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Social- Emotional Learning Strategy Ideas

The below is a list of strategies that teachers can use with their students to embed social-emotional learning strategies into lessons that will help
students and educators understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain
positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. (CASEL, and SEL Team Goal).

As educators we are very involved in the students' time during the day and as such the bond between the educator and the student is very crucial for
the learning to take place. The Listed strategies are aimed to provide ideas to meet the students’ social-emotional needs which take place in both
classroom and virtual settings. It is very important that the students are given the time to be talked to and heard.

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The above image shows the core aspect of developing social-emotional learning which is based on 5 core
components. To understand the components in more detail a description for each will follow:
1. Self Awareness: The ability to accurately recognize one’s emotions and thoughts and their influence on
behavior. This includes accurately assessing one’s strengths and limitations and possessing a well-grounded
sense of confidence and optimism.

2. Self Management: The ability to regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different
situations. This includes managing stress, controlling impulses, motivating oneself, and setting and working
toward achieving personal and academic goals.

3. Social Awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds
and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior, and to recognize family, school, and
community resources and supports.

4. Relationship Skills: The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse
individuals and groups. This includes communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting
inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively, and seeking and offering help when needed.

5. Responsible Decision Making: The ability to make constructive and respectful choices about personal
behavior and social interactions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, social norms, the
realistic evaluation of consequences of various actions, and the well-being of self and others.

Strategy # Activity name Grade(s) Instructions Aim of activity

1. Let's Discuss Time (LDT) 9-12 Students choose to discuss topics of interest. Teacher This activity will focus on

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facilitates the discussion whilst students share their feelings building:

around different topics. Social awareness, self
management and responsible
decision making skills.

2. What's my goal? 9-12 Students create learning goals for the course year or This activity will focus on
semester. They write up their action steps on how they will building:
reach their goal. Outline possible challengers on the path
and possible solutions. Self awareness, self
management and responsible
decision making skills.

3. Role Play Time 9 Students will role play different scenarios that they may face. This activity will focus on
Students may switch roles to raise awareness and empathy building:
though thinking through how the person might feel.
Self management, relationship
skills and responsible decision
making skills

4. “We can do it” 9-12 Students create a challenge for the whole class to work and This activity will focus on
track progress toward together. building:

Social awareness, relationship

skills and responsible decision
making skills.

5. Circle times 9-12 Foster Positive Student

Teachers can call for circle time, Teachers have the power to Relationship and helps develop
make group time more effective and enjoyable for all
involved, teachers need to set the rules/norm for the circle healthy relationships between
time , circle times can be used to solve problems that are students.This activity will focus
affecting the class, school, community, and world.
on listening skills Empathy ,
problem solving

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6. Quote of the day 9-12 This activity can be done in different ways: Teachers can put
the quote of the day and have the students reflect or Being reflective helps students
discuss , Teachers can assign groups and have them come challenge their own practice as
up with a quote of the day .or give the students the first part you will justify decisions and
of a quote and have them think of different endings. rationalize choices that they
have made. It encourages
These question can be use during the discussion or
them to develop an
● What do you think this quotation means? understanding of different
● What are the most important ideas and values perspectives and viewpoints.
embedded in the quote?
● How would you rewrite this quotation if you had to
use synonyms of the original words?
● Is there something you can learn from this quote
about how you should live your life?
● What is the key word in this quotation? √ How would the
world be different if everyone lived by this quotation?
● Can you see yourself thinking of this quotation in a
certain situation?
● Would it change how you act? √ When would this quote
not apply?
● Is this quote realistic or idealistic?

7. BINGO 9-12 Foster Positive Student

Relationship and helps develop
INSTRUCTIONS FOR BINGO
healthy relationships between
■ Give every student a bingo card. students
■ Call out the definition, word, phrase or
question.
■ Students must then identify the word or
picture on their bingo card and cover
the space (If using slide 3 template,
click on the picture to change the
background color of the square).

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■If a student has all words or pictures

covered diagonally, across a row or
vertically in a column, they should call
BINGO.
■ If a student claims they have BINGO
and they are incorrect, they are
disqualified from that round.
○ Modification Suggestions:

■ Bingo cards can be used for just about

any content area to reinforce
definitions, new vocabulary, math
problems, even long thought out
questions./ emotions / getting to know
each other ( has a cat ? plays
piano ..etc )
■ Update words and pictures for
appropriate topics.
■ Add sound effects.
■ Develop one slide with words or
pictures then copy the slide and move
the words and pictures to other
squares.
■ Print the bingo cards on a color printer.
■ Laminate the bingo cards for use in
additional classes.
■ To play bingo in a computer lab,
develop multiple bingo cards and put
them in a shared folder, then, have
each student select a random bingo
card to play.

8. Moment of Mindfulness 9-12

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment The goal is to achieve a state
awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and of alert, focused relaxation by
surrounding environment, below is just an example of some

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practices: deliberately paying attention to

thoughts and sensations
● Mindful breathing for one minute. without judgment. ..

Lower your eyes and notice where you feel your

To provide student with
breath. That might be the air going in and out at your
practices to promote their
nostrils or the rise and fall of your chest or stomach. If
Mindfulness
you can’t feel anything, place your hand on your
stomach and notice how your hand gently rises and
falls with your breath. If you like, you can just
lengthen the in breath and the out breath or just
breathe naturally. Your body knows how to breathe.
Focus on your breath. When your mind wanders, as it
will do, just bring your attention back to your breath.
You might like to say ‘thinking’ when you notice your
thoughts and just gently shepherd your attention back
to your breath. This can be done for longer than one
minute.

● Loving-kindness meditation.

For one minute, repeat ‘May I be happy, may I be well, may I

be filled with kindness and peace.’ You can substitute “you”
for “I” and think of someone you know and like, or just send
love to all people

9. The Brain in the Palm of your 9-10 A short lesson/activity familiar to those who have done the To encourage mindfulness, and
Hand Positive Discipline workshops. Using the hand as a symbol indicate non-verbally when you
for the brain, a good way to quickly check-in with students’ are becoming upset or
wellbeing/stress levels at any time unfocused.

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10. Journal 9-12 Give some space for students to write freely about Mindfulness and reflection.
what’s on their minds. Reassure that this will not be An opportunity to articulate
read by teacher or peers unless they want to share. emotions/thoughts without
Avoid putting too many parameters on topics but fear of judgement. A good
encourage students to examine their feelings and exercise for any age, to
possible reasons why they’re feeling that way. process complex and
contradictory situations.

11. Three Words 9-12 1. Ask participants to agree on a random topic. It can This is a good warm-up
be anything from food to dogs, to rugby. activity and it can also be
2. Explain that each person should contribute with useful to discuss the
three words to the story (and three words only at a importance of adapting to
time) and they will take turns to contribute. changing situations and
thinking on one’s feet.
3. Encourage the participants to say the first three Social awareness, self
words that come to their mind. It does not matter if
awareness, relationship
they make sense or not.
skills
4. Try to move from one person to the other quickly.
12. Table Topics 9-12 Some examples of questions include: They are a great way to
start a conversation for
● Is there such a thing as perfect? participants to get to know
● Where would you most like to go and why? each other or to start a
● Who’s the funniest person you know? discussion on a specific
topic. You can choose
● Would you rather live for a week in the past or the questions pertinent to the
future? topic of your workshop
● What is the meaning of ‘happiness’ to you? Social awareness, self
● Who do you trust and why? awareness, relationship
● How would you describe your future in three skills
words?
● If you can go back in time to your 10-year-old self,
what advice would you give your 10-year-old self?
● What can you do today that you were not capable
of a year ago?

13. Same and Different 9-10 1. Split your participants into groups of 3 or more and The aim is to learn

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allocate them to breakout rooms. information about other

2. Ask each group to write down as a list on an online people, good for new
whiteboard or virtual sticky note all the interesting groupings of students.
things that they all have in common (ask them to Hence, this activity can be
avoid obvious things, such as all being men or either a great icebreaker or
women) and something unique to each participant. a way for people within an
They will have 5 minutes for this task. established group to know
3. At the end of the 5 minutes, ask each group to each other better and
share their list to the rest of the class via an online communicate.
whiteboard. Social awareness, self
awareness, relationship
skills

14. Big Lotto Win 9-10 1. Explain to the participants to imagine that they have This game is good as a
just won the lottery. They have won 25 million warm-up, for participants to
Euros, GBP, dollars or any big amount in the local familiarize with each other
currency of the country they are in. and also to think creatively.
2. Give participants 5 minutes to list all the things they Social awareness, self
would do with the money. There is no limit to the awareness, relationship
number of things they can put down, as long as skills
they can write them within 5 minutes.
3. After 5 minutes are up, ask everyone to talk about
their list and discuss.
4. If you wish to, you can then sort the items on the
lists into logical groups that you will find naturally
evolve according to:
○ Material items
○ Friends and family
○ Travel and luxury
5. Some other categories may also emerge
6. Allow 5 minutes for the group to discuss the list.
This normally will occur very easily.

15. Storytelling 9-12 1. In advance of the session, prepare some Because of the creative and
documents or boards (you can use MS Word or cooperative nature of this
game, it is a good activity to

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create boards with an image manipulation use either as an icebreaker

program) with a set of 4 pictures on each. or as a team-building
2. On the day, separate the participants into groups of activity. It can also be
4 people in breakout rooms and assign each group useful for a session on
one of the files with the photos. creativity.
3. Give the groups 10 minutes to look at the photos Social awareness, self
and to create their narrative that creates a story awareness, relationship
that connects the four images. skills
4. When the 10 minutes are up, ask each group to
share their story onto a virtual board and to spend
up to three minutes to tell the story of their images.
Allow other groups to then suggest how they might
have developed the story and if they would have
used the images differently.

16. Hopes and Fears 9-12 1. Ask participants to write down their greatest hope This is a classic icebreaker,
(for example, for the course, for the current year or which is good as a
for a specific project) and then their greatest fear. reflection tool or to assess
2. In a face-to-face class, the participants differentiate what the participants’
the answers by, for example, writing each answer expectations are from the
on a sticky note of a different color. course.
Online, you need to find another way to differentiate
them. For example, you could use Padlet, Jamboard Social awareness, self
or Lino, which allow you to create virtual sticky awareness
notes of various colors.
3. Read all the hopes first and then the fears and
discuss.

17. Childhood Dreams 9-12 1. Ask participants to post on a virtual board what their This icebreaker is useful to
childhood dream was and to relate it to their present start a discussion on how
aspirations. priorities and goals can
2. You can either have participants discuss this as a change throughout a
whole class or have groups of participants in person’s life.
breakout rooms.
Social awareness, self
3. End with a summary of all the contributions from all awareness
participants and a whole-class discussion.

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18. A picture is worth 1000 words 9-12 1. Ask participants to take a picture of something. This is a fun activity, which
Typically, you choose a specific theme. For is good to get people to
example, ask participants to take a picture of their know each other using
shoes, or a picture of something that is on their work visuals and creativity.
area or the view outside their window. Social awareness, self
Remember to ask participants to take the picture awareness, relationship
and upload it before the class starts, as otherwise it skills
might take too much time out of the session.
2. Ask participants to share the picture on a virtual
board.
3. Start a discussion. For example, you could ask why
they chose that particular item on their desk, or what
they like the most about the view they can see from
the window etc.

19. Where in the World 9-12 1. Show a map on the screen. Social awareness, self
2. Ask participants to pick a place in the world where awareness, relationship
they would like to go or that suits their personality. skills
3. Ask them to post three clues for that place.
4. Explain that the other participants have to guess
which place the other participants have chosen.

20. Lost in Space 9-10 1. Ask the participants to imagine that they are living This is a good way to get to
in a space station. All of a sudden, the space know each other without
station malfunctions and they have to evacuate. using the usual questions.
They are only allowed to take 5 items with them. Social awareness, self
Which items would they choose? awareness
2. Ask participants to share their answers in the
chatbox, explaining why they chose those five
items.

21. One word, One image 9-10 ● Ask participants to choose one word that best This is another activity
describes them or their life and to explain why. suitable for participants to
Alternatively, you can ask them to choose an image share information about
(they can download it from the Internet or take a themselves creatively.

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picture with their smartphone, for example). Social awareness, self

● Ask them to share their answers via the chat awareness
feature or on a virtual whiteboard.

22. Accomplished Goals 9-12 1. Ask participants to say what goal they have This is a good activity to
achieved in the last year (it does not matter how focus on positive things (i.e.
small) people’s achievements). It
2. Discuss. You could facilitate the discussion by is also a community
asking a question such as how they felt when they building tool, as participants
achieved the goal or what skills do they think were could be interested in
important in achieving the goal. achieving the same goal
that another person in the
3. You could post a list of achievements on a chat or group has achieved and
virtual board.
whom they might ask for
advice from.

23. Interests and Hobbies 9-12 ● Ask participants to post three links that reflect their This activity helps
hobbies. participants to get to know
● The other participants have to guess what their each other but with an
hobbies are. element of fun.
Social awareness, self
awareness, relationship
skills

24. Time Machine 9-12 1. Ask participants: ‘If you could go back or forward in Social awareness, self-
time, where would you go?’ ‘Why?’ You can then awareness, relationship
follow up with questions such as ‘Is there a person skills
you would like to meet?’
2. Ask participants to share the answers.

25. 9-12 Assist student to set their goals Foster Positive Student-
Setting goals Check on their progress teacher Relationship

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26. Lets chat 9-12 Ask students to mentions 2 special characters about Foster Positive Student
them. Relationship and helps
develop healthy
relationships between
student

28. 9-12 Ask students to set the class rules with you at the Social awareness, self
Participating in putting the class beginning of the course awareness, relationship
rules/ norms skills

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