|
Emotional Literacy in the Middle School is a well-designed, field-tested curriculum that enhances social and emotional learning. No other program can do so much at one time, be used as a preventative tool against the perils all children face such as substance abuse and violence, and be integrated across the curriculum to enhance both intellectual and emotional growth. Unlike other programs that focus mostly on theory and research findings, this one presents teachers with six concrete "how to" steps for quick and easy implementation. The program has 60 lessons and can be used for whole classrooms, with reproducible materials for student use, as well as supporting teacher materials.
“This volume offers theoretically based, field-tested educational strategies to improve the emotional literacy, social development, and academic performance of young adolescents. The authors provide a systematic framework and set of creative instructional activities that enhance students’ social, emotional, and academic learning. Teachers can enthusiastically, efficiently, and easily incorporate these approaches into daily instruction to engage students powerfully in learning about themselves, others, and assigned work! I encourage all middle-school educators to read Emotional Literacy and learn new ways to improve their teaching practices.”
- Roger P. Weissberg, Ph.D., President, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), Professor of Psychology and Education, University of Illinois at Chicago.
“A brilliant contribution and ‘must read’ for teachers working at the upper elementary/middle school level. This program breaks away from existing social/emotional programs in that it ‘speaks’ directly to the teacher with a clear approach in how to maximize all avenues of cognition with lessons that are directly integrated into language arts classes. Teachers will find that many of their concerns about classroom management will dissolve. As an added bonus, this total immersion model, set in the real world of social and emotional intelligence, may serve as a useful guide for parents and will strengthen the bond between school and home.”
- Janet P. Kremenitzer, Ed.D., Coordinator of the Elementary Education Programs, University of Hartford.
“Preventing social and behavioral problems is more effective and less costly than attempts at remediation once the damage has been done. Maurer and Brackett’s emotional literacy program is an unintrusive way of teaching healthy social and emotional responses within middle school core curricula. Educators who have struggled to teach socialization skills to almost-teens will find this program easy to adopt because it does not isolate social and emotional learning from other student goals.”
- Edward Zigler, Ph.D., Sterling Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, Director, Yale’s Center in Child Development and Social Policy
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION AND PROGRAM GOALS
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
AT A GLANCE SUMMARY
THE ESSENCE OF EMOTIONAL LITERACY
What is Emotional Literacy
The Need for Emotional Literacy in Middle School: Preparing Children for Future Challenges
What are Feeling Words?
EMOTIONAL LITERACY PROGRAM
- Step 1: Introduction of Feeling Words
Connecting Feeling Words to Personal Anecdotes
- Step 2: Designs and Personified Explanation
Symbolically Representing Feeling Words
- Step 3: Real World Associations (RWA)
Connecting Feeling Words to Social and Academic Situations
- Step 4: Personal/Family Associations (PFA)
Connecting Personal and Family Experiences to Feeling Words
- Step 5: Classroom Discussions
Sharing of RWA and/or PFA
- Step 6: Creative Writing Assignments
Incorporating Feeling Words into Open-ended Essays
Student Projects to Develop Emotional Literacy
Special assignments to promote social and emotional intelligence
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
- “What’s on Your mind?”
- Lesson 1: Elated
- Lesson 2: Alienation
- Lesson 3: Commitment
PROGRAM MATERIALS
Teacher Lesson Sheets and Student Worksheets
APPENDICES
A. Alphabetized list of the 63 Words
B. Word Pairs for Essays
C. Introducing Traditional Vocabulary Words
D. Sample Family Letter
REFERENCES
RESOURCES
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
|
.