Book of Activities and Strategies for Improving Communication Skills (BASICS)

Ages 5 through 11. Teach children the "basics" of effective communication using the activities and strategies in this book. The activities build vocabulary and oral expression skills as students use language for a variety of purposes. Children also learn "social rules" and strategies for using language to solve everyday problems. Children with communication disorders, attention deficits, and poor social interaction skills will benefit from the activities in this book. The stories are short and easy to understand

Short stories relating to social situations help students learn what to say and how to act in specific contexts. Reproducible worksheets are included.

Skills emphasized include the following:

• Listening and following directions
• Expressing needs and feelings
• Responding appropriately to the needs and feelings of others
• Describing experiences
• Initiating interactions
• Taking turns
• Maintaining a topic
• Asking for help
• Requesting information
• Distinguishing between appropriate and inappropriate comments

The book is divided into six sections:

• Conversation Basics.
• Descriptive Language Use.
• Problem Solving Picture Stories
• Situation Comparisons.
• Personal Expression in Social Contexts
• Using Classroom Activities to Build Communication Skills.