30 minutes per session (not necessarily the lesson)

5 sessions per week
Lessons will be designed in short segments to allow flexibility of time, practice of previous
skills, introduction to a new skill, and provide a sense of completion after each lesson topic.