SEL skills: Self-awareness

Materials: Art supplies, music

Art is a great way for students of all ages to relieve stress and express their emotions in a positive, healthy way.

Start by picking a piece of music (or even a poem or story) for students to react to. Ask them to use art supplies to react, providing prompts like:

• How did it make you feel?

• Is this music happy or sad?

• What colors did the music remind you of?

Mindfulness activities

SEL skills: Self-awareness, self-management

Materials: None! Just a list of your favorite mindfulness activities

Alright, let’s pause.

Breathe in, and out.

Lower your shoulders and sit up straight.

Doesn’t that feel better?

Mindfulness breaks can help students of all ages learn how to identify and regulate their emotions when they’re sad, scared or stressed.

Take a minute in your classroom and try some of the activities below.

Teach students to STOP when they encounter an emotional situation. Roleplay some stressful situations and teach students to:

• Stop

• Take a breath to calm down

• Observe the situation

• Proceed with a solution

Ask students to identify where they’re holding stress in their bodies. This can be tense shoulders, a frown or even a bouncing leg. Guide them through releasing stress for a more balanced body.

Pay attention to the senses. Ask students to identify:

• Five things they can see

• Four things they can touch

• Three things they can hear

• Two things they can smell

• One thing they can taste

Encouraging positive self-talk

SEL skills: Self-awareness, self-regulation

Materials: Just a positive attitude!

“This is too hard.”

“I guess this is good enough.”

“Everyone is better at this than I am!”

As a teacher, you have an important opportunity to build students up and influence how they think about themselves.

Gently correct students when you hear negative self-talk throughout the day, and use it as an opportunity to suggest kind thoughts:

• “I’m going to work hard and get this right.”

• “I can do better.”

• “How are my classmates solving this problem?”

Model this throughout your teaching, too — if you make a mistake, don’t berate yourself. Use it as an opportunity to demonstrate positive self-talk and try again.