Social-Emotional Skills and Behavioral Readiness
Applying intentional social-emotional instruction, responsive adult support, and meaningful practice to strengthen preschool classroom participation and readiness for kindergarten.
Social-Emotional Learning School Readiness Early Childhood School PsychologyLearning Objectives
Upon completing this lesson, learners will be able to:
- Explain how social-emotional competencies contribute to preschool learning, peer relationships, emotional regulation, and behavioral readiness.
- Apply the What Works Clearinghouse recommendation for systematic, intentional social-emotional instruction.
- Analyze classroom behavior to identify opportunities for direct instruction, modeling, guided practice, and supportive feedback.
- Develop classroom strategies that integrate social-emotional instruction into daily routines.
- Evaluate instructional implementation, child responsiveness, and meaningful social-emotional outcomes.
- Recommend developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive, and accessible supports for preschool children.
Reading Assignment
Assigned Resource:
Preparing Young Children for School
Institute of Education Sciences /
What Works Clearinghouse (2022)
Required Pages: 7–15
Recommendation 1: Regularly provide intentional,
engaging instruction and practice focused
on social-emotional skills.
Open the Assigned IES Practice Guide (PDF) ↗
Page-by-Page Reading Guide
Page 7: Recommendation and Evidence Base
Examine the relationship between social-emotional competencies and readiness for kindergarten. Identify the importance of sharing, cooperation, emotional identification, regulation, and positive relationships.
Review the recommendation to use a sequential social-emotional curriculum that systematically develops skills rather than relying exclusively on unrelated activities.
Note that the guide assigns Recommendation 1 a strong level of evidence. Consider what the evidence supports and why this does not mean every individual activity is equally effective.
Page 8: Daily Intentional Instruction
Examine the guidance for providing regular, brief lessons from the selected curriculum. Focus on the role of consistency, direct instruction, and repeated practice.
Consider how a psychologist might help a preschool team translate a broad objective, such as emotional regulation, into an instructional plan with observable skills.
Page 9: Example 1.1 — Weekly Instructional Planning
Study the sample sequence for teaching calming strategies through discussion, role-play, repeated practice, and review across the week.
Focus on how a structured sequence increases opportunities for children to learn, practice, and use a targeted social-emotional skill.
Page 10: Example 1.2 — Puppets and Visual Supports
Examine the turtle puppet demonstration used to teach children how to respond when they become upset.
Consider how visual aids, adult modeling, and guided practice support learning before children are expected to use a skill independently.
Page 11: Reinforcing and Practicing Skills
Review the recommendation to provide multiple opportunities for children to practice skills during structured activities and everyday interactions.
Consider why practice during emotionally neutral situations may be important before expecting children to use unfamiliar skills during frustration or interpersonal conflict.
Page 12: Example 1.3 — Staged Practice
Examine how a planned classroom scenario provides opportunities to review, practice, and reinforce a previously taught social-emotional skill.
Identify the importance of adult planning, supportive prompts, and specific feedback.
Page 13: Example 1.4 — Natural Learning Opportunities
Study how a teacher uses an accidental classroom conflict to guide social-emotional learning.
Focus on helping children recognize emotions, understand another person's experience, and practice a constructive response without treating every mistake as deliberate misconduct.
Page 14: Examples 1.5 and 1.6 — Family Partnerships
Review the use of brief family communications and simple home activities to reinforce classroom social-emotional instruction.
Consider how shared language, accessible materials, and culturally responsive communication may strengthen continuity across settings.
Page 15: Implementation Considerations
Review the conclusion of Recommendation 1, including implementation obstacles and the panel's practical guidance. Consider the importance of making instructional activities manageable and addressing barriers to consistent social-emotional teaching.
1. Social-Emotional Development and School Readiness
Social-emotional development includes children's growing ability to recognize and communicate emotions, establish relationships, cooperate with others, resolve interpersonal problems, and respond to challenges in increasingly adaptive ways.
These competencies contribute to school readiness because preschool and kindergarten require children to participate in group activities, share materials, ask for assistance, follow classroom routines, and navigate interactions with peers.
School readiness should not be understood solely as the ability to remain quiet, sit still, or comply with adult directions. It also includes the capacity to access learning, communicate needs, engage with others, and use available support.
Core Social-Emotional Competencies
Emotional Identification
Recognizing and communicating emotional experiences, including happiness, sadness, frustration, fear, and excitement.
Emotional Regulation
Developing strategies for managing distress, recovering after frustration, and seeking appropriate support.
Social Interaction
Participating in shared play, responding to social cues, communicating with peers, and establishing relationships.
Cooperation
Sharing space and materials, contributing to group tasks, taking turns, and working toward common goals.
Problem-Solving
Identifying interpersonal difficulties and considering appropriate responses with developmentally appropriate assistance.
Help-Seeking
Recognizing when support is needed and communicating needs to an available, trusted adult.
2. Why Social-Emotional Instruction Must Be Intentional
Recommendation 1 emphasizes that social-emotional learning should be planned and explicitly taught. Relying only on spontaneous opportunities may leave important skills insufficiently addressed.
A teacher might frequently remind children to share, use kind words, or calm down. However, reminders alone do not ensure that children understand what to do or have practiced the required skills.
From Behavioral Expectation to Instructional Objective
Consider the classroom expectation that children should solve disagreements appropriately.
A more instructionally useful objective identifies what children should learn, such as communicating a problem, listening to another person's perspective, requesting help, or identifying an acceptable alternative.
Characteristics of Intentional Instruction
- A specific social-emotional skill is selected for instruction.
- Teaching follows an organized sequence that builds on previously learned skills.
- Adults model the target response.
- Children practice the skill in structured activities.
- Teachers provide specific feedback and repeated review.
- Opportunities for using the skill occur throughout classroom routines.
The Importance of Sequencing
A curriculum may begin with recognizing emotions before expecting children to explain complex emotional experiences or independently solve interpersonal problems.
Similarly, instruction in cooperation may progress from sharing space and participating alongside peers toward more complex turn-taking, collaborative activities, and conflict resolution.
3. Modeling, Rehearsal, and Supported Practice
The assigned reading emphasizes demonstrating social-emotional skills through engaging activities, stories, puppet interactions, visual supports, and role-play.
These instructional formats allow children to observe a skill before being expected to use it independently.
Modeling Emotional Regulation
In Example 1.2, the guide uses a turtle puppet and visual reminders to teach children strategies for calming down when they become upset.
An adult demonstrates the strategy, discusses situations in which it may be useful, and provides opportunities for children to practice.
This approach illustrates an important developmental principle: children benefit from learning a coping response before being expected to perform it under conditions of substantial emotional arousal.
Rehearsal During Calm Conditions
A child who has practiced naming feelings, asking for help, or using a calming strategy during a structured activity may be better prepared to access that response during everyday interactions.
However, performing the skill in a calm instructional setting does not guarantee independent use during distress. Additional prompting, co-regulation, and practice in natural contexts may remain necessary.
Staged Social Situations
Example 1.3 demonstrates how a planned scenario can provide opportunities for children to practice and receive feedback on a previously taught skill.
For example, a teacher might demonstrate requesting help when a needed material is unavailable, then provide a supported opportunity for children to practice the same skill.
4. Responding to Challenging Classroom Situations
Preschool social interactions frequently involve conflicts, misunderstandings, disappointment, and competition for materials or attention.
These situations provide opportunities for adult support and social-emotional instruction, but they also require attention to children's immediate regulation and safety.
Example: An Accidental Classroom Conflict
A child is building a block structure when another child accidentally knocks part of it over. The first child becomes upset and yells.
A response focused only on stopping the yelling may overlook the child's emotional experience and the opportunity to teach social problem-solving.
A supportive response could include acknowledging the child's frustration, clarifying that the incident was accidental, and helping both children identify how to repair the situation.
The teacher can model language for expressing feelings, asking for help, offering assistance, and resolving the problem.
Why Timing Matters
During significant distress, a child may require co-regulation before participating in a detailed conversation.
Immediate adult support may include maintaining safety, reducing stimulation, acknowledging emotions, and helping the child return to a level of engagement that allows learning.
Reflection and rehearsal may be more productive after the child is sufficiently regulated.
From Correction to Skill Development
| Classroom Concern | Instructional Focus | Adult Support |
|---|---|---|
| Child grabs a preferred toy | Requesting, turn-taking, and waiting | Model a request and provide guided practice |
| Child becomes upset after a mistake | Emotion identification and coping | Acknowledge feelings and offer an accessible strategy |
| Child struggles to enter peer play | Social initiation and joining activities | Model an entry strategy and facilitate peer interaction |
| Children disagree about materials | Communication and collaborative problem-solving | Help each child express needs and consider solutions |
| Child does not request help | Recognizing and communicating support needs | Teach and practice accessible help-seeking responses |
Apply Social-Emotional Instruction to Classroom Practice
Work through a preschool classroom scenario by selecting an instructional response at each decision point. Each choice produces explanatory feedback before the next decision becomes available.
The purpose is to analyze instructional decisions, not to identify a diagnostic category.
Amira, age 4, is building a tower in the block center. Another child accidentally bumps the table and the tower falls.
Amira begins crying, yells at the other child, and pushes several blocks across the floor.
The teacher reports that Amira frequently becomes upset when play does not proceed as expected. The class has recently begun lessons on identifying emotions and requesting help.
5. Embedding Social-Emotional Instruction Throughout the Day
Social-emotional instruction is most useful when children encounter repeated opportunities to apply new skills.
Recommendation 1 describes intentional lessons, planned practice, spontaneous teaching opportunities, and family involvement.
Morning Meeting
Teachers may introduce a targeted social-emotional skill through pictures, a short story, or a modeled interaction.
For example, a teacher might model identifying frustration and asking for help when a task becomes difficult.
Centers and Small-Group Activities
Cooperative activities can provide opportunities to practice sharing materials, requesting assistance, and communicating with peers.
Teachers can provide prompts and specific feedback when children use previously taught skills.
Transitions
Transitions can involve disappointment, uncertainty, and competing preferences. Teachers may support children through clear expectations, advance preparation, visual reminders, and responsive adult assistance.
Free Play
Natural peer interactions offer opportunities to practice turn-taking, cooperation, perspective-taking, and problem-solving.
Adults can provide support when needed while allowing children increasing opportunities to use skills independently.
End-of-Day Review
A brief review can help children recall strategies practiced during the day. Teachers may highlight specific examples of constructive communication, cooperation, or help-seeking.
6. Extending Social-Emotional Learning Across Settings
Pages 14–15 of the assigned reading address communicating with families and supporting practice outside the classroom.
Family involvement is most accessible when suggested activities are brief, understandable, culturally responsive, and easy to integrate into everyday routines.
Shared Instructional Language
When children practice a specific skill at school, educators can communicate the associated language and examples to caregivers.
For example, children learning to identify emotions may practice using simple feeling words during stories, play, or conversations.
Practical Home Activities
Emotion Identification
Discuss how a character feels during a familiar book or family story.
Turn-Taking
Use a simple board game or shared activity to practice waiting and alternating turns.
Cooperation
Complete a brief shared household task that involves working together.
Coping Strategies
Practice a familiar calming strategy during a neutral or playful moment.
Respecting Family Differences
Families vary in language preferences, routines, cultural expectations, resources, and opportunities for structured practice.
School psychologists should support collaboration without treating differences in communication or parenting practices as deficits.
7. Evaluating Social-Emotional Instruction
School psychologists can support implementation by helping teams define instructional objectives, observe child participation, examine progress, and adjust supports.
Define Observable Outcomes
Rather than measuring whether children demonstrate "better behavior," teams can identify specific target skills.
Examples include asking for help, identifying emotions, initiating a peer interaction, using a practiced problem-solving response, or participating in a cooperative task.
Measure Instructional Implementation
Teams should document whether planned lessons occurred, required skills were modeled, and children received opportunities for guided practice.
Monitoring implementation helps distinguish an ineffective instructional approach from a potentially useful approach that was not delivered consistently.
Examine Child Responsiveness
Observation may focus on the frequency of opportunities to demonstrate a skill, the number of successful responses, and the type of prompting required.
For example, a child may initially request help only with direct adult prompting but later demonstrate the response independently in familiar situations.
Assess Generalization
Improvement during a structured lesson should be considered separately from use of the same skill during free play, transitions, and peer interactions.
Teams can examine whether children apply newly learned responses in situations that differ from the original instructional activity.
Interpret Data in Context
Changes in performance may be influenced by the number of practice opportunities, task difficulty, adult assistance, familiarity with the social situation, and the child's emotional state.
A decrease in independently demonstrated skills during a more challenging social situation does not necessarily indicate loss of previously learned competence.
Observations should be interpreted alongside developmental information, caregiver and teacher perspectives, and other relevant data.
Design a Classroom Social-Emotional Instruction Plan
You are consulting with a preschool team that wants to improve children's help-seeking and social problem-solving.
The team currently relies on occasional reminders such as "use your words" and "make good choices." No consistent instructional sequence is in place.
Select the most appropriate action for each stage of an improved plan. After making all five selections, choose Evaluate My Plan for explanatory feedback.
8. Implications for School Psychologists
Social-emotional instruction is relevant to assessment, prevention, intervention, consultation, and school readiness planning.
Distinguishing Skill Deficits From Performance Difficulties
A child may lack a particular social-emotional skill, understand the skill but have difficulty using it independently, or encounter environmental conditions that make successful performance difficult.
These possibilities require different responses. Direct teaching may be necessary when a skill has not been acquired. Prompting and practice may be useful when the child has demonstrated the skill only under structured conditions.
Environmental modifications may be needed when classroom demands exceed the child's current regulatory capacities.
Using Functional Assessment Principles
When social-emotional difficulties interfere with participation, school psychologists may examine antecedents, observable responses, environmental consequences, and the skills required by the situation.
This information can support instruction in communication, help-seeking, coping strategies, and social problem-solving.
Functional assessment is complementary to, not a replacement for, intentional social-emotional curriculum and instruction.
Considering Individual Differences
Social-emotional behavior is influenced by developmental level, language, disability, cultural context, sensory needs, and previous experiences.
A child who does not communicate distress verbally may still be expressing needs through gestures, assistive communication, or other meaningful behavior.
Instruction should support accessible communication rather than require a single form of expression.
Supporting Multitiered Systems
A coherent social-emotional curriculum can provide universal instruction for all preschool children.
Some children may also benefit from additional small-group practice, individualized prompting, environmental adjustments, or coordinated intervention.
Decisions about additional support should be based on functional needs, available evidence, and response to instruction rather than assumptions derived from isolated behaviors.
Lesson Synthesis
Social-emotional competencies contribute to children's readiness for school by supporting communication, emotional regulation, peer relationships, cooperation, and constructive responses to everyday challenges.
The assigned reading establishes that these skills should be intentionally taught, practiced, and reinforced rather than assumed to develop automatically through classroom participation.
Connecting the Reading to Instructional Practice
Page 7 introduces the recommendation to provide regular, engaging social-emotional instruction through a systematic curriculum. The strong evidence rating supports the overall instructional recommendation.
Pages 8–9 emphasize consistent lessons and sequenced practice. These principles help ensure that children encounter new skills repeatedly and in a developmentally appropriate order.
Page 10 illustrates the use of modeling, puppets, and visual supports to teach a calming strategy. The instructional implication is that children benefit from observing and practicing a response before being expected to use it during difficult situations.
Pages 11–12 extend instruction through planned opportunities for rehearsal and feedback. Page 13 demonstrates how naturally occurring classroom conflicts can become opportunities for supportive social-emotional teaching.
Pages 14–15 address family collaboration and implementation considerations, emphasizing continuity between planned instruction and meaningful opportunities for practice.
Implications for Assessment
School psychologists should distinguish whether children have acquired the target skill, can demonstrate it under structured conditions, and can apply it across classroom situations.
A child who can identify emotions during a lesson but struggles to communicate during a peer conflict may require additional supported practice in natural settings.
Such performance differences should not automatically be interpreted as intentional noncompliance or evidence of a disorder.
Implications for Intervention Design
Effective social-emotional intervention should begin with clearly defined skills and provide explicit instruction, modeling, guided practice, and opportunities for generalization.
Classroom teams should select developmentally appropriate strategies that preserve children's access to learning and emotional safety.
When children struggle, the team should determine whether instruction, environmental supports, or additional opportunities for practice are needed.
Implications for Consultation and Collaboration
School psychologists can help teachers identify instructional objectives, plan skill-building activities, interpret behavioral observations, and monitor meaningful social-emotional progress.
Collaboration with caregivers and other educational professionals can support continuity while respecting differences in communication, cultural expectations, and family circumstances.
Implications for Educational Decision-Making
Meaningful evaluation requires more than observing whether children appear calmer or whether disruptive behavior decreases.
Teams should consider whether children are acquiring new skills, using those skills with decreasing support, and participating more successfully in classroom routines.
Monitoring specific skills and relevant environmental conditions allows educators to adjust instruction and make more defensible intervention decisions.
Key Concepts to Retain
- Social-emotional competencies support relationships, regulation, communication, and classroom participation.
- Effective instruction should follow a developmentally appropriate sequence of skills.
- Modeling, visual supports, stories, and role-play help children understand and practice new responses.
- Natural classroom situations create opportunities to reinforce skills that have been explicitly taught.
- Emotional distress may require co-regulation before reflective problem-solving is possible.
- Family collaboration should be accessible, respectful, and compatible with family routines.
- Evaluation should examine skill acquisition, prompting, implementation, and generalization.
- School psychologists should consider developmental, contextual, cultural, linguistic, and disability-related differences when interpreting social-emotional performance.
Professional Reflection
Consider a preschool classroom in which children frequently experience conflict over shared materials. Teachers currently respond through reminders and correction, but do not provide consistent instruction in communication or problem-solving.
Consider how a school psychologist could help the team identify a target skill, plan explicit instruction, provide structured practice, and embed opportunities for using the skill throughout the school day.
An effective plan should include accessible participation, supportive feedback, and measurable outcomes that extend beyond the introductory lesson.
Reference
Burchinal, M., Krowka, S., Newman-Gonchar, R., Jayanthi, M., Gersten, R., Wavell, S., Lyskawa, J., Haymond, K., Bierman, K., Gonzalez, J. E., McClelland, M. M., Nelson, K., Pentimonti, J., Purpura, D. J., Sachs, J., Sarama, J., Schlesinger-Devlin, E., Washington, J., & Rosen, E. (2022). Preparing Young Children for School (WWC 2022009). National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Required reading: Recommendation 1, pages 7–15.