Navigating Tough School Years with SEL: How Middle Grade Books Empower Kids to Thrive and Belong
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Why are Teachers in Search of Social Emotional Learning Activities for Middle School
In recent years, there’s been a growing emphasis on the importance of SEL in education. As a former teacher, I’ve seen firsthand how integrating SEL into your classroom and into your interactions with your students can positively impact your relationships and your overall classroom environment. You can model these really important skills in a way that students might not see from other adults in their lives.
In my opinion, social emotional learning lessons in middle school can present a specific challenge. Relevant, engaging Middle School SELcurriculum options are few and far between. Middle schoolers want to be treated like adults, and if they feel lectured through sel lessons for middle school students, you lose buy in. So naturally, many of us are looking for social emotional learning activities for middle school that are easy to integrate cross curricularly and that will truly engage kids instead of leaving them feeling talked down to or lectured. That’s where middle grade books come in!
What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Really?
The term gets thrown around a lot these days, so let’s go to the experts. The Committee for Children defines SEL as the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
Wow, that’s a lot! At its core, when we are integrating SEL into our interactions with our students or our children, we’re focusing on the development of the whole child. Not just their academic skills, but those critical emotional, intelligence and interpersonal skills.
The five key components of SEL
CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning defines the five key components as of SEL as:
Self Awareness: Recognizing one’s emotions, values, strengths, and limitations.
Self Management: Managing emotions and behaviors to achieve goals and maintain a positive mindset.
Social Awareness: Understanding the perspectives of others and demonstrating empathy.
Relationship Skills: Establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, and effectively communicating with others.
Responsible Decision-Making: Making constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions.
These are all skills that we continue to work on as adults, so when you think about it, why not really start to build that foundation for kids in the classroom from early on? Now, in a world where we are being prompted by school admin and others to craft social emotional learning activities for middle school students, teachers have a new challenge. Creating your own sel lessons for middle school or discovering a social emotional learning curriculum middle school students will take seriously.
Benefits of implementing Middle School Social Emotional Learning Lessons into the Classroom
So research shows that incorporating SEL into the classroom has numerous benefits for students as well as teachers and the overall learning environment you build. Some of these benefits include:
Improved academic performance: Studies have found that students who participate in SEL programs show significant improvement in their academic performance, as well as increased motivation to learn.
Enhanced mental health: SEL programs have been linked to reduced levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among students.
Improved behavior: Students who are taught SEL skills tend to exhibit fewer behavioral problems and have lower rates of suspension and expulsion.
Better relationships: Students who participate in SEL programs develop stronger relationships with their peers and teachers, leading to a more positive and inclusive classroom environment.
And in an ideal world, there would be plenty of time for you to dedicate to SEL in your classroom.
But in the real world, teachers have more expectations placed on them than ever, and less time to live up to those expectations. Maybe you are one of the lucky few teachers that work in a school that has a dedicated SEL curriculum. Even then, though, ELA is a place to put those SEL competencies into practice, and to provide students with opportunities to understand these skills in a different context.
Middle School Social Emotional Learning and Middle Grade Books
Middle grade books are really optimized for cultivating social emotional learning activities and lessons. As someone who loved teaching writing and literacy and then went on to write a book for kids, this is my wheelhouse. Strong SEL for middle school can focus around characters that students see themselves in.
I get really excited about this idea because books provide an opportunity for you to support SEL skill development without middle schoolers feeling like they are being patronized on how to be a human being. With middle grade books you’re able to explore themes, explore situations and conflicts that resonate with young readers and create natural buy in.
When reading middle grade books, students engage with stories that reflect their own experiences, emotions, and challenges. When they are reading books about experiences different from their own, they can gain valuable insights and develop empathy for others.
Popular middle grade books that promote SEL
I think the majority of middle grade books actually provide great opportunities to foster SEL skill development.
This realization really hit me when I was editing my middle grade novel, The Ice House. While building a connection to sixth graders Louisa and Luke, neighbors trapped inside for months due to an inexplicable climate disaster, readers will explore self awareness, empathy, and resilience. They can also begin to process some of the universal trauma they experienced during COVID.
I have actually heard really positive feedback from adult readers of The Ice House as well, who have expressed the ways the book helped them begin to acknowledge the trauma they experienced during COVID and how it helped them start conversations with others about the way COVID changed them.
I wrote an essay for Nerdy Book Club that discusses how editing The Ice House during the height of COVID in Spring 2020 impacted the overall trajectory of the book, and helped me develop new hopes for it’s message.
Some of my other favorite middle grade books that can be used to incorporate SEL into ELA lessons are:
As you can see, when we integrate books into middle school social emotional learning activities, we can empower children to thrive during their tough school years and beyond! The ideas I’ve shared here have led to some really positive feedback from middle school ELA teachers.
I hope you try them out with your own kiddos.
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The benefits of elementary school author visits - The benefits that accompany author visits for elementary and middle school students.
Middle School Read Alouds - Exploring Middle Grade Book read alouds for 5th - 8th graders.
Book Clubs in Middle Grades - Get recommendations for running engaging and enriching book clubs with your middle schoolers.
Consider booking an Author Visit with me for your class or book club!
About The Ice House
The Ice House is a magical realism middle grade novel about friendship, change, and grief. It's a great classroom read for 8 - 12 year old students exploring climate change, family, and the importance of friendship.
