SOCCSS as an Instructional Tool

• SOCCSS can also be used as an instructional tool. As a way to teach social skills that may be needed in the future. To be effective, instruction should not be limited to identifying the target skill and providing information on what to do or say. Simply learning rules and procedures is insufficient. Good instruction should include:
• A context (purpose) for the learning that identifies the skill, why it is important and when to use it
• Developmentally appropriate presentation with visual, auditory and tactile-kinesthetic activities, exercises, demonstrations or modeling
• Engaging students as active learners
• Throughout the lesson monitoring student understanding and adjusting the lesson if necessary
• Practice, practice, and more practice!
• Opportunities for the student to apply newly learned skill(s) to several situations (generalization)

The six-step SOCCSS process provides a framework in which all the elements of good instruction can be addressed. An overview of the worksheet provides the student with information on what the lesson will include and why the lesson is important. The teacher then facilitates completion of the worksheet as she works through the steps with the student.

In Step 1, Situation, the skill is identified and placed in a context. The purpose of learning the skill is stated in the desired outcome. Steps 2, 3 and 4 (Options, Consequences, Choices) provide multiple opportunities for actively engaging the student in discussion and for making the student and the teacher partners in the learning process. This sequence provides ongoing feedback to the teacher regarding student understanding of cause-and-effect relationships in social interactions and the student’s perception of which behaviors are appropriate.

In developing a strategy to address the situation in Step 5, Strategies, the student is asked to apply the skills he has learned. Participate in designing this plan of action builds student ownership of the problem and the solution. Specifically, the student is empowered to solve a problem. The simulation is the practice! Evaluation and generalization can be addressed during follow-up activities or by varying the elements of the situation and/or simulation activity.

A multi-modal presentation of information should occur throughout the SOCCSS strategy by varying how information is conveyed. Visually, pictures, videos, social stories, charts, photographs and cartoons can be used (Atwood, 1998; Gray, 1995). In addition to oral discussion, an auditory presentation might include a tape recorder, cassettes, songs or social stories (Gray, 1995; Lyons, 1997). Students and teachers can also write, draw, construct and act out information.

An example of applying SOCCSS as an instructional tool follows. The example identifies the skill and provides a narrative describing the social situation and a completed SOCCSS worksheet. This scenario is presented before an event like this occurs. The teacher may choose this event because it is one that she thinks her student(s) may do or may already have done without realizing it. The student identified in the scenario is NOT one of the students who is participating in the activity. Most often, the student is fictional – a student who does not actually exist. The SOCCSS strategy should not be used to highlight one student’s negative or inappropriate strategies or behaviors.

Scenario: When Sue encounters people outside her classroom, she puts her head down. If the person greets her, she responds with an inappropriate statement such as, “Don't talk to me.” At times the response may become more positive.

Skill: Responding to greetings