A list of 38 skills that are part of social-emotional learning & tips for how you can help teach your child social-emotional skills they're struggling with.
31 FUN SOCIAL SKILLS ACTIVITIES for KIDS (including some tips for kids with autism): starting conversations, respecting personal space, expressing emotions
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has been found to promote academic success and increase students' commitment to school. Generally, there are five key components that make up social emotional learning. These competencies include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making. Today, I'd like to focus on ways to help students develop self-awareness. Self-awareness includes one's ability to recognize emotions, have an accurate self-perception, identify strengths, develop confidence, and show self-efficacy. Researchers have found that a student's ability to control his or her feelings, thoughts, and behaviors can be linked to academic success. So, let's take a look at some easy ways to help students develop an awareness of their individual characteristics and personal emotions. All About Me - A - Z This activity helps students to define and identify a variety of aspects about themselves. They'll create a list about themselves with a characteristic, quality, or emotion for each letter of the alphabet. Materials: Piece of paper, pen or pencil Directions: - On a piece of paper, have students create two columns. (Or grab a ready-made poster here.) - Have them write all the letters of the alphabet in each column. - Then, challenge them to write something about themselves for each letter. For instance, they might write "gregarious" for G or "curious" for C. Ideas: - Share your own A to Z list with students first. - Create a class list of emotions and descriptive words to get students started. - Assemble students' finished lists in a class book. Moment of Mindfulness Mindfulness is a great way to build self-awareness. Since mindfulness is all about paying attention to the present moment, it's a great way for students to pause and reflect on how they are feeling, what they are thinking, and what they need in the present. It's simple to do too! Ways to take a moment of mindfulness: - At the beginning of class, have students close their eyes and take several deep breaths. Ask students to pay attention to their breathing. - Share a mindfulness quote with students to help focus students' thoughts during a moment of mindfulness. - Pause during instruction and have students do a self-awareness check. Encourage them to be mindful of their thoughts and feelings. Reflective Journaling Reflective journaling is a powerful way to help students become self-aware. With targeted writing prompts, students can develop insight into their feelings, make sense of their experiences, and build clarity on their thoughts. When students write about their own experiences and feelings, they become more self-aware. Materials: - A notebook and/or computer, pen or pencil, writing prompts - A list of writing prompts that spark self-reflection, these might include: --- Write about a time when you were proud of yourself. --- List ten things that make you feel excited. --- Reflect on how you have changed this year. --- What is something that you find challenging? (Check out a set of 10 engaging prompts here.) Ideas: - Have students respond to their prompts as if they are writing a letter to themselves..."Dear me..." - Read students' responses and respond to their writing in the margins. Add questions and positive notes at the end of their writing to build connections and spark further reflections. - Schedule a time each day or week for journaling to make it an intentional part of your classroom community. Growth Mindset There are many ways to help students develop a growth mindset. When students develop an understanding that all forms of intelligence are malleable, they are inspired to work toward success. That's why it is so powerful to infuse lessons about growth mindset into instruction. Giving students a moment to reflect on their own mindsets builds self-awareness. Materials: - Short lessons or articles about Growth Mindset to help students understand the differences between a fixed and growth mindset. - Series of questions about students' own mindsets. Directions: - After teaching students about Growth Mindset, have students respond to questions about their own mindsets. - Give students a chance to share their responses with a partner, small group, or the entire class. Ideas: - Share and display inspirational quotes about growth mindset. (I particularly love paper desk tents. They are an easy way to display quotes right on students' desks.) - Highlight important people who demonstrate a growth mindset. Emotions Skits Researchers have noted that there are at least six universal emotions. These include happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust. Help students investigate and demonstrate these universal emotions by challenging them to write a short play or skit that involves a character or many characters experiencing one of the universal emotions. Materials: - List of the universal emotions, paper, pen - Skit planning pages (optional) Ideas: - Review the six universal emotions with students. As a class have students brainstorm what each emotion looks like (how people look when they are experiencing that emotion) and sounds like (what people might say when experiencing that emotion). - Brainstorm situations where people might feel each emotion. Encourage students to share personal situations when they felt a certain way. - Divide students into small groups. Secretly assign each group an emotion. - Challenge students to write a script that their small group could act out for the class that demonstrates that emotion. - Have small groups perform for the class. Have the audience identify the emotion prevalent in the skit. Self Check-In Daily feelings check-ins are a great way to build self-awareness. When students are given the opportunity to assess how they are feeling and share their emotions with others, they begin to know themselves more fully. Self check-ins also help normalize feelings. Materials: - Paper with an open grid shape - List of feelings Directions: - Pass out the gridded paper to students. - Have them fill the grid with different emotions. - Then, have students display the grid on their desks. - Have them place a token or shape on the emotion that shows how they are feeling at a particular moment. Ideas: - Once students can recognize their feelings, help them to develop strategies for regulating their emotions. - Encourage students to track their feelings over an entire school day. Then, discuss how feelings change in different situations. -------------------------------------------------- I hope you've found a few ways to help students develop self-awareness. Incorporating lessons that target social emotional learning is essential in today's classrooms. If you're looking for ready-made resources, check out this set of 10 SEL reading passages and this set of 6 Self-Awareness Activities. Thanks for stopping by! Mary Beth
Emotions exist in the body- but how? This printable emotion sensation feeling wheel helps individuals match common emotions with the physical sensations that most often match those feelings.
The Social Emotional Learning Journal and Feeling Check-Ins is perfect for morning meetings and SEL lessons.
Hi parents, We are exciting to be working on a new Owlkids book that covers the topic of kids’ social-emotional learning. And since there’s no better time than the present to start giving kids the […]
Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships
One of the very best times to integrate social emotional learning practices into the day is first thing in the morning. It's a great way to help kids and teens start their day off feeling connected, respected, and valued. By putting social-emotional learning first, we have pave the way for kids and
Social and emotional learning, often known as SEL, is the process that helps kids learn critical skills, attitudes, and mindsets for social and emotional success. These skills cover five major areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and responsible decision-making. I
Today I'm excited to have Corrina from From Mrs. Allen's Teaching Files here to share a really fun and exciting activity to use when talking about self control. Self control is such a hard
This Anger Management Poster was designed to remind students of different ways they can deal with anger in developmentally appropriate healthy and safe ways. What's Included: ☀️3 different printing options: color with frame, color without frame, and black and white. ☀️ 2 different styles ☀️ Files sized for 8.5"X 11" and 18"X24" printing. ☀️ Make Your Own Anger Management Collage Poster Ways to Use This Resource ✔ Hang poster up in your classroom or hallway bulletin board to remind students of healthy and safe ways to deal with anger. ✔ Use the Make Your Own Anger Management Collage Poster during SEL lessons about Feelings or during small groups and individual interventions when you'd like to focus on coping strategies and self-regulation.
Use these social skills visual posters to teach, discuss, and practice social skills in the classroom! They include 9 unique posters with a total of over 80 social skills. Each poster highlights a different area of social skills, including basic skills, empathy and perspective-taking, academic skills, conversation skills, friendship skills, emotions, and decision-making skills. These posters are a fun way to integrate social skills and SEL in the classroom! Additional posters are included with several of the skills put together in one large poster. They highlight: Social Skills Kids Need Social Skills We All Need Social Skills We Are Building How Can I Use Social Skill Visual Posters? You can use these social skills posters in multiple ways to integrate social skills into the classroom. Here are some simple suggestions: Post these visuals around the classroom or school to provide reminders about critical social skills. Create a social skills bulletin board. Post one poster a week or month, highlighting each of the skills throughout that time period. Use the black/white version as a coloring book as you discuss each skill. Skills Targeted: Basic Skills: following directions, using manners, having a positive attitude, working with others, good hygiene, using polite words, taking turns, greetings, waiting and having patience, being a good sport, listening to others, understanding personal space Academic Skills: paying attention, starting tasks independently, taking pride in work, participating, asking for help, cooperating and collaborating, accepting criticism, self-advocating, staying organized, persevering through challenges, avoiding and ignoring distractions, presenting and speaking in front of others Conversation Skills: introductions and greetings, starting a conversation, expressing ideas and feelings, giving compliments, using active listening skills, taking turns in conversation, showing interest in others, noticing others' social cues, thinking before speaking, staying on topic, finding similar interests, leaving a conversation Friendship Skills: expressing ideas, feelings, and thoughts, getting along with others, showing interest in others, keeping social boundaries, disagreeing respectfully, compromising, sharing, bringing out the positive in others, apologizing, repairing relationships, resisting negative peer influence, showing empathy Empathy & Perspective-Taking Skills: thinking about others' feelings, reading social cues, seeing someone else's perspective, staying open-minded, helping others in need, treating others with kindness, appreciating differences, using flexible thinking, showing empathy, thinking before speaking or acting, accepting different opinions, solving conflicts with perspective-taking Emotional Skills: being self-aware, self-regulating emotions, labeling different emotions, expressing feelings, using coping strategies, dealing with disappointments, dealing with worries, using positive self-talk, staying calm in times of stress, adapting to change, dealing with anger and frustration, being resilient Decision-making Skills: understanding choices, using self-control, seeing how actions impact others, brainstorming solutions, developing healthy habits, taking responsibility, considering consequences, weighing options, admitting mistakes, being reflective, accepting consequences Digital Version A digital version for Google Slides is now included! This means you can use these posters to highlight social skills digitally with your students through Google Classroom or other digital means. Yearlong SEL Yearlong Curriculum If you are looking to integrate social emotional skills into the classroom, consider this Social Emotional Learning Yearlong Curriculum! It is filled with specific lesson plans, activities, projects, task cards, discussion starters, and more for a year of social emotional learning. Follow Me! { Click here to follow my store! } Tips for Customers: If you have questions, please contact me through Q & A and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Please consider leaving feedback on this resource to receive TpT credits! I always strive for 5 stars and love hearing your feedback. Follow my store for notifications about new resources and freebies. Terms of Use: © Pathway 2 Success. One license is for the classroom/personal use for one educator and their students. Materials may not be shared with other educators without the purchase of extra licenses. Materials may not be posted on the Internet where they can be publicly accessed. Personal and classroom use only. Please see full terms of use for more information. Disclaimer: These resources are for supplementary support/education purposes and are not a replacement for education or other necessary supports. Educators, parents, and others who utilize these materials are encouraged to seek out additional support, as needed.
Games can be the perfect tool to introduce and teach social emotional learning skills to kids and young adults. These are the skills that help kids become more self-aware, develop positive relationships, show empathy towards others, manage emotions, use self-control, resolve conflicts, and make posi
STEP by STEP SEL Curricula
If you want to raise strong and confident children, teaching assertiveness is key. Assertive children know how to stand up for themselves (and others) without being hurtful or mean. Here are 5 key step for raising assertive children.
Add these respect books and videos to your classroom collection. These are great to teach your students essential character education skills.
7 ways to build classroom community and teach social-emotional skills each day during an SEL morning meeting.
Learn about the importance of SEL and 11 essential ways that teachers can incorporate social-emotional learning activities into the classroom today.
A sorting activity from the Empathy Unit of the Social Emotional Learning curriculum. Work through these scenarios as a group to help build valuable skills. This curriculum is flexible, no prep, and easy to implement.