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Second Step

All students in grades K-8th in the Ferndale School District are receiving re-occurring lessons using the Social Emotional Learning curriculum titled Second Step. Second Step is an evidence-based curriculum, supported by CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning). Please watch this video of two elementary classrooms implementing these lessons in their daily curriculum!

Second Step is a program rooted in social-emotional learning (SEL) that helps transform schools into supportive, successful learning environments uniquely equipped to encourage children to thrive. More than just a classroom curriculum, Second Step’s holistic approach helps create a more empathetic society by providing education professionals, families, and the larger community with tools to enable them to take an active role in the social-emotional growth and safety of today’s children.

What is taught in my student’s Second Step advisory/class lessons?
Elementary School (K-5)

The Second Step program teaches skills in the following four areas:

  1. Skills for Learning: Students gain skills to help themselves learn, including how to focus their attention, listen carefully, and be assertive when asking for help with schoolwork.
  2. Empathy: Students learn to identify and understand their own and others’ feelings. Students also learn how to take another’s perspective and how to show compassion.
  3. Emotion Management: Students learn specific skills for calming down when experiencing strong feelings, such as anxiety or anger.
  4. Problem Solving: Students learn a process for solving problems with others in a positive way.
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Middle School (6-8)

The Second Step Middle School Program is taught in your student’s advisory class and focuses on skills and concepts that are designed to help them be successful both in and out of school. These include:

  1. Mindsets and Goals: Students learn about ways to grow their brains and get smarter, along with research-based strategies for achieving goals and handling difficult situations.
  2. Values and Friendships: Students learn to identify their personal values and use those values to make good decisions and build strong, positive relationships.
  3. Thoughts, Emotions, and Decisions: Students learn the positive role emotions play in their lives, how to handle unhelpful thoughts and strong emotions, and specific strategies for calming down.
  4. Serious Peer Conflicts: Students learn how to identify and avoid serious conflicts, resolve conflicts that can't be avoided, think about other people's perspectives, and help stop bullying and harassment at school.

Take a closer look at the research and details in the middle school program: http://www.secondstep.org/middle-school-curriculum