How Rocketoons Align With the 5 Core Competencies of Social Emotional Learning

7/25/2019 2 Comments

How Rocketoons Align With the 5 Core Competencies of Social Emotional Learning

What exactly is SEL (social emotional learning)?
Who is teaching it?
How are they teaching it?

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL.org) is a group focused on collaborating with “leading experts and support districts, schools, and states nationwide to drive research, guide practice, and inform policy.” As the experts, here is what they say about SEL:

“SEL competencies are the essential knowledge, skills, attitudes, and mindsets that individuals need to succeed. They are the product of SEL, through which schools and districts implement practices and policies that allow children and adults to acquire and apply those competencies. Commitment to SEL has the potential to shape a school’s partnerships with afterschool programs, families, and community members as they collaborate to educate the whole child.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) introduced one of the field’s earliest set of SEL competencies in 1997, identifying a set of five core competencies that schools could promote in their students that are keys to academic and life success.”

The Five Core Competencies:

1. Self-awareness - the ability to accurately recognize your own emotions, thoughts and values and how they influence your behavior.
         •        emotion identification
         •        accurate self-perception
         •        strengths recognition
         •        self-confidence
         •        self-efficacy

2. Self-Management - the ability to control your own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors - effectively managing stress, controlling impulses, and motivating yourself. The ability to set and work towards achieving goals (personal and academic)
         •        impulse control
         •        stress management
         •        self-discipline
         •        self-motivation
         •        goal-setting
         •        organizational skills

3. Social awareness - the ability to empathize with others different from you. The ability to understand acceptable social and ethical behaviors.
         •        understanding different perspectives
         •        empathizing
         •        understanding and appreciating diversity
         •        respecting others

4. Relationship skills - the ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with different individuals and groups. Conversing, listening, cooperating, resisting peer pressure, negotiating conflict, asking for help.
         •        communicating
         •        engaging socially
         •        building relationships
         •        working in teams

5. Decision-making - the ability to make constructive choices about your own behavior. The ability to understand consequences of choices and understanding how our decisions affect others.
         •        identifying problems
         •        analyzing situations
         •        problem solving
         •        reflecting
         •        taking responsibility

We Have A Cartoon For That!

There are 15 episodes of Rocketoons, each with a ONE PAGE curriculum guide - also called a Cartoonversation Card. Each of the fifteen episodes fit into one or more of these categories, helping educators and counselors introduce SEL topics and initiate conversations, discussions, or interviews on these topics. Let’s take a look at the 15 episodes and how they fit into the categories.

1. Self-Awareness
E1 Too Many Activities
E2 Moving to a New School
E3 Bullying
E5 Last One Picked
E6 Think Tank - Cyberbullying
E8 Resilience
E10 Build-A-Bear - Assertiveness
E12 It’s Written in the Stars - Dealing with the Death of a Loved One
E13 Divorce
E14 On the Fly - Mindfulness

2. Self- Management
E1 Too Many Activities
E2 Moving to a New School
E3 Bullying
E4 Snail’s Pace - Inappropriate Use of Social Media
E5 Last One Picked
E6 Think Tank - Cyberbullying
E7 Hop, Skip, and a Jump - Truancy
E8 Resilience
E10 Build-A-Bear - Assertiveness
E11 Riding the Pine - Spending too much time on personal devices
E14 On the Fly - Mindfulness
E15 Garbage In, Garbage Out - Managing what we eat, watch, and think

3. Social Awareness
E2 Moving to a New School
E3 Bullying
E4 Snail’s Pace - Inappropriate Use of Social Media
E5 Last One Picked
E6 Think Tank - Cyberbullying
E10 Build-A-Bear - Assertiveness
E12 It’s Written in the Stars - Dealing with the Death of a Loved One
E13 Divorce
E14 On the Fly - Mindfulness

4. Relationship skills
E2 Moving to a New School
E3 Bullying
E5 Last One Picked
E6 Think Tank - Cyberbullying
E7 Hop, Skip, and a Jump - Truancy
E8 Resilience
E10 Build-A-Bear - Assertiveness
E11 Riding the Pine - Spending too much time on personal devices
E13 Divorce

5. Decision-making
E1 Too Many Activities
E2 Moving to a New School
E4 Snail’s Pace - Inappropriate Use of Social Media
E6 Think Tank - Cyberbullying
E7 Hop, Skip, and a Jump - Truancy
E8 Resilience
E10 Build-A-Bear - Assertiveness
E14 On the Fly - Mindfulness
E15 Garbage In, Garbage Out - Managing what we eat, watch, and think

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of using Rocketoons in your school or classroom is their simplicity. There is no in-service training required. There is no four-inch binder of curriculum administration. There is no rigid guideline for administering the cartoon. The simple one-page Cartoonversation Card sets the scene for the cartoon, provides background information about the characters, and provides five conversation starter questions, five facts about the topic, and five additional online resources. Rocketoons will supplement your SEL curriculum or you can build an entire SEL curriculum around Rocketoons.

Remember, Rocketoons are FREE for everyone (teachers, counselor, parents, kids, clowns, and superheroes) in North America. Our generous sponsors make it possible for us to create and maintain this program.

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