Woodland Park Elementary

Social Emotional Learning through Literacy

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which young people acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions; set and achieve goals; demonstrate empathy for others; establish and maintain positive relationships, and make effective decisions. It includes a number of competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. (Surrey Learning By Design)  

Our students' Social Emotional Learning goals in Literacy:

1. Developing empathy and understanding of others.

2. Participate in reflective thinking using multiple perspectives.

3. Developing skills to communicate their story respectfully.

*adapted from Social Awareness and Responsibility Core Competencies

Our learners engage in a variety of literacy activities each day where they are communicating, reading, writing, and reflecting on their learning experiences in the area of Social and Emotional Learning.  Our educators develop curricular and social experiences to inspire, empower, and support our learners.

Literacy development is our focus at Woodland Park because we understand that our learners need to be able to read, write, speak and communicate effectively as they move through their learning journey. This will be done through the three learning goals listed below.

Student Examples:

See the following examples of student learning in the area of English Language Arts that support our school's Social Emotional Learning goals:

"Exchange ideas and viewpoints to build shared understanding and extend thinking." (English Language Arts Curricular Competency)

Supports School Goal #1: Developing empathy and understanding of others.

Lesson: "Your Heart Compass"  - a Grade 3 English Language Arts Lesson

The admin team at Woodland Park loves to use literature (picture books) to assist students in developing empathy and understanding of others. We chose the book “Your Heart Compass” as a school-wide focus at the start of the school year. The theme of this book is to find your way home from the storms of big feelings to joy, kindness, courage and calm.

We were fortunate to have the author visit all four of our grade 3 classes at Woodland Park this year. During their session with Megan Lammam, students felt safe to share what brings them joy when they are experiencing self-doubt, stress, anger, or sadness. Megan shared the importance of sitting with those emotions for a while but finding ways to move through them by doing things they love as that will bring them back to joy. 

Megan Lammam also shared the importance of using story (oral or written) to communicate emotions and build a shared understanding. The message woven through her presentation was that each student at Woodland Park has a special story to tell. We are all different and unique, but we are all connected through story.

Author Megan Lammam speaking to Ms. Nylund's grade 3/4 class:

"Your Heart Compass" was a springboard for students to participate in reflective thinking using multiple perspectives. It also led to the use of empathy maps as a problem-solving tool during restorative justice sessions with administrators. When students were having struggles communicating with their peers and getting along in peaceful ways, we utilized the framework of the empathy map to help students think from the other person’s perspective rather than their own. This tool improved the quality of problem solving that took place between students and helped them understand what their peers were thinking and feeling at the time.  

Sample of an intermediate empathy map:

These empathy maps were used with both our primary and intermediate students this year. Moving forward, we would like to see the progression of these maps for students over time. We would also like all safe and caring adults on a student’s support team to consider using this structure to build a shared understanding of where students are at in their learning.

"Recognize and identify the role of personal, social, and cultural contexts, values, and perspectives in texts." (English Language Arts Curricular Competency)

Supports School Goal #2: Participate in reflective thinking using multiple perspectives.

Lesson: "Golden Boy Novel Study" – a Grade 7 English Language Arts lesson

We believe that language, story and text can allow students to explore and interact with different cultures, values and perspectives. As students read, discuss, reflect and write on learning experiences with stories that extend their thinking, they can expand their capacity for empathy and incorporate multiple perspectives into their worldview.  

In this class, students engaged in a novel study of the book Golden Boy, written by Tara Sullivan. The plot follows a main character who faces discrimination, and threats to his life because of his albinism. As they read, students discussed emerging themes from the story and wrote journals to reflect on what they were thinking and feeling. This process allowed students to compare values and worldviews of the characters in the story to their own.  

Discussions 

Throughout the reading, students encountered personal, social, & cultural context, as well as values and perspectives portrayed in the story that are different than their own. In regular discussion periods, students asked questions and reflected on the different worldviews depicted in the novel by making connections and imagining themselves in the context of the characters. 

Journals 

Writing in journals was another way for students to ask questions and reflect on the story. The process of translating thoughts onto paper allowed students to articulate their thinking, further extending their capacity for examining multiple perspectives. 

Samples of student journals:

"Recognize and appreciate the role of story, narrative, and oral tradition in expressing First Peoples perspectives, values, beliefs, and points of view." (English Language Arts Curricular Competency)

"Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story."
(First Peoples Principles of Learning)

Supports School Goal #3: Developing skills to communicate their story respectfully.

Lesson: “How the Mouse got Brown Teeth” - a Grade 6 English Language Arts Lesson

In this lesson, students in a Grade 6/7 class were presented with an oral telling of the Cree story ‘How the Mouse Got Brown Teeth”. Students were asked to sit in a circle on the floor as they listened, free of any writing utensils or paper. The teacher, who had practiced the story enough to become familiar enough with it shared it with the students through spoken word. After the story was over, students took turns passing a talking stick amongst themselves, sharing their observations, insights, and questions related to the story.  

The teacher did not provide all the answers to the questions asked, but rather facilitated a conversation amongst the learners, allowing them to discover amongst themselves what needed to be learned.  

It is important to note that all learners were aware that only one person would be allowed to share their thoughts at one time. The talking stick indicated who was allowed to speak so there was no confusion or interruption to each other’s thoughts.   

Students were also instructed to listen to all the details of the story, not just with their ears, but also with their eyes and their soul. Stories are meant to fan emotions already present in us, and so students were encouraged to pay attention to which emotions emerged as the story was read.  

Students were then asked to break the story down into units. They were provided a paper broken into 9 segments and were asked to sketch and retell those portions of the story in sequential order. This activity is a powerful strategy that could be later scaffolded to help students to develop paragraphs that are characterized by unity, development, and coherence.  

Graphic retelling of story:

Students were then asked to practice the telling of their version of the story that would be presented orally. Instructions highlighted the importance of tone, volume, inflection, pace, and even gestures.  

Oral retelling of story:

During this activity, students practiced the important task of listening with intent, which helps to develop and show respect for others’ points of view. They practiced speaking in turn and provided ample time for each other to speak. Next, opportunities were provided to follow up and ask questions to clarify meaning. Finally, students were given the responsibility of retelling the story. This is a powerful act of empowering these students to become the sharers of knowledge. The expectation of stories is that they do not stay with the teller. A story is a shared responsibility between all it is shared with to ensure it is passed on and does not die.  

First Nations societies regularly tell stories — about adventures, ancestors, or different aspects of the land. Through stories and songs, First Nations keep their history alive and pass it on to subsequent generations. Students participated firsthand in this communal experience that has been ongoing since time immemorial. What better way to communicate the importance of storytelling by involving students in the process.

In order to measure the progress of the learning intentions in our Student Learning Plan, we plan to collect student feedback through curricular competencies connected to Language Arts. 

Throughout the year, our teachers will be using the provincial assessment scale to communicate their students’ progress in relation to our three literacy goals:

• Exchange ideas and viewpoints to build shared understanding and extend thinking.
  (English Language Arts Curricular Competency)

• Recognize and identify the role of personal, social, and cultural contexts, values, and perspectives in texts.
  (English Language Arts Curricular Competency)

• Recognize and appreciate the role of story, narrative, and oral tradition in expressing First Peoples perspectives, values, beliefs, and points of view.
  (English Language Arts Curricular Competency)

Ongoing evidence of summative and formative assessment will be collected at various points in the year. Evidence of our students’ learning will demonstrate that our literacy focus is positively impacting our learners at Woodland Park.