SELspace

SEL Topic: Relational AggressionRelational aggression is an important topic when students are learning the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.  "My Secret Bully", by Trudy Ludwig, is an excellent book to introduce the topic and promote a conversation about how we can encounter bullying in friendships and strategies to cope, survive, and thrive. This unit consists of discussion questions, reading comprehension pages, a reading comprehension mini assessment, a template for good

SEL Topic: Self ManagementThis unit explores the topic of big emotions, outbursts, flipping your lid and the brain, the anger iceberg, mindfulness strategies, button pushing, and the analogy of the volcano when it comes to big emotions. There are student activity pages to accompany these big ideas. 16 pages

SEL Topic: Healthy RelationshipsExploring what constitutes healthy friendships helps students in developing a good barometer for what is acceptable and what isn't in relationships. Children aren't going to be friends with everyone, but they can learn what it means to be friendly and how to properly treat their friends This unit can be a companion to read-alouds about friendships or can be a stand-alone unit on healthy friendships. It includes student pages and role play/discussion cards. The act

SEL Topic: Relational AggressionRelational aggression is an important topic when students are learning the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.  "Confessions of a Former Bully", the sequel to “My Secret Bully”, by Trudy Ludwig, is an excellent book to introduce the topic and promote a conversation about how we can encounter bullying in friendships and strategies to cope, survive, and thrive. This unit consists of discussion questions, reading comprehension pages, a reading com

SEL Topic: Self Awareness, Social Awareness, Self-ManagementThis unit explores the topic of emotion identification and classification. It addresses emotional literacy and provides students with practice in looking at the nuances and granularity of emotions. A mood meter check-in and 48 emotion cards are included to help students practice identifying and classifying emotions. There are several different ways in which the "emotion cards" can be used to further support emotional fluency. The unit a

It is important to be both mindful and intentional when starting the year in a classroom. The routines, expectations, and norms established at the beginning of the year will lay the groundwork for the kind of classroom community that will be created. Building a safe and cohesive community should be an educator's first priority. The groundwork set at the onset will shape your experience with your students. This unit will go through some of the basic community-building start-up routines and activi

SEL Topic: Gender Stereotyping"Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress" by Christine Baldacchino is the perfect introduction to gender stereotyping and gender identity. Young Morris is faced with the hardship of gender stereotypes when he loves wearing the tangerine dress in the dress-up center. This unit includes discussion prompts, reading comprehension pages, a mini reading comprehension assessment, an anchor chart, and a vocabulary building word search with extension activities.

SEL Topic: Self-Awareness; Self-ManagementOur internal voice has an incredible impact on how we present and face the world. Explicitly teaching students to incorporate and practice positive self-talk as well as shutting down negative self-talk are important self-awareness and self-management skills. The concept can be abstract for younger students. Fortunately, there are many great read alouds that help promote a helpful "inner coach" and hush the "inner critic". This unit includes discussion a

SEL Topic: Bragging and BoastingThe book “Better Than You”, by Trudy Ludwig, is an excellent book to introduce the topic and promote a conversation about bragging. It provides insight, understanding, and strategies to help students when they are faced with this form of arrogance. This unit contains discussion prompts, reading comprehension pages, a mini reading assessment, and a vocabulary building word search with extension activities.

SEL Topics: Identity, Self Awareness, Social Awareness, DiversityThe family we are a part of and grow up in is very much a part of who we are. Families come in varying sizes and structures. Their uniqueness contributes to our identity. In this unit, students will explore the concept of a family, its diversity, and how they can contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities. Students will look at their own unique family, the uniqueness of other families, their role in their family, a

SEL TOPICS: Self Awareness; Identifying Emotions; MindsetsNone of us live in a state of joy all the time. It may be the goal of some, but for the average person more reasonable goals are to notice sparks or moments of joy, appreciate them, and find routes to get there as often as possible. The purpose of the JOY project is to introduce students to the concept of joy, emphasize its uniqueness for each individual, educate on the connection between gratitude and joy, and extol the overall health be

SEL Topic: Responsible Decision MakingExploring the meaning of rights and responsibilities as well as their relationship is an important step in establishing a healthy functioning classroom community. Students need to understand that it is not just about what they are entitled to but that they have responsibilities tied to each right in order for their community to thrive. Cocreating expectations and norms early in the year helps everyone know what will be accepted and what will not. Tying an ex

SEL Topic: Positive Self WorthPositive affirmations are short statements or sentences that help to inspire and imprint positive thinking. They can also help in challenging and replacing negative or unhelpful automatic thoughts. This unit contains a selection of 111 affirmations that focus on some of the greatness attributes within every child. There are a variety of attributes; use the ones best suited to the vocabulary used with the students in your classroom community. This version includes p

SEL Topic: Self ManagementA discussion about stress and worry is a good first step when tackling self-management and well-being. It is important to first differentiate between healthy and unhealthy stress. It can then be a good segue into an important brainstorming and consideration of strategies that can be used to deal and cope with unhealthy stress and worry. This unit tackles the topic of stress and worry. Companion material is included for the books "Brave Every Day," by Trudy Ludwig and W

SEL Topic: Positive Self WorthPositive affirmations are short statements or sentences that help to inspire and imprint positive thinking. They can also help in challenging and replacing negative or unhelpful automatic thoughts. This unit contains a selection of 133 affirmations that focus on some of the greatness attributes within every child. There are a variety of attributes; use the ones best suited to the vocabulary used with the students in your classroom community. This version of affirma

SEL Topic: Self Awareness, Social Awareness, Self-ManagementThis unit explores the topic of emotion identification and classification. It addresses emotional literacy and provides students with practice in looking at the nuances and granularity of emotions. A mood meter check-in and 48 emotion cards are included to help students practice identifying and classifying emotions. There are several different ways in which the "emotion cards" can be used to further support emotional fluency. The unit a

SEL TOPICS: Identity and Self-AwarenessExploring our identity starts with reflecting about who we are and having the opportunity to tell our story. Autobiographies give the opportunity to combine self exploration with writing skills. There is nothing more empowering than using your voice to tell your unique story. This unit provides the prompts and templates for students to create an autobiography. There are 10 chapter choices. Students can pick and choose what they'd like to have in their auto

SEL Topic: InclusionExclusion can be intentional or unintentional. Either way, it leaves a person questioning their value and feeling invisible. The book “The Invisible Boy, by Trudy Ludwig, shows how small acts of kindness can help children feel seen, included, and a part of the community. "The Invisible Boy" sensitively addresses the strengths and needs of quieter children to be valued and acknowledged within the group. This unit consists of discussion questions, reading comprehension pages,

SEL Topic: Trouble TalkTrouble Talk is a good topic for a class discussion early in the school year, especially if you are establishing class norms or expectations. It can be a good segue into discussions about thinking before you speak, the impact of words, empathy and kindness, point of view, and learning from your mistakes. The book “Trouble Talk”, by Trudy Ludwig, is an excellent book to introduce the topic and promote a conversation about the destructiveness of negative communication. This

SEL Topic: Gender Stereotyping"Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress" by Christine Baldacchino is the perfect introduction to gender stereotyping and gender identity. Young Morris is faced with the hardship of gender stereotypes when he loves wearing the tangerine dress in the dress-up center. This unit includes discussion prompts, reading comprehension pages, a mini reading comprehension assessment, an anchor chart, and a vocabulary building word search with extension activities. 11 pages