Chapter 5: Social-Emotional Learning
Discussion Points
Social emotional learning may be a life saving instructional approach for students exposed to trauma. Often these students show significant delay in social emotional development, and teaching them about their moods, emotions, and that they can, with practice, learn to self-regulate these moods and emotions can be life-changing knowledge. Many elementary teachers have some experience in teaching students using a variety of SEL curricula, and faculty should be invited to share their instructional ideas in the SEL area. With that noted, the term SEL is probably one of the most expansive terms in this entire book and includes a very wide array of ideas for teaching. Still, using any one of these strategies can allow a teacher to implement a targeted intervention for a student exposed to trauma with relative ease. Finally, if any teacher in the school (or school district) is already using one of the published curricula on SEL below, that teacher may be invited to present for 5 or 10 minutes on that curriculum. Many times finding a local teacher who can describe the advantages of a teaching strategy will motivate other teachers to try it.
Recommended Videos
Kids Matter Australia: The Five Social and Emotional Competencies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWZeR1bB038
This video shows examples from the classroom that are associated with the five key competences.
Committee for Children: Social-Emotional Learning: What is SEL and Why It Mattershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikehX9o1Jbl
This short video presents a definition of social-emotional learning, and uses avatars made of clay to illustrate each point, so this can be shared with young students but is appropriate with students of all ages.
Edutopia: 5 Keys to Social and Emotional Success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqNn9qWoO1M
Using real kids this video presents a number of educators discussing social-emotional learning.
This video shows examples from the classroom that are associated with the five key competences.
Committee for Children: Social-Emotional Learning: What is SEL and Why It Mattershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikehX9o1Jbl
This short video presents a definition of social-emotional learning, and uses avatars made of clay to illustrate each point, so this can be shared with young students but is appropriate with students of all ages.
Edutopia: 5 Keys to Social and Emotional Success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqNn9qWoO1M
Using real kids this video presents a number of educators discussing social-emotional learning.
Additional Resources
4Rs
This program is one of the more widely used social-emotional learning curriculum and is intended for grades pre-K through 5. The 4Rs curriculum (Reading, Writing, Respect, and Resolution, https://www.morningsidecenter.org/about) helps children to develop empathy, critical thinking skills, and conflict resolution skills. Research has demonstrated the efficacy of this program in improving behavior, decreasing depression, and increasing academic scores.
Resilience Builder Program This program is based on the book Resilience Builder Program forChildren and Adolescents (2011) by Mary Karapetian Alvord, Bonnie Zucker, and Judy JohnsonGrados. The book provides 30 group session lessons designed to help youth bounce back fromchallenges in their lives. The program is shown to increase confidence, self-esteem, and self-control, as well as the use of coping strategies. The lessons also stress development of self-regulation of emotions and behavior.
Positive Action This program is used from kindergarten through grade 12 (https://www.positiveaction.net/). Thinking through and completing positive actions in all situations is emphasized, and this program has demonstrated results in increased academic scores and improved behavior.
Unconditional Education This is a school partnership model that focuses on partnering with schools in urban areas (http://www.unconditionaleducation.org/).This builds the school’s capacity to meet the diverse academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of students across the age range.
Toolbox for Learning. This program helps students initially develop a “bill of rights,” or a list of students’ desired relative to classroom practices. These are written in the students’ own language then signed by all class members and then displayed in the classroom. This is intended create a positive class climate through developing trust and a sense of safety. When the rules/rights are broken a set of steps are undertaken to help students reflect on their choices, and discuss what could have been done differently. Also, students are taught twelve specific tools for helping them self- regulate their moods, emotions, and behaviors. These include: a breathing tool, the quiet/ safe /place tool, listening tool, empathy tool, personal space using our words tool, garbage can tool, taking time tool, please and thank you tool, apology and forgiveness tool, patience tool, and courage tool.
Resilience Builder Program This program is based on the book Resilience Builder Program forChildren and Adolescents (2011) by Mary Karapetian Alvord, Bonnie Zucker, and Judy JohnsonGrados. The book provides 30 group session lessons designed to help youth bounce back fromchallenges in their lives. The program is shown to increase confidence, self-esteem, and self-control, as well as the use of coping strategies. The lessons also stress development of self-regulation of emotions and behavior.
Positive Action This program is used from kindergarten through grade 12 (https://www.positiveaction.net/). Thinking through and completing positive actions in all situations is emphasized, and this program has demonstrated results in increased academic scores and improved behavior.
Unconditional Education This is a school partnership model that focuses on partnering with schools in urban areas (http://www.unconditionaleducation.org/).This builds the school’s capacity to meet the diverse academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of students across the age range.
Toolbox for Learning. This program helps students initially develop a “bill of rights,” or a list of students’ desired relative to classroom practices. These are written in the students’ own language then signed by all class members and then displayed in the classroom. This is intended create a positive class climate through developing trust and a sense of safety. When the rules/rights are broken a set of steps are undertaken to help students reflect on their choices, and discuss what could have been done differently. Also, students are taught twelve specific tools for helping them self- regulate their moods, emotions, and behaviors. These include: a breathing tool, the quiet/ safe /place tool, listening tool, empathy tool, personal space using our words tool, garbage can tool, taking time tool, please and thank you tool, apology and forgiveness tool, patience tool, and courage tool.