Teasing Social Story

Identify examples of teasing behavior, such as name-calling or laughing at someone's mistake

Explain why a comment that feels funny to the speaker can still feel hurtful to the person it's directed at

Apply a five-question self-check (True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind) before speaking

Read the story aloud one page at a time rather than all at once, since each page introduces a single idea (a definition, an example, a feeling, a strategy) meant to be discussed before moving to the next

Post or hand out the five-question self-check from page 11 separately as an ongoing classroom reference, since it's the story's concrete take-away strategy

Pair this story with a discussion of a recent classroom teasing situation, using the story's own contrast between how teasing feels to the speaker versus the person being teased as a discussion starter

Recognizing teasing behavior — the story names three concrete examples (name-calling, laughing at a mistake, mocking a skill gap) rather than defining teasing abstractly.

Perspective-taking — the story explicitly contrasts how teasing might feel funny to the person doing it with how it feels hurtful to the person being teased.

Self-regulation before speaking — a stop-and-think strategy and a five-question checklist give the student a concrete routine to apply before speaking.