Social-Emotional Skills:

What are social-emotional skills?

• The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA, 2013) defines Social Emotional Learning as developing skills/strategies that teach children how to recognize and manage emotions in order to self-regulate their behavior.
• Skills of social-emotional learning include:
  • Self-Awareness (identifying thoughts/emotions/behaviors)
  • Self-Management (regulating thoughts/emotions/behaviors)
  • Social Awareness (understanding social/cultural norms and participating in empathy)
  • Relationship Skills (working with others, maintaining relationships, and conflict resolution with peers)
  • Responsible Decision Making (making decisions based on evaluating a situation and social/cultural norms)

Emotional Regulation

• Emotional Regulation is being able to understand and manage feelings appropriately.
• Examples of how to teach emotional regulation in the classroom include:
  • Teachers/staff modeling regulation strategies (physically or verbally)
  • Teaching calming and behavioral regulation strategies, and practicing with the students (ex: deep breathing techniques)
  • Use of visual aids focusing on emotional identification or regulation strategies
  • Embedding emotional literacy moments in class (ex: reading or playing educational videos that teach about emotional regulation)
  • Teachers/staff validating students’ emotions (not just the way they act in response to their emotions)

Social Stories

• Social stories are short, personalized stories that teach individuals how to understand social situations/expectations.
  • Where to find social stories:
    • Make your own! (can make more personable to the students/situation)
    • YouTube (already has a narrator and visuals)
    • Online Websites (several free libraries)

Examples of social story topics:

• Taking turns / sharing
• Hygiene
• How to manage “big emotions” (ex: anger or saddness)
• Transitioning between class activities
• How to prepare / what to expect for a specific event (ex: group assembly)

How to make a social story:

• How to make a social story:
  • Ways to show a social story:
    • Making your own (can use a specific student or the class as the main character(s) to make it more meaningful)
    • Via Youtube
    • Free online databases (see the Light Reads tab for examples)
  • Briefly describe the setting (who-what-where-when-why)
• Tips for making an effective/meaningful story
  • If making your own social story, you could use a picture of the student engaging in the social situation or real photos of the social situation’s environment.
  • Use “I” statements / first-person perspective and focus on what they CAN do
  • Keep a “positive” tone throughout
  • Promote self-advocacy

Developmentally-Appropriate Books

• Books play a meaningful role in teaching life skills to children!
  • Consider embedding developmentally appropriate books AND student-preferred books (e.g., Bluey, Minecraft, etc.) in your classroom’s library

Examples of developmentally-appropriate books:

• Rainbow Fish (sharing, humility, friendship)
• Chrysanthemum (anxiety, self-esteem)
• A Sick Day for Amos McGee (friendship, kindness)
• Grumpy Monkey (sharing/empathic listening, emotional literacy)
• Boy + Bot (friendship, accepting differences)
• Little Blue and Little Yellow (friendship, identity)
• Red: A Crayon’s Story (identity, celebrating differences)
• The Day the Crayons Quit (empathy, communication)
• Leonardo the Terrible Monster (self-esteem, friendship)

Physical Activity as an Intervention

Benefits of Physical Activity on Social-Emotional Regulation:

• Hormonal Regulation
• Stress Relief
• Alleviate Negative Emotions (such as anxiety, depression, impulsivity, aggression, low self-esteem)
• Self-Regulation
• Teamwork (working with your peers)
• Peer Relationships (including empathy, social awareness, communication skills)

Ways to embed physical activity in the classroom:

• Yoga / Stretch Breaks
• Dance / Movement Breaks
• Charades
  • Animal (sound and/or gestures of a specific animal)
  • Emotions (ex: what does sadness look like? anger?)
• Mirroring Exercises
  • Ex: One student moves their body a certain way, and the other students mirror)
• Themed Scavenger Hunt
  • Examples:
    • Finding different coping skills around the room
    • Finding positive self-regulation strategies (can also hide negative strategies to make it more of a challenge)

Noise/Volume Control

• What this looks like:
  • Self-Regulation:
    • Controlling their own volume
    • Being able to show restraint
    • Emotional control in situations
  • Reading Social Cues: I.e., showing Empathy
    • The ability to pick up on social cues (verbal / non-verbal)
    • Communication skills
• Setting “Soundries“
  • Setting personal boundaries with sound
  • What this looks like:
    • Communicating needs and setting the appropriate steps to regulate auditory stimuli

Strategies for managing noise/volume within the classroom to meet different needs

• Sensory Diet / Sensory Regulation:
  • Using before/after an overstimulating activity to calm the nervous system
  • (see Behavioral Regulation for more details)
• Practicing scripted self-boundaries:
  • Examples:
    • “I am trying to focus, but it’s too loud.”
    • “Can we please speak softer?”
    • “I feel overwhelmed by how loud it is.”
    • “When you (shout), I feel (overwhelmed). I need (to be spoken to more quietly).”
• Praising students who demonstrate appropriate noise levels (focusing on the positives!)
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Boards:
  • For students who are non-verbal, or shut down when overstimulated
  • Can make your own for free to be more personable!
  • (See Gallery below for examples)

Gallery