5 Ways to Boost Social Skills for the Littlest Learners
By helping young students develop social awareness and emotional literacy, teachers can create a calm environment in the classroom—and build the foundation for lifelong learning.
To learn more about the benefits of teaching social skills in the classroom or to see the research cited in this video, take a look at the links below:
- 2022 review of how movement affects academic performance, by Lucia Petrigna, Ewan Thomas, Jessica Brusa, Federica Rizzo, Antonino Scardina, Claudia Galassi, Daniela Lo Verde, Giovanni Caramazza, and Marianna Bellafiore
- 2019 study on how growth mindset improves achievement, by David S. Yaeger, Paul Hanselman, Gregory M. Walton, Jared S. Murray, Robert Crosnoe, Chandra Muller, Elizabeth Tipton, Barbara Schneider, Chris S. Hulleman, Cintia P. Hinojosa, David Paunesku, Carissa Romero, Kate Flint, Alice Roberts, Jill Trott, Ronaldo Iachan, Jenny Buontempo, Sophia Man Yang, Carlos M. Carvalho, P. Richard Hahn, Maithreyi Gopalan, Pratik Mhatre, Ronald Ferguson, Angela L. Duckworth, and Carol S. Dweck
- 2018 study on the effects of movement on cognitive performance, by Raed Mualem, Gerry Leisman, Yusra Zbedat, Ola Mualem, Monjed Amaria, Aiman Kozle, Safa Khayat-Moughrabi, and Alon Ornai
- 2017 meta-analysis of the effects of physical activity on executive functions, attention, and academic performance, by Johannes W. de Greeff, Roel J. Bosker, Jaap Oosterlaan, Chris Visscher, and E. Hartman
- 2017 review of the effects of physical activity interventions on children’s cognition and metacognition, by Celia Álvarez-Bueno, Caterina Pesce, Iván Cavero-Redondo, Mairena Sánchez-López, José Alberto Martínez-Hortelano, and Vicente Martínez-Vizcaino
- 2016 study on how feelings of safety at school affect classroom engagement, by Carolyn Côté-Lussier and Caroline Fitzpatrick
- 2011 meta-analysis of how teacher-student relationships affect student engagement, by Debora L. Roorda, Helma M.Y. Koomen, and Frans J. Oort
- 2010 article on building trust and relationship in urban classroom communities, by Catherine D. Ennis and M. Terri McCauley
Discover more resources for teaching social skills in the classroom in Edutopia contributor Laura McKenna’s article “After Social Isolation, Preparing Our Youngest Students to Thrive.” Social worker Megan Tavares’s piece on “How to Guide Young Learners to Follow the Rules” and early childhood educator Roisleen Todd’s article “Bringing a Trauma-Informed Lens to Early Childhood Education” also provide strategies for managing behavior in the classroom.