As we kick off a new year at our school, I have collaborated with many of our teachers on their goals and dreams for the school year. One request that I have heard over and over is the need for more and more ways to tie in SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) to the classrooms and lives of our students.
One way I can get more wonderful SEL books into the classrooms and hands of the teachers and students is through our Pop-Up Libraries throughout the hallways at Van Meter.
Our Pop-Up Libraries are bookshelves where we can set up a collection of thoughtfully curated and organized books for everyone to borrow and read as a class, use in a lesson or project, lead an important conversation, and so much more.
To start, I create a sign to share what the Pop-Up Library focus is with a few instructions for the teachers.
I put it in a clear, plastic holder to set on the shelf and then surround it with the books we picked from our library collection that fit into that theme.
As the teachers come and pick them up to use, we keep and eye on the Pop-Up Library to continue to refill with more books. When the teachers are finished using them in their classroom, they bring the books back to the Pop-Up Library.
As this is our SEL Pop-Up Library, I was super excited to use a resource from our friends at Follett to help and guide this project.
It's the SEL site within Follett Titlewave here that is filled with so many resources to...
On the SEL site, we can...
...find relatable books focused around the CASEL framework, growth mindset and character education for all grade and students; 
Build home-to-school connections;
Boost classroom library engagement;
Spread a love of reading with Follett's #AllBooksForAllKids;
Find Hands-on Resources that encourage discovery, critical thinking and independent or collaboration learning;
You will also find a place to get FREE personalized curation help from experts at Follett when building a collection of SEL books for your school library, bookroom or classroom libraries. I just reached out to them to help us with our expansion of SEL books and materials this year.
And one last resource to mention are the VERY special SEL-themed posters that are FREE for all of us to download and print off for our classrooms, hallways, libraries and Pop-Up Libraries.
There are two sets of SEL posters...one for elementary and one for secondary. These posters will encourage and celebrate positive thinking all throughout the year.
You will find the SEL posters here.
I downloaded all of them and printed on heavy card stock paper. I laminated the posters and hung them going down the side of the Pop-Up Library book shelf. I LOVE these messages and can't wait for our students and teachers to see them too.
You will find the SEL site on Follett Titlewave here, friends. I can't wait to see how you support SEL through books and programs this year too.
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