project plan: social and emotional learning- grade 2

Project Plan: Social and Emotional Learning- Grade 2 Class Description The class is composed of 19 Grade 2 students. There is a diversity of behavioural

traits and academic abilities among the students, which is important to be aware of in any

class. Most of the students are quite energetic and some can get easily distracted, so we

found classroom management to be important with this group. The students sometimes

have small disagreements with each other, but overall they get along with each other

quite well. We used morning meetings in our lessons to create a safe environment and

help the students develop stronger connections with each other.

One of the students in the class has autism, so it was somewhat challenging to

ensure that he could participate in everything we did with the students. He got distracted

and off task sometimes, but still participated in our activities and he made some

contributions to group discussions. There is also an ELL student who moved to Canada

from Syria about a year ago. She speaks English quite well, but she is struggling a bit

with writing, like many other students in the class. There are varying levels of reading

and writing abilities among all of the students. Some students were able to write

sentences for certain activities, while others only wrote a few words or drew a picture.

So we made sure to shape our learning activities around this diversity, by allowing the

option of drawing or writing and brainstorming words together on the board. We also

dealt with this by having a lot of group discussions, to allow all of the students to share

their ideas with others. They are a class that seems interested in learning and they

participated well in group discussions. Overall, they are a kind, warm, and welcoming

group of students, and we enjoyed working with them.

Rationale After speaking with the teacher, she suggested we focus on some aspects of social

and emotional learning with the students. We started by discussing feelings, to teach the

students how to understand their own feelings and to recognize how others are

feeling. Next, we focused on bullying to teach the students what bullying is, because the

teacher told us that the students often had small conflicts or joked around and they

thought it was bullying. We also taught them how to get help when you are bullied or

you witness bullying. We then moved on to friendship. Since the teacher had told us that

some of the students got into disagreements and fought about little things, we thought it

was important to teach them how to get along and say nice things to each other. Our final

two lessons focused on directed drawing. We decided to incorporate this as a fun way to

teach the students about self-management because their drawings did not end up looking

exactly like the model drawing we produced on the board, so they needed to deal with

their frustration. This lesson also served to show the students that everyone does things

differently, even when given the exact same directions.

LESSON 1: Recognizing Our Own Emotions Rationale: To show the students that we all go through a variety of emotions and there

are different ways to cope with our feelings.

Big Idea: Having good communication skills and managing our emotions enables us to

develop and maintain healthy relationships (Physical and Health Education, Grade 2).

Curricular Competency: Identify and describe feelings and worries, and strategies for

dealing with them (Physical and Health Education, Grade 2).

Learning Intention: For the students to know what emotions are, understand how they

are feeling, and be able to manage their emotions effectively.

Learning Standards In Student Language ( I can..):

• I can notice how I am feeling.

• I can deal with my emotions to make myself feel better.

Enacted Learning: The students will identify their own feelings and come up with ways

to deal with certain emotions while we read a book to them.

Assessment:

• At the end of the lesson, get the students to express how they are feeling to the

rest of the class to assess their ability to notice and explain their feelings.

• Throughout the lesson, the students will come up with ways to deal with different

emotions. This will help assess their ability to manage their emotions.

Lesson Hook:

• Ask the students, “What is an emotion?”

• Read the students a book.

Teacher, Student Activity/Response:

Activity 1: Morning Meeting

1. Get the students to sit in a circle on the floor.

2. Go around the circle, and have each student say good morning to their classmates.

Activity 2: Storytime – The Way I Feel

1. Read the story.

2. Throughout the story, pause and ask the students what they would do if they were

experiencing the emotions mentioned in the book.

3. Add to what the students come up with by suggesting additional strategies for

dealing with different emotions and practice these strategies as a group (example:

square breathing for anger).

Activity 3: Identifying Your Own Feelings

1. Get the students back into a circle and one by one, have them express how they

feel using the weather (example: sunny=happy, cloudy=feeling sad/lonely).

Plan for Early Finishers/Adaptations or Modifications for Individual Students:

These will not be necessary because the activities will be done together as a large group.

Lesson Closure: Have the students express how they are feeling at the end of the lesson.

Transition: Now that the students have a basic understanding of their own emotions, tell

them that next time we will talk about identifying other people’s emotions.

LESSON 2: Recognizing Emotions in Others Rationale: To show students to recognize how other people are feeling and to be

considerate of other people’s emotions.



Curricular Competency: Identify and describe feelings and worries, and strategies for

dealing with them (Physical and Health Education, Grade 2).

Learning Intention: For the students to recognize other people’s emotions and know

how to interact with them based on how they are feeling.


• I can tell if someone is feeling sad, angry, happy, etc.

Enacted Learning: The students will observe different emotions in images we provide,

and they will talk with a partner about what emotions they think are being portrayed. So,

they will be actively identifying emotions.

Assessment: The students will be asked to identify emotions that other people express.

This will assess their ability to recognize other people’s emotions based on facial

expressions.

Lesson Hook: Show the students pictures of children expressing various emotions.


Activity 1: Identifying Emotions

1. Students will be sitting at their desks.

2. Have images of people expressing 5 different emotions (happy, sad, angry,

scared, surprised).

3. Show one image at a time and the students will talk to the person next to them

(think-pair-share) about what emotion they think is being expressed.

4. Come back as a large group and discuss the emotion and HOW we can identify it.

5. Have the students discuss what they would do if they saw someone feeling this

way.

6. Repeat for each of the 5 emotions.

Activity 2 (if there is time): Feelings Thumball

1. Have the students get into a circle.

2. Pass around a ball with different emotions written on it. When a student catches

the ball, they will act out the emotion that one of their thumbs lands on and the

rest of the students will guess what the emotion is.

Activity 3: Care Wash

1. Have the students form two lines facing each other.

2. One student will walk between the two lines, from one end to the other. The rest

of the students say nice things about their classmate as they walk by them in the

line.

3. Repeat this to have a total of 2-4 students walk through the care wash, one at a

time.

Plan for Early Finishers/Adaptations or Modifications for Individual Students: If

students finish discussing while other pairs are still talking, they can practice acting out

the emotion and reacting to how their partner is feeling.

Lesson Closure: Care wash activity.

Transition: Give the students a brief overview of what we are doing for the next lesson.

LESSON 3: What Is Bullying? Rationale: To teach the students what bullying really.



Curricular Competency: Identify and describe avoidance or assertiveness strategies to

use in unsafe and/or uncomfortable situations (Physical and Health Education, Grade 2).

Learning Intention: For the students to be able to differentiate between situations

involving bullying, conflict, joking around, and a one time thing.


-I can understand what bullying is.

-I can get help when I see someone being bullied.

-I can tell the difference between a bully, bystander, ally, and friend.

-I can tell the difference between bullying, joking around, one time thing and

conflict.

Enacted Learning: The students will come up with real life situations that display

bullying, joking around, one time thing, and conflict.

Assessment: The students will describe different situations and identify whether or not

bullying is involved.


Activity 1: Morning Meeting

1. Get the students to form a circle.

2. Go around the circle, and each student will say: Good morning class, my name is

___________ and my favourite food is ___________. Then all the other students will

acknowledge the student by saying: This is __________ and their favourite food is

___________.

Example:

- Good morning class, my name is Elizabeth and my favourite food is pizza!

- This is Elizabeth and her favourite food is pizza!

This activity will make the classroom a more welcoming environment and also recognize

similar interests and names.

Activity 2: What is Bullying?

1. Go over the “Is It Bullying?” sheet. Start by writing each of the 4 categories on

the board (joking around, one time thing, conflict, and bullying).

2. Ask the students if they can explain what it means to just joke around and give

example situations. They will discuss this in pairs first.

3. Get the students to share their thoughts with the class and write down some

keywords from their answers. Expand on their answers by going over the points

on the sheet and giving additional example situations.

4. Repeat for the remaining 3 categories.

5. Ask the students what to do if you see someone being bullied.

6. Explain what it means to be a bystander or an ally.

7. Explain the difference and effect they have even if they are not the bully.

Activity 3: Buddy and Bully Drawings

1. Get the students to draw what a buddy is like and what a bully is like.

a. This will make them think critically about experiences they’ve had and

show their understanding of the previous activity regarding what a bully

is.

2. Get the students to explain their drawings to the class.

a. Add additional keywords to the board.

Backup activity (for time purposes): Move Your Body

1. Have all the students stand in a circle.

2. Announce an action for the students to do if they can relate to a statement we say.

Examples:

“Touch your nose if you have a pet dog.”

“Raise your hands above your head if you like apples.”


students finish their drawings early, they can draw something else on the back of their

sheet until everyone is ready for the discussion.

Lesson Closure: Care wash.

Transition: Tell the students that we will continue to discuss bullying and friendship

next week.

LESSON 4: Bullying Situations and Getting Help Rationale: To teach the students the difference between bullying and not bullying.



Curricular Competencies:

- Identify and describe avoidance or assertiveness strategies to use in unsafe and/or

uncomfortable situations (Physical and Health Education Grade 2).

- Identify and describe characteristics of positive relationships (Physical and Health

Education, Grade 2).

Learning Intention: For the students to understand how to identify bullying situations

and know how to get help when they are bullied or they witness bullying.

Learning Standards In Student Language (I can...):

• I can understand what bullying is.

• I can tell the difference between a bully and a friend.

• I can tell the difference between bullying, joking around, one time thing

and conflict.

• I can get help from people when I am bullied or when I witness bullying.

Enacted Learning: The students will see situations and decide if they are bully

situations or different types of conflict.

Assessment: The students will describe different situations and identify whether or not

bullying is involved. This will assess if they understand what bullying really is.


Activity 1: Is It Bullying?

1. Hand out one small strip of red paper and one small strip of green paper to each

student.

2. Read out different scenarios and for each one, have the students hold up the green

paper if they think the situation does not involve bullying, and the red paper if

they think it does involve bullying.

Activity 2: Helping Hand

1. Give each student the helping hand template.

2. Have the students cut the hand out and write the name of someone they can go to

for help in each of the fingers.

3. The students will colour their hands.


Students who finish early can draw or read.

Lesson Closure: Have the students share whose names they wrote on their hands with

the class.

Transition: Tell the students that we will continue to discuss bullying and friendship in

the next lesson.

LESSON 5: Friendship Rationale: To show the students that you can step in and help when someone is being

bullied. Also, to show students that being nice to each other is important and can create

positive relationships.



Curricular Competency: Identify and describe avoidance or assertiveness strategies to

use in unsafe and/or uncomfortable situations (Physical and Health Education, Grade 2).

Learning Intention: For students to see and understand what a bullying situation is, and

for them to know how to help when someone is being bullied. Also, for students to learn

how to say nice things to others.

Learning Standards In Student Language (I can...):

• I can understand what bullying is.

• I can help when I see someone being bullied.

• I can say positive things about other people.

Enacted Learning: The students will think of how they would react to bullying if they

saw it happening in a real life situation. They will also say nice things to each other

during the lesson.

Assessment: The students will discuss what to do if they witness someone being bullied.

They will also write positive things about each other to show their understanding of being

a nice, good friend.

Lesson Hook: The bullying videos.


Activity 1: Bullying Videos

1. Have the students sit at their desks.

2. Show the video, “Yes, That’s Bullying” from stopbullying.gov

(www.stopbullying.gov/kids/webisodes/yes-thats-bullying/index.html).

3. Pause during the video after the bullying takes place. Get the students to discuss

(in pairs) what they would do if they witnessed this situation. Would they help?

How would they help? Then get the students to share their thoughts with the class.

4. Finish watching the video.

5. Repeat for the video, “The Playground Is for Everyone”

(www.stopbullying.gov/kids/webisodes/playground-is-for-everyone/index.html).

Activity 2: Friendship Flowers

1. Tell the students we are going to write nice things about each other. Brainstorm

positive words or short sentences on the board.

2. Hand out one flower template to each student.

3. Tell the students to write their name in the centre of the flower.

4. Then have the students pass the flower to the person next to them, and write

something nice about the person whose name is in the centre, on one of the petals.

It can be just one positive word to describe the student, or a short sentence. The

students will continue passing the flowers until all of the petals have been written

in.

5. The flowers will be returned to the students whose name is in the middle so they

can read all the nice things their classmates said about them.

6. The students will be able to decorate their flowers as well.


-Allow students to write one word in the flower petals if a sentence is too difficult.

-Provide paper for students who are finished early so they can draw a picture.

Lesson Closure: Care wash

LESSON 6: Directed Drawing Rationale: To teach the students to follow instructions and self-regulate when things

don’t work out the way they had planned.

Big Idea: Creative expression develops our unique identity and voice (Arts Education,

Grade 2).


• Create artistic works collaboratively and as an individual using ideas inspired by

imagination, inquiry, experimentation, and purposeful play (Arts Education,

Grade 2).

• Experience, document and share creative works in a variety of ways (Arts


Learning Intention: For the students to be able to follow step-by-step instructions, and

understand that things don’t always go as planned and everyone’s work is different.

Learning Standards In Student Language (I can…):

• I can follow step-by-step instructions.

• I can work on my own.

• I can make myself feel better when things don’t go exactly as planned.

• I can see that everyone does things differently.

Enacted Learning: The students will follow step-by-step drawing instructions to create

their own drawing. They will be regulating their emotions during this process.

Assessment: Look at the student’s drawings to see that they followed each step.


Activity 1: Morning meeting

1. Sing a song called Dinosaur, Dinosaur with the students.

Activity 2: Directed Drawing

1. Hand out a piece of paper to all students, at their desks.

2. We will draw each step of an image on the board, and the students will follow

along drawing on their papers.

3. When they are finished their drawings, the students will create a story about it by

filling out a sheet with questions such as, “who, what, when, where and why.”


Allow the students to go around and share their stories with each other.

Transition: Tell the students that in the next lesson, we will continue working on the

drawings and compare them to see all of the differences between them.

LESSON 7: Comparing Directed Drawings Rationale: To allow the students to express themselves creatively and show them that

everyone does things in their own unique way, even when they follow the same step-by-

step instructions.

Big Idea: Creative expression develops our unique identity and voice (Arts Education,

Grade 2).


• Describe and respond to works of art (Arts Education, Grade 2).

• Experience, document and share creative works in a variety of ways (Arts


Learning Intention: For the students to be able to understand that even when people

follow the same instructions, their results will be different because we are all unique.


• I can make my own unique picture.

• I can see that everyone’s picture is different in their own way.

Enacted Learning: The students will look at each other’s drawings and see that

everyone has different results.

Assessment: Look at how the students colour their drawings and listen as they discuss

the differences between all of the drawings.

Lesson Hook: Tell the students they get to decorate their drawings.


Activity 1: Colouring

1. The students will colour/decorate their drawing.

Activity 2: Reflection

1. Have the students look at and compare each other’s drawings to see the

differences.

2. Have students share what they wrote to see those differences as well.

3. Discuss how everyone's drawing is unique even though they all followed the

same instructions.

Activity 3: Care Wash

1. Have the students form two lines facing each other.

2. One by one, the students will take turns walking between the two lines, from

one end to the other. The rest of the students will say nice things about their

classmate as they walk by them in the line.


students finish colouring early, they can go around and share and compare their drawing

with those of other students.

Lesson Closure: Care wash, say goodbye, and hand out goodie bags to the students.

Resource Critique 1. Cain, J. (2000). The Way I Feel. Seattle: WA: Parenting Press, Inc.

This is a children’s picture book about different emotions. We got it from our faculty

advisor, and it is available at many libraries, bookstores, and on websites such as

amazon.ca and chapters.indigo.ca. This book is a great way to introduce students to a

variety of emotions and teach them that it is natural to go through many different

feelings. A caution while discussing the book with students is that is may bring up some

difficult emotions or memories for some, for example while discussing sadness or anger.

2. Feelings Thumball

This is a thumball with different feelings written on it. We borrowed it from our faculty

advisor, but there are many different thumballs available online as well, on sites such as

thumball.com and staples.ca. The feelings thumball we used is great for children because

it has images on it to help them if they can’t read. Something to be mindful of while

using this with young students is that they may be unfamiliar with how some of the

feelings look, such as “disgusted” and “surprised.” So it is a good idea to go over these

with the students before having them do an activity with the thumball.

3. “Is It Bullying” Sheet

This sheet explains the difference between bullying, joking around, a one time thing, and

conflict. We received this from the teacher, and it is available online at

http://www.myeverydayclassroom.com/2015/10/how-to-prevent-bullying/. It is a great

resource for teaching students to recognize what bullying really is and distinguish it from

small conflicts. While using this resource, it is important to provide example situations

for each category so that the students gain a clear understanding of the differences

between them.

4. “The Who’s Who of Bullying” Image

We received this image from Pinterest

(https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/508132770429899619/). It gives definitions for bully,

bystander, ally, and friend. This was very useful as a guide for teaching the students

about the various people involved in bullying situations.

5. “Be a Buddy, Not a Bully” Worksheet

We found this worksheet on Pinterest

(https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/303007881152669082/), and it provides two columns, one

for buddy and one for bully. It is great because it gives the students space to compare

what a buddy is vs. what a bully is. Something to consider is that some students may not

be able to write much, so allowing them to draw a picture in the space can help

accommodate all students. This resource provides plenty of space for drawing or writing.

6. “Is It Bullying?” Sheet

We found this resource at

http://classroom.kidshealth.org/prekto2/problems/emotions/bullying.pdf. It provides

written situations with images. Some of the situations represent bullying, while others

represent conflict, joking around, or a one time thing. It is a great resource for teaching

students what bullying really is because it gives them example scenarios. It is important

to note that while some of these situations are not bullying, they could turn into bullying

if the situation repeats itself many times.

7. Bullying Videos

We used two videos from https://www.stopbullying.gov/kids/webisodes/index.html.

These are short cartoon videos that show bullying situations. We used “Yes…That’s

Bullying,” and “The Playground Is for Everyone.” These videos provide a different

mode in which to teach the students what bullying is. Having a visual situation as

opposed to just discussing situations can help them gain a deeper understanding. A

caution would be to be aware of the grade level that you show these videos to. They are

made for young children and an older grade may think they are too childish. The website

provides some videos for older students as well.

8. “Helping Hand” Worksheet

We got this resource from Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/69805862950431845/

) and used it as inspiration to create our own activity. It is an outline of a hand with ways

to be a good friend in each of the fingers. We used the hand outline to have students

write the name of someone they can go to for help if they are being bullied, in each of the

fingers. This provides a simple outline for the students to use and it puts all of the people

they trust and can get help from, in one place. While using this resource with young

students, it is important to brainstorm some ideas on the board, and this can help them

with spelling as well.

9. “Dinosaur, Dinosaur” Song

We found this song on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/AdZn-aAg2JuEsk-

YISs9zbZgpBvDb23QHtmfh3dn9QkqFACKuWzkGZA/)

and we used it for one of our morning meetings. It is a fun song with actions so it gets

the students up and moving. It is possible that while singing a song with the students

they may get very over excited and stop following directions, so be mindful of that.

10. Castle Sheet

We received this resource from the teacher, and it is available online at evan-moor.com.

It provides steps for drawing a simple castle for a directed drawing activity. The teacher

also provided us with a sheet of questions for the students to create a story about their

castle including, “who, what, when, and why?” This resource provides a simple and

straightforward outline for directed drawing. It is important to note that while using this

resource, you should provide the students with a blank paper to draw on and not show

them all of the steps right away. You want them to follow along as you draw on the

board, and if the full image right away, they will just draw it all without following the

steps.

project plan: social and emotional learning- grade 2

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