Teaching SEL Through Literacy in Foundations of Language

The chapter discusses how social-emotional learning areas underpin specific reading, writing, and comprehension strategies in Foundations of Language, an 8th grade half-year course that teaches middle school students language and study skills to be successful in high school world language classes. The chapter provides ready-to-use pedagogical strategies for practicing world language educators and other fields. Literacy in areas of phonemic awareness, vocabulary recognition, cognate work, reading fluency, and text comprehension is practiced daily and is intertwined with SEL skills: self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and responsible decision making. The author proposes applicable activities and thematic units that merge literacy work with areas of SEL. The chapter concludes with recommendations for nurturing all five areas of social-emotional learning in middle school settings and beyond.