Marengo Elementary School

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Resources » Social Emotional Learning

Social Emotional Learning

The first major Second Step concept is empathy. Students are taught to read facial expressions and body language. Over the course of quite a few lessons, students were shown a photograph of a scenario. Students were given the background context and then analyzed the facial expressions and body language in the photograph.

 

Examples:

 

  • Sad--shoulders are drooping, eyes are looking downward, mouth is closed and in a straight line, cheeks are down.
  • Excited--shoulders are up, head is held high, mouth may be open, corners of mouth are pointing upward, eyes/eyebrows/cheeks are up.
  • Angry--hands and/or arms may be clenched, eyebrows pointing down in a v-shape, eyes are narrowed, face may be reddish.

 

From there, Second Step builds on this and incorporates empathy. Empathy is being able to read a person's face and body and understanding how they are feeling. Students practiced asking themselves how they can help that person. This varies by situation. Examples: Offering to help, saying something kind, inviting someone to play, keeping someone company, etc.