SEL Activities for Educators

Suggested SEL Activities: A Focus on Respect

We are pleased to share a sampling of items you can use during a Zoom or Google Hangout class during the week ahead.

This week’s theme revolves around the concepts of Respect and Self-Respect. You can mix and match activities to suit your time needs, or deliver the entire lesson which is estimated to take about an hour of active teaching time.

Please share these emails with your colleagues. We have continued to list the focus areas from the SEL wheel next to each activity to make it easy for you to help your students grow academically and emotionally.

Activity 1: What’s the Definition of Respect?

(Skills - Self-Awareness/Social Awareness)

Suggested for: Advisory Group Leaders

Time allotted: 10 minutes

Materials Needed:

· Several pre-made Padlet sites for virtual brainstorming;

· Paper for each student;

· Pen or pencil for each student;

· A dictionary or virtual dictionary.

Ask your students to share their definition of the word “respect”. Record their definitions on Padlet. Brainstorm a list of words that come to mind for your students when they hear the word “respect.”Have students popcorn these words out while you or a scribe record them on Padlet.

At the same time, have a volunteer or volunteers look up the word “respect” in the dictionary. They can use their cell phones, tablets, or other device to search definitions on Dictionary.com, Wikipedia, etc.

Have each student record their definition on Padlet, or have a scribe record everyone's answers. Ask the group to decide which definitions are most relevant.

Then, review both lists with the group. Challenge the students to consider the dictionary definition in light of their own definition and make adjustments as they see fit. Highlight where the two lists are the same and different. Discuss with your group.

Activity 2: Who is Worthy of Respect?

(Skills - Self-Awareness/Social Awareness)

Suggested for: Advisory Group Leaders

Time allotted: 20 minutes

Play the song, “Respect” by Aretha Franklin ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FOUqQt3Kg0).

Have R-E-S-P-E-C-T written on Padlet and share it in the screen so that it is visible to all of the students. Under the word RESPECT write the following questions:

· Who is worthy of respect?

· Why are they worthy of it?

· List people you think are worthy of your respect. (These can be people such as friends, family members, and community members, or people they don’t know personally, such as people in the news, etc.)

Ask each student to write their answers on a piece of paper at home. Give the students 5-10 minutes to answer the questions.

Ask students to share their answers if they feel comfortable. A scribe can write the responses on Padlet. After students have shared their lists, engage the group in a brief discussion of why the people on their list might warrant their respect.

Activity 3: What’s Best About Me?

(Skills - Self-Awareness/Social Awareness)

Suggested for: Advisory Group Leaders

Time allotted: 20 minutes

After reviewing and discussing people they respect, ask the students if, based on these qualities, they would add their own names to the list? Students may suggest that this would be bragging, or some might make jokes. Explain to the students that they deserve a chance to earn respect from everyone, especially themselves. Point out that each student has special qualities, just like the people they listed.

Write Self-Respect on a separate Padlet. Ask students to volunteer to look up the definition of “self-respect” and record their finding on the Padlet titled Self-Respect.

Ask your students to consider the respect-worthy qualities of other people they discussed earlier and ask them to list a few of those qualities that apply to themselves on a sheet of paper. Then, ask them to think about an instance in which they demonstrated one of those qualities.

Have students break into pairs in breakout rooms and share that instance with their partner. How did these actions make the student feel? If necessary, prompt students with the following examples:

· Standing up for a friend or family member;

· Winning an audition;

· Getting a job;

· Studying hard to pass a difficult exam.

As each student speaks, ask his or her partner to take notes, describing the tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language of the speaker. Have partners switch roles so each student can share their experience.

Next, ask students to briefly share with their partner a moment that they would be happy to forget. Again, ask the partners to take notes on the tone of voice, facial expressions and body language of the speakers.

Once all of the students have had the opportunity to share and record both positive and negative experiences with their partner, ask the group to come back together. Have students report on what they noticed about their partner’s behavior.