second step problem solving song

Second Step® Early Learning

Improved behavior, improved learning

Help your littlest learners harness their energy and potential by teaching them to listen, pay attention, control their behavior, and get along with others. When students enter kindergarten with the self-regulation and social-emotional skills taught in research-based Second Step Early Learning, they’re set up for success.

Price $ 499.00

Description

Each Second Step Early Learning classroom kit includes:

• 28 durable 11″ x 17″ color photo Weekly Theme cards
• 5 Unit Cards for teachers
• 1 Join In and Sing music CD
• 3 colorful classroom posters
• 1 set of Listening Rules Cards
• 1 set of Feelings Cards
• 2 puppets—Boy and Girl

Teaching Materials Notebook that contains:

• 28 Home Link activities
• Song lyrics
• 12 Brain Builder games
• Resources for classroom teachers

Access to free online resources with your Activation Key:

• Stream lesson media direct to your learning environment—online access to Weekly Theme photos, songs, and videos in English or Spanish is included with purchase
• Planning, teaching, and assessment tools
• Digital versions of teaching resources and Home Links
• Spanish translations of lessons and teaching resources
• Staff Training Toolkit

Second Step Early Learning is designed specifically for multiple-age early learning environments. The program is taught through 28 Weekly Themes that include five- to seven-minute activities to be taught throughout the week. The Skills for Learning Unit teaches self-regulation and focusing attention. Additional units cover empathy, emotion management, friendship skills, problem solving, and transitioning to kindergarten.

Activities, Brain Builder games, and small-group work keep children engaged and help them practice their skills. Boy and Girl puppets encourage participation. The easy-to-use online teaching resources include instructions for teaching and reinforcing the Weekly Theme activities and provide video examples from real classrooms.

Second Step® Early Learning Classroom Kit

Early Learning Scope & Sequence (PDF)

Program-at-a-Glance Sheet (PDF)

Staff Training

New look, new content, more engaging:

• Two new versions of the Kick-Off Meeting—one for groups, one for individuals
• Engaging videos on social-emotional learning, problem behaviors, executive function, and self-regulation
• Infographic-like handouts reinforce key concepts
• Available with registration on SecondStep.org

View Sample Slides (PowerPoint)

Lesson Topics

Weekly Themes Second Step Early Learning skills and concepts are taught through short, daily activities that take 5–7 minutes with little to no prep time.

Skills for Learning

• Focusing Attention
• Following Directions
• Asking for What You Need or Want
• Identifying Feelings (happy, sad)
• More Feelings (surprised, scared)
• Identifying Anger
• Same or Different Feelings
• Caring and Helping

Emotion Management

• We Feel Feelings in Our Bodies (worried)
• Strong Feelings (frustrated)
• Naming Feelings
• Managing Disappointment
• Managing Anger
• Managing Waiting

Friendship Skills and Problem Solving

• Fair Ways to Play (play together, trade, take turns)
• Having Fun with Friends
• Inviting to Play
• Joining In with Play
• Saying the Problem
• Thinking of Solutions
• Speaking Up Assertively

Transitioning to Kindergarten

• Learning in Kindergarten
• Riding the Kindergarten Bus
• Making New Friends in Kindergarten

Program Benefits (PDF)

Ready, Set, Go to School! (PDF)

ASCA Standards Alignment (PDF)

Head Start Alignment (PDF)

Student Assessment

DECA Alignment (PDF)

GOLD Alignment (PDF)

Restorative Practices Alignment (PDF)

Related products

Second Step® Child Protection Unit Early Learning Lesson Notebook + Staff Training

Spanish Second Step® Early Learning Poster and Card Pack

Second Step® Early Learning Staff Lanyards with Skill Reinforcement

Washington, DC

Becoming Problem-Solvers with the Second Step Program

Winning moments in washington, dc.

Social-Emotional Learning Specialist Sarah Hensler and her colleagues at Washington, DC’s Arts and Technology Academy were heartbroken to learn their charter would not be renewed. Hensler was especially disappointed, because a Second Step kit had just been purchased for every classroom, and she envisioned the program “becoming a self-sustaining part of our positive school culture.” But rather than allowing the news of the charter school’s impending closure to immobilize her, Hensler rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

Making the Most of It

Knowing her students—97 percent of whom come from low-income families—might have only one year of Second Step instruction, Hensler was determined to make the most of it. She especially wanted her students, many of whom were not accustomed to solving problems in a nonconfrontational manner, to learn the Problem-Solving Steps, which aren’t introduced until later in the program. “I wanted to introduce STEP problem solving as soon as possible and empower our students to practice it, use it, and be prepared to take it with them wherever they end up next year.”

So Hensler created a certification program for selected third- through fifth-graders to become STEP Problem-Solvers. By the end, 48 students had completed two 45-minute training sessions and an oral certification session with Hensler, where they were presented with common elementary-school problems to which they were asked to verbally apply each of the Problem-Solving Steps:

• S: Say the problem without blame.
• T: Think of solutions.
• E: Evaluate each solution.
• P: Pick the best solution.

The STEP Problem-Solvers—as the name suggests—help their classmates “remove blame from a problem and think clearly about possible consequences,” explains Hensler. And the teachers like it, too: It’s “a really great way to open teachers’ eyes to student problems” and illuminate how teachers can “help students help themselves in becoming self-sufficient and successful problem-solvers.”

But the teachers also recognize the challenge involved. The most frequent comment Hensler hears from them about the STEP process is, “‘Gosh, it’s hard to state a problem without blame!’” Fortunately, the students are picking up on that part pretty quickly. Hensler often hears her problem solvers spontaneously identify blaming language in casual conversation: “‘That’s a blame word. Try again.’”

Practical Application

One of Hensler’s STEP Problem Solvers has a history of being “physically aggressive towards other students, especially if provoked in any small way.” This student recently approached her in the cafeteria to tell her that another student had pushed him out of the lunch line. Hensler reminded him to remove the blaming language and, after a “You’re not just gonna solve it for me?” eye roll, he calmly said, “[The student] and I disagree about where we should be in line.’” When Hensler asked him how he could solve the problem, he replied, “‘I’ll talk to him about it’ and walked away.” Hensler sums it up: “The moment was definitely a win.”

Learn more about Second Step Social-Emotional Learning.

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