Social emotional learning (SEL) is a key component of everyday classroom instruction, so why wouldn’t we include it in our remote learning tasks on snow days too? These types of activities foster a sense of connectedness and emotional well-being among students, even when they are home on a snowy day. Some students celebrate when there is a snow day, while others do not feel the same due to their home environment. School often brings stability to students’ lives who otherwise don’t have it. SEL activities also have the power to alleviate stress and anxiety for these students. This post includes 8 SEL activities for remote learning. You can choose which ones work best for you and your elementary students to support your students in practicing SEL at home. Check them out below!
8 SEL Activities for Remote Learning Snow Days
Check out the 8 SEL activities for remote learning during snow days below!
1. Student Check-Ins
The first of the SEL activities for remote learning on this list is to set up student check-ins. Provide opportunities for your students to check in with you. You can have an open zoom time that your students know they can join to check-in about how they are feeling or just to be able to talk to you.
Another good idea is to have times for your class to meet that are not academic. Kids miss each other and you and want the time to just be able to see each other and chat.
2. Virtual Morning Meetings
Morning meetings are a great way to teach and reinforce SEL concepts.
You can take a lot of components of your usual morning meeting and make it virtual. Students can still greet each other, you can read a morning message together, and you can have questions of the day. Target your message and questions towards SEL concepts or use this time teach a new SEL concept.
Record your lessons so that students who are unable to attend can still participate.
3. Providing Options
Options for how students choose to complete and present their work is an easy way to incorporate SEL concepts into remote learning. Providing options in how students complete their work incorporates the SEL concept of self-awareness and self-management.
Providing choices allows students to work with the concept of what learning works best for them, and how to manage completing their assignments using the method of learning that they have chosen.
4. SEL at Home Choice Boards
Choice boards for completing assignments foster independence, self-awareness and self-management in students.
Choice boards also provide flexibility for families who are overwhelmed with digital learning.
Choices for SEL activities could be mindfulness and breathing exercises, write a letter to someone you love, make a self-collage, visualize and draw your favorite place, and write a list of things that you are grateful for.
5. Read Alouds
Read alouds easily transition to remote learning.
You can decide if you want to record yourself reading a book or read it live to your class. Find a book that spotlights the SEL concept you are targeting. Pause during your reading for class discussions and focus the discussions towards the SEL components of the book.
You can also record yourself reading the book and attach an SEL assignment to the recording.
This is one of my favorite SEL activities for remote learning on this list! Check out these SEL read aloud activities that are great for remote learning!
6. SEL Scavenger Hunts
Trust me, students will love having the option to complete a scavenger hunt.
SEL scavenger hunts can even be included in a kindness calendar or choice board! It can also be a stand alone activity.
Have students hunt around their house and outside their house (weather dependent) that match SEL concepts. They can find something they love, an item someone they love gave them, something they are grateful for, something that is their favorite color, etc.
7. Journals
Have students keep a journal at home.
You can give them the option of completing a paper journal or a digital journal. You can also choose to give them SEL based prompts to answer or if you want them to free write.
Whether or not your students answer prompts, the process of reflecting by using a journal is a major SEL concept.
8. Vision Board
This is a great activity to support the SEL concepts of goal setting and self-management.
Students can create it digitally or physically. Have them gather pictures of what they want to do in the future and put it on their board!
You get to decide how far in the future you want students to complete the activity for.
In conclusion, we hope you found found this post about SEL activities for remote learning helpful! If you did, then check out my SEL units for elementary students!
