Social Emotional Learning- Zones of Regulation

'Social Emotional Learning' seems to be the new buzz word/term going around in the education world. What I love about this is that it is encouraging a child-first perspective in everything we teach. We have always used this lens to view education, so it is wonderful to see it spreading!

"Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions."

One way we support this learning in our classroom is using the Zones of Regulation. We have worked through the 4 different Zones of Regulation over the past month. Our students are now feeling experts and have demonstrated a good understanding of which feelings associate with which Zone. We used books and videos to work through the different feelings. 

Our first week we spent time reading books and watching videos about all feelings in general. 

We then focused on a specific zone for the week, reading a variety of books and then talking through what it looks like, sounds like and feels like in that zone to end our week. We used Story Bots videos for introducing many of the feelings.

We put up all our signs in a way that helps students understand up and down regulation. When you are up-regulated, you need to down regulate to come back to the green zone. If you're down regulated, you need to up regulate back into the green zone. 

We then talked about ways we can up and down regulate to help ourselves get back to the green zone. Students loved using breath to help calm them, so we began recording the various breaths we can use. We are continuing to introduce new breaths they can use.

Students shared their learning through drawing, writing and using loose parts.

If you want to get these books for your classroom/personal library you can see my Amazon Storefront, I have a 'self-regulation/mindfulness' book list: https://www.amazon.ca/shop/wonderfullinquiry?listId=BTDC6FZWSO61  

*Please note I get a small fee for most purchases made*

Literacy Fun!

We have been working hard on our writing skills! We have been learning to use classroom resources to help us with our writing. We have also been learning how to draw our creations that we have been building. Our students have a writing journal that we use to reduce the amount of loose papers moving between home and school. 

Our students use their sight word lists everyday! We are so proud of all the strategies they use to help them be successful. Some of them use rulers to underline the word they want to write. Others use an eraser. Some students use their pencil to underline and then erase it. We have a math word list and sight word list they use. 

Click this image to head to tpt for a copy.

Year 2 students (Senior Kindergarten) have chosen a writing goal that they want to work on. They wrote their goal and stuck it to their basket on their desk so they can see it when they are writing.

We have also been learning about whole body listening. We watched the video from Sesame Street to help us. We then did this follow up worksheet (click worksheet image for link to tpt).

Amazon

I am excited to have a storefront on Amazon where I will share resources and materials we use in our classroom! I have tried to link most of what you see here, on the blog or over on Instagram (@wonderfullinquiry) and Twitter (@wonder_inquiry).

Click here to see my storefront!

Enjoy my favourite products!

Foods with Feelings

"Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more of everyone else"

-Sydney Clemens 

At the beginning of each school year, we spend a lot of time learning about emotions and self-regulation. We use the Zones of Regulation to support building language around feelings and emotions (See last year's post about how we use Zones by clicking here). We spent time reading a variety of books about different feelings.

We learned that all feelings are okay. It's okay to be sad, or scared, or angry, or frustrated, or happy.

We read the book 'How are you Peeling? Foods with Moods', which inspired a wonderful art and literacy project for our learners. Our artists decided they wanted to create their own foods with feelings.

Our artists used their knowledge of feelings to create a representation of different emotions using clay/plasticine. 

We then turned their artwork into a book! Our writers added words to describe each feeling. 

(We used the company Book Bub to have our book published).

Here is a peak into our book: 

Self-Regulation in Room 122

We have been learning about the Zones of Regulation in our classroom. We have been using the Zones as a way to recognize our feelings and the feelings of others.

We begun our learning by reading various books about feelings and using loose parts to create different emotions.

Our learners created a list of feelings and then we sorted them into the 4 Zone colours. The Zones are Blue, Green, Yellow and Red. We talked a lot about how all feelings are okay and we will regularly feel different emotions throughout our day. Some emotions feel good while others don't. 

Our co-created Zones Wall

Once we had an understanding of the various Zones we created a list of ways we can get ourselves back into the Green Zone which is the Zone when we are optimally regulated.

Our calming breathing activities

Our yoga centre

The calming corner or self-regulation corner

Our Zones Check In


Calming activities

Our learners wrote a lot of books about their understanding of the Zones.

"We are learning to know our zones"

The Zones are a wonderful tool we use in our classroom to support our learners self-regulate. The Zones can also be useful at home. Maybe you can create a Zones area in your home to support your child regulating at home. You can create a list of 'how to get to the green zone' at home as there are many different options.