Jones et al. (2021) explains how roleplay and game-based activities are a great way to encourage students to explore identity, empathy, and decision-making in comfortable environments. While exploring games and simulations for this week’s assignment, I discovered the Everyday Speech platform, which offers evidence-based SEL resources. The site provides a number of lesson plans, videos, activities, and interactive games designed to support students’ SEL. The full platform requires a paid subscription, however there are three “sample games” available to use.
Game Descriptions and Classroom Integration
Build-a-Moji → This game could be played one-on-one or in pairs to help students practice emotional recognition. Students take turns creating emojis to represent specific emotions or guessing the feelings conveyed by peers’ emoji creations. Playing this game would help students build vocabulary around feelings, improve facial expression recognition, and foster conversation about emotions.
Learning objectives:
Learning objective: Identify and understand one's own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses.
Understanding the emotions and perspectives of others, including those from diverse backgrounds.
Recognizing social cues and norms in different situations.
Collaborating with others and working in teams.
Learning Objectives
Regulating emotions and managing stress.
Understanding the impact of actions on others and the wider community.
Communicating effectively, both verbally and nonverbally.
Collaborating with others and working in teams.
Making ethical and safe choices.
Social Skills Quiz Show → Designed in a Jeopardy-style format, this game allows individuals or teams to answer questions on SEL topics through video prompts, multiple choice, or open-ended questions. It is a great tool for whole-class SEL review or discussions.
Learning Objectives:
Recognizing the impact of emotions on behavior and thoughts
Recognizing social cues and norms in different situations
Understanding the impact of actions on others and the wider community
Implementation
I could introduce these games during our SEL instructional block or during a morning meeting activity. They could be used after a brief lesson on the learning objective and modeling of how to play the game. As with any game, it would be important to set clear expectations and address any challenges as the game is played. I could scaffold the game by using sentence starters and reading questions aloud as needed. Additionally, strategic partnerships could allow for leadership opportunities among the students. Gee and Schaffer (2010) argue that games offer embedded opportunities for assessment and allow teachers to see student thinking in ways that traditional tests wouldn't. These games could be a great way to assess students’ IEP goals. I would be able to see how students answered the SEL questions and observe their social interactions and emotional regulation in response to the game.
Resources:
Everyday Speech. (n.d.). Everyday speech sample games. https://pages.everydayspeech.com/sample-sel-games
Gee, J. P., & Schaffer, D. W. (2010). Looking where the light is bad: Video games and the future of assessment. Edge: The Latest Information for the Education Practitioner, 6(1), 3–19.
Jones, K., Storm, S., Castillo, J., & Karbachinskiy, S. (2021). Chasing new worlds: Stories of roleplaying in classroom spaces. Journal of Language & Literacy Education, 17(1), 17.
Hi Molly,
ReplyDeleteDuring circle time we always do a song based on feelings. Some of my students who are verbal or have their communication devices seem to really be interested in expressing how they feel multiple times of day. My one student will cry, usually because she was told no about something, hit tissue on her device and then say happy! I think they would love to be able to create an emoji about their different feelings. It is so important for our students especially in a special ed setting to be able to communicate how they are feeling. I never even heard about this game before but I will definitely be checking it out now.
Hi Molly,
ReplyDeleteMy school has its own SEL curriculum and I have found that my students use the skills they are taught from this program and apply them to real life. I really enjoyed reading about your game. I would like to introduce this to my students. I teach Kindergarten and I think it is so important for them to learn SEL practices at their age. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Molly,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading your post and I have enjoyed seeing these great ideas on how to help children with their social emotional skills. We use second steps, which provide the basic cards, games, and puppets. It has nothing to do with digital literacy, so seeing this has really encourage me to look at this more, as SEL is extremely important for our children to learn!
Hi Molly, thank you for sharing this resource. What I especially like about it is that the students are most likely familiar with emoji's and pizza! These games are a great way to encourage and teamwork and communication!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using some of these games for SEL learning. I feel like the emoji one could be a good morning check in to see where everybody is starting their day. I have also never thought about utilizing SEL games to monitor IEP goals. I am definitely going to be doing this in the future!
ReplyDelete