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Tuning In

Tuning In involves analyzing the impact of one’s own actions and words on a person’s feelings. To do this, one must match their own behavior to the place and situation, while making small adjustments to their words during moment-to-moment changes in conversations.

Preview an SEL skills lesson: Tuning In

1 Show the video to your students

[INTRODUCTION – animated scene]

Narrator: Being Tuned In means you are noticing your own actions and the actions of others around you.

Boy1: My uncle is in the hospital.

Narrator: We make sure our actions fit in to where we are and what’s happening right now.

Girl1: Oh, I’m sorry. Is he going to be okay?

Narrator: We can also think about if it’s the right time and place for those actions. If we don’t Tune In, we might do something that doesn’t fit the situation and makes others feel upset or uncomfortable.

Girl1: I’m going to a fun party this weekend!

 

[SKILLS]

Narrator: The skills we use to make sure we’re tuned in are:

(1) Look at what is happening right now – think about the time and place.

(2) Think about what you’re doing or plan to do in this moment – your actions.

(3) Think about how those actions will make others around you feel.

Let’s see how to Tune In to what’s happening around us.

 

[SCENE 1]

Madison: (opens door wide, enters the classroom loudly) Hey, guys! Sorry I’m late.

Students: (looks at Madison and tries to go back to work)

Madison: Hi! (waves hand to seatmate) Hi Mrs. Brunell! What are we doing now?

Teacher: Everyone is working quietly on pages 22 and 23 of their textbooks.

Madison: Okay! (takes out worksheet) Hey, does anyone have a pencil? I can’t find mine. (looks around)

Andy: (gives a pencil to Madison)

Madison: Thanks! (starts to write then talks to Andy) How are the problems? Are they hard?

Andy: (pauses, shakes head) No.

Madison: (looks over at Andy’s work) Wow, you are way ahead of me!

Teacher: Madison, come up and see me please.

Narrator: What happened there? Was Madison Tuned In to the situation? What do you think her classmates were thinking?

Andy: (thought bubble) Madison was being really loud and distracting. When she was talking to me, I got nervous. I didn’t want to get in trouble.

Narrator: Madison did not remember to Tune In. Class had started and students were already working, so it made the class feel distracted when Madison loudly burst into the room. When Madison kept talking to Andy, it made him uncomfortable because they were supposed to be working. He felt nervous that her actions would get him into trouble. Let’s see how it looks when Madison does Tune In.

 

[SCENE 2]

Madison: (opens door wide, enters the classroom loudly) Hey, guys! Sorry I’m late.

Students: (looks at Madison and tries to go back to work)

Madison: Hi! (waves hand to seatmate)

Students: (ignores Madison)

Madison: (inner thought) Hmm. I want to talk to my friends, but it looks like it isn’t the right time or place. I’m not sure what I should be doing, so I should Tune In so I can figure out how to act right now. (looks around) Everyone is working quietly so I should be quiet, too. I need to figure out what I should be working on, so I’ll ask my teacher. I don’t want to bother everyone, so I’ll go to my teacher’s desk.

Madison: (walks up to the teacher’s desk) Excuse me. What should I be working on?

Teacher: Everyone is working quietly on their math problems on pages 22 and 23 of their textbooks.

Madison: Okay. Thanks. (goes back to seat, takes out worksheet)

Madison: (inner thought) Oh no! I don’t have a pencil. What should I do? I don’t want to disturb everyone. I’ll ask Andy quietly if I can borrow a pencil, because he’s right next to me.

Madison: (whispers to Andy) Hey, do you have a pencil I could borrow?

Andy: Yeah. (hands pencil to Madison)

Madison: Thanks. (starts working)

Andy: (thought bubble) I’m glad Madison whispered when she asked for a pencil. We’re supposed to be quiet when other kids are working.

Narrator: That time, Madison was able to Tune In and pick actions that wouldn’t disrupt the class. She looked around and noticed that everyone was working quietly, so she decided that the best action was to talk to the teacher to figure out what to work on, not talk to her friends. She also made sure not to call out from her desk and walked over to her teacher’s desk instead. When Madison realized she needed a pencil, she asked her neighbor very quietly, so nobody was distracted.

 

[WHAT DID WE LEARN?]

Narrator: So, what did we learn?

When we aren’t sure how to act in a situation, we should Tune In to what’s happening around us.

The Skills we use to do this are:

(1) Look at what is happening right now – think about the time and place.

(2) Think about what you’re doing or plan to do in this moment – your actions.

(3) Think about how those actions will make others around you feel.

 

2 Review with the Companion Worksheet
3 Apply new skills with activities & games!

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Other SEL materials on Tuning In
Tuning In Video
Tuning In

Elementary School

Make-Your-Own Schedule Activity
Make-Your-Own Schedule

Pre-k and K

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