• lenny-learning-logoLenny Learning
  • Home
    Home
    • Lessons
    Lessons
  • Curriculum
    Curriculum
  • Surveys
    Surveys
  • Videos
    Videos
  • Support
    Support
  • Log In

SEL Superpowers

user image

Fawzi Bengaied

Tier 1
For Schools

Lesson Plan

Discovering CASEL Competencies Plan

Introduce 3rd graders to the five CASEL competencies—self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making—so they can identify emotions, connect with others, and make positive choices in class.

Building foundational social-emotional skills helps students regulate feelings, foster empathy, strengthen classroom relationships, and support academic success.

Audience

3rd Grade

Time

45 minutes

Approach

Interactive slides, games, discussion, and reflection.

Materials

CASEL Intro Slides, Emotion Charades Cards, Competency Matching Cards, and Feelings Reflection Exit Ticket

Prep

Prepare Materials

10 minutes

  • Print and cut out Emotion Charades Cards.
  • Print and cut Competency Matching Cards.
  • Load CASEL Intro Slides on display device.
  • Print one Feelings Reflection Exit Ticket per student.

Step 1

Warm-Up: Emotion Charades

5 minutes

  • Explain that students will act out feelings without words.
  • Show or hand out Emotion Charades Cards.
  • Invite volunteers to choose a card, act it out, and let classmates guess the emotion.

Step 2

Introduction to CASEL

10 minutes

  • Display CASEL Intro Slides.
  • Walk through each of the five competencies with definitions and images.
  • Ask students to share a quick example when they used or saw each competency.

Step 3

Group Discussion

10 minutes

  • Divide students into small groups.
  • Assign each group one CASEL competency.
  • Have them discuss and list real-life examples from school or home where that competency matters.
  • Invite groups to share one example with the class.

Step 4

Competency Matching Activity

15 minutes

  • Distribute shuffled Competency Matching Cards.
  • In pairs, students match scenario cards to the correct competency.
  • Circulate to support, clarify misconceptions, and encourage peer discussion.

Step 5

Cool-Down: Exit Ticket

5 minutes

  • Hand out Feelings Reflection Exit Ticket.
  • Ask students to write or draw:
    • One competency they learned.
    • A time they might use it today.
  • Collect tickets as they leave.
lenny

Slide Deck

What Is SEL?

SEL stands for Social-Emotional Learning.
It helps us:

  • Understand our feelings
  • Get along with others
  • Make positive choices

Greet the class and introduce the topic. Explain that SEL stands for Social-Emotional Learning and helps us understand our feelings, build friendships, and make good choices.

Today's Agenda

  1. Why SEL Matters
  2. The Five CASEL Competencies
  3. Group and Pair Activities
  4. Reflection & Exit Ticket

Orient students to the agenda. Let them know they’ll learn why SEL matters, meet the five CASEL skills, do activities, and reflect.

Why SEL Matters

• Helps us notice and manage feelings
• Builds stronger friendships and teamwork
• Guides us to make safe, kind choices

Explain each bullet with a story or classroom example. For instance, how naming your feeling can help calm down.

Self-Awareness

• Knowing your own feelings, strengths, and thoughts.
• Example: “I feel nervous before a test, and I remind myself I studied.”

Define self-awareness. Show an example: “I feel butterflies in my stomach before a test, so I remind myself I studied.” Ask for student examples.

Self-Management

• Controlling emotions, staying calm, and setting goals.
• Example: Taking three deep breaths when you feel angry.

Define self-management. Demonstrate taking deep breaths. Invite students to share ways they calm down when upset.

Social Awareness

• Understanding how others feel and showing empathy.
• Example: Noticing a friend looks sad and asking if they’re okay.

Describe social awareness. Share a story of comforting a friend. Ask students to name other acts of kindness.

Relationship Skills

• Making friends, communicating, and working together.
• Example: Taking turns in a game so everyone can play.

Explain relationship skills with examples of sharing and taking turns. Ask students about a time they helped a classmate.

Responsible Decision-Making

• Choosing safe, respectful, and helpful actions.
• Example: Thinking, “Is this kind?” before speaking to someone.

Define responsible decision-making. Talk through thinking before acting. Ask students to share a good choice they made recently.

Let's Practice!

Turn to a partner and share:
• One CASEL skill you want to use today
• How you will use it

Explain the pair share. Students will pick one CASEL skill and tell a partner how they will use it today.

lenny

Lesson Plan

Discovering CASEL Competencies Plan

Introduce 3rd graders to the five CASEL competencies—self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making—so they can identify emotions, connect with others, and make positive choices at school.

Building foundational social-emotional skills helps students regulate feelings, foster empathy, strengthen classroom relationships, and support academic success.

Audience

3rd Grade

Time

45 minutes

Approach

Interactive slides, games, discussion, and reflection.

Materials

CASEL Intro Slides, Emotion Charades Cards, Competency Matching Cards, and Feelings Reflection Exit Ticket

Prep

Prepare Materials

10 minutes

  • Print and cut out Emotion Charades Cards.
  • Print and cut Competency Matching Cards.
  • Load CASEL Intro Slides on display device.
  • Print one Feelings Reflection Exit Ticket per student.

Step 1

Warm-Up: Emotion Charades

5 minutes

  • Explain that students will act out feelings without words.
  • Show or hand out Emotion Charades Cards.
  • Invite volunteers to choose a card, act it out, and let classmates guess the emotion.

Step 2

Introduction to CASEL

10 minutes

  • Display CASEL Intro Slides.
  • Walk through each of the five competencies with definitions and images.
  • Ask students to share a quick example when they used or saw each competency.

Step 3

Group Discussion

10 minutes

  • Divide students into small groups.
  • Assign each group one CASEL competency.
  • Have them discuss and list real-life examples from school or home where that competency matters.
  • Invite groups to share one example with the class.

Step 4

Competency Matching Activity

15 minutes

  • Distribute shuffled Competency Matching Cards.
  • In pairs, students match scenario cards to the correct competency.
  • Circulate to support, clarify misconceptions, and encourage peer discussion.

Step 5

Cool-Down: Exit Ticket

5 minutes

  • Hand out Feelings Reflection Exit Ticket.
  • Ask students to write or draw:
    • One competency they learned.
    • A time they might use it today.
  • Collect tickets as they leave.
lenny

Warm Up

Emotion Charades Warm-Up

Get ready to use your face and body to show how you’re feeling! This quick game helps us practice identifying emotions in ourselves and others.

Materials:

  • Printed Emotion Charades Cards (one per student or pair)

Instructions:

  1. Explain that each card has an emotion written on it—they’ll act it out silently.
  2. Distribute cards randomly to volunteers (or let students pick).
  3. One at a time, each student reads their emotion silently, steps to the front, and mimes that feeling without words.
  4. Classmates raise hands to guess the emotion.
  5. Reveal the correct answer, then invite the next volunteer.

Emotions to Include on Cards:

  • Happy
  • Sad
  • Angry
  • Surprised
  • Scared
  • Excited
  • Frustrated
  • Proud
  • Tired
  • Bored

Time: 5 minutes

Why It Matters: Recognizing and labeling emotions builds self-awareness—our first CASEL competency—and helps us understand how others feel, too.

lenny
lenny

Activity

Competency Matching Cards Activity

In this activity, students work in pairs to match scenario cards with the correct CASEL competency card. This helps them recognize real-life examples of each social-emotional skill.

Materials

  • Cut-apart Scenario Cards
  • Cut-apart Competency Cards

Instructions

  1. Shuffle all cards and deal one scenario card and one competency card to each pair.
  2. Students read their scenario and decide if their competency card matches.
  3. If it does, they keep the pair; if not, they swap the competency card with another pair until all matches are correct.
  4. Once finished, each pair shares one example with the class and explains why it matches.

Scenario Cards

  1. scenario-names-feeling: “I feel nervous before the spelling test, so I remind myself I practiced and can do it.”
  2. scenario-deep-breaths: “When I get upset because my game partner cheats, I take three deep breaths to calm down.”
  3. scenario-helps-friend: “I see someone sitting alone at recess, so I ask if they want to play with me.”
  4. scenario-share-toy: “During center time, I let my friend go first with the new toy car.”
  5. scenario-choose-be-kind: “I want to grab a toy before the line, but I stop and think, ‘Is this fair and kind?’”

Competency Cards

  • comp-self-awareness: Self-Awareness
  • comp-self-management: Self-Management
  • comp-social-awareness: Social Awareness
  • comp-relationship-skills: Relationship Skills
  • comp-decision-making: Responsible Decision-Making

Pairs will match each scenario (left column) with the correct competency name (right column). When all matches are made, discuss as a class why each example fits its skill.

lenny
lenny

Cool Down

Feelings Reflection Exit Ticket

Today we explored the five CASEL competencies. Reflect on your learning below.

  1. One CASEL competency I learned today:






  1. A time I might use this competency today:






Feel free to draw or write your response above!

lenny
lenny