The Pathway 2 Success SEL Curriculum is a complete social emotional learning curriculum designed for elementary learners. It provides lessons and activities to teach critical SEL skills for the entire year. It is filled with over 180 lessons and activities targeting skills for building confidence, developing self-control, understanding emotions, managing peer relations, improving decision-making, and much more.
What is Social Emotional Learning?
Social emotional learning, also known as SEL, is the process for acquiring social and emotional skills for everyday success. These skills include understanding ourselves and our abilities, practicing self-control, developing goals, maintaining positive relationships, developing empathy for others, making positive choices, and much more. Essentially, social emotional learning skills are life skills. These are abilities learners need in the classroom, at home, with friends, in future relationships, and beyond.
Why is teaching SEL important?
Social and emotional learning helps teach skills that kids and teens need to be successful. Having a foundation focused on social emotional learning supports a safe and positive learning environment where all students feel free to share their voices, accept challenges, take risks, and work towards finding their individual path to success.
Why Pathway 2 Success?
The lessons and activities in this curriculum are designed specifically for learners of all levels and abilities to learn, use, discuss, and generalize the social and emotional skills they need.
The idea is simple: We want our students to find their individual pathway to success! They need to be able to understand themselves, recognize their strengths, work through their challenges, enjoy the benefits of positive relationships, and be the best they can be.
We also want our students to be strong! Learners need strategies to manage their emotions, advocate for themselves, and make positive decisions throughout their lives. Through learning these skills, kids and young adults can work towards their individual potentials.
What Skills Are Included?
This complete curriculum targets the five core areas of social emotional learning: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and decision-making. Each unit breaks apart the skills in a meaningful, fun, and memorable way for learners.
Unit 1: Self-Awareness
- Understanding strengths and challenges
- Building confidence
- Emotional awareness
- Developing good character
- Embracing a growth mindset
- Using positive thinking skills
- Considering dreams for the future
Unit 2: Self-Management
- Developing study habits
- Staying organized
- Using self-control
- Managing emotions
- Developing healthy calming strategies
- Making goals
- Developing perseverance
Unit 3: Social Awareness
- Understanding social expectations and norms
- Reading social cues
- Respect
- Learning to perspective-take
- Developing empathy
- Showing kindness
- Celebrating diversity
Unit 4: Relationship Skills
- Friendship skills
- Using effective communication skills
- Including others
- Working well with others
- Getting along with others
- Conflict resolution skills
- Apologizing and repairing relationships
Unit 5: Decision-Making
- Becoming responsible
- Making good choices
- Taking responsibility for choices
- Developing problem-solving skills
- Navigating peer influence
- Embracing healthy habits
- Reflecting on choices
SEL Researched-Based Best Practices
This curriculum utilizes best practices for SEL instruction, including:
- Sequenced and connected activities to foster skill development.
- Active and varied forms of learning, including class discussions, journal writing, games, partner/group activities, and projects.
- Focused approach to emphasize the development of personal and social skills.
- Explicit instruction to target social emotional skills in an organized and specific way using the five core domains of SEL.
Other Questions
How much prep is required? Some activities include hands-on crafts and/or tasks cards, which require gathering of materials or cutting the cards out ahead of time. If this is a challenge for you, you can always elect to skip those specific activities. Another option is to have students do the cutting of materials like task cards right during your lesson time.
Can I use this in a homeschool environment? Yes! Some lessons and activities are designed for larger groups, but the vast majority of activities can be used 1:1 or in small groups. Further, some lessons discuss “school” and other school-related activities, but the main target for every lesson is the SEL skills.
Can I start midyear? Yes! It’s most important to get started teaching SEL skills right away, rather than waiting for the “perfect” time. Start with unit 1 and build on those skills for as long as you work with your students. Even if you do not finish the curriculum with your students this year, it will be providing kids with meaningful skills while giving you extra practice in teaching them.
Digital Versions Included
Digital versions of all student activities are included, making it easy for educators to assign work digitally through Google Classroom or other online platforms. To access each digital version, you will click a link that will make a copy of the file in your Google Drive account. Text boxes for student responses are already added. You can even choose to download Google Slides activities as PowerPoints. Of course, you will always have access to the printable versions too, allowing you to meet the needs of your students in every situation.
How To Get Started
Head over to my store and find the Social Emotional Curriculum to get started right away. Use the SEL Curriculum Planning and Pacing Guides to answer all of your questions and plan out the year filled with meaningful activities for your learners.
