During their weekly Life Skills classes, 5th grade students are engaging in a unit called Connected and Respected. In a previous unit, students strengthened their self awareness, identifying factors that make them unique, along with their strengths, weaknesses, and goals. Whereas that was an opportunity to focus inwards, the students will now have an opportunity to reflect outwards about their relationships with others, and the ways in which we connect with one another, ideally in a meaningful and respectful manner.
During this unit, students will be focusing on two of the core social-emotional competencies identified by CASEL (The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning). These core competencies are Relationship Skills and Social Awareness and include sub skills such as communication, teamwork, perspective taking, and appreciating diversity.
(For more information about the CASEL model for social-emotional learning, visit: https://casel.org/sel-framework/)
Through hands-on activities throughout the unit, students will work on strengthening each of these skills. For example, they will participate in a team trivia competition, which will necessitate communication and collaboration with peers. Following the activity, students are given an opportunity to reflect on what went well and how they might improve their communication and collaborative experience for the future.