McREL International

During mature play

• Children create an imaginary situation.
• Children take on explicit roles and use objects in a symbolic way.

• An imaginary situation imposes constraints on children’s behaviors that support self-regulation.
• “Play also creates the zone of proximal development. . . the child is always behaving beyond his age, above his usual everyday behavior; in play he is, as it were, a head above himself” (Vygotsky, 1933/1978, p.74).

Children practice their most mature language skills during play:

• When children use imaginary props they must use language to explain what the props represent.
• The pretend scenario is created through language.
• Children use language to choose and negotiate their roles.
• When acting out roles, children learn to use more varied vocabulary and to adjust the way they talk to the specific characteristics of the roles they play.
• Play provides an authentic context for learning about purposes of reading and writing.
• Play provides an authentic context for acquiring and practicing specific early reading and writing skills and concepts.

Mature dramatic play also requires children to plan and maintain play roles:

• Role-playing facilitates the internalization of rules and expectations.
• To play “by the rules” children must learn to control their behaviors.
• Play encourages children to think ahead.  They discuss the play scenario before they do it.
• To coordinate multiple roles, children must learn to regulate each other’s behaviors:

Culturally relevant and responsive instruction

McREL recognizes the unique nature of communication and linguistic structures among the many diverse languages. Levels of language proficiency vary within communities, and McREL takes a consciously responsive approach to working within these diverse groups. When SEL is delivered in culturally diverse sites, such as Tribal Head Starts, culture and language are the center of the instructional framework. This means encouraging tribal elders, native educators, and community members to take the lead in co-designing specific instructional components and resources.

Play Plan of a Dual Language Learner

The SEL approach helps teachers individualize instruction for all children, including children with disabilities and other special needs and children who are dual language learners (DLLs). Students who are DLLs are encouraged to share their second language knowledge and “teach” their teachers and peers, furthering a sense of belonging and bolstering self-esteem. Given that SEL follows Vygotskian theory, a child’s home language, culture, and community are inherently valuable, integral dimensions of the instructional context. Furthermore, Vygotskian theory encourages a versatile approach that supports children with different modes of learning.

• An additional component of the program requires children to develop Play Plans, representations on paper of what they want to do, the role they want to play, or with whom they want to play with during “center time.”
• Play Plans encourage children to discuss what they will do in classroom centers with their peers.
• When using Play Plans, children progress from behaviors that are reactive and impulsive to behaviors that are deliberate and thoughtful. A recent study of the SEL program found that at the end of two years children outperformed a control group of children on four tests of executive function, an important component of self-regulation.
• Play Plans require children to think before acting, sothe planning helps them regulate their behavior.
• In preschool, Play Planning is the context for using Teacher-Scaffolded Writing. Findings from preliminary research using a matched-pair, quasi-experimental study support the effectiveness of Scaffolded Writing for developing preschool children’s letter recognition, knowledge of letter-sound correspondences, and sight vocabulary.

On-site professional development

SEL professional development aims to provide a solid foundation of knowledge and skills upon which to build the capacity of all staff members over time:

• Sessions address all of the project components, including early childhood development, literacy development, instructional strategies, and how to incorporate SEL with other early literacy curriculum.
• Early childhood leadership staff members also develop critical capacities for managing and leading the project, including how to

• Observe classrooms
• Provide feedback to teachers and teacher’s aides
• Demonstrate instructional strategies and activities in the classroom

• Moving from Year 1 into Years 2 and 3, the intensity of professional development is maintained, but the focus and delivery methods shift as project staff build capacity and take on more responsibility for mentoring, coaching, and, eventually, professional development.

Dynamic Coaching Model

Using expert coaching (outside and inside “experts”) and helping staff to become good coaches are integral parts of SEL professional development. Dynamic Coaching is both the framework for embedding professional development and a mechanism to cultivate comprehensive change. 

McREL’s Dynamic Coaching Model

• Is inherently flexible
• Provides a spectrum of support to meet the needs of each site’s coaching staff and leadership team
• Mirrors the instructional principles of SEL

Dr. Elena Bodrova delivers SEL training in field sites across the country. She is a Research Fellow for the National Institute for Early Education Research and a board member of the National Association for Early Childhood Teacher Educators.

Cynthia Bjork has over 15 years experience in education, including serving as a bilingual teacher, and has expertise in working with culturally diverse populations. Ms. Bjork is liaison to the Montana ERF site and the Three Affiliated Tribes program in North Dakota.

Dr. Carrie Germeroth has extensive experience evaluating the social and emotional development of children attending Head Start. Dr. Germeroth is the liaison for the North Dakota ERF site.

Progress Monitoring

Many Early Reading First grantees have implemented SEL professional development, and all have demonstrated positive literacy outcomes. For example, the School District of Janesville Early Reading First project is identified on the U. S. Department of Education’s Doing What Works Clearinghouse for Early Childhood Education as an example of using professional development to establish “the importance of children’s social and language interactions, an integrated curriculum, and scaffolded instruction directed at children’s developmental levels” in order to improve outcomes for preschool children. The project found that “[o]ngoing learning about language development was instrumental in bringing about Janesville’s shift from a traditional preschool approach to intentional and planned instruction.” Results include “significant overall gains for 85­90% of program children, including English learners.” Citing evidence of children’s achievement and teachers’ professional growth, the National Staff Development Council included SEL in a compilation of “what works” professional development programs, describing it as a “way to provide teachers the deep knowledge and extended instructional and assessment skills to prepare their students for success in reading and writing (p. 101).”