Education: How Social Emotional Learning Helps Children (3) Lesson Pack

l a i c o S tional o

from the mindfulness series

EmLearning

Use these fun games & writing activities to develop a set of skills and behaviors which can continually strengthen your students’ Social & Emotional Intelligence

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Social Emotional Learning Guiding Friendships:

How do friendships help children grow emotionally?.

MY BREATH LOVES ME

By Claire E Hallinan This Read Aloud book demonstrates how sometimes children need a little help navigating difficult social challenges (i.e. when I child feels left out) by using the breath, pause, notice and respond sequence.

Grade K-3

I AM ENOUGH

By Grace Byers This Read Aloud book is a beautifully illustrated and inspiring ode to loving who you are, respecting others and being kind to one another. Grade K-3

Friendships play an essential role in children's social-emotional development. By broadening their horizons beyond family, providing identity formation opportunities at school, and offering support when necessary, friendships with classmates provide children with vital social-emotional growth opportunities.

Teachers can employ numerous strategies to teach and reinforce (SEL) relationship skills in students, including building an emotional vocabulary. When children learn to identify and understand their own emotions by embracing and discussing them freely, they are better to equipped to make sense of their behavior and actions, which in turn, set them up for a greater understanding of other children and their emotional framework.

Some methods involve pairing children up with peers of diverse cultures who share similar interests, activities and temperament; while other strategies include organizing group projects requiring cooperation or activities where the teacher can coach students in managing conflicts and disagreements.

“To form meaningful connections with others, we must first connect with ourselves.”

- Brene Brown – author, scientist & social researcher

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TIPS FOR SUCCESS: 1. Each child should have an “emotional” vocabulary word list to use when identifying emotions and feelings.

2. Feeling empathy is a skill which can be taught. Encourage understanding of other people by using fictional stories to discuss character feelings and actions .

4. Challenging behavior is always an indication of unmanageable feelings.

5. Validate their feelings as real for them. d. © Conscious Childhood 2023

Social Emotional

Word Web

grades K-8

EMOTIONAL VOCABULARY

Emotions and thoughts or so intrinsically intertwined, that we cannot focus on cognitive development without considering the role that emotions play on our thought processes and ability to learn.

Objectives:

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Students will develop a collection of emotional words that describe feelings.

Students will identify words that are associated with emotions in a situation.

Students will write stories involving characters using emotional vocabulary.

Materials: A pencil, markers or crayon, a journal, a storybook or real situation

Part 1: Naming Emotions

Tip: Introduce using a thesaurus for older students

TEACHER / PARENT: - We have so many emotions that run through our bodies that sometimes we feel a little overwhelmed. Sometimes we are not even sure exactly how we feel. We may feel anger in our bodies, but we may also feel frustration or disappointment at the same time. It’s important to know that these feelings are just happening to us; they are not who we are. We are just the ones who are feeling them. For example we should not say “I am angry” but rather “I feel anger” or “ Anger is inside me”. We can also learn to recognize feelings in other people.

- (For the older grades) First, draw a triangle in the middle of your page. Now draw two eyes in the triangle. Remember, you are just observing these thoughts.

- (For the younger grades) Use the chart with faces and add the feeling words under the picture.) ( Teacher can write words on the board for reference) - When you think of these words (or faces), what other feelings come to mind? (Give examples and ask students if they would like to share).

- Now I’m going to (read, tell, make up) a story about characters with pretty strong emotions. I will pause throughout the story so that we can identify other emotions and feelings and add them to our list.

Part 2: Reflection / Assessment: -

Share your words with your class.

Students should be encouraged to continue adding to their word web.

TIP: A fictional social challenge in the classroom or playground could be a great story to use for this exercise.

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3

Write down the feeling word under the face. name: grades K-2 Teacher Tip: Let students suggest words and write all options down on the board or word wall. Students may choose from any word from the list

Feelings

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When you think of these words, what other feelings come to mind? Start your own collection of feeling words here, so that you can refer to them when you are writing in your journal.

grades 3-8

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Social Emotional

Take a Pause

grades K-8

HANDLING CHALLENGES

Reactivity is a symptom of the culture we live in. I call it high emotional reaction to adversity. Here is a simple tool that we can use with our students and our own families that encourage everyone to just Take a Pause, and learn to handle life’s difficulties from a place of calm conscious awareness.

Objectives: -

Students will understand that immediately reacting is a habit.

Students will demonstrate and practice the “Take A Pause” STOP – WAIT - GO Materials: A pencil or pen, a storybook, or a real situation

Part 1: Stopping the immediate reaction TEACHER / PARENT: - Part of life is experiencing anger and frustration as well as joy and laughter.

That’s normal. We can learn to handle our challenges better by giving ourselves a little time to connect our minds to our bodies before we respond.

STOP: When we realize that we are in a situation Draw a traffic light that bothers us. Take a few deep breaths. on the board and in PAUSE: Ask yourself, each circle write “What is the feeling that I have in my body?”

STOP, WAIT and GO “Where is that feeling living in my body?”

“What other thoughts do I have in my mind right now?”

“How was I going to react before I took a pause?”

“What would be the opposite response to that reaction?

“What would be a response somewhere in the middle?”

“Which is the best response?”

GO: Move forward with a response. Observe results.

Part 2: Reflection / Assessment: -

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6

Take a moment to write about a time that you regret the way you reacted to a situation. Use the STOP – PAUSE – GO TIP: Students should be encouraged method to write about how you would seek help in discussing options with respond to that today situation today. trusted adults before reacting (For the younger grades) Draw a picture and it’s OK to take a little more of what happened before and after time to make a decision before action. you took a pause.

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Take a moment to write about a time that you regret the way you reacted to a situation. Use the STOP – PAUSE – GO method to write about how you would respond to that today situation today.

name:

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Social Emotional

Treasure Hunt

grades 2-8

FINDING COMMON GROUND

When children are very young, they are naturally curious about making new friends. Some, of course, are more confident than others. Teachers and parents should continue to encourage strong social interaction skills for all children. Try this fun activity for the whole class to explore new connections with each other.

Objectives: -

Students will understand we share more similarities than differences.

Students will discover that by asking a few questions, they can find common ground with each other, regardless of sex, race, culture, social or economic situation.

Materials: A pencil or pen, a “treasure hunt” and worksheet (see attached)

Part 1: People are the greatest treasure TEACHER / PARENT: - Sometimes it is easy to know that you have something in common with a classmate. Perhaps you have been friends since you first started school. Maybe this is a person you met when you were playing your favorite sport outside of school. There are lots of ways we can meet people and make friends. But sometimes, if you ask just a few questions, you can find out that someone else in the class, who you do not know very well, might share a common interest, or a common trait. We are going to do a little task to discover more about our common ground with our classmates. I like to call it a ”Treasure Hunt” because in life, people, not things, are the greatest treasure.

- On this worksheet (teacher handout) are a list of questions.

1. Find students in the class who are matches for the question on the list 2. Then have the “matched student” sign their name next to the list question.

3. When you fill up all the matches with signatures, you can add up your score.

4. One point for every match (Extra point for a student that you do not know well).

Part 2: Reflection / Assessment:

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8

On the back of the worksheet, write about anything that surprised you. Was there someone in the class that you did not know well that matched a question?

(For the younger grades) Teacher can write TIP: Children who can not find a one or two questions on the board. The match for a question can be given children can use a blank paper to gain special recognition for being unique. (( like a sticker) signatures. Then they can draw a picture of themselves and the matched classmate.

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e r u s a T r e Hunt

Student Name: __________________________

This fun activity is designed for you to discover more about your common ground with your classmates. Common Ground means an experience, situation or interest that you have in common with someone else. This activity is called a “Treasure Hunt” discovering new friends, activities, culture and common interests with other people IS our life’s greatest treasure. Have fun exploring!

Parent Tip: Try this activity at a family gathering or party

Directions: Read each question.

1. Find students in the class who are matches for the question on the list 2. Then have the “matched student” sign their name under the list question.

3. When you fill up all the matches with signatures, you can add up your score.

4. One point for every match (An extra point for a student that you do not know well).

What is your favorite pet? Who else has or loves the same kind of pet?

Answer:

Signature:

Points:

Have you travelled to another state or country? Who has been to the same place?

Answer:

Signature:

Points:

What is name of a funny movie that you saw? Who else enjoyed the same movie?

Answer:

Signature:

Points:

What is your favorite subject in school? Who else chooses this as their favorite?

Answer:

Signature:

Write your own question here

Answer:

Signature:

Points:

?

yo u r m ake up Y o u ca n re stions he ow n que

Points:

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9

Take a little time to reflect on this fun activity. Write about anything that surprised you. Was there someone in the class that you did not know well that matched a question? What did you learn from doing the Treasure Hunt?

name:

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