Emotional Literacy in the Middle School is a field-tested program for implementing a robust and effective social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum middle schools. Designed by the top experts in the field of emotional intelligence and SEL, the six-step process creates a holistic intellectual, emotional, and social framework that enhances learning by helps students connect content to their everyday experiences.
Through activities such as self-reflection, analysis of academic material and current events, classroom discussions, interactions with family members, artistic designs and interactive writing projects, students acquire a deep and complete understanding of words as whole concepts. This increases the probability of long-term storage and spontaneous usage because memory is coded to specific events linked to social and emotional situations.
Research confirms that comprehensive school-based social emotional learning programs such as the one detailed in this book enhance the development of physical and mental health, moral judgment, citizenship, academic motivation, and help prevent at-risk behaviors such as substance abuse, violence, truancy.
The easy-to-implement program by Marvin Maurer, Marc Brackett, and Francesca Plain can be used as a stand-alone program or can be introduced to students as part of their general literacy. It encourages differentiation of instruction, provides individualized learning in a classroom setting, and addresses each student's unique learning style.
Students who have participated in the program have been shown to
• Acquire a rich vocabulary to identify, label, and express a range of emotional experiences
• Develop self-awareness and social-awareness
• Discern their own feelings and the feelings of others
• Understand the relationships between thoughts, feelings, and actions
• Share and communicate thoughts and feelings with teachers, classmates and others
• Choose appropriate emotional/behavioral responses in given situations
• Resolve personal conflicts and social difficulties in a productive manner
• Improve critical thinking and decision-making skills
• Achieve greater understanding from reading
• Perform better on standardized tests
In addition to the 6 Steps, the book includes Student Projects for intensive practice of specific social and emotional competencies. This comprehensive resource also includes reproducible materials for student use and training and support materials for teachers.
This school-based social and emotional learning program is unparalleled at promoting students' emotional literacy, and in so doing improving academic and social outcomes.