Social Awareness Teaching Resources
Help your students build social awareness skills with activities and printables, social skills worksheets and more SEL teaching resources created by teachers specifically for elementary and middle school students.
This collection is full of digital and printable activities created by the expert teachers of the Teach Starter team to help teachers as they work with students on being more socially aware, recognize social cues, understand social dynamics and treat the people around them with kindness and courtesy.
Each teaching resource in this social awareness teaching resource collection has undergone rigorous review by the Teach Starter team to ensure it's ready for the classroom ... and your students!
Curious about teaching social awareness and wondering how to build students' social skills? Read on for some tips from our expert teachers!
What Is Social Awareness? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Being socially aware is not something that comes naturally to every child, and explaining what social awareness means can be tough. Our teacher team has created this kid-friendly definition to help!
Social awareness is understanding how other people feel and what they need. When we are socially aware, we notice how others are doing, and we make an effort to be kind and helpful to them.
Social awareness also means paying attention to the rules and ways people behave in different situations.
Being socially aware means we are more sensitive to the feelings of people around us, and we can then use our social skills — such as the ability to be kind, to listen and to cooperate – to work with others. It means we can empathize with others, understand diverse perspectives and navigate social interactions effectively.
Social Awareness Examples for Kids
Now that you've explained the social awareness meaning, it helps to explore what it actually looks like when you put it into practice. Many of your students may have at least some skills already at hand — depending on the individual student and grade level.
A kindergartner, for example, may show empathy by giving a crying friend a hug or sharing a toy, but they're typically not yet able to understand that people have different perspectives.
So how can your students show they're socially aware? Let's look at some kid-friendly social awareness examples!
- Taking turns on the playground or at the water fountain.
- Sharing crayons or gluesticks with classmates.
- Making eye contact with friends when they're speaking.
- Paying attention when a teacher is speaking and not interrupting.
- Collaborating with classmates to complete a group assignment.
- Using conflict resolution skills to address issues with a friend.
- Offering to help the gym teacher put away the basketballs or helping the school librarian shelve the books that have been left out by other students.
What Is the Difference Between Self Awareness and Social Awareness?
We teach students both self awareness and social awareness in elementary and middle school, and the two relate to one another as important aspects of emotional intelligence.
But where social awareness is focused outward on the emotions, perspectives and needs of others, self awareness focuses inward on recognizing those concepts in oneself.
Social Awareness and Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is an umbrella term that involves a number of the core components of a social emotional learning curriculum — including self awareness, self management and relationship management, as well as social awareness.
So how does social awareness specifically tie back to emotional intelligence? Being emotionally intelligent involves not just recognizing emotions in one's self but in others — the basic component of social awareness for our students.
Take social dynamics, for example. Understanding the social dynamics at play in a particular situation is a big part of being socially aware. Recognizing group norms, cultural differences and power dynamics all help our students to avoid causing offense or discomfort in others. It's a great example of having the emotional intelligence required to navigate a situation!
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Biography of a Paralympian – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the life and achievements of a famous Paralympic athlete with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Free Blank Face Templates
Use these blank face templates to create fun back-to-school art celebrating the individuality and diversity of your new students!
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Listening to Others – Discussion Task Cards and Poster
Give students the opportunity to work on their listening skills and learn what it means to be a good listener with this set of 42 discussion cards and classroom poster.
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Calming Down Mini-Book
Help your students to keep calm when they are experiencing heightened emotions with this social story mini-book.
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Kindness Mini-Book (10 Reasons to be Kind)
Explore all of the reasons to be kind with your students using this mini-book template.
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Sprinkle Kindness - Bulletin Board Set
Get your students reflecting on ways to show kindness with this interactive bulletin board!
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Assistive Devices in the Paralympic Games – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the assistive devices used by Paralympians with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Whole Body Listening – Poster and Worksheet
Use this poster and accompanying worksheet to teach your students about whole body listening.
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Kind or Unkind Cut-and-Paste Worksheet
Explore kind and unkind scenarios with your students using this engaging cut-and-paste worksheet.
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Everyday Empathy Interactive Game
Download this interactive game and help your students practice identifying emotions and understanding how others feel.
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Anti-Bullying Coloring Sheets
Discourage bullying and promote kindness in the classroom with a set of printable Anti-Bullying Coloring Sheets.
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Introduction to the Paralympic Games – Inquiry-Based Project
Introduce your students to the key components of the Paralympic Games with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Social Story Cards and Templates
Create individualized social stories for students in your classroom with this versatile set of social story cards and templates.
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Nature-Inspired Gratitude Writing Prompt Sheets
A set of 5 nature-inspired gratitude prompt sheets.
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Negativity Free Zone Sign
Negativity Free Zone Sign.
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Design a Paralympic Mascot – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students design a new mascot for the national Paralympic Team with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Printable Anti-Bullying Posters
Decorate your classroom and school during National Bullying Prevention Month with printable Anti-Bullying Posters!
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Empathy Word Search
Introduce or review vocabulary terms related to empathy with this free word search worksheet.
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Let's Be Grateful! - Thanksgiving Game for Kids
Roll, write, and share what youre thankful this year with a printable Thanksgiving game for kids.
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A Walk in My Shoes – Empathy Task Cards
Use these empathy scenario cards with your students when teaching them about social awareness.
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What Would You Do? Empathy Board Game
Challenge your students to think about the feelings of others and how to appropriately respond with the empathy board game.
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Rules for School Mini-Book
Remind students about appropriate behaviors at school with this printable mini-book.
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Emotions Worksheet Pack
Help students understand different emotions with this set of five emotions worksheets.
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Kindness Tracker Jar
Track kindness in the classroom with this kindness jar ready to be colored in with random acts of kindness.
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World Kindness Day Coloring Sheets
Use these World Kindness Day coloring pages as a fun art activity with your students.
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Rainbow Acts of Kindness Template
Brainstorm various random acts of kindness with this student template.
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Our Kindness Rock Garden Poster
Poster to display when creating a classroom kindness rock garden.
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Paralympic Sports – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the different types of Paralympic sports with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Paralympic World Records – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the world records set by Paralympic athletes with this inquiry-based learning project.
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Design a Paralympic Logo – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students design a new logo for their country’s Paralympic Team with this inquiry-based learning project.
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50 Gratitude Journal Prompts for Kids - Slide Deck
Project and inspire reflective writing with 50 gratitude journal writing prompts in one handy slide deck.
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Diversity is our Strength Poster
Display this ''diversity is our strength' poster in your classroom as a reminder of unity and inclusion.
- Social Awareness Posters
- Social Awareness Templates
- Social Awareness Worksheets
- Social Awareness for Pre-K
- Social Awareness for Kindergarten
- Social Awareness for 1st Grade
- Social Awareness for 2nd Grade
- Social Awareness for 3rd Grade
- Social Awareness for 4th Grade
- Social Awareness for 5th Grade
- Social Awareness for 6th Grade