Over the past few years there has been a big push for social and emotional learning in schools. Classrooms have always been a place where teachers expoused the "Golden Rule". But since the days of Covid, the teaching world has been really digging into what it means to be socially and emotionally educated. Many districts now mandate some level of social and emotional learning (SEL) into the school day. SEL is the process of developing skills in 5 core areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsibile decision-making.
Teachers are tasked with delivering lessons in SEL whether it be through a pre-designed curriculum or through the creativity of a teacher and her fellow cohorts.
One SEL activity I have done with my students is an Affirmation Zine.
Daily Affirmations aren't new. There are limitless suggestions on the internet to help a person start their day with positive words or to create a go-to resource which helps a person when they need a positive boost in their thinking.
For my students, I wanted to create something that was small, simple to make, and easy to carry in a pocket. A zine was the perfect solution! Zines are made from a single sheet of paper. When folded in a specific way, and carefully cut on a particular line, they become a mini-book. Once you have made the first one, subsequent zines are easy.
For their Affirmation Zine, I wanted students to have support during the brainstorming but also maximum creativity. Students were given a checklist of options from each of the 5 core areas of SEL. They also had a separate brainstorming sheet to design a front and back cover.
Depending on your students' understanding of SEL and the 5 core areas, they may not need a given list to determine their affirmations. Some students may already have a set list of affirmations they want to use. If SEL is a new concept for your students, providing a list of affirmations for each area is a great starting point to get students thinking about what they want to write in their zine.
Although my students receive SEL lessons from a detailed curriculum, I decided to provide the pre-written choices broken down by core area. For my students, it worked well.
Brainstorming:
For younger students, you can use the pre-filled affirmations. There are 16 to choose from. Students can use the affirmations and graphics as inspiration for their zine and they copy them into their zine as closely as they wish. Or, students can simply color, cut, paste them as is.
I used the checklists with my class. To make the most of the brainstorming, I read each core area aloud. We talked briefly about what each affirmation meant and what it would look like in daily practice. Once students had checked a box, I read the next section.
It's important to take your time during the brainstorming. Students need to have investment and thought in their zine for them to be valued and useful.
There are spaces at the bottom of the checklist sheet for students to brainstorm their own affirmations and to jot down ideas for the covers.
Once students had their brainstorming complete, it was time to fold and cut the zine! This was the most challenging part of the zine creation. However, going slowly and one step at a time made it a more managable process.
Teacher Tips:
- Whatever length of time you allocate for the folding and cutting, double it. Many, many students will struggle with the folding and cutting. Ex: Students with weaker fine-motor skills will struggle with folding the paper precisely. Students with weaker spacial reasoning will struggle with where/how to cut on the line. It took my class longer than I thought it would. The good news is that it will get easier; the next zine we made was much faster because they were familiar with the process.
- Model the process before students do it. Instruct students to put all materials down and watch how you are creating the zine. There will be some that think they know what to do, they will not watch, and then there will be mistakes.
- If the initial folds are incorrect, the zine will not work properly. Walk around and watch that students are doing the initial folding correctly. It's okay to go slowly one step (fold) at a time. In fact, do all the folding and checking for correct grid lines before there are any scissors on the desks.
- Print more copies than you think you will need. When mistakes happen, you will be able to provide the student(s) will a fresh paper to begin the process anew. This is especially helpful when a student thinks they can "cut" the zine to a correct a folding mistake.
Inside Pages:
After all the folding and cutting, it was time for students to write their affirmations on the pages and design the covers. Encourage students to carefully copy the affirmations using the correct spelling and punctuation; especially if they are using the suggested affirmations from the given checklists.
The Covers:
Students had a brainstorming sheet to design front and back covers. The sheets I supplied were scaled down just a bit. That way, if a student spent a lot of time drawing and coloring in detail, they could cut the "draft" and use it on the zine.
Front covers were mostly large icons with some titles and/or names. The back covers were a 50/50 split between an additional affirmation and some sort of ending phrase such as "The End".
This activity took us 2 lessons to complete. As stated above, I really took my time going through the brainstorming process. The cutting and folding took some time as well. However, the time spent was well worth it. The students love their zines, read them often, and many proudly display them on their desks.
How my students use their zines:
- read them daily as part of their morning routine
- display them on their desks
- store them in their cubbies or pencil cases
A couple weeks after making the Affirmation Zines, we were finishing up a unit on the Haudenosaunee. As a culminating activity, students were tasked with creating a zine about the Native People of New York. The zines were folded, cut, and completed in one lesson. I used construction paper (without folding lines) for the Haudenosaunee zines and the students were able to adapt. They commented on the increased size of the pages, the different texture of the paper, and how the pencils and markers work differently with construction paper.
Zines are so versatile! I will definately be planning for more throughout the school year.
Some academic ideas for zines:
- Sequence of Events in a Story
- Story Elements
- Daily Routine
- Top 6 Facts About...
- Phonics: vowels teams, silent e, prefixes, suffixes, schwa, etc...
- Math Algorithms: step-by-step guide
- Vocabulary
- Highlights of a Field Trip
Some other ideas for zines:
- SEL: "Ways to Show Empathy", "Calm Down Strategies"
- Thanksgiving: "Things I am Grateful For"
- Christmas: "My Holiday Traditions"
- Seasonal: "What I Love About Fall/Winter/Spring"
- Student Favorites: food, movie, book, subject, etc...