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Social Narratives in the classroom

Hello friends! I have been MIA…..it has been a very interesting start to my school year. My classroom consists of 6 kids 4 of which are brand new to me this year. I also had a move in less than 1 week before school started complete with a not so stellar IEP to go off of.

My kids come with some unique needs (not surprising in a self contained classroom) and we are dealing with a BUNCH of negative behaviors. The first couple weeks of school I didn’t really know where to begin, but I always go back to social narrative (or social stories). These are KEY in my classroom and we begin every single day reading our social stories as our morning work.

These stories can range from class procedures, different schedules such a fire drills, and negative behaviors. For example, this year I have a student who needs to work on using a tissue. It is not his choice way to blowing his nose which leads to a lot of mess and usually a melt down….sooooo TA DA—–I can blow my nose was born!

In the past I have made them more personalized with the students names in them, but this year so many of my kids needs the same stories that I made them more general.

Another issue we have in our classroom is attending to instruction. I can read and reread a story or activity over and over, but if I do not have visuals it is a lost cause. I love incorporating the stories as an adaptive book so that the kids are engaged and learning. They are using their eyes, ears, and hands……3/5 senses is pretty good in my book!

Some stories we use on a regular basis: