Elizabeth Sollitto: So what is the lesson learned here? What was the poet’s message to us?

Child: I think the poet wants us to learn to never give up.

Jaynemarie Capetanakis: When I combine social-emotional learning and the reading and writing components, it helps students see themselves in the characters, in their stories. It’s really helping the students build on self-confidence, self-awareness, and relationship skills.

Child: If someone’s saying a negative word, just continue doing your goal.

Sollitto: Beautiful.

Capetanakis: As principal, I want my kids to have everything. Now, we think of that in terms of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but children, like adults, need to feel safe. They need to feel like they belong, and that’s why we’re so excited to bring the SELLA program to our school.

Amanda Deeter: So SELLA is a K–6 curriculum that integrates social-emotional learning and a lot of ELA standards. If we can support students in those writing and reading skills and connect that with the skills that they need to be healthy, happy human beings, then that’s going to set kids up for success.

Sollitto: Let me see everybody sit nice and tall.

I begin every lesson with breathing exercises, and we do some yoga.

Arms up, exhale, release. Shoulder rolls forward and shoulder rolls back.

Manar: We start class that way, so when we start the lesson, we’re relaxed and calm.

Sollitto: Today we’re going to read the poem about the little boy and the old man by Shel Silverstein. So our goal is to show empathy for others, that we understand and that we care about them.

Deeter: So within that self-awareness module, we’re helping kids not just be so aware of themselves, but starting to weave that thread of how you connect to others.

Sollitto: Before we read the poem, they looked at the picture.

So why might the man put his hand on the child’s back?

Manar: The old man looks like he’s about to hug him.

Sollitto: OK, so maybe they like each other. You have your poem, and we’re going to look at the first few lines together. “Said the little boy, ‘Sometimes, I drop my spoon.’ Said the old man, ‘I do that too.’”

Manar: Every time the boy would say something he struggles with, the old man would say, “So do I.”

Sollitto: “‘But worst of all,’ said the boy, ‘it seems grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.’ ‘I know what you mean,’ said the little old man.”

We analyzed the lines, and students got a chance to turn and talk about it.

Ryan: Like, they have a really good relationship with each other.

I think the poem is saying something about empathy and relationships. They both have things in common.

Sollitto: So now you’re going to write about a time when you had a special connection with someone older than you.

Deeter: So not only are we reflecting on our social-emotional competence, but we’re giving every student in our classroom an actual entry point into academic learning and the practice of writing.

Sollitto: So who would like to share?

Ryan: When I was in third grade, my father came with me to Coney Island. We both love the roller coaster.

I wrote about my father because he’s sometimes scared of heights and so am I.

Sollitto: So when we show empathy for others, we show that we care and we understand, and that connects to our self-awareness. Great job, friends.

Capetanakis: Because SELLA has that beautiful base of poetry and storybooks, they begin to connect with it in so many different ways, and that foundation in social-emotional learning can help be the point from which all other academic areas grow.

Sollitto: You did good—I’m so proud of you. Proud of you.

P.S. 69 Vincent D. Grippo School

.css-1sk4066:hover{background:#d1ecfa;}Teaching SEL Skills Through Stories and Poetry

Teaching SEL Skills Through Stories and Poetry