An easy way to incorporate social skills into your social-emotional learning classroom is through your read alouds and mentor texts. Stories are powerful and transformative. Here are some memorable chapter books for social-emotional learning that my students and I have enjoyed!
Chapter Books for Social-Emotional Learning: Part 1
1. Wonder: Auggie, the main character, has an extraordinary face that looks different than anything his classmates have ever seen. Told from multiple perspectives this book embodies social and emotional learning skills such as empathy, friendship, compassion, and acceptance.
2. Pay it Forward: Trevor, a 12-year-old boy, changes his community forever after he accepts his teacher’s challenge. The challenge – make a plan to change the world. Join his journey of spreading kindness and the ripple effect that follows.
3. Out of My Mind: Melody, the main character, has a photographic memory. She also has cerebral palsy. This story will grip your students’ hearts as they experience social-emotional learning skills like empathy, kindness, respect, and perseverance.
4. Restart: Chase, a school bully, gets a second chance deciding who he’s going to be and what he’s going to be known for at school. His second chance is a result of waking up in the hospital with no memories after hitting his head.
Social-Emotional Learning Classroom Read Alouds: Part 2
5. Because of Winn-Dixie: After adopting a stray dog Opal begins to open up and form friendships. Winn-Dixie, her new dog, leads her on a journey of self-discovery and companionship.
6. Fish in a Tree: Until her new teacher, Mr. Daniels, sees through her act, Allie had always been able to fool everyone. Her usual trouble making act wasn’t working this time. Allie learns that labels don’t hold the power to define her – or others. As she uncovers new possibilities and perspectives the author makes one theme clear; great minds don’t always think alike.
7. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus: Aven had always felt isolated because of her disability. The idea of moving across the country was daunting. She didn’t want to answer the question of what happened to her arms. Even though she loved to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match or a wildfire in Tanzania – she was actually born without them. Facing her worst fears she meets a friend and even solves a mystery.
Social-Emotional Learning Picture Books
There are SO so many amazing and wonderful picture books out there that support social-emotional learning. I’ve been collecting my favorite and am working on a blog post series to highlight them all for you. By breaking them down into different social skills my hope is they’ll not only be super helpful but easy to navigate. As the posts are published I’ll link them below.
Join the Classroom Kindness Movement
PS: If you’re looking to truly change classroom behaviors this FREE teacher guide is what you need. Create a culture of kindness in a few minutes a day. It’s all about how spending 10 minutes a day on social-emotional learning will transform your classroom. Students learn how to resolve conflict and interact with respect and kindness. It creates a classroom environment where everyone can thrive.
