The Feels curriculum introduces students to each of the six Social Emotional Learning Standards set forth by Washington State, touching on benchmarks and indicators using an engaging narrative and supplemental learning tools that can be accessed continuously within the classroom to further reinforce learning. The curriculum includes Yeti Feels and their Mountain, which can find a home in the classroom’s self-regulation area (a Safe Place or Calming Corner) and offer an outlet for students to connect with and build upon their SEL skills as needed, bolstering self-awareness and self-efficacy.
The curriculum incorporates benchmarks holistically throughout, beginning by inviting students to get to know their personal experiences, both internal and external, with a variety of feelings (Self-Awareness, Self-Management and Self-Efficacy Standards) and then expanding outward to take a wider view of the way emotions, thoughts and behaviors influence and are influenced by the environment (Social Awareness, Social Management and Social Engagement Standards). This approach honors diversity by allowing students to understand and articulate the unique way feelings can be experienced individually and within their cultural contexts (through body sensations, thought processes and behavioral norms), as well as builds community by normalizing and validating feelings, and the shared and different experiences that can trigger them.
Offering concrete tools for coping with the spectrum of feelings, The Feels teaches students to first tune in mindfully to their own needs, emotional reactions and behavioral responses to better self-advocate and problem solve with their peers and resource adults. It teaches the importance of self-compassion when tougher feelings arise, which in turn builds empathy and group cohesion within the classroom. Finally, it helps students assume greater responsibility for themselves, their “Feels” and needs of their greater school community, inviting them to contribute meaningfully by practicing new skills daily.
View Washington Social-Emotional Learning Standards HERE
