What's the Buzz? For Early Learners

306 Pages·2022·9.019 MB·English

by  Mark Le Messurier, Madhavi Nawana Parker

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