Knowledge Building is Social Emotional Learning
One of the main criticisms I hear about knowledge-building curricula is that there is too little engagement and too much rigor, leading to classrooms of stressed-out teachers and students. I have found the opposite to be true. I've come to believe that knowledge-building leads to positive learning environments conducive to social-emotional learning (SEL). In this blog, I'm going to share a few stories from my classroom that show the ways in which my students are building knowledge and SEL competencies at the same time.
According to the CASEL website, “SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.”
From my experience, SEL competencies can be built through knowledge building. Listed below are some examples of how I have seen this play out in my classroom.
SEL Competency: Self Awareness - To recognize your emotions and how they impact your behavior; acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses to better gain confidence in your abilities
In the first unit of fourth grade, students learn what it means to have a great heart, both literally and figuratively. When learning about the literal heart, students read text that explains how the circulatory system works. They then use the text to write an informative paragraph about the literal heart. After explaining the final writing task on the literal hearts to the students and getting them started, a student raised her hand for help. When I went to her, instead of asking me a question, she showed me her paper and said “Ms. Scotti! I always thought I was a bad writer. It turns out I can write, I just never knew WHAT to write about!” She had written a beautiful paragraph about how the aorta and valves in the heart, and was so proud to share that paragraph with previous teachers, friends, and family. This student went from being frustrated with reading and writing, to realizing that she could do it with support and knowledge. She gained confidence, and that confidence grew as her knowledge grew. Knowledge builds confidence.
SEL Competency: Social Awareness - The ability to put yourself in the shoes of another person who may be from a different background or culture from the one you grew up with. To act with empathy and in an ethical manner within your home, school, and community.
The texts of knowledge-building curricula expose students to historical figures and characters from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. Because students study the same topic for an extended period of time, they get to know these figures and characters. They connect with their stories and learn life lessons from them. Second graders learn about Civil Rights Heroes, fifth graders learn the impact westward expansion had on Native American Cultures, and seventh graders learn about how World War II impacted individuals from all cultures. Looking at the essential questions of each module (unit) will show you how social awareness and empathy are built into lessons. In knowledge-based curricula, students are answering questions such as
How does change impact people and nature?
How do stories help us understand immigrants’ experiences?
How does a challenging setting or physical environment change a person?
How can enduring tremendous hardship contribute to personal transformation?
My students cry every year when the dog in “Love that Dog” gets hit by a car. They empathize with Brian from “Hatchet” who is dealing with the pain of his parents’ divorce while attempting to survive in the wilderness. They feel genuine sadness for Annie, a character in “Woods Runner” who loses both of her parents in the American Revolution, and they learn life lessons from Greek and Native American myths. This is social-emotional learning at its purest.
SEL Competency: Relationships Skills - The ability to build and maintain relationships with people from a diverse range of backgrounds. This competency focuses on listening to and being able to communicate with others, peacefully resolving conflict, and knowing when to ask for or offer help.
For the past month, during our poetry unit, my students have been working with a volunteer from “Written in My Soul” to write poems about a topic that is important to them. One of my newer students was very hesitant. He kept saying that he was not a poet and that he did not have anything to share. I asked him if there was a person, place, or thing that was important to him, and we could start there. It could be a small thing, just like the red wheelbarrow was a small thing in “The Red Wheelbarrow” that we had read in our unit. He replied, “Well, it may seem like a small thing but there is a student who let me play soccer with all the other kids on the playground even though I was not a good soccer player. He even told me I was a good defender!” He ended up writing a poem for his friend about being included on the playground and thanking him for making him feel included. He was proud to share with everyone that his poem had imagery and a simile. He even got up in front of over a hundred parents, students, and staff to share the poem at the poetry slam we had. This student was able to use the learning in the unit to share his feelings about a powerful relationship that had a huge impact on his life.
I have so many more stories like these ones, where our knowledge-building curriculum strengthens connections and sparks conversations. Every year, I have students who are so engaged in the books that we are reading that they convince their parents that they have to read them too. I once had a student who named their dog Sky after the dog in “Love that Dog.” I had a student on a field trip to Mount Vernon explain to his mom that Paul Revere's engraving “The Boston Massacre” does not depict the whole story of what happened to the soldiers that day. When he used the word “propaganda” in his explanation, his mom replied, “How in the world do you know that word?” I had a student invite her brother’s cardiologist into our classroom when we were studying the heart and a student who invited his uncle to talk to our class about his experience climbing Mount Kilimanjaro when we were reading about mountain ranges. Students who ask their parents to take them places we have learned about in books. After every module, students invite their families in to share the work that they have done during the module and are always eager to do so.
Knowledge builds confidence and connections. Knowledge provides experiences and partnerships. Knowledge building is life-changing. Knowledge building IS SEL.