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ERIC Number: ED503059
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Dec
Pages: 93
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Improving Social Skills In Elementary Students Through Classroom Meetings
Fetissoff, Kira; Kry, Jeannie; Skilling, Aryn
Online Submission
In the action research project report the teacher researchers targeted 70 elementary students in third- and fifth-grade classrooms that demonstrated a lack of social skills necessary to work cooperatively in a classroom. The purpose of the project was to improve the social skills in children. The three teacher researchers who conducted this action research project taught at two different schools. One was a fifth-grade teacher and one was an art teacher at Site A, while the third teacher taught third grade in a bilingual program at Site B. The study was conducted February 11, 2008 through May 16, 2008. In order to document poor social skills, the teacher researchers utilized three data collection tools: a parent survey, a teacher survey, and a student survey. The surveys were distributed, completed, and returned between the dates of February 11, 2008 and February 18, 2008. Data was also collected through the use of an observation checklist. The data revealed that students demonstrated a lack of respect, responsibility, cooperation, empathy, and self-control. The teacher researchers found that both teachers and parents agreed there was a common thread through the home and school, which was that the children were lacking the necessary social skills to successfully work cooperatively with others.The teacher researchers used intervention activities from the book, Tribes, and classroom meetings. Each activity was designed to promote a specific social skill. The targeted five social skills were respect, cooperation, responsibility, empathy, and self-control. The teacher researchers chose two activities per social skill to focus on every two weeks during the 10 weeks of intervention strategies. Although the students did seem to exhibit a higher level of confidence while participating in the activities, the teacher researchers did not notice a marked improvement in the students' social skills. The teacher researchers perceived a lower atmosphere of peer pressure allowing students to enjoy the activities and feel more open to respond appropriately. Even though the students learned about respect, cooperation, responsibility, empathy, and self-control the teacher researchers did not feel that the children had enough time to be deeply impacted by the activities. The teacher researchers attribute this lack of success to the time of year that the project was implemented and feel that it would be much more successful if implemented at the start of the school year. (Fourteen appendixes are included: (1) Parent Survey; (2) Teacher Survey; (3) Student Survey; (4) Teacher Observation Checklist; (5) Com Tag; (6) Tribal Portrait; (7) To Build a Better Bathtub; (8) What's a Ghost Going to Do?; (9) Student Contract; (10) Addump; (11) Resentment/Appreciation; (12) Dear Blabby; (13) Where Do I Stand?; and (14) Controlling Inappropriate Behavior. Contains 6 tables and 30 graphs.) [Master of Arts Action Research Project, Saint Xavier University & Pearson Achievement Solutions, Inc. Field-Based Master's Program.]
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 3; Grade 5
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Wisconsin
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A