Events

Social emotional learning (SEL) is integral to student success in the classroom. It helps students develop the necessary skills to regulate their own emotions as well as build and maintain relationships with peers and teachers.

Research shows that SEL activities can lead to “improved classroom behavior, an increased ability to manage stress and depression, and better attitudes about themselves, others and school.”

Through IDRA’s Re-energizing Leadership to Achieve Greater Student Success project, led by Dr. Nilka Avilés, IDRA provided coaching to school leadership teams who saw the need for building teacher capacity in SEL strategies.

In this webinar, Dr. Nilka Avilés and consultants Jeanne Cantu and Gerald Sharp presented the strategy of using interactive read alouds. Students can read about and hear how book characters respond to different behavioral and emotional situations that may be similar to their own. Since read alouds are a traditional component of classroom instruction, they are a natural and easily integrated vehicle for introducing and practicing social and emotional responses in the classroom. Interactive read alouds can readily be followed by extension activities, such as reader response, oral discussions, role playing and writing. And they and the extension activities will help build a sense of community in classrooms and support students in their interactions with others.