Social Stories and I-Pads

 That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way.-- Doris Lessing

For the past 2 weeks, my student intern from Jacksonville State University has been teaching her fall unit.   The students have been enjoying all of her fun and creative activities.  Mrs. Sarah is doing a fabulous job teaching our Pre-K class.   I am very proud of her.   She is going to be an awesome teacher!  Mrs. Sarah will be with us until November 22nd.   She is going to be greatly missed when she leaves.  

While Mrs. Sarah has been teaching, I have been steadily working on a set of social stories for our students.   You might ask, what are social stories?   A social story is a concept devised by Carol Gray in 1991 to improve the social skills of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).  Social stories help teach students routines, expectations, and behavioral standards in an alternate way.  The information is presented in a story format and gives visual examples of behavior expectations.  The goal is to provide suggestions for conduct in specific social situations.    These stories are great for all children, but can be extremely effective for students on the autism spectrum or for those children with ADD/ADHD.   Sample story topics from the past week include: “I Feel Angry”, “Manners in the Lunchroom”, “Circle Time”, "Walking in the Hallway" and “Preparing for Veteran’s Day Program".    The topics that can be chosen for a social story are endless.  I create a story when I see a particular need in my classroom.  

When considering how I would create the social stories, I thought of none other than our Ipads!   These devices are just too handy!   I decided to try out several apps.    The first story I created, "I Feel Angry" was created with IBooks Author.    I liked the simplicity of the application (very user friendly) and I loved the fact that the story could be instantly downloaded into IBooks.  There are still a few things that I still need to tweak, but overall I am pleased with the end product! 

The second app I used was called Move and Match.   This app is not intended for storytelling, but I knew it would be very interactive and that my particular student would benefit from this particular style.    I created a social story (without words) for lunchroom behavior.   The student must arrange the pictures that show good behavior under the smiley face and bad behavior pictures under the sad face.   I took a screen shot so that you could see what the app looked like: (keep in mind that the pictures can be moved and manipulated on the app. 

The third I app I used is called Kid In Story.   Kid in Story Book Maker is very easy and fun to use.  It allowed me to create a social story that supports early literacy with the student as the star character!     You can take a picture of the student and it will superimpose it directly into the story! The app also comes with an audio option, and the story can be set to read to the child automatically.   Can we say brilliant?     We created a story about getting ready for our Veteran's Day program.   Many children have difficulty when schedules change and my goal was to have my student ready and prepared for the upcoming change.   I also used this app to create a social story about what kind of behavior is expected in the hallways.   Personally, I think the social story is more effective when the child's picture is used in the story itself, so that is just what I did with both of these social stories.   The students definitely favor the stories that include their picture.

A sample script from one of our social stories goes like this:

"I am a big boy.  I go to Pre-K at Kitty Stone Elementary."
"At school, I have to follow rules.  One of the rules is how I should walk in the hallways. I need to walk and not run."
"I need to be quiet and not stomp my feel while I am walking in the hallway.   I keep my hands behind my back at all times."
"I keep my eyes on my teacher and face forward."
"I can be a big boy.  I can have a good day at school."

I included pictures and audio to go along with each story.  

 I am very pleased with this app and will also be using it for digital storytelling in the near future!  I would love for the students to create a story when they return to school after our Thanksgiving Break.  I know they will have lots of experiences to share.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving,
Love,
Mrs. Weathers