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Always on the lookout for effective teaching tools that can help students, especially in the area of social-emotional learning? This blog post offers quick ideas to incorporate low-prep SEL tasks into your independent work systems.

Social Emotional Learning Task Boxes

Task boxes are a great way to teach specific social emotional skills, such as interpersonal skills and social awareness, in a direct instruction or small group setting. They can also be used as independent work tasks or as part of a task box system for independent work stations. Task cards can cover a variety of skills and are typically broken down by grade level or specific SEL skill.

The main goal of using task cards and task box activities is to help students develop essential social emotional skills that will help them succeed both academically and in the real world.

Task cards can provide heaps of ways for students to practice important social interaction skills and learn how to recognize and express their own emotions. This can be especially helpful for older students who may be struggling with relationship building skills or for English language learners who need help with social studies vocabulary.

Using task cards and task boxes can be a great way for special educators to save time and energy in lesson planning, while still giving their students the tools they need to succeed. By providing students with a library of task card sets and task boxes, educators can ensure that their students are always working towards their fullest potential.

Social Emotional Learning Skill Areas

Here are some more simple task box ideas that offer a great place to start for younger students or those who need easy tasks to build independence:

  • Self-awareness: Students learn to recognize their emotions, thoughts, and feelings and understand how they affect their behavior.
  • Self-management: Students learn strategies to regulate their emotions and behavior, such as relaxation techniques or problem-solving skills.
  • Social awareness: Students learn to understand and empathize with others' emotions, perspectives, and backgrounds.
  • Relationship skills: Students learn to develop and maintain positive relationships, including communication, conflict resolution, and teamwork.
  • Responsible decision-making: Students learn to make ethical, safe, and healthy decisions based on their social-emotional understanding.
  • Mindfulness: Students learn to be present in the moment, regulate their thoughts and emotions, and manage stress and anxiety.
  • Resilience: Students learn to bounce back from adversity, setbacks, and challenges with confidence, determination, and adaptability.
  • Positive mindset: Students learn to cultivate a growth mindset, positive self-talk, and gratitude to enhance their emotional well-being and academic success.
  • Self-care: Students learn to prioritize their physical, emotional, and mental health by practicing healthy habits, stress-management, and self-compassion.

These social emotional learning skill areas are essential for students to develop and practice throughout their academic and personal lives. By incorporating social emotional learning into the curriculum and daily activities, students can build stronger relationships, manage stress, and succeed in their academic and future careers.

Simple task boxes, like matching and sorting different emotions is an easy way to incorporate social-emotional skills in young children. You'll find so many great ideas and different task boxes in the Task Box Dollar Club.

The club is a growing library of task card sets and the perfect place to find differentiated hands-on tasks. New sets are added every month, plus there are lesson plan ideas to incorporate everyday tasks in the special education setting.

Task boxes are a great way to teach a variety of social emotional skills to students of all ages and abilities in the special education classroom. Whether you're looking for a specific SEL skill or just need an easy task to use an independence builder, task cards and task boxes are a fantastic teaching tool that can help your students learn and grow in a fun and engaging way.

What types of social emotional learning activities do you use?

Hi there.

I'm Jennifer!

I’m Jennifer and I was a special educator in the elementary school setting over the past decade. I entered the classroom every day dedicated to making learning inclusive AND engaging.

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