While academics are naturally an important component of teaching, equipping students with lifelong skills they will leverage outside the classroom is also an essential part of the job.
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a major concern among educators as students return to classrooms this fall. SEL involves helping students manage their emotions, achieve their goals, express empathy, build positive relationships, and make responsible decisions, according to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) website. Digital technology and an increased emphasis on mental health have placed SEL in the spotlight in K-12 education in recent years.
SEL Resources for Teachers
To integrate SEL into your classroom and understand its importance in schools, we've compiled a series of free SEL resources. These social and emotional learning articles shed light on strategies to build community in the classroom, school success and transformation stories, and activities for students across all grade levels.
The 5 social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) are crucial to students’ learning and growth. Explore the competencies and strategies for helping students achieve them.
Get answers to common questions like "What is social and emotional learning in education?" and "Why is SEL important?"
Learn about the benefits of social-emotional learning in schools. While it may be a relatively new area of study, the benefits of SEL are already starting to show.
How do you foster a sense of safety and belonging so students can focus their energy on learning? These strategies for building community in the classroom will help.
Read four techniques for implementing social-emotional learning in the classroom. SEL at school starts with you!
Creating social-emotional learning environments is a powerful way to foster collaboration, equity, and self-management among students.
With daily and weekly social-emotional check-ins for students, you can foster the development of strong social-emotional learning (SEL) .
Check out a few suggestions for empathy activities for middle schoolers and find new ways for teaching empathy in the classroom.
Introduce your students to the five competencies of SEL with these writing and journal prompts for elementary, middle, and high school.
Use these five social-emotional learning activities for elementary school students to work toward building strong relationships. Explore SEL lesson plans for each competency.
Embrace SEL in the classroom with these SEL activities for middle school that address CASEL’s five core competencies.
These seven SEL activities for high school students are based on CASEL's core SEL competencies. Help your students become independent and meaningful contributors to society
Share these SEL remote activities with your students at home to help them develop SEL skills, like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and responsible decision-making.
Use these SEL World Kindness Day activities and ideas for the International Day for Tolerance to ensure that every day includes a little (or a lot of!) kindness in your school.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It's a great time for teachers to take stock of their students'—and their own—health and well-being. We've got you covered with these Mental Health Awareness Month activities for schools.
View this eBook for facts, insights, and advice related to shaping students’ social and emotional well-being.
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Social and emotional skills are essential to personal and academic growth. Discover how our social-emotional learning curriculum can help your students thrive.
The views expressed in our blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.
This blog, originally published in 2021, has been updated for 2025.
Get our free SEL guide full of research-backed information.
