Importance of SEL in Academic Areas

From KNILT

Navigation Links:

What is this course about?

This course will review the importance of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum and focus on how to implement this work into different academic areas typical of general education classroom

Topics will include

1) Introduction to SEL

2) Strategies for integrating SEL into an ELA Block

3) Strategies for integrating SEL into STEM block

4) Putting it All Together & Strategies for Reflection

The purpose of this course is to provide, you the instructors, with strategies you can implement into your current classroom environment. This course will also include opportunities for reflection and sustainment of these practices.

Why is this important?

As many educators know, SEL has become an important framework for learning. SEL begins at the youngest grades but should be continued throughout a child's educational journey. A 2011 meta-analysis of over 213 studies involving SEL school-based programs in grades K-12 found that SEL can improve attitudes about self, others, and school, create positive classroom behavior . If implement effectively, implementation of SEL can result in a 11 percentile-point gain on standardized achievement tests (Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K., 2021).

What will you be learning? (Performance Objectives)

Over the span of this course, you will learn the following:

  • Define what Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is.
  • Identify the importance of promoting Social Emotional Learning (SEL) through implementation into academic areas.
  • Develop effective strategies to integrate SEL into academic areas such as english language arts, science and math.
  • Create an action plan on ways to incorporate and sustain SEL practices in the classroom.

Units for this Course

Unit 1: What is SEL and Why is it Important?

At the end of Unit 1, students will be able to:

  • Define SEL and its key competencies including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making
  • Identify and explain the importance of promoting SEL in the classroom and its effectiveness for both academic and social success in the classroom
  • Identify the benefits of integrating SEL into academic areas
  • Reflect on current practices and identify areas for growth and implementation

Unit 2: Integrating SEL into the ELA Block

At the end of Unit 2, students will be able to:

  • Identify strategies for promoting SEL in the ELA block
  • Investigate the importance of SEL in reading and writing instruction in the ELA Block
  • Identify and develop strategies for using writing to promote SEL and its key competencies
  • Develop strategies for using literature to promote SEL (including book selection)

Unit 3: Integrating SEL into the STEM Block

At the end of Unit 3, students will be able to:

  • Identify strategies for promoting SEL in the STEM block
  • Investigate the importance of SEL in science and math instruction in the STEM block
  • Develop strategies that promote SEL competencies within math and science instruction

Unit 4: Putting it All Together & Strategies for Reflection

At the end of Unit 4, students will be able to:

  • Explore ways to evaluate the effectiveness of SEL integration into academic areas
  • Create an action plan on how to integrate SEL into either an ELA and STEM block and how to evaluate effectiveness of SEL integration

Extended Resources

  • Casel.org. (2017, August). Social and Emotional Learning in Elementary Mathematics Instruction (p. 12). https://casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SEL-in-Elementary-Mathematics.pdf
  • Chen, L. (2022, January 31). A brief history of social-emotional learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/social-emotional-learning-history
  • Doyle, B.G. and Bramwell, W. (2006), Promoting Emergent Literacy and Social–Emotional Learning Through Dialogic Reading. The Reading Teacher, 59: 554-564. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.59.6.5
  • Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta‐analysis of school‐based universal interventions. Child development, 82(1), 405-432.
  • Edulastic. (2021, February 1). Mindfulness and SEL. https://edulastic.com/blog/mindfulness-and-sel/
  • Marzano, R. J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. ASCD
Retrieved from "https://knilt.arcc.albany.edu/index.php?title=Importance_of_SEL_in_Academic_Areas&oldid=199549"