Dive Brief:
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Writing exercises such as memoir-style essays or letters to their future selves can help students make connections to their feelings, allowing them to reflect on their emotional states while strengthening both their writing and social-emotional skills.
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Literacy experts suggest reading and writing prompts can serve as mirrors or windows, helping writers including students better understand themselves and others, said Heather Schwartz, practice specialist for the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning. And these assignments can be used in any subject and across grade levels.
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“While it may seem like the purview of humanities classes, teachers in any subject area can use writing to help students explore and strengthen their academic mindsets,” Schwartz said.
Dive Insight:
“Integrating writing and SEL can be as formal as students studying iambic pentameter to write sonnets about an experience in their lives or as informal as an opportunity to journal independently,” Schwartz said.
Very young students can draw pictures to express their feelings and ideas about a story, or dictate their narrative or thoughts to their teacher. Older students can start writing from sentence prompts. Schwartz recommends “I Am From” poems as a way for classes to “explore their identities through the senses,” she said.
Other activities Schwartz suggests include learner autobiographies, which allow students to think about the kind of learner they are and explore life experiences that may have shaped them. She understands many students may not have confidence in their writing abilities, but said encouraging them to have fun with their work — and bringing writing into their classroom activities often — can help to strengthen their belief in their abilities, voice and confidence.
“Challenge students to keep writing even if they don’t know what to say,” Schwartz said. “Don’t worry about spelling and punctuation during a first draft or journal prompt. There will be plenty of time to practice those critical skills.”
However, Schwartz does caution educators to be sensitive to the environment they’re creating when encouraging students to write or talk about their thoughts and feelings. Classrooms should be structured so pupils know they are both safe and supported — no matter what, how or if they decide to share. In that way, students will feel more comfortable talking about their ideas and working with classmates, which can in turn help to build stronger classroom communities.
“While it is not necessary that students share their reflections every time, providing opportunities to share out answers with peers can strengthen classroom relationships and give insight into your students’ lives,” she said.
