Activities, Games, and Lessons for Social Learning

Activities, Games, and Lessons for Social Learning is an evidence-based resource that guides educators, specialists, and others who work with children in implementing best practices for social learning. Whether used in the classroom, out-of-school programs, or the home, this collection of hands-on activities puts social learning theory into practice to help all children develop the social skills that support success in school and beyond. While educators understand the need for social-emotional learning,they quickly realize that this type of teaching is complex. Social-emotional learning is not typically addressed in teacher training programs, and when teachers realize the complexity involved, they often avoid this type of instruction as a result of feeling underprepared. Activities, Games, and Lessons in Social Learning responds to this need as well as to what many of today's teachers are finding--that increasing numbers of students are coming to school with much less innate social understanding than in earlier years. This book unpacks the complexities of social learning in three key areas: self-regulation, social communication, and perspective taking. For each of these three areas, readers will find a thorough discussion of the topic, followed by a corresponding set of ready-to-use activities that support explicit instruction and learning by doing." This approach is supported by the evidence base cited above as well as in "Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence" (Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University)"--