A Special Place #engaginglitminds

This classroom was a special place for these five-year-olds.

Not only did they have a teacher that had a passion for literacy and integrated solid instruction, but they also had a teacher who helped her students manage emotions, set goals, have positive relationships and make their own decisions. These are all aspects of social emotional learning. I know the power in this because my child was in her classroom. I know this because I partnered with her as the literacy coach. I know this because she shared her passion with me. And, that classroom was a beautiful place to be.

This teacher’s strategic and intentional way of embedding social emotional learning in the classroom is proof, supporting our Engaging Literate Minds book study, that this can and does happen. For me, it is the most powerful proof because I see the real results in my child.

So, how did she do it? There were many ways and each could be its own blog post.

Making Books

One way was through the powerful process of making books from the start of school. Yes, kindergarteners can make books the first week of school.

“These books changed us.”

In Engaging Literate Minds, the authors shared this quote from a second grader with autism whose teacher had him make books. How profound is that? Who knows if this second grader could have told you that they were more empathetic through the process of making books, or that they were able to confidently set goals and be agents of their own literate lives, or that their reflection time during workshop created a community that allowed for celebrations and interdependence. The process of making books can lead to all of these things, and for that little second grader, he at least knew he was a changed person.

There were several aspects of this chapter on making books that stood out to me, aspects of making books that were actionable to the classroom and tied synchronously to SEL. It is easy to say we can integrate social emotional learning into literacy, but “How?” is really the question, right?

First, a definition of social emotional learning: SEL is “the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions,” (www.casel.org).

Next, let us get a common understanding of “making books” and how that is different than just teaching writing.

Making books is different than the teacher giving a lesson and assigning a task for the kids to do on a single sheet of paper. The word “making” is key here. Kids are great at making. They make things out of playdough. They make things in the sandbox. They make homemade forts. It is how they learn. And, when they have something to emulate (i.e. the picture books the teacher reads to them), making just makes sense in their world. When they sit down with a stapled stack of papers, many (though not all) can dive into sharing their story, whether it be with illustrations or print. They need very little instruction to begin this process because they are makers at heart.

This process of creating, as the authors of Engaging Literate Minds share, "provides students with a sense of agency, competence, confidence, and optimism.” They are literally making books just like real authors. They are learning that they are real authors, too.

So, where’s the tie with SEL and making books? Here are a few actionable ways to integrate the two:

Classroom Practice or Belief in Making BooksTie to Social Emotional Learning (SEL)As Katie Wood Ray said,

“Children understand that when they make books, they’re not drawing instead of writing, and they haven't been asked to make picture books because they don’t yet know how to write. They’ve been asked to draw pictures to make meaning--along with words--because that’s what makers of picture books do.”

Do not let a child’s inability to read or write words stop them from making books.

Making meaning by making books involves children reflecting on their lived experiences and communicating that to an audience. Many times, this involves lessons they learned, mistakes they made, relationships they have, goals they accomplished and all of that ties to SEL. As students write about a grandmother dying, empathy is at play. As a student writes about an accomplishment, goal setting is at play. As students share a message that impacts a community, empathy and responsibility are at play.Celebrate Approximations (i.e. A child emulating what an author does by making marks on a page that is supposed to be print.)Setting and achieving goals are a part of SEL. When a community of writers celebrate not just their own approximations, but also those of their peers, they are taking part and motivated by the process of setting goals and the process of achieving those goals.Normalize Finding Solutions (i.e. A student being okay with getting writer’s block and utilizing steps to work through that).Chances are, you have had a student hat shuts down and gets angry or frustrated because they do not know what to write about. Normalizing finding solutions, whether it be in literacy or in life, is about pushing through those emotions and finding a solution. It means not staying stuck in those emotions. It means knowing you can move past a roadblock. Talk about how books they write influences others.(Have students share during reflection time who they wrote their book for and how it might impact their life.)This creates a sense of social agency, empathy and responsibility. Confer with students and inquire into their work with questions like “What are you working on as a writer today?” or “What decision did you make in your writing today?”This fosters decision making, goal setting, and students who are agents of their own work.

Making Books: A Reflection

What is key in this process is building teacher’s knowledge in how SEL can and should be a part of the literacy classroom. Social emotional learning is a hot topic right now and many districts have a separate curriculum for this, which is fine. But, there is real power in embedding it in our content areas. Professional development for teachers in how to do this is huge. And a game changer in that process is seeing it in action in a teacher’s room and being able to collaborate with that teacher on their journey of embedding SEL in literacy.

And, imagine with me, what if this was common practice in a K-12 system? How would that impact our graduates? Our community? And, our connected global society?

Are we needing a little more empathy right now? Absolutely. Do we need to be a bit more solution-oriented as opposed to taking sides? Desperately. Do we need individuals who write to communicate a message that impacts others? Yes! Do we need people to be agents of their lives and set goals? Without a doubt. Do we need to learn to manage our emotions and work to find a solution? A resounding yes.

Integrating social emotional learning in literacy is bigger than our curriculum. It is bigger than our K-12 system. Our world is in desperate need of these things right now.

Making books is a start in a journey to build students with stronger social emotional lives and a start to a society that is more empathetic, solution-oriented and not driven by emotion alone.

This post is part of our 2020 Summer Book Study. Find all previous posts and more information here. Also, we will discuss Engaging Literate Minds every Wednesday at 4:30 P.M. at the newsletter. Sign up below – it’s free!