The teacher's guide presents a set of seven lessons designed to help students understand friendship and peer relationships. The lessons focus on: (1) the desire to feel loved and accepted; (2) behaviors designed to gain acceptance from others; (3) ways that other people may use one's need for acceptance to influence one's behavior; (4) the…

Discusses the child who has newly immigrated, the importance of peer acceptance, the skills of friendship, the promotion of prosocial behavior, the developmental sequence of friendship, the impact of moving on friendship, the encouragement of peer interaction, and the role of the teacher as mediator. (RH)

This article presents a rationale for matching social skills intervention strategies to the skill and comfort levels that typically developing children show toward their peers with special needs and provides teachers with guidance on how to accomplish this match. Environmental manipulations that facilitate interactions and peer-mediated strategies…

This manual describes the buddy skills training program, which provides teachers with a set of tested strategies designed to facilitate interactions and support the development of friendships between preschoolers with and without disabilities. The training procedures are philosophically based on social exchange theory. To support the concept of…

The central theme of the booklet is that integration does not just occur naturally as a result of merely placing students of different race or ethnic groups in the same school setting. It occurs by the special efforts of classroom teachers who encourage student friendship formations. The booklet contains a variety of teaching strategies which…

This book for children (ages 8 to 14) and accompanying teacher/parent guide presents the story of two young friends, one of whom uses a wheelchair and coaches her friend in coping with a broken leg. Information on the disability is deliberately presented subtly and incidentally to encourage the reader to relate more personally and foster a deeper…

Describes a kindergarten activity of dissecting owl pellets as a vehicle for promoting new partnerships and friendships. Argues that pairing children for activities based on gender, varying ethnicities, and differing abilities allows children to break down barriers and gives them experiences with children other than their best friends. (SD)

Describes ways in which regular elementary classroom teachers can teach social skills and address classroom relationships to facilitate social integration of mildly handicapped students into the mainstream. Recommends a directive instructions method for correcting students' social skills problems. Notes steps teachers can take to increase the…