Spotlight on Promising Learners Project

Promising Learners Project (PLP) is a state-funded grant for teachers from Baldwin Park, Keppel, Monrovia, and Norwalk-La Mirada school districts to create engaging learning experiences and environments for foster and homeless students through a Multi-Tiered System of Support using Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and the Arts. 

The Promising Learners Project presents teachers with the opportunity to create engaging environments and learning experiences to provide students the ability to achieve academic and social success, thus decreasing chronic absenteeism, focusing on TK-third grade youth in foster care and youth that are homeless. This project's unique aspect is its ability to provide Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Arts Integration strategies to lead students to achieve greater depth of knowledge and a supportive environment where they are given confidence through a personalized appeal to art.

It is through this project that allowed ALL students to access Arts Integration and SEL strategies within the classroom. Kellen Law, an actor/singer/ teaching artist, was one of the artists that had provided theater professional learning to district leads and teachers at eleven school sites, as well as over one-hundred classroom visits, throughout the four districts. Both teachers and students were engaged in multiple theater strategies: Go Stop Melt, Captain on Deck, and Yes Let’s! Both students and teachers were able to practice their creativity, leadership, SEL, and “play” skills. These strategies not only reinforced student engagement, but they also were aligned with the core competencies within the CASEL’s SEL Framework (i.e. Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Relationship Skills, etc.). For more information please refer to the Promising Learners Project Website.  

CDOL invites you to take a Mindful Minute...

Click on links in green for some much-needed mood boosters!

Treat yourself to a dose of mindfulness with some music, movement, and more. Play with color and sound, celebrate International Day of Happiness, take a 2 minute vacation, or start the day with some rainbow breathing.

• Inspiring Students: How to Get Kids Moving in Every Subject
• Classroom Support: Using Movement to Help Reduce Students' Trauma Responses
• Strategies for Administrators: Simple Ways to Cultivate Happiness in Schools
• Engaging Families: Little Kids Have Big Emotions
• Supporting SELf Care: March Calendar of Daily Actions

Inspiring Students

How to Get Kids Moving in Every Subject

Adding some movement to lessons not only engages and motivates students- research says it helps them recall and retain information. And it's fun!

Imagine a classroom where students sway alongside social studies, move to molecules, and dance with decimals! Embedding movement in content areas can support social and emotional learning, boosts engagement, and can give students the opportunity to process information in a way that allows them to make meaning. If we really take a deeper look at movement and dance, we can see how it involves the sciences, math, art, SEL... and it provides students with opportunities to create, use their voice, and share their learning . Think about inviting students to create movements to express moments in history. They can collaborate to create a "math movement machine" or tell a story with dance. Experiment with movement breaks and dance moves. Ask your students how dancing makes them feel and what they appreciate when more movement is added to their learning. Try different beats and patterns! Use different sounds and songs to inspire!