Social Skill of the Week Curriculum: 42 Weeks of Lesson Plans for K-6 Classrooms

This simple and effective curriculum is designed to help educators empower all students with the skills they need to be more successful at school and in life.

Created primarily for K-6 general education classrooms, the curriculum features forty-two life skills, allowing teachers to focus on one skill per week during an average school year. Each lesson is divided into daily activities that can be taught in five to fifteen minutes, depending on the chosen activities (role-plays, large- and small-group discussion, journaling, video learning, and reading).

In addition to the forty-two primary skills, there are eight extension skills that closely align with and complement a specific skill. Primary and extension skills can be taught together, during the same week, or the extension skill can be taught separately.

The lessons are written to support daily Planned Teaching, an instructional strategy which draws upon the best evidence-based instructional practices for behavior. The lessons also can be taught in any order, so educators can choose a Skill of the Week schedule that best meets the needs of their learning community.

The curriculum includes basic skills, such as Introducing Yourself and Following Instructions, and more advanced skills, such as Valuing Differences and Interrupting or Changing Negative or Harmful Thoughts. All of the skills are easily adaptable to reflect a student’s specific abilities and cultural norms, and each lesson can be shortened or expanded based on time and student needs.

The lessons also include a skill poster that highlights the skill name, its behavioral steps, and a visual illustration of what the skill looks like in practice. The posters are available as downloads, offering teachers the opportunity to post them in their classrooms or distribute them to students to color and decorate.

Written by seasoned educators and counselors, this curriculum can foster stronger, healthier relationships with students and a more productive and collaborative learning environment.

The contributing authors have decades of experience working with diverse student populations in elementary and middle schools, self-contained classrooms, and alternative education settings.