Social Emotional Learning
Social Emotional Learning
Students' social emotional development is as critical as their development in academic areas. To support this development, students in grades K-4 engage in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) activities with their classroom teacher to develop skills and strategies needed when facing challenges and working with others.
Social Emotional Learning addresses five important skill areas identified by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL):
Self Awareness - The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts.
Social Awareness - The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts.
Self Management - The abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations.
Responsible decision-making - The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations.
Relationship Skills - The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups.
SKILLS AND CONCEPTS
Many of our SEL materials and concepts come from Social ThinkingⓇ developed by Michelle Garcia Winner. The following concepts are taught to students in kindergarten and first grade and teachers continue to support students to further develop these skills as they grow and mature.
Reference Books
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Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis Social Learning is all about thoughts and feelings - they are inseparably linked. We teach these concepts first because they are the foundation for all other Social Thinking concepts. Developing a good understanding of thoughts and feelings is important for establishing friendships, participating in groups and taking others’ thoughts into account when we act and react. |
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The Group Plan Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis Understanding what it means to be part of a group is a fundamental social concept to develop in our early learners. It’s a precursor to so many other aspects of our social lives: having friends, working in a classroom, having a successful career and being part of a community. |
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Thinking with your Eyes Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis Once children understand that other people have thoughts, we teach them that they can use their eyes to figure out what those thoughts might be. We use our eyes to gather information about what other people are looking at and thinking about, what is happening around us and to figure out the group plan. Thinking with your eyes also allows us to pay attention to facial expressions and body language of others in our community. |
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Body in the Group Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis We often realize the importance of verbal language and what to say in conversation, but it is important to understand that physical proximity is also a key ingredient for successful social interactions. When we share space with others, we show we are engaged and interested in the group through our physical presence. |
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Whole Body Listening Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis We introduce this child-friendly vocabulary so our students understand that listening is more than just using their ears. We listen with our eyes, ears, mouth, hands, arms, legs and feet! Listening with our whole bodies and focusing on thinking about the group sets the stage for successful communication and interaction. |
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Hidden Rules and Expected and Unexpected Behavior Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis Every social situation has “hidden rules”, a range of social expectations that are generally understood but not usually stated or explicitly taught. Doing what is expected means figuring out those rules and aligning our behavior with the expectations of the situation.We adapt our behavior to keep others feeling comfortable and having good thoughts about sharing space with us, which ultimately keeps us feeling comfortable too. |
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Smart Guess Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis We make a smart guess when we take what we observe and combine it with what we know. By teaching students to make smart guesses , we help them learn to observe and become more aware of the world around them. Students make smart guesses socially and in their academic learning by making predictions when reading and choosing strategies in math. |
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Flexible and Stuck Thinking Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis The social world is complex; it shifts and changes constantly. Therefore the expectation is that we shift and change with it. We are constantly learning how to be flexible, even throughout our adult lives. Flexible thinking has to do with being able to engage in a variety of thoughts or experiences while acknowledging that many different paths could get us to our desired destination. |
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Size of the Problem Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis Our goal for this unit is to raise our students’ awareness of four key concepts that help our students learn to self regulate as they work through their problems: 1) problems come in different sizes, 2) feelings and emotional reactions come in different sizes, 3) reactions come from feelings, and 4) it is expected to match your reaction to the size of the problem. |
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Sharing an Imagination Authors: Ryan Hendrix, Kari Zweber Palmer, Michelle Garcia Winner, and Nancy Tarshis Shared imagination is the ability to imagine what another person is thinking, feeling, and/or pretending. Most young students develop the ability to imagine or pretend together:it’s the means by which they relate to the thoughts, feelings and actions of others. Sharing an imagination supports the development of perspective taking and strong writing skills. As writers, students work to create pieces that share their imaginations with the reader. |
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Conflict Resolution/Social Problem Solving Learning to solve problems with others is an important skill for all students. Students learn to think about how to apply these skills through reading short stories, discussions about real life situations, and role plays. Students also learn how to repair relationships when harm happens as they are developing their skills. |
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Self Regulation Strategies Self regulation skills help students remain calm when they are faced with big emotions. All of our classrooms have calming centers where students can go when they recognize that they are having big feelings and need to use calming strategies. Students are taught specific calming strategies and are provided with visuals to help them use those tools. |