How You Feel Inside Matters: Incorporating Emotions Into The SEL Lesson Plan
by Corey Warren
Social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculums allow for students to not only learn more about themselves but others as well. As many children may have difficulties managing and identifying their own emotions, the SEL framework will be especially beneficial and can result in a healthy understanding of one's own feelings and the feelings of others. Here are just a few examples of activities that focus on emotions and resolutions that are perfect to incorporate into an SEL lesson plan.
Managing Emotions
Having a handle on emotions is a continuous process for most. Learning to not only identify why one is feeling a certain way but to also know how to handle each emotion can be a challenge to learn. Within the SEL curriculum, incorporating activities that help children identify their emotions will allow them to easier navigate their own challenging situations with grace. An emotion chart would be an excellent tool to include in the lesson plan. Students can take turns spinning the wheel and identify which emotion it lands on. If it lands on the word frustration, for instance, children can be encouraged to make a frustrated face, clench their fists and express that they feel frustrated.
Self-Management
Stretching out the lessons learned from identifying emotions, students can then begin to tackle how to resolve issues. Taking the example of feeling frustration, teachers can give students options that will allow the student to manage the outcome. Offering a solution such as finding a different way to accomplish goals or looking at things from a new perspective can allow students to take a step back and view the problem in a new way. Students can be encouraged to stop, take a deep breath and calmly assess the cause of frustration. The inability to find a favorite notebook, for example, can be resolved by students assessing how to better organize their space and reduce feelings of frustration.
Relationships with Others
For younger children, it may be especially hard to recognize that emotions go beyond themselves and are something everyone deals with on a daily basis. Empathy is another important concept that is taught within the SEL framework and is crucial for students to learn how to resolve issues with others. Using the emotion wheel as an example, students can each take a turn expressing a given emotion. In turn, another student may offer an emotional response. If a student lands on the emotion of sadness, for instance, the responding student can offer encouraging words of support and a hug. Learning how to respond to others' emotions in a constructive way will be a lesson students can carry with them for a lifetime.
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True learning involves lots of different elements, and they run the gamut from memorizing times tables to engaging critically with complicated philosophical ideas. As a parent, you probably want the best education for your child, bu how do you identify that? Do some approaches work better for some kids than others? What about learning disabilities? How can you help your child with homework you don't understand? In this blog, I am going to explore questions like that, and ultimately, I hope these posts help you find the best education for your child. Best wishes and happy learning. My name is Molly, and I'm so excited to be along for part of this journey with you.
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