Texting Friends Task Box: Reading Tone, Replying and Group Chats, High School

This texting friends task box teaches teens and young adults to read tone in a text, choose a kind reply, know when to wait, and use group chats well.

Why I made this: A funny photo dropped in a group chat without asking once split up two of students for weeks. Neither meant to be cruel. They had never talked about what is okay to share. Practicing texts out loud changed how my class texted.

What’s included: Here are 21 pages of texting practice, as a PDF and a Word file you can edit:

• A teacher page with exact counts, a 2 week plan, and a reminder that having only a few friends is fine

• Level A ●: 12 near errorless cards, each a text from a friend with 2 replies, in 16 point type

• Level B ■: 24 cards for tone, replies, when to wait, group chats, and someone online who asks to meet

• Level C ▲: 24 twist cards where a reply is strange, a message is mixed, or a friend texts that they are upset

• A "how does my friend feel?" sort mat and a texting reference page

• Three texting practice pages, a key with each twist marked, a data sheet and 10 session graph, a try it for real page with a 5 item adult check, and blank cards

How to use it: Read texts out loud in a friendly voice and a flat voice. Students work one level at a time with self check codes. Then practice in a paper or class group chat with only classmates and staff, and use the adult check.

Who it’s for: High school special education teachers, 18 to 21 program teachers, school counselors, and families of teens and young adults. It also works for grades 6 to 8.

Format: PDF, US Letter, 21 pages, plus an editable Word copy. Level markers use a word plus a shape, so it works in black and white.

How this is different: The Asking for Help, Personal Space, and Talking at Work task boxes cover asking for help, greetings and distance, and talk on the job. The Job Skills Communication scripts handle texts to a boss, and the Repair Conversation Cards handle adult talks after a conflict. This box is only about texts between friends.

Made by Jeremy D. Gooch, special education teacher and transition coordinator. Drafting and layout had AI assistance; every page was checked by me.