We Can Make It Better!

A Strategy to Motivate and Engage Young Learners in Social Problem-Solving Through Flexible Stories

We Can Make It Better! is a resource for safe and motivating social problem-solving practice. With the right tools, practice and understanding, students can learn how to make good choices – in their thoughts, actions and words–that result in improved social interactions. With a bank of successes to draw upon and opportunities to generalize their way of thinking to real-life situations, they may increase their potential for positive social interactions in the future. At the center of the strategy is a short story that provides opportunities for an individual or small group to identify social dilemmas, express ideas to make the dilemmas better, and gain more understanding in how one person’s behavior (spoken words and actions) can positively or negatively impact the outcome (relationship) between people. Each story follows the same sequence, with the introduction of a familiar event or activity (such as playing a board game with a friend) and a set of social dilemmas related to the context. These dilemmas (e.g., cheating at the game, making inappropriate comments, quitting the game when losing) occur between the characters of the story and lead to an undesirable conclusion or natural consequence (e.g., a character reconsiders playing with his or her peer, quits the game and goes home). Each story invites the learners to “make it better,” resulting in active verbal problem-solving and a more preferred ending or outcome to the story. The twenty-one We Can Make It Better! Stories in the book are designed primarily for K-2 kids. However, the story strategy of We Can Make It Better! may be used for immature older students, because teachers, therapists, parents and other caregivers can design their own stories based on their students’ ability levels (e.g., create situations that represent their student’s needs, written language and illustrations that represent their students’ ability levels).