Calling all elementary teachers looking for information about SEL! It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting your SEL journey or an expert looking to deepen your understanding of SEL. This list of 10 social emotional learning resources for teachers is what you need!
The list includes 5 SEL books. They are available on Amazon for purchase. Additionally, the list includes 5 SEL websites. These are free and include videos, articles, and handouts. All are high quality resources. You will find them helpful for sure!
As we know, SEL is a huge topic! As a result, it’s important to gather as much information as possible about it from a variety of trusted sources. This post will help you find everything you need.
Check out the list of social emotional learning resources below!
10 Social Emotional Learning Resources for Teachers
Below is a list of 10 social emotional learning resources for elementary teachers. Included are books, articles, handouts, and videos. Browse to see what best fits your needs!
5 SEL Books for Teachers
Check out the list of SEL books for teachers looking to learn about it below. They are all great books. Be sure to add them to your summer reading list!
1. Social and Emotional Learning in the Classroom: Promoting Mental Health and Academic Success
Social and Emotional Learning in the Classroom: Promoting Mental Health and Academic Success is by Kenneth W. Merrill and Barbara A. Gueldner. In this book, they provide resources for implementing social and emotional learning in K-12 settings. It’s full of detailed examples that illustrate the importance of SEL to support students’ mental health, behavior, and academic performance. The authors provide guidance on three things. First, they explain how to teach SEL concepts to students. Second, they show how to weave SEL into classroom curriculum. Third, they describe how to monitor student progress towards SEL goals. This is a great read!
2. Mindful School Communities
Mindful School Communities is by Christine Mason, Michele M. Rivers Murphy, and Yvette Jackson. In this book, they provide teachers with tools to create a thriving community in the classroom. This book outlines how to teach self regulation. Specifically, it recommends following the five Cs of SEL and mindfulness. The five Cs are consciousness, compassion, confidence, courage, and community. The authors supply teachers with exercises, strategies, and tools to bring SEL to life in their classroom. This is another great read!
3. Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators
Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators is by Maurice J. Elias, Joseph E. Zins, and Roger P. Weissberg. They wrote this book as a straightforward and practical guide to implementing high quality social-emotional instruction. They provide 39 guidelines and field-inspired examples for classrooms, schools, and districts. The authors created these guidelines using several sources. They used recent scientific studies, theories, site visits from around the country, and their own extensive experiences. This is another good one!
4. Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say?
Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say? is by Joseph E. Zins, Roger P. Weissberg, Margaret C. Wang, and Herbert J. Walberg. The authors are nationally recognized leaders in education and psychology. In this book, they focus on and examine the relationships between SEL and school success. This book provides scientific evidence and practical examples that point out the many benefits of SEL programs. These benefits include developing skills linked to cognitive development, fostering student focus and motivation, improving student-teacher relationships, creating school-family partnerships, and increasing student confidence and success. This is another one you should add to your list!
5. All Learning is Social and Emotional: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for the Classroom and Beyond
All Learning is Social and Emotional: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for the Classroom and Beyond is by Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Dominique Smith. They wrote this book to offer a comprehensive five-part model of SEL. It was important to them that the model was easy to integrate into everyday content instruction no matter the age and grade level of your students. They focus on the importance of teaching kids rather than standards in order to build students’ sense of identity and confidence, help students identify and manage their emotions, foster social skills, and promote decision making and problem solving. This is the fifth one to add to your list!
5 SEL Websites for Teachers
Check out the list of SEL websites for teachers learning about Social Emotional Learning below. They all include tons of great free information. I recommend browsing them all!
1. CASEL
CASEL might be the most important website on the list. It is an acronym for the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning. CASEL is a trusted source for high-quality evidence-based social and emotional learning. CASEL is the leader in SEL research and innovations. Their website provides a wealth of SEL resources and information.
If you haven’t heard of the CASEL SEL framework, be sure to check it out on their website! You can learn more about it from this CASEL framework page. This is the trusted framework used by many. You’ll see it if you take an SEL graduate course. I recommend you bookmark this site!
2. Edutopia
You might be familiar with Edutopia. You may not know, however, that part of their website is dedicated to providing teachers with articles and videos to support SEL. Their goal is to find and share resources for creating a healthy school culture by helping students develop skills to manage their emotions, resolve conflicts, and make responsible decisions. You may find this SEL video helpful. It explores 5 keys to social and emotional learning success and the classroom practices that make up the best and most effective SEL programs.
3. Education Week
Again, you may be familiar with Education Week. It is very popular. It includes tons of great videos, articles, and handouts for teachers about social emotional learning. Many of their articles offer short, concise, and practical advice. This allows you to apply it in your classroom the same day.
4. Ted Talk
Who doesn’t love a Ted Talk? I sure do! This Social and Emotional Learning Ted Talk comes from Trish Shaffer. She is the Coordinator for Multi-Tiered Systems of Support for the Washoe County School District. She talks about what social emotional learning is and how valuable it is. This video is ten minutes long.
5. Colorín Colorado
Colorín Colorado is a great resource for ELL or ESL teachers. It is also helpful for all educators who work with students who speak English as a second language. This part of their site includes tons of great information and resource recommendations for teachers.
In closing, we hope you found these social emotional learning resources helpful! If you are looking for additional resources, check out these SEL Units. They are a great way to incorporate SEL at the elementary level in fun and engaging ways. Also, read these posts:
- Everything Teachers Need to Know about SEL in the Classroom
- What SEL Looks Like in Schools This Year
- 5 Simple Tips for Teaching Social Awareness to Elementary Students