Perfect Match: Literacy Strategies and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

When I first started my career in education many years ago, creating interdisciplinary units was the rage. The idea was appealing; why teach subjects in silos when life outside the 4 walls of school is seldom expressed in isolated subjects?

Since pandemic lockdowns are behind us and schools are back in full session, it seems students, staff, and parents are readjusting to what school is about. Certainly, it is about learning Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. But, it is also about learning socialization skills. Currently, students are struggling on both accounts, arguably exacerbated from the pandemic. 

Nationally, 33 percent of fourth graders scored at the proficient or advanced levels on the 2022 NAEP reading assessment, down 2 percentage points from 2019. The share of proficient students also fell two points at the eighth grade level, from 33 to 31 percent.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), “More than 80% of U.S. public schools report that the pandemic has negatively impacted student behavior and socio-emotional development.” 

As a literacy consultant, I am figuratively pulling interdisciplinary files of yesteryear from my brain and will roll out evidence-based literacy strategies that embed social-emotional learning (SEL); neither should be taught in isolation. In fact, I propose both are exponentially more powerful taught in tandem. 

Photo by Jeffry Surianto on Pexels.com

Stay tuned as the story continues…

Take a peak at SEL resources on this page to see if any pique your interest.