Peer Interaction Role-Plays: Lunch, Bus, Group Work
Role-play scenarios set in the three places peer conversation actually happens in a school day, each one played out rather than discussed.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Set the scene in a sentence and start. You or another student play the peer; the target student has to say the actual line. Keep the first run short, then replay with one change — a different opening, a calmer tone. The lunch card where a friend says they are fine and clearly is not, and the bus card where someone is being made fun of, are about judgement as well as words, so leave time to talk through what the student decided and why. Twenty minutes covers four or five scenarios.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentSet up the situation and wait for the student to respond on their own.Log as correct
- Nonverbal cueUse a look, a gesture or a point to the visual cue card.Log as cued
- Indirect promptAsk 'What could you say now?' or 'How do you think they feel?'Log as cued
- ModelShow what to say or do, then run the moment again so the student can try it.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give a script or two choices of what to say, and practise with you before a peer.
Role-play with a new partner, or add a twist the student has not planned for.
Matching IEP goal
In structured role-plays, Student will use the target conversation skill appropriately in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a nonverbal cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Ten role-plays set in the three places peer conversation actually happens in a school day. At the lunch table, somebody you barely know sits down and you carry the talk for two minutes. On the bus, your usual seat is taken. In group work, one person is doing nothing and you speak to them, not the teacher. Each card is played out rather than talked about, because knowing the right move and making it are different skills.
What to listen for
Watch for students who describe what they would say instead of saying it; the role-play only counts when the line is spoken. On the group work card, notice whether the student addresses the peer directly or drifts to the teacher. On the hallway card, listen for whether the conversation ends with a reason and a closing or just stops. And on ask three different people to swap from your tray, watch whether the request adapts to each person.
Carrying it home
Ask about one of these places after school — who did you sit with at lunch, what happened on the bus. Listening, and asking what they said, gives a parent a real sample without turning it into practice.
What's in this activity
- Lunch table: somebody you barely know sits down. Carry the conversation for two minutes.
- Bus: your usual seat is taken. Sort it out without making it awkward.
- Group work: one person is doing nothing. Say something to them, not to the teacher.
- Lunch: a friend is clearly upset and says they are fine. Decide what to do, then do it.
- Bus: somebody is making fun of another student. Say what you do.
- Group work: you disagree with the plan and you are running out of time. Say your line.
- Hallway: you need to end a conversation to get to class. End it without being rude.
- Lunch: you want to swap something from your tray. Ask three different people.
- Group work: you did not understand the assignment. Ask a peer rather than the teacher.
- Bus: you get on and there is nobody you know. Talk to somebody for one stop.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Fourth through tenth grade.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all ten role-plays are free to use in the browser. An account adds session data and goal scoring.
- What if the student refuses to role-play?
- Start with you playing the student and them playing the peer. It is easier to judge your line than to produce their own, and it gets them into the scene.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.