Integrating Social-Emotional Strategies in Content Areas: Third Part – Science!

| By: Committee for Children

Science is a great subject to integrate with social-emotional skills. Like in other subjects, feelings and emotions are alive and well in the area of science.

Science is one of those subjects we may have different feelings about as teachers. I always loved science, but when it came to teaching it, I really had to prepare myself mentally. Especially with the big science kits we’re asked to use, which can be really cool and helpful in so many ways, but at other times overwhelming with all the supplies to sort through and items to organize just to prepare for one lesson.

We know hands-on lessons are best when students are learning to become scientists. We also know sometimes hands-on lessons can create chaos and confusion for some students who need more structure. Pairing students up or putting students in small groups to work together is a great idea. Using journals before and after to record their thoughts and actions like real scientists do also helps during these times. Remind students to not just describe the procedures, but to include their feelings about the discovery process.

I remember a unit on insects I was teaching, where students each had a petri dish of mealworms and came in every day eager to see how their pupa had changed. One day a student came in and discovered an adult, the darkling beetle, and the whole class was over-the-moon excited. Feelings were big, so we stopped and celebrated. We took the time to write in our journals about how we were feeling. The observations and insights they made about the life cycle at that moment were incredible.

In this same unit, there were other kids who never saw their darkling beetles hatch due to different variables, and for some this was a really tough time. Once again, we stopped and took time to write in our journals about how we were feeling. My students had some big feelings about life and death bubble up, and other personal stories were shared. Letting students express their feelings and facilitating discussion that adds to the scientific learning and emotional learning is crucial. The different sciences, especially life science, call on us to integrate social-emotional learning.

When talking to your students, remember to call them scientists and remind them that scientists often work together to solve problems. Integrate small-group work, as you do in math, so students can practice listening, taking turns, agreeing or disagreeing respectfully, asking questions, and being team players who work together to achieve a goal or solve a problem. These experiences are invaluable. When discussing the science “question,” remember to discuss the process. Reflecting on how each person felt as a team member in that group and what each person did well or could improve on will also increase learning. Remember that when we teach students how to think scientifically, we can also be teaching them strong social-emotional skills.