While academics are naturally an important component of teaching, equipping students with lifelong skills they will leverage outside the classroom is also an essential part of the job.
After a challenging previous school year, social and emotional learning (SEL) is a major concern among educators as students return to classrooms this fall. SEL involves helping students manage their emotions, achieve their goals, express empathy, build positive relationships, and make responsible decisions, according to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) website. Along with the pandemic, digital technology and an increased emphasis on mental health have placed SEL in the spotlight in K-12 education in recent years.
SEL Resources for Teachers
To integrate SEL into your classroom and understand its importance in schools, we've compiled a series of free SEL resources. These social and emotional learning articles shed light on strategies to build community in the classroom, school success and transformation stories, and activities for students across all grade levels.
The 5 social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) are crucial to students’ learning and growth. Explore the competencies and strategies for helping students achieve them.
Get answers to common questions like "What is social-emotional learning in education?" and "Why is SEL important?"
Why is SEL important? In an HMH survey, K-12 educators noted the high importance of social emotional learning in schools today.
When it comes to social-emotional learning in schools, every $1 invested has an $11 return in long-term benefits.
When prioritizing social-emotional learning in schools, allowing those you lead to see you as authentically human with deficiencies as well as strengths can be enlightening.
A social-emotional learning expert explores effective methods to improve SEL in schools and the challenges educators may face in the process.
Schools that integrate social-emotional learning into instruction equip students to persevere and master rigorous content. Start with these five tips.
How do you foster a sense of safety and belonging so students can focus their energy on learning? These strategies for building community in the classroom will help.
Read 6 techniques for implementing social-emotional learning in the classroom. SEL at school starts with you!
Listen as two former science teachers discuss practical ways to implement social and emotional learning activities in your science classroom.
Read four techniques for implementing social-emotional learning in the classroom. SEL at school starts with you!
Nurturing students social emotional learning during COVID-19 is essential. Explore key SEL principles that schools and educators can use during the pandemic.
See how the staff of Glasgow Middle School in Glasgow, Kentucky measured and met their students' social and emotional needs as their classroom went virtual.
When we focus on the whole child, teachers have more time to support learning, and academic achievement increases.
An assistant principal shares how her district implemented a new model that works best for them to support social-emotional learning.
Check out a few suggestions for empathy activities for middle schoolers and find new ways for teaching empathy in the classroom.
Introduce your students to the five competencies of SEL with these writing and journal prompts for elementary, middle, and high school.
Use these five social-emotional learning activities for elementary school students to work toward building strong relationships. Explore SEL lesson plans for each competency.
Embrace SEL in the classroom with these SEL activities for middle school that address CASEL’s five core competencies.
These seven SEL activities for high school students are based on CASEL's core SEL competencies. Help your students become independent and meaningful contributors to society
Share these SEL remote activities with your students at home to help them develop SEL skills, like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and responsible decision-making.
Integrate social-emotional learning into your English language arts curriculum with this literacy activity, where students read and study a text and practice important SEL competencies.
Help students in Grades 3–12 tap into what they're feeling with an informal writing activity.
Use these SEL World Kindness Day activities and ideas for the International Day for Tolerance to ensure that every day includes a little (or a lot of!) kindness in your school.
Fourth-grade teacher Perry Hollins shares tips for teaching current events through an SEL lens.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It's a great time for teachers to take stock of their students'—and their own—health and well-being. We've got you covered with these Mental Health Awareness Month activities for schools.
Learn about how teachers and K-12 administrators view SEL and its short- and long-term impacts on students.
View this eBook for facts, insights, and advice related to shaping students’ social and emotional well-being.
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Social and emotional skills are essential to personal and academic growth. Discover how our social-emotional learning curriculum can help your students thrive.
The views expressed in our blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.
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