sample transitional lesson: elementary sel

SAMPLE TRANSITIONAL LESSON: ELEMENTARY SEL

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Lesson Planning: Addressing Students’ Social and Emotional Needs When They Head Back to School

Across the country, educators are grappling with the extraordinary challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent study1 predicts that students will experience

a learning loss of 30 percent in reading and 50 percent in math as a result of the crisis. Left unchecked, it’s an academic setback that could derail the futures even of

students who were previously on grade level—and would be disastrous for students who were already behind.

Yet learning loss is not the only challenge educators must consider as they plan for next year. Students will also need help coping with the trauma they’ve experienced

during the pandemic, processing our national moment of reckoning with systemic racism, and readjusting to school. Those who have lost family members or friends will be

grieving. Asian American students may have experienced racist physical or verbal attacks. Students who rely on structures and routines, have experienced trauma prior to

the school closures, and/or have lost housing or economic security might struggle to return to school. Younger elementary students might have trouble being separated

from their parents or siblings after spending so much time with them.

With those challenges in mind, TNTP and Providence Public Schools partnered together to design transition lessons for the first five days back at school that will help

address the academic and social and emotional needs Providence students will have when they return. Collectively, the lessons span every grade level and cover math,

English Language Arts, and social-emotional learning. In this resource, we share some guiding questions that you can use to craft your own transitional lessons that will

meet the unique needs of your students, as well as an example of one of the high school lessons we designed.

Guiding Questions for Crafting Transitional Lessons ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Sample Lesson Overview.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

Sample Lesson: K-5 Social and Emotional Learning, Day 4 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Lesson Plan ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Instructional Materials ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Sample Lesson: K-5 Social and Emotional Learning, Day 5 ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Lesson Plan ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 16

Instructional Materials ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25

Guiding Questions for Crafting Transitional Lessons As you begin to craft transitional lessons for your students, consider these guiding questions:

1. How do these lessons connect to your district/school/classroom’s existing efforts to meet the social and emotional needs of students as they return to school this

year? Do they expose any gaps?

1 https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2020/05/Collaborative-Brief_Covid19-Slide-APR20.pdf.

https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2020/05/Collaborative-Brief_Covid19-Slide-APR20.pdf


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2. In our research publication, The Opportunity Myth, we found that students need access to four crucial resources: grade-appropriate assignments, strong instruction,

deep engagement, and teachers with high expectations. How will your lessons provide access to those four resources?

3. What would it take to use lessons like these in your specific district/school/classroom context?

4. What support might teachers need to implement these lessons well?

Sample Lesson Overview This package of lessons for the fourth and fifth days back focus on establishing the structures and routines that will foster a strong community of learners throughout the

year.

Sample Lesson: K-5 Social and Emotional Learning, Day 4

Lesson Plan

About the lesson

In today’s lesson, students will have their first experience to engage in a classroom meeting. The teacher will explain the purpose of the meeting; introduce the structure and

procedure of it, before the class has an opportunity to continue to build relationships by engaging in a morning meeting.

Please adjust language used to describe this time of day based on what is in line with language already used in your classroom, school etc.

Objective

Students will understand the rationale for classroom meetings and use this understanding to engage in their first classroom meeting of the year.

Standards

• SL.K.1, SL.K.3, SL.K.6

• SL.1.1, SL.1.3

• SL.2.1, SL.2.3

• SL3.1

• SL.4.1

• SL.5.1

Culturally Responsive Framework Focus Areas

• Element C2.2- Accessibility of Learning Experiences

• Element C3.1- Development of Groups

• Element C3.3-Collaborative Discussions (Discourse)

SEL Skills

● Social Awareness 3C: I show empathy for other people’s emotions and perspectives.


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● Relationship Skills 4A: I use communication and interpersonal skills to interact effectively with others, including those with diverse backgrounds, cultures, abilities,

languages and identities.

● Relationship Skills 4B: I use appropriate communication strategies and interpersonal skills to maintain relationships with others.

● Relationship Skills 4C. I can demonstrate the skills to respectfully engage in and resolve interpersonal conflicts in various contexts.

● Responsible Decision Making 5A: I can apply problem-solving skills to engage responsibility in a variety of situations.

Preparation

● Have morning message written

● Prepare any other materials needed (ball for greeting)

● Have access to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqY5ybRcng

● Make sure the classroom compact is accessible to view

● If possible, ask an ELD teacher who is bilingual (or another bilingual adult who will work closely with your students) to join the circle and sit near early beginning

MLLs to provide them with support during this community building routine.

● Review additional resources located in Instructional Materials

Scaffolds for the Range of Learners

● Word wall

● Sentence starters

Assessment

● Watch and reflect on how students engage during morning meeting, taking note of those who may need extra support to participate

● Take time for an Equity Pause. This pause will allow you to reflect on the lesson, focusing specifically on how the lesson went, as well as how your instructional

decisions helped lead to equity for students.

Procedures

“Ignite, Chunk, Chew, Review” lesson structure from: Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among

culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Teacher Actions Student Actions Supports for Multilingual Learners

Ignite

Activate &

Connect

● Tell students that you are really excited

because today you will have an

opportunity to engage in the first

morning meeting of the year (use

language that is in line with what you

already use in your classroom)

● Watch video

● Answer questions

● Actively listen to teacher and peers

Vocabulary:

● Greeting

● Sharing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqY5ybRcng


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5 minutes

● Tell students that you will start each day

off with a morning meeting

● Tell them there are four parts to our

morning meeting: a greeting, a time for

sharing, an activity and a morning

message

● Tell them that they are going to watch a

video of the first part of a morning

meeting, “the greeting”

● After the video ask the following

questions: (show video beginning at

1:22-2:08)

o What did you notice about the

greeting?

o How did this greeting allow all

members of the classroom

team to feel included?

o Did you notice the people in

the video following anything

from our classroom compact?

● Activity

● Morning message

Recommendations:

● Preview the vocabulary with students

either by acting out the meaning,

showing pictures, or models in the

classroom.(ex. A greeting is how we say

“hello” or what we say when we see a

person for the first time in a day. How

do you say hello or good morning at

home? Do you say it in another

language? Encourage students to use

their home languages if they speak a

different language at home.

● Prompt students to look for these

things in the video.

● Consider viewing the video twice: the

first time without stopping, and the

second time with pausing to ask

questions about what students are

doing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqY5ybRcng


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Chunk

Introduce

New

Information

10 minutes

● Tell students that morning meeting is a

very important part of our day because

it is a time for us to come together, to

greet one another before we start our

day, to get to know one another better,

to talk about things that are important

to our classroom team and to have fun!

Meetings are also a time for us to come

together to brainstorm as a class, solve

problems as a class, among other

important things

● Access pictures in supplemental

materials that show each part of the

morning meeting. Use the pictures to

explain each part of the morning

meeting sections detailed below.

● Tell them that each morning the

meeting will take place on the rug (or

another location you choose) and it will

start with a greeting. Tell them that each

person in the class will be greeted by

their name.

● Tell them every person in this class is an

important part of the classroom team

and by greeting everyone by name we

are showing that each person in this

room is important, significant and

belongs

● Tell them after the greeting each person

will share (maybe you will share an item,

or share your answer to a question etc.)

● Listen to explanation of morning

meeting

● Look at pictures

Vocabulary:

● rug

Recommendations

● After the video, use the included visuals

as a check for understanding. As

students identify what is happening in

the picture, label the picture accordingly

with the words “greeting”, “morning

message”, etc.

● Our names are a very important part of

our identity, so it is essential that we

pronounce names correctly!

Mispronouncing a student’s name can

lead to a student feeling alienated and

they may become discouraged to

participate in activities like circle time. If

you have not already, make sure you are

pronouncing every child’s name

properly and that you set this example

and expectations of each student and

their peers.


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● Next tell them you will get to all do a

fun activity together-maybe we will do a

dance, or play a game

● Tell them the last part of the circle will

include a morning message that the

teacher will write (note: these messages

can often be posted when students walk

in the classroom in the morning and can

be interactive-see examples in

supplemental materials)

Chew

Process

New

Information

● Tell students that now that they have

had time to hear about each part of the

morning meeting you want them to

answer the following questions

(students can turn and talk, whole

group responses etc.)

● Ask the following questions:



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5 minutes o Who has participated in a

morning meeting before?

o If you have, what did you like

about that time of day?

o If you have never participated

in a morning meeting, what are

you looking forward to?

o Is there something you need to

feel successful during the

morning meeting?

Review

Apply New

Information

25 minutes

● Tell students that you are so excited

because now we will practice a morning

meeting together!

● Remind them that today’s morning

meeting will give everyone time to get

adjusted to this new routine and

problem solve as we go along.

● Remind them that it will be helpful to

look at the classroom compact hung up

to think about what it should look like,

sound like, feel like during this time of

day

● All children should move to the rug and

sit in a circle (use a transition that works

for your class)

● Suggestion: after each component of

the morning meeting do an informal

● Participate in the morning meeting

● Reflect on the process

Vocabulary:

Prompts and Sentence Starters:

Giving direct eye contact may be new or

unfamiliar for some students for cultural or other

personal reasons. You may want to point out that

when you greet someone, you like to look

directly at them. Gently encourage students to

make eye contact when they roll to the next

person but know that it is normal that this may

be new or uncomfortable for some.


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poll from children to see what they liked

about that part of morning meeting,

what felt good or made them uneasy

etc.

● Since this is their first time coming

together, they will do a simple, low-risk

greeting called “ball roll”.

o Ask students to remind you of

what the first part of the

meeting includes.

● Explain that today’s greeting is called

“ball roll” because you will start by

saying “Good Morning X!” and then roll

the ball to that person. That person will

then say, “Good Morning plus a

classmate’s name” and then roll the ball

to that person. (remind students about

making eye contact with the person

they are greeting)

● Tell them that now they are going to do

a quick share. For the purposes of this

model you are going to focus on a low

risk prompt: What is one thing you have

done this week in school that has made

you feel proud? (Another option: What

has been your favorite activity in school

this week?) (provide sentence starters,

examples if/when need be)

o Like all parts of the meeting,

each student should answer


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the prompt if possible, they

can also pass if need be

● Remind students that the next part of

the meeting is the activity. Tell them the

purpose of the activity is to have fun

together. You may want to consider

adding additional language here

connected to classroom expectations

(i.e. Have fun together, while being

respectful and responsible).

o Introduce activity: “Find

Someone Who”. Teacher will

say “Find someone who…” and

students will find a classmate

(more than 1 is fine) who

answers that blank

o Feel free to fill in the blank

with what works best, but

some suggestions are…” Find

someone who”

▪ Is wearing the same

color as you

▪ Whose name starts

with the same letter

as yours

▪ Who is the same age

as you?

▪ Who has something

in common with you?


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● You will bring students back together

and have them read along (choral read,

call and response) with your morning

message. It is suggested to make the

morning message focused on team

building (building a strong classroom

team over the past 3 days), getting to

know one another and creating

community. Attempt to incorporate

vocabulary they have learned over the

last few days related to this topic.

● Have children reflect on the morning

meeting by asking them questions like:

o What went well? How do you

know?

o What should we change for

next time?

o How did we exemplify some of

the agreements from our

classroom compact?

Equity

Pause

Teacher

Reflection

After the

Lesson

● Overall, how did the lesson go? From your perspective? From your students' perspective?

● Which of your students engaged fully in the lesson? Who did not? How do you know?

● How might your instructional choices have affected the experiences of your students with different identities during the lesson?

● What are the implications for your next steps for relationships and community building? For responsive instruction?


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Instructional Materials

The following materials accompany the lesson plan for day 4:

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Pictures of Morning Meeting:

Greeting

Sharing

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/greeting-idea-backward-day-handshake/

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/morning-meeting-science/

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Activity

Morning Message

https://tiie.w3.uvm.edu/blog/power-up-morning-meetings/#.XuNdychKiM8

https://www.pinterest.com/responsive/morning-message-ideas/

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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/105834659964833486/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/183451384794104537/

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Additional Resources:

● Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting Overview: https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/what-is-morning-meeting/

● Greeting and Activity Ideas:

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1557431817/mesquiteisdorg/sguivksx5tufbkkfsjke/MorningMeetingGreetingsActivities.

pdf

● The Importance of Morning Meeting: https://study.com/blog/why-you-need-morning-meetings-in-your-classroom.html


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Sample Lesson: K-5 Social and Emotional Learning, Day 5

Lesson Plan

About the lesson

In today’s lesson, students will use the introduction to morning meeting practiced yesterday to engage in a restorative circle. A restorative circle is a specific type of meeting

used for times when someone in the class is harmed (either on purpose or accidentally). In this lesson, we want to define harm for children very concretely (see clear

definition in lesson).

Please adjust language used to describe this time of day based on what is in line with language already used in your classroom, school etc.

Objective

Students will engage in a restorative circle.

Standards

● SL.K.1, SL.K.3, SL.K.5, SL.K.6

● SL.1.1, SL.1.3, SL.1.5

● SL.2.1, SL.2.3,

● SL.3.1

● SL.4.1

● SL.5.1

Culturally Responsive Framework Focus Areas

● Element C2.2- Accessibility of Learning Experiences

● Element C3.1- Development of Groups

● Element C3.3-Collaborative Discussions (Discourse)

SEL Skills

● Social Awareness 3C: I show empathy for other people’s emotions and perspectives.

● Relationship Skills 4A: I use communication and interpersonal skills to interact effectively with others, including those with diverse backgrounds, cultures, abilities,

languages and identities.

● Relationship Skills 4B: I use appropriate communication strategies and interpersonal skills to maintain relationships with others.

● Relationship Skills 4C. I can demonstrate the skills to respectfully engage in and resolve interpersonal conflicts in various contexts.

● Responsible Decision Making 5A: I can apply problem-solving skills to engage responsibility in a variety of situations.

● Responsible Decision Making 5B: I can use and adapt appropriate tools and strategies to solve problems.


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● Responsible Decision Make 5C: I can evaluate the impact of decisions on myself, others and the given situation and adjust my behavior appropriately.

Preparation

● Prepare any other materials needed.

● Make sure the classroom compact is accessible to view.

● This lesson assumes that there are systems/structures in place for students to calm themselves, reflect and process various situations (ex: quiet corner, relax and

reflect chair etc.). You will want to reference these and make sure these are clear to students in the “review” section of the lesson.

● If possible, ask an ELD teacher who is bilingual (or other bilingual adult who will work closely with your students) to join the circle and sit near early beginning MLLs

to provide them with support during this community building routine.

Scaffolds for the Range of Learners

● Word Wall

● Sentence Starters

Assessment

● Watch and reflect on how students engage during the restorative circle, taking note of those who may need extra support to participate.

● Take time for an Equity Pause. This pause will allow you to reflect on the lesson, focusing specifically on how the lesson went, as well as how your instructional

decisions helped lead to equity for students.

Procedures

“Ignite, Chunk, Chew, Review” lesson structure from: Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among

culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.


Ignite

Activate &

Connect

5 minutes

● Remind students that morning meeting

is a time to come together and have fun

● Remind them that morning meeting can

also be a time to come together to

brainstorm as a class and solve

problems as a class

● Ask students to brainstorm what type of

things would be helpful to talk about in

morning meeting (give examples to

help get started if needed)

● Listen to explanation Vocabulary:

● Brainstorm

● Problems

● Solve

● Strategies

● *Throughout this lesson, it may want to

heavily rely on using role play and


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● Tell them that today you are going to

engage in your second morning

meeting of the year, but this time it will

look slightly different because you will

be focusing on solving specific

problems that may come up in the

classroom

● Tell them that through today’s meeting,

the class will come up with strategies

that all teammates can use to solve

problems between classmates

gestures to teach the vocabulary and

new concepts.

Chunk

Introduce

New

Information

15 minutes

● Tell students that today’s morning

meeting is a special type of morning

meeting called a restorative circle.

● Define restorative for students and give

examples if need be. “Restore means to

make things better again”

● Tell them a restorative circle is a time

when we can come together to

brainstorm ways we can solve problems

between classmates. By the end of a

restorative circle, our hope is that we

have a plan to fix the problem or during

the meeting we have fixed the problem

by talking about the problem and what

can be done to make things better

again

● Remind them that everyone in our class

has had such a great first week

together, but even when things are

going great, there are times when one

or more of us can feel harmed

● Listen to explanation and examples of

harm

● Listen to explanation of restorative

circle


Vocabulary: Since we will return to this

vocabulary throughout the lesson, it is

recommended to create a visual using words and

pictures where you capture the meaning of the

words harm and restore, and problem and solve.

● Fix

● Restorative

● Plan

● Feel

● Harm/ed (hurt)

Recommendations

If you can have a bilingual staff member who

works with your students join the circle, ask them

to co-facilitate part of the introduction to new

information. This is a chance to also appreciate

linguistic diversity in the class. (Do not separate

students out into different circles).


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● Tell them that harm means that

someone or a group does something to

make another person or group feel bad

(suggestion: have definition posted)

● Tell students that there are different

ways we can cause harm and sometimes

we might do it on purpose or

sometimes it is by accident and we

don’t even realize we are harming

someone else

● Tell students the different ways people

can cause harm:

o We can cause harm by using

words that hurt feelings like

calling someone a name, using

insults, teasing

o We can also cause harm to

someone by how we behave or

what we do, like not letting

someone play with us

o Another way we can cause

harm to our teammates is by

hurting their bodies, like

hitting, pushing or kicking

● Ask students to turn and talk (use term

that is already used in the classroom)

and answer the following questions:

o Is there a time when you have

seen someone experience

harm at school OR can you

think about a time someone


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might experience harm at

school?

● Teacher should circulate and listen so

that he/she can share out answers if

need be

● Call on a few groups to share out

(record on chart paper)

Chew

Process

New

Information

5 minutes

● Get ready to move students (in

whatever way you transition) to the

morning meeting location

o Ask students to review

classroom compact and

determine what agreements

we want to make sure we

follow during our special

morning meeting today

● Transition

● Review compact

Review the components of the morning

meeting:

Have the four components of the meeting as well

as the pictures used in the first lesson easily

accessible for students to reference. Guide

students to reference the visual supports as you

review the parts of the morning meeting.

Remember to emphasize that today’s meeting

will look a little bit different.


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Review

Apply New

Information

25 minutes

● Tell students that before you jump into

the problem-solving part of the

morning meeting you are going to start

with a greeting

● Low risk greeting “elbow bump” or “air

high five” (no contact option)

o Remind students that they

should say each person’s name

and give them eye contact

● Explain that today’s greeting is called

“elbow bump” or “air high five”

(whatever you choose) because you will

start by saying “Good Morning X!” and

then give them an elbow bump/air high

five. That person will then say, “Good

Morning plus a classmate’s name” and

then give that person an elbow

bump/air high five (suggestion: model

this with one student)

● Tell them that now that we have

engaged in our greeting we are going

to dive into the main part of our

restorative circle. Tell students that it

will look a little different than yesterday

● Remind students that earlier we talked

about what it means for someone to

feel harmed

● Remind students what it means to be

harmed (use posted definition and

examples they shared)

● Participate in the restorative circle

● Reflect on the process

Vocabulary:

● Use the images in the instructional

materials to explicitly teach the words

for feelings that are associated with

being/feeling harmed (I.e. frustrated,

angry, upset, mad, etc.)

● Affected

● Restore vs Punish (punishment)

● Tools (for solving problems)

Recommendations:

● Once you arrive at the “check-in” (share)

portion of the meeting, consider how

you can use role play to communicate

the difference between restoring and

punishing. If there is another adult in

the room, consider acting out the

scenario included in the instructional

materials and then asking the follow up

questions as they relate to the scenario.

Model how “solutions” like the teacher

yelling at the student or another

student fighting with the offending

student are not restorative because of

how people are ultimately affected.

● Have the different tools in your room,

like a quiet corner, labeled (and

translated if possible) for students.

Model (and ask students to model) what

it looks like to use that tool.


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● The first part of the restorative circle is

the check-in round (similar to a share).

Use the following question to get

students thinking more deeply about

what it means to be harmed or to harm

others.

o If someone was harmed at

school how might they feel?

(provide different emotions

words for those who may need

it-sad, hurt, angry etc. and use

emotion picture cards in

instructional materials if need

be)

● Have students share out

● Use one of their scenarios shared above

(or the one in instructional materials)

and ask the following question:

o Who is affected?

o How are people affected?

(remind students that we say

“affected” we mean how does

it make those involved feel,

what impact does it have on

those involved etc.)

o What are the restorative

actions-things that can make

things right again? (emphasize

restorative actions should be

things other than punishment-

● Chart the responses students share

regarding what tools or systems they

would add to the classroom.


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we want to move away from an

over-reliance on punishment)

● Tell students that there are times that

members of our team will feel harmed

or harm others and we want to make

sure that in this class we have ways to

fix the harm and make sure that

everyone can do their best learning and

achieve their goals

● Tell them that in this classroom we have

different tools and systems to help

when we are feeling harmed (whatever

you already have or ex: take a break

area, journals etc.)

● Ask students: In addition to these

systems and tools, what else should we

put in place or do when a teammate is

harmed?

o Suggestions: use our words to

tell a teammate they harmed

us, share how we are feeling,

apologize, tell a grownup how

you are feeling and help them

mediate etc.

● Remind students that in this class,

everyone is an important member of

our team, and while they may have

experienced being punished or having a

strict consequence in other classes, this

year, in our classroom, we are going to

work on using restorative practices to

make things better. We will focus on

using words, talking about our feelings


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and working together to restore our

relationships.

● Before ending the meeting, recap the

following:

o What it means to be harmed?

o Ways we harm (on purpose

and accidentally).

o How those that are harmed

may feel?

o How those that have done the

harm may feel?

o Ways to solve/fix the harm.

● As a last part of the meeting, have

children reflect on this special meeting,

known as “restorative circle” by asking

them questions like:

o What went well today?

o Do you think we have a good

plan on how to handle when

we are harmed or harm

someone else?

● Is there anything you would like to see

changed for our next restorative circle

to feel more comfortable, or be better

for you or your classmates?


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Instructional Materials

The following materials accompany the lesson for day 5:

Equity

Pause

Teacher

Reflection

After the

Lesson

● Overall, how did the lesson go? From your perspective? From your students' perspective?

● Which of your students engaged fully in the lesson? Who did not? How do you know?

● How might your instructional choices have affected the experiences of your students with different identities during the lesson?

● What are the implications for your next steps for relationships and community building? For responsive instruction?

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Scenario for Review

“Yesterday on the playground a group of children were playing soccer. John (insert whatever name you want) was so excited to play

because he has been practicing his soccer skills by playing all summer with his siblings and cousins. He cannot wait to show his friends

his new soccer skills. John asked his classmates if he could play too. His classmate said, “We don’t want you to play with us. You run

slowly and you have never even scored a goal. We want people who are really good soccer players to play with us.”

When to Use Circles (Meetings)

Depending on the need to bring students together, circles will serve different purposes. Always guided by the same values and

principles, circles may be called for:

community building problem-solving reflecting introducing new students

conflict resolution brainstorming support farewell to students

leaving

healing diffusing tension family issues community violence

debriefing

Additional Resources

● RIDE guidance for restorative practices: https://www.ride.ri.gov/StudentsFamilies/HealthSafety/DisciplineinSchools.aspx

● CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL: https://schoolguide.casel.org/resources/

● International Institute for Restorative Practices: https://www.iirp.edu/

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Emotion Picture Cards

Sourced from: https://childhood101.com/helping-children-manage-big-emotions-printable-emotions-cards/

https://childhood101.com/helping-children-manage-big-emotions-printable-emotions-cards/

sample transitional lesson: elementary sel

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