SEL Curriculum Map

Map SEL skill development across the full year, sequencing CASEL competencies, integrating SEL into academic subjects, and building the relational culture that makes social and emotional learning stick.

SELAdvisoryElementary (K–5)Middle School (6–8)High School (9–12)

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When to use this template

  • Planning a year-long SEL program for a class, grade level, or school
  • Integrating SEL into academic subjects at the curriculum level
  • When your school has adopted a CASEL-aligned SEL framework
  • Building a trauma-informed school culture through intentional SEL curriculum design
  • Advisory or homeroom programs that need a year-long SEL scope and sequence

Template sections

Identify the CASEL competencies you will develop this year and the school-wide SEL framework.

CASEL competencies to develop (in priority order for your students):

School-wide SEL framework or program:

Connection to school culture goals:

Student population context (grade level, key challenges, strengths):

Integration with academic subjects planned:

Map community-building activities across the year, from beginning-of-year foundation to year-end celebration.

Beginning of year (weeks 1–4): Community-building focus:

Fall maintenance (weeks 5–12): Relationship reinforcement activities:

Mid-year reset (winter break return): Reconnection activities:

Spring culture activities:

End-of-year celebration:

Map when each CASEL competency receives explicit instruction across the year.

Weeks 1–6: Competency (self-awareness), skill focus, instructional approach:

Weeks 7–12: Competency (self-management):

Weeks 13–18: Competency (social awareness):

...

SEL units vs. integrated lessons:

Assessment checkpoints:

Map how SEL skills are reinforced in academic subjects across the year.

Subject: ___

Unit/topic where SEL skill is reinforced: ___

How the SEL skill appears (discussion protocol, reflection, collaboration structure):

Teacher responsible:

Connection to dedicated SEL instruction:

Plan how SEL growth will be documented across the year.

Beginning-of-year SEL baseline assessment:

Formative observation approach:

Student self-assessment schedule (quarterly?):

End-of-year growth documentation:

Communication with families:

What will "growth" look like in observable terms?

Plan how families and the broader community will be informed and involved in SEL.

Family communication about SEL approach (beginning of year):

Ongoing family updates (newsletters, conferences):

Family skill reinforcement ideas:

Community partnerships or resources:

Cultural responsiveness considerations:

The Flip Perspective

SEL curriculum maps work when they show how skills are reinforced every day, not just in dedicated SEL time. This map helps you plan explicit skill instruction, integration across academic subjects, and the relational culture activities that make the skills actually develop.

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Adapting this Template

For SEL

Apply SEL Map by adapting the phase timings and prompts to fit SEL's unique content demands.

For Advisory

Apply SEL Map by adapting the phase timings and prompts to fit Advisory's unique content demands.

About the SEL Map framework

An SEL curriculum map is different from an academic curriculum map in one fundamental way: SEL is not primarily taught in dedicated units; it is embedded in how a classroom functions every day. A good SEL curriculum map shows both dedicated SEL instruction and how SEL is integrated throughout academic instruction and school culture.

Dedicated versus integrated SEL: Dedicated SEL instruction (a structured lesson or unit explicitly focused on an SEL competency) is more effective when it is followed by integration, ongoing opportunities to practice those skills in academic and social contexts. An SEL curriculum map should show both: when explicit instruction happens, and how skills are reinforced throughout the year.

CASEL competency sequencing: The five CASEL competencies interact and build on each other. Self-awareness is the foundation: students who cannot identify their own emotions and strengths cannot manage them (self-management), understand others' perspectives (social awareness), build relationships (relationship skills), or make thoughtful decisions (responsible decision-making). A curriculum map should sequence competency development from self to social.

Relational culture: The most important variable in SEL effectiveness is the quality of teacher-student and student-student relationships. An SEL curriculum map should include explicit community-building activities at the beginning of the year and regular relationship maintenance throughout, not as enrichment but as foundational infrastructure.

School-wide coherence: SEL is most effective when it is consistent across a school. An SEL curriculum map designed for an individual teacher should connect to the school-wide SEL framework and use consistent language, competency definitions, and assessment approaches. Students benefit from hearing the same language and expectations across classrooms.

Trauma-informed approach: An SEL curriculum map should be designed with awareness that some students are navigating challenging circumstances. The sequence should build safety and trust before asking for vulnerable self-disclosure. Activities that require personal sharing should be preceded by sufficient relationship-building.

Year-Long Map

Map your entire course across 36 weeks, organizing units, standards coverage, and major assessments so you can see the full year at a glance and spot gaps before the school year begins.

Scope & Sequence

Document the breadth and order of your curriculum: what you will teach (scope) and in what sequence, to ensure coherent vertical alignment and consistent coverage across classrooms or grade levels.

SEL Unit

Plan a Social and Emotional Learning unit that develops CASEL competencies through structured reflection, community-building activities, and skill practice, integrated into your classroom culture rather than added on top of it.

Elementary Map

Map your K–5 curriculum across the year, organizing integrated units, read-aloud schedules, and cross-curricular connections that maximize learning in the time-constrained elementary classroom.

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Frequently asked questions

Start with self-awareness. It is the foundation that makes every other competency possible. Move next to self-management, then social awareness, then relationship skills, and finally responsible decision-making. This sequence mirrors the developmental logic: you need to understand yourself before you can effectively understand and work with others.
Use academic content as the context for SEL skill development, not a vehicle for it. Collaborative science investigations build relationship skills. Historical perspective-taking builds social awareness. Argument writing builds responsible decision-making. The academic rigour stays, and SEL is the framework within which students engage with it.
It starts with understanding the cultural values, strengths, and community contexts of the students you serve. SEL definitions of "appropriate emotional expression" or "healthy relationships" are not culturally neutral. A culturally responsive map seeks input from families and community members, uses texts and examples that reflect students' backgrounds, and questions assumptions embedded in the SEL program.
Build in more relationship and trust-building time than you think you need before any activities that require personal disclosure. Include explicit plans for re-establishing safety after school breaks. Ensure that all activities can be adapted to allow students to participate at a level of disclosure they are comfortable with.
Research suggests 30–45 minutes of dedicated SEL instruction per week produces meaningful outcomes, especially when combined with daily integration. If you have an advisory period, that is your dedicated SEL time. If you do not, 10 minutes at the start of class for community-building and 20 minutes weekly for explicit skill instruction is a reasonable alternative.
SEL competencies develop through practice, not lecture, which makes active learning essential to any SEL curriculum map. When you plan collaborative projects, role-playing scenarios, and peer mediation exercises at the map level, you ensure students practice relationship skills and self-management consistently across the year. Use this map for the developmental arc and Flip to generate the individual activities that give students real practice with each competency.
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