What’s the Buzz? For Early Learners For many, social thinking is hard-wired at birth and strengthens naturally through experiences. However, for a variety of reasons, some children fnd it harder to think and develop socially. What’s the Buzz? For Early Learners 2e is a fully updated social and emotional literacy foundation programme for children aged 4–8 years. Following the global popularity of the frst edition of the What’s the Buzz programme, this revised edition leads children through Archie’s adventures over 16 lessons, as he encounters a range of social and emotional dilemmas. Through evidence-based activities, discussion, role-play, games, and explicit social skill instruction, children learn how to develop positive problem-solving skills to transfer into their everyday lives. It also focuses on developing an understanding of a diversity of ability and cultural background, helping to teach children how to ‘read’ the emotional needs of others, show empathy, and increase self-awareness. Clinically trialled and evaluated, this lively resource has been used successfully around the globe to teach children in building and maintaining healthy relationships, understanding and regulating their own emotions, and generally becoming thoughtful citizens. Enriched with visual materials and activity sheets to accompany each lesson, this is a must-have resource for allied health professionals and teachers in both special and mainstream settings. It is suitable for whole-class or small-group intervention. Mark Le Messurier is Teacher, Counsellor, Author, and Public Speaker, and works in private practice as a mentor to young people, a coach to parents, and a teacher educator. He is the recipient of the Australia Day Council’s 2022 SA Senior Australian of the Year award. His generosity and consideration for others was recognised as profound, far reaching, and life changing. He’s helped many families, and has improved the self-worth, wellbeing, mental health, and life outcomes of children, adolescents, parents, and educators. Mark is on Facebook and can always be contacted at [email protected] Websites  – www.marklemessurier.com.au www.whatsthebuzz.net.au www. teachingvaluesofbeinghuman.com.au Madhavi Nawana Parker is Managing Director of Positive Minds Australia. Her work as a Behaviour Consultant provides young people, families, and schools with tools to develop resilience, confdence, wellbeing, and healthy friendships through counselling, professional development, parent workshops, online training, and an extensive range of published works. Madhavi can be reached through her website www.positivemindsaustralia.com.au and on social media under ‘Positive Minds Australia.’ What’s the Buzz? For Early Learners A Complete Social Skills Foundation Course SECOND EDITION Mark Le Messurier and Madhavi Nawana Parker Cover image: © Lauren Eldridge-Murray Second edition published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Mark Le Messurier and Madhavi Nawana Parker The right of Mark Le Messurier and Madhavi Nawana Parker to be identifed as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. The purchase of this copyright material confers the right on the purchasing institution to photocopy pages which bear the photocopy icon and copyright line at the bottom of the page. No other parts of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published by Routledge 2015 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-032-10229-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-10231-3 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-21430-4 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003214304 Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents Photocopiable resources vii A quick guide to the games xi Acknowledgements xiv Introduction 1 Lesson 1. Meeting Archie and celebrating diversity 21 Lesson 2. Gently and smoothly joining in to play together 33 Lesson 3. The how and why of sharing and taking turns 47 Lesson 4. Cooperation: the art of working together 62 Lesson 5. Keeping calm and friendly while you wait your turn 80 Lesson 6. Making things better – how to repair friendships when you’ve been upset with each other 94 Lesson 7. Winning and losing – ‘gracefully’ 110 Lesson 8. Fact or opinion? Staying kind and friendly over diferent ideas 126 Lesson 9. Working with feelings 148 Lesson 10. Angry feelings 166 Lesson 11. Wellbeing: Building healthy bodies, happy minds, and steady feelings 182 Lesson 12. Honesty – telling the truth 199 v Contents Lesson 13. Speaking up (learning to be assertive) 213 Lesson 14. Empathy 234 Lesson 15. A worrying moment – knowing how to deal with it 253 Lesson 16. Time to say goodbye 275 References 291 vi Photocopiable resources These resources are in the manual, and can also be accessed in full colour from https:// whatsthebuzz.net.au/main-menu/content-whats-the-buzz-for-early-learners- revised Introduction 1 01: Introductory letter and consent for parents and caregivers 15 02: Group values 16 03: ‘Thumbs up’ feedback cards 17 04: TEACHER PRE-GROUP social functioning survey 18 05: PARENT PRE-GROUP social functioning survey 19 06: STUDENT/CHILD PRE-GROUP social functioning survey 20 Lesson 1. Meeting Archie and celebrating diversity 21 07: Archie’s story; ‘Let’s meet Archie’ 23 08: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Let’s meet Archie’ 28 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 1 29 09: Archie’s likes face 32 10: Archie’s dislikes face 32 Lesson 2. Gently and smoothly joining in to play together 33 11: Archie’s story; ‘Archie wants to join in’ 35 12: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie wants to join in’ 42 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 2 44 Lesson 3. The how and why of sharing and taking turns 47 13: Archie’s story; ‘When sharing got hard’ 50 vii Photocopiable resources 14: Goodbye Buzz; ‘When sharing got hard’ 56 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 3 58 Lesson 4. Cooperation: the art of working together 62 15 Archie’s story; ‘Archie and the stick insect’ 65 16 Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie and the stick insect’ 72 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 4 74 17: Cooperative role-plays 79 Lesson 5. Keeping calm and friendly while you wait your turn 80 18: Archie’s story; ‘Archie has to wait’ 82 19: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie has to wait’ 89 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 5 91 Lesson 6. Making things better – how to repair friendships when you’ve been upset with each other 94 20: Archie’s story; ‘Archie has a fght’  97 21: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie has a fght’ 104 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 6 106 Lesson 7. Winning and losing – ‘gracefully’ 110 22: Archie’s story; ‘Archie loses’  114 23: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie loses’ 120 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 7 122 24: Wise Owl badge 125 Lesson 8. Fact or opinion? Staying kind and friendly over diferent ideas 126 25: Archie’s story; ‘That’s your opinion!’ 129 26: Goodbye Buzz; ‘That’s your opinion!’ 137 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 8 139 27: Fact and opinion defnition cards 142 28: Fact or opinion? Quiz 1 143 29: Fact or opinion? Quiz 2 144 30: Fact or opinion? Quiz 3 145 31: Fact or opinion? Quiz 4 146 32: Certifcate of achievement 147 Lesson 9. Working with feelings 148 33: Archie’s story; ‘Archie has BIG feelings’ 151 34: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie has BIG feelings’ 158 viii Photocopiable resources After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 9 160 35: Dice – Archie’s feelings 164 36: Dice – The place the feelings happened 165 Lesson 10. Angry feelings 166 37: Archie’s story; ‘Archie forgets’ 169 38: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie forgets’ 175 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 10 177 39: ‘Smart thinking dice’ 181 Lesson 11. Wellbeing: building healthy bodies, happy minds, and steady feelings 182 40: Archie’s story; ‘Too tired to think?’  185 41: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Too tired to think?’  192 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 11 194 42: Archie’s balancing act 198 Lesson 12. Honesty – telling the truth 199 43: Archie’s story; ‘Archie and the Lego® dump truck’  202 44: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie and the Lego® dump truck’ 208 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 12 210 Lesson 13. Speaking up (learning to be assertive) 213 45: Archie’s story; ‘Keep it a secret’  215 46: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Keep it a secret’ 223 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 13 225 47: Wise Owl badge 229 48: Angry Bull badge 230 49: Scared Squeaky Mouse badge 231 50: Role-play cards – speaking up (learning to be assertive) 232 Lesson 14. Empathy 234 51: Archie’s story; ‘The wonder of the web’ 237 52: Goodbye Buzz; ‘The wonder of the web’ 244 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 14 246 53: Empathy role-play cards 250 Lesson 15. A worrying moment – knowing how to deal with it 253 54: Archie’s story; ‘Archie’s morning talk’ 256 55: Goodbye Buzz; ‘Archie’s morning talk’ 264 After the Buzz, social thinking ideas for parents and caregivers 15 266 ix