SOCIAL THINKING CURRICULUM 1
Think Social!
A Social Thinking Curriculum for School-Age Students
By Michelle Garcia Winner
Section 1: Being Part of a Group and Recognizing Expectations
 Expected/Unexpected Behaviors in a Group
 Our Behavior Impacts The Feelings of Those Around Us
 Games of Imitation to Show How a Group Works Together
 Problem Solving
 Understanding How Play Unfolds
Section 2: Our Whole Body and Mind Help Us Be Part of the Group
 Listening with our Whole Body
 Using Our Brains to think about Others
 Thinking With Our Eyes
Section 3: Self –awareness of Self-monitoring Our Behavior in a Group
 Is your Body in the Group or Out of the Group?
 Is your Brain in the Group or Out of the Group?
 Just ME versus Thinking of You
 Good Thoughts/Weird Thoughts
 I’ve got a Secret!
Section 4: Starting the Detective Agency: Learning More about Observing Others
 Becoming a Detective
 Smart Guesses/Wacky Guesses
 Reading People’s Emotions
 Our Behavior Impacts how People React and Respond to Us: An Exploration of
Thinking-Through Behavior
 Learning to Guage our own Response to our Inner Feelings: The Incredible 5Point Scale
 Social Behavior Mapping
Section 5: The Super Detective Agency: Figuring Out What People Mean by What they
Say
 Comparing Body Language and Spoken Language
 Comparing Literal and Figurative Language
 Learning More About Idioms
 Deciphering the Meaning of Language: The Four Clues
 Indirect Language: What is the Motive Behind the Words
 Predicting What People Will Say Next
Section 6: Adjusting our Participation and Language Based on What Other People are
Thinking, Imagining or Wondering
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SOCIAL THINKING CURRICULUM
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Observing Students’ Own Play and Activities
o Non-verbal games
 Building a SHARED Imagination Through Shared Structured Imaginary Sequences
 Moving from Imagination to Wonder – World Wonderer versus Social Sonder
 You Know More than you realize
 Building Language-Relatedness Skills
 Using Imagination and Sense of Wonder with Reading Comprehension
Section 7: Our Language Makes Others Have Different Thoughts and Feelings
 How People’s Feelings are Related to the Message
 More about Words and Feelings
 Defining Social Interaction
 Friend Files: Our Brains Store Information About Other People as Well as
Ourselves
 Asking People Questions about Themselves
 The Basics of Maintaining a General Topic
 Social Curiosity: Wondering About the Person You are with by Asking Questions
 Follow-up Questions Once the Initial Question has been Asked
 Supporting Comments: Showing that you’re Listening to what Someone has to
Say
 Add-a-thought: Learning to use Language to Connect One’s Own Life Experiences
to Those Described by Others
 Bridging Questions (Baiting Questions): Asking Questions to Make People Talk
About Your Area of Interest
 Conversation Stoppers: Saying “nothing” gives Others Nothing to Think About
 How Long is Too Long to Talk? Start Short and Add On
 Whopping Topic Change (WTC Messes with People’s Minds)
 Rude Interruption versus Acceptable Interruption
 Practice Language Concepts: Conversation Tree and Conversation Sheet
 Talking About Topics No One Thinks People Actually Talk About, But They Do!
 Initiating Topics: Exploring Ways to Start a Conversation
 Exploring Thoughts and Feelings of Others: Shared Experiences
 Exploring Thoughts and Feelings of Others: Unshared Experiences
 Admitting You Don’t Know: Being Willing to Talk About a Topic That You Don’t
Know About
 Body Language as Part of Communication: Stand up and move!
 Clarifying Needs and Asking for Help
Section 8: And So Much More!
 Hidden Rules (Also called the Hidden Curriculum)
 Social Rules Change Across our Lifetime
 Opinions and Belief Systems
 Personal Problem Solving and the Size of a Problem
SOCIAL THINKING CURRICULUM 3
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Exploring students’ Emotions and Thoughts about Being a Person with a Social
Thinking Learning Disability
Anxiety, Stress and Mental Health Team Members
Executive Function Deficits: Weak to Dysfunctional Organization Skills
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SOCIAL THINKING CURRICULUM