This Back to School-New School Year digital product with worksheets included is designed to be used by Speech Therapists for working with students with difficulty with perspective taking due to social cognitive deficits. Change can be challenging for all students and especially for students with social cognitive deficits. I developed and used this resource with students on my caseload to help decrease the angst of the unknown as they enter into a new grade level.
This activity is designed to review what students already know about last school year and make some predictions about what this school year will look like. Students also rate their feelings about an activity (i.e., music, art, science) from last year and their current feelings about the activity this year. Further discussion is also encouraged with this therapy resource to proactively problem solve for the unknown and unexpected. This resource also provides students with opportunities to review strategies they have used in the past to self-regulate as well as brainstorming other strategies to use throughout the school year.
There is a digital component that may be done during tele-health or in person. The speech therapist and/or students may record responses on the digital slides or students can be encouraged to record their responses on the printable worksheets. This resource isn't a one and done. Students may review their original responses, throughout the year to update each activity with new information; check in on their feelings; and reflect on their use of strategies when the unknown or unexpected has occurred. The activity may also be done at the end of the school year as well in preparation for the upcoming school year.