I am constantly asked by teachers, “What do I do if I have NO time to add social emotional learning activities into my class schedule?” While my first advice will always be to embed it into ALL of your subjects, I do understand and validate the need for some explicit lessons. This is why I created the guided social emotional learning journal.
What’s in the social emotional learning journal?
I am a big research girl, so when I am creating anything related to SEL, I go to the research. The leaders in SEL are CASEL, and I am sure to look at their SEL competency wheel when I am in creation mode! The daily pages in the journal tackle self awareness, empathy, self management, social awareness, executive functioning skills, and more. I have made activities that tap into coping skills, gratitude, flexible thinking, and more. There is some writing and reading involved, but it’s fairly minimal.
Who is the social emotional learning journal designed for?
This journal is designed for students in 2-5 grade, but you know your students best. There are some 1st graders who would rock this, and some middle schoolers who would really connect. Use your best judgment! These SEL journals can be used in special education classrooms, general education classrooms, in social work sessions, with grown ups at home. They’re super versatile!
How do you use it?
This is the fun part – there’s no real “way” to use this resource. If it were me, I might do this as a morning warm up after students engaged in a morning choice time and before morning meeting. It could also be a reset activity after PE class or a morning recess. I believe this resource is best utilized if it’s used daily. Students can engage with their peers in small group, whole group, or partner conversations to share some of their responses to the journal.
Have you snagged the social emotional learning journal from my store yet? Over 100 pages to keep students engaged and ready to practice the skills they need to be active citizens and learners. Let me know what you think!
