By Carleigh Rahn
Faculty advisor: Janine Davis
11:00-11:50am HCC 328
Social and emotional learning is the process by which students learn important skills beyond the content of their classroom. The non-profit organization CASEL, a leader in SEL instruction, defines five fundamental skills of SEL: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. The purpose of my capstone project was to infuse these foundational SEL skills into a typical middle school language arts unit. I began by researching effective unit design and lesson planning, SEL theories and practices, and Virginia standards for 7th grade English. Using knowledge from my research and Teaching of English course, I created a month-long persuasive writing unit plan including 10 complete lesson plans and materials. Each lesson is explicitly designed with specific SEL goals and state standards in mind, as well as intentional pedagogical tools that encourage social and emotional learning. The complete unit, accompanied by materials and foundational research, is housed in a website that functions as a tool for current and future teachers to explore SEL in 7th grade English curriculum. The result of my project is a practical tool for secondary English teachers looking to seamlessly integrate social and emotional learning into the curriculum.
