Hot Topic: Social-Emotional Learning

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which students develop an understanding of their emotions and social skills, as well as how these influence their self-image and interpersonal relationships. Discovery Education supports SEL through its dynamic platform, relevant content, robust channels, and instructional strategies.

Background

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is the industry-leading expert on integrating social and emotional learning with academic learning to address the whole student. SEL not only supports students’ academic achievements, it also fosters an understanding of their perceptions and emotional state, how to appropriately communicate, and how their actions and reactions are connected to others. CASEL identifies five competencies that frame how students’ social and emotional well-being develops:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Social awareness
• Relationship skills
• Responsible decision-making

Discovery Education supports these five competencies through its dynamic platform, relevant content, robust content collections, and instructional strategies.

Social-Emotional Learning Center

Exclusive to our Full Discovery Education partners, the Social-Emotional Learning Center presents a curated collection of hundreds of resources designed to help educators integrate SEL into core instruction and to help all students develop social and emotional competencies, cultivate self-confidence, manage stress, look at situations and issues from a variety of perspectives, and maintain their well-being so everyone can thrive. Content in the Center is aligned to SEL competencies and is organized into tabs that focus on educator professional development and school culture, ready-to-use instructional activities, and multimodal, student-facing digital content for all grade bands. The Center was created with support from The Allstate Foundation.

Channels for SEL

Discovery Education has over 600 channels of content, curated by curriculum experts. Many of these channels support social and emotional learning for students. Explore a few of our favorites. These links will require a Discovery Education login.

• Corporate Education Partnerships: With a diverse portfolio of partners – big brands, social impact organizations, sports leagues, and non-profits – we introduce today's students to careers and experiences that bring the real world to the classroom.The SEL and Civics tabs provide great resources for SEL. 
• Soar with Wings: Provides standards-aligned digital resources that incorporate academics and fun while building key social and emotional skills for students in grades K–5. Soar with Wings also strengthens the skillset of teachers, parents, and caregivers so they can equip students with the resources and support they need to fly high!
• Teaching with Testimony: Dedicated to making audio-visual interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides a compelling voice for education and action.
• Discover Your Happy: Provides science-based tools for educators, students and parents to show how happiness can be achieved through learnable skills and practices.
• Wellness: Learn about the holistic integration of the eight dimensions of wellness: emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual, and find resources to support conversations in the classroom about wellness.
• Child Mind Institute: Learn what athletes and actors like Brandon Marshall and Jonah Hill would tell their younger selves in #MyYoungerSelf, how actors like Octavia Spencer and Andrew Garfield found ways to cope and thrive during the coronavirus crisis, and what WNBA and NBA players like Sheryl Swoopes and Bismak Biyombo do to combat stress and stay positive.
• Everyday Speech: This channel presents a collection of videos, activities, and worksheets that encompass multiple SEL strategies. The following collection is organized by each of the CASEL competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Explore resources that guide younger students to harness their own identity and develop healthy relationships with others.
• Healthy Decisions: Presents instructional materials and classroom resources to support students in developing healthy decision-making skills. The collection of materials explores the benefits of making healthy decisions around such topics as alcohol and drugs, mental health and wellness, nutrition, and physical activity.
• Common Sense Education: Connect students to critical digital citizenship skills. Each lesson takes on timely topics for school communities, supports teachers with improved classroom tools, and prepares students to take ownership of their digital lives.
• My Mindful Music: This collection of music helps provide focus and a sense of calm for students while they are working. 

Self-Awareness

Developing self-awareness means becoming aware of your emotions and how your behavior is influenced by them. It also means understanding your strengths and weaknesses and adopting a growth-mindset.

• LG’s Discover Your Happy provides resources that teach students how to recognize their happiness and how to sustain it. Resources include activity guides, the hashtag #DiscoverYourHappy for sharing happiness, and a virtual field trip supported by viewing party resources.
• The Spotlight on Strategies (SOS) instructional strategy Four Corners asks students to determine how strongly they feel about an issue. They must be able to articulate their stance and share their reasoning that supports it.

Self-Management

Students develop self-management by learning to control their impulses, manage their stress in school and home, and become self-disciplined and self-reliant. This also includes the development of organizational skills and learning how to set goals and work towards them.

• The video Governing Self-Control (9-12) shares insight into how the brain can be manipulated to maintain self-control.
• Life Skills 101: Dealing with Stress (K-5) focuses on recognizing managing stress in a format that younger students can understand.
• Goal Setting: Discovering Your Gifts (6-12) explains the five steps of successful goal-setting.
• My Content and QuickList allow students to organize content found within Discovery Education. Students can organize found resources in stages (QuickList→ My Content) and can create a digital folder structure in My Content that makes it easier for them to access curated content.
• You can also Browse by Topic in Discovery Education and select Health for content organized by various health-related topics including: mental health, growth and development, alcohol and other drugs, and more.

Social Awareness

Social awareness allows students to understand how to act and react in different settings and is a key building block in interacting with others. This includes considering other perspectives, having respect for others, developing empathy, and appreciating diversity.

• The Tolerance Channel offers age-appropriate (K-5, 6-12, US-only) content in the form of videos and activities that emphasize the importance of having a willingness to peacefully coexist with all people, regardless of their backgrounds and beliefs.
• SOS instructional strategy Multiple Perspectives requires students to engage deeply with an image or video as they assume a perspective other than their own.
• The video series La Golda provides K-8 video content around a group of students who learn about inclusion, gender equality, autism, and racism. All videos are available in both English and Spanish.

Relationship Skills

Building strong relationship skills allows students to interact with others in productive, positive ways. Learning how to communicate appropriately, engage socially with others, and understanding the value of teamwork are all key aspects of developing relationship skills.

• SOS instructional strategy Talking Sticks teaches students the importance of “everyone has a voice” by utilizing a discussion structure that is equitable.
• The Bullying Channel (K-5, 6-8, 9-12, US-only) utilizes video content and strategies to convey both the importance of kindness and the negative impact of bullying.
• The video Character: Making Friends (6-8) educates students on how to make, maintain, and end friendships in mature ways.

Responsible Decision-Making

Learning how to make responsible decisions involves identifying problems, analyzing solutions, solving problems, evaluating and reflecting on decisions, and considering the ethical implications of our decisions.

• Today’s Green Minute: Grocery Shopping with the Ethical App (K-12) introduces an app that allows consumers to look up ethical reviews of products.
• Life Skills 101: Problems and Choices (K-5) provides an in-depth look at making good decisions as a process.