top of page

Free Second Step and SEL Resources

In an effort to help educators engage with their students and reinforce the social-emotional skills they’re teaching, we’ve created this Free Second Step and SEL Resources Page. Below you'll find many helpful resources including classroom activities, mindfulness sessions and strategies taught throughout Second Step® to utilise with your students.  

Classroom Activities

​

Building Resilience

​

Resilience Activities for Primary School: These short, research-based student activities are designed to help teachers support students’ coping and recovery following a crisis. Each activity focuses on a topic or skill known to support students’ coping and well-being.
 
​

Practicing Gratitude

​
Power Up Your Gratitude Activity:  In this activity, you can help students understand why and how they can be thankful for big things and little things in their lives.
​
Positive Classroom Climate
​
Being Kind and Respectful to Help Stop Bullying Activity: A Free Classroom Climate Activity to Help Stop Bullying. Ready to involve all your students in creating a positive classroom climate? Want to get them thinking about how they can help stop bullying? This classroom activity, adapted from the Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit for Grades 4–5, is a great place to start. 
​

Mindfulness

​

Mind Yeti - Mindfulness for Kids and Their Adults

​

​Mind Yeti®: Fifteen of our mindfulness program sessions are now available for anyone to use, no experience necessary! Designed for educators and families to do alongside children, or for older children to do on their own, Mind Yeti provides a great way for everyone to practice mindfulness during this difficult time.

​

​

​

Podcasts

​

The Grow Kinder Podcast

​

The Grow Kinder Podcast: A first-of-its-kind social-emotional learning (SEL) podcast, Grow Kinder® features conversations with thought leaders in education who explore how SEL can help us navigate society’s most pressing challenges and create a kinder, more compassionate world. 

​

The Imagine Neighborhood

The Imagine Neighborhood: This new podcast for families is designed to help children and grown-ups practice their social-emotional skills. Each episode tells a story that’s amazing, fantastical, and maybe a little bananas, while it tackles the big feelings that come with growing up.

​

​

Printable Reminders

​

SEL Posters: Put up a few visual reminders to help your kids name their feelings and learn how to manage them too!

Practicing Empathy and Compassion

 

We are living through uncertain times. Support yourself and your students using some of the strategies that are taught in Second Step to help you manage your emotions during times of uncertainty and heightened levels of stress and anxiety. 

 

 

Using Emotion Management Strategies

 

Lessons in the Emotion Management unit teach a variety of calming down strategies. In particular, the following are very helpful:

  • Belly breathing;

    • Remind students to breathe in slowly through the nose and out through the mouth. A slow exhale stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. A variation of belly breathing is to breathe in memories of feeling safe and happy and breathe out any uncomfortable feelings.

  • Slow counting

  • Positive self-talk;

    • Help students identify negative self-talk related to coronavirus

    • Clarify any misunderstandings they might have about what is happening with coronavirus

    • Discuss helpful or positive self-talk that they could use.

 

​

Showing Empathy and Kindness

 

Lessons in the Empathy unit at all year-levels teach students to identify how others are feeling, and to show their care and concern with acts of kindness.

 

  • Remind students that others can have the same or different feelings in response to coronavirus (perspective-taking).

  • Have students reflect on how it feels when someone else has empathy for them - that is when another person feels and understands how they feel.

  • Have students identify acts of kindness or support that would feel helpful to them as individuals.

  • Have students identify acts of kindness or support they can offer each other in the classroom and around the school.

Online Learning

​

As some schools may need to provide online teaching and virtual classrooms, Positive Pieces in partnership with Second Step are continuing efforts to provide Second Step lessons online.

 

If you haven't yet set up your online Second Step dashboard, please read these tips and tricks below. 

 

​

Information For Educators

 

  • All teaching staff can create their own login at secondstep.org (there's no limit to the number of accounts created within a school and no ongoing licensing fees)

  • Use the Activation Key that is located on the first page of each Teaching Materials book (for Foundation - Year 3) or Teaching Manual (for Years 4 - 8)  

  • The dashboard provides access to streaming of all lesson media. 

  • We suggest using the Google Chrome web browser to ensure the smooth running of all media content. If you use Internet Explorer you may experience issues accessing some content.   

​

Click on the button below to view a pdf document created by Second Step with helpful insights and information to help lessons continue and to help you, students, and families cope with the stresses we’re all facing. It includes information on:

 

  • Self-care strategies

  • Signs of pandemic-related stress

  • Recommendations on how to talk about current events

  • Ways to help students recognise their emotions

  • Grade-specific lessons to help students manage emotions and anxiety

bottom of page