Young Adult Literature as a Means for Developing and Supporting Social-Emotional Learning.pdf

Addressing the social and emotional needs of students is not only vital, but it should be a priority for all

teachers. Teaching social and emotional skills directly influences students’ academic ability. Yet, many

schools and classrooms do not see the connection between their instruction and curriculum with SEL.

Often, schools have set aside a portion of the school day, or a few minutes at the end of the class period,

to check in with students or teach specific skills. One way that students can explore their own identities

and build a sense of agency is through the use of young adult literature. There are many ways that

teachers can incorporate YA in the classroom to build SEL. This chapter focuses on how three current

in-service teachers use YAL to address SEL in their classrooms. They each provide a brief background of

who they are, their beliefs about using YAL to address SEL in their classrooms, and authentic examples

from their instruction. Using these descriptions, the authors hope this chapter will help promote using

YAL to address SEL in classrooms.