SEL Books and Activities for Elementary School Counselors

Hey there, counselor friend! As educators, we know how impactful a good story can be when teaching a child. And as a former elementary school counselor, one of my favorite ways to help my counseling students process strong emotions and learn valuable character education and social skills was through reading SEL books and incorporating SEL activities designed for elementary school students into my lessons.

Hi, I’m Rachel Davis! I’m a former school counselor with over 8 years of experience in the classroom. I specialize in creating easy-to-implement strategies for busy school counselors, and I am the counselor and curriculum designer behind Bright Futures Counseling, a community designed to offer counselors the support they need to feel confident serving their students well.

Reading an SEL book to introduce a topic as part of your school counseling class lesson, or in a tier 2 small group, is a great way to get your students engaged. Here are some of my favorite picture books to use in school counseling lessons, plus some of my recommended SEL activities for elementary school. 

What Are SEL Books?

SEL books are those that help teach social emotional learning skills such as identifying one’s emotions, self-regulation, having empathy for others, and healthy coping skills. These books are a great precursor to SEL activities and offer an engaging way for school counselors to introduce concepts as part of a classroom lesson or small group. 

4 Ways School Counselors Can Use SEL Books

1. Students Can Identify With Fictional Characters

Many of our students come to us because they have a hard time identifying problem behaviors, such as self-control or intense emotions within themselves. Using SEL books with relatable fictional characters is a great way to engage students in feeling identification and support healthy conversation! Students can use the fictional characters to recognize their own behaviors they want to improve, without feeling defined by their struggles.

One of my favorite books to recommend is Hunter and His Amazing Remote Control by Lori Ann Copeland. This book is written for students with ADHD, but has several applicable self-control tips and tricks for any kid! The best part is that the story is engaging, and Hunter experiences daily frustrations that many of our students can relate to.

I also recommend My Mouth Is A Volcano by Julia Cook. This is another great book that lends itself to social-emotional lessons on self-control and interrupting. The main character and scenarios are really relatable, plus my students really liked the illustrations. Julia Cook is an all-around great resource for school counseling books.

2. Students Can Practice Identifying Feelings

Similar to identifying with fictional characters, books offer are a great way for students to externalize their emotions. As you’re reading a book aloud, students can witness different emotions in a story and try to analyze how the character is feeling and why. They can also observe the reaction the character experiences as they feel certain strong emotions.

For SEL lessons on feelings and emotions, I recommend When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really, Angry... by Molly Bang. This SEL book is perfect for students who struggle with anger management. As you read, you can have students identify Sophie's triggers and suggest possible healthy coping skills.

Another one of my favorites is The Invisible String by Patrice Karst. I love using this book as a precursor to discussing feelings and emotions of grief, whether a student is working through the death of a loved one or experiencing the grief that can come from divorce or incarceration.

A book that covers a wide variety of emotions is My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. I like this one because it helps students understand that emotions change frequently and that is okay! This read-aloud is especially good for our younger students, because they can match different colors to feelings, to better understand them.

3. Students Can Understand and Express Empathy

Interactive read-alouds offer a simple way for students to practice expressing empathy. When students are immersed in a story, they can embody the character's thoughts and emotions. This is especially great for children who have a hard time reading social cues.

For students who struggle with empathy, I recommend another Dr. Seuss classic, The Sneetches. This book can be used to cover several topics, including friendship, diversity, and bullying. It can evoke lots of meaningful discussions, including how students think the Sneetches who are treated unfairly feel, during the story. Students can then apply the empathy takeaways to their own social situations.

4. Moral or Character Education Lesson

Many children's books have a moral to the story or a valuable life lesson that ties back to social emotional skills. For character education lessons, I recommend reading  Inch and Miles: The Journey to Success, a character-building book by John Wooden. In this book two animal friends go on a journey to build the Pyramid of Success. Along the way they define character traits such as loyalty, determination, and self-control. My school used this as part of our character education program, and it really resonated with the kids!

SEL Activities for Elementary Students

Using an SEL book is a wonderful way to introduce social-emotional learning concepts, but the core lesson is what makes the learning stick. After a story, students need a way to practice what they just heard - a worksheet, a discussion prompt, or an activity that lets them apply the concept to their own lives.

If you work in a school building that isn’t familiar with social emotional learning, I recommend checking out my SEL Staff Training Toolkit. And if you’re looking for low-prep, ready-to-use resources, I’d love to have you inside IMPACT!

Join IMPACT: Your All-In-One Counseling Support System

If you are looking for ready-made SEL lessons, planning support, and a community of counselors who understand the unique challenges of this role, you will love IMPACT, my monthly membership for school counselors.

Inside IMPACT, you will receive access to hundreds of counseling resources, monthly professional development with certificates, structured curriculum support, planning tools, and a community of counselors ready to encourage and collaborate with you.

You do not have to navigate school counseling alone. IMPACT gives you the clarity, confidence, and tools to serve your students well all year long.

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