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Second Step® Overview

Second Step® is an evidence-based Social Skills Curriculum
Series of weekly classroom lessons delivered via a Digital Platform
Supplemental materials including classroom extension activities, family links, and community connections
Curriculum aligned to CASEL®, focusing on the 5 core SEL competencies

Self Awareness
Self Management
Social Awareness
Responsible Decision Making
Relationship Skills

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Example of scope and sequence for K-5 lessons

Bullying

Prevention

Bullying

Second Step^® Skills and Concepts

Problem-

Solving

Growth Mindset & Goal-Setting

Empathy & Kindness

Emotion Management

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

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K-5 Bullying Prevention Lessons

Students learn how to:

Follow classroom rules so everyone feels safe
How to recognize bullying
How to report bullying
How to refuse bullying
The power of bystanders

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Unit 1: Growth Mindset & Goal-Setting

Students learn how to:

Pay attention and manage distractions
Develop a growth mindset
Apply goal-setting strategies to their social and academic lives

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Grade 2, Lesson 1

Unit 1 teaches students growth mindset strategies and gives them practice applying a growth mindset through goal-setting activities and achievement.

A growth mindset is an important skill to establish early in the school year to help students keep going through challenges, welcome mistakes, identify and achieve goals, and gain confidence as they learn.

Students also learn that their brains grow and change when they tackle new challenges, try hard, and practice their skills.

In Kindergarten through Grade 2, students develop skills needed to pay attention and avoid distractions and learn about the importance of practice and effort when learning something new. Grade 3 introduces the brain science behind learning, practice, and planning. With this foundation, Grades 4 and 5 shift to focus on the goal-setting process.

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Unit 2: Emotion Management

Students learn how to:

Identify and label their own and others’ emotions
Use emotion-management strategies to calm strong feelings, including stress management for older students

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Grade 5, Lesson 6

The second unit is all about emotion management . . .

In this unit, students learn and practice ways to identify emotions and calm strong feelings. They build their emotion vocabularies, practice identifying their own and others’ emotions, and recognize the importance of labeling and managing emotions.

From Kindergarten through Grade 3, students develop emotion-related vocabulary and practice emotion-management strategies, like slow breathing, asking for help, or taking a break. By Grade 4, students focus on more complex ideas, like the role of emotion management in their lives and relationships, and Grade 4 introduces rethinking as a new way to manage emotions. In Grade 5, students begin to identify unique stressors in their own lives and plan for them in advance with new strategies.

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Unit 3: Empathy & Kindness

Students learn how to:

Recognize kindness and do kind acts for others
Have empathy for others and take others’ perspectives
Recognize kind acts and empathy as important elements in building and maintaining relationships

Grade 1, Lesson 13

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Unit 4: Problem-Solving

Students learn how to:

Identify and state a problem
Recognize if a problem is an accident
Use the STEP problem-solving process:

S: Say the problem

T: Think of solutions

E: Explore the outcomes

P: Pick a solution

Grade 3, Lesson 16

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Second Step® Overview

Elementary classrooms will participate in weekly lessons.
Middle School students will engage in lessons as part of our Wellness programming through Health, Physical Education, SELF, Community Conversations, or grade and school-wide assemblies.
Review this FAQ for answers to submitted questions.
Submit additional questions to our district SEL coordinator via this form
Thank you for your support as we partner on behalf of all students!