The Impact of Social Narratives on Prekindergarten Students’ Social Skills

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether providing supplemental opportunities to learn about and practice social skills using social narratives impacts pre-kindergartners’ use of two targeted social skills. The participants of this study were enrolled in prekindergarten at an urban school in The Bronx, New York for the 2013-2014 school year. All participants received regular social skills instruction while the treatment group also received a social narrative intervention specifically targeting sharing and appropriate use of personal space. The treatment group participated in 20 minute lessons using social narratives for two weeks. Each week focused on one of the two specific targeted behaviors. It was hypothesized that there would be no difference in the frequency with which the targeted social skills were demonstrated in lunch and free centers by students who participated in the social narratives intervention compared to that of similar peers who did not participate in the intervention. Based on the results, the null hypothesis was retained for both the lunch and free centers settings in which observations were made. Research in this area should continue to determine the best methods for social skills instruction.