ClassX Video Lessons S.S. Grin: An SEL Game That Cleverly Gets Students To Consider Tone and Subtext
Welcome to our fun learning corner! Today, we’re going to talk about a cool game called SS Grin. This game is all about helping kids learn how to understand and talk about their feelings, especially now that many of us are back in school after a long break.
SS Grin is part of a group of learning tools from Center Vention. It’s made for kids like you to learn about feelings and how to talk to others. We think it’s great for kids in grades three to six. In the game, you get to make choices about how characters talk to each other. This helps you learn about being respectful, talking clearly, and thinking carefully.
In SS Grin, you can create your own character, called an avatar, and go on an adventure to protect special friendship stones. As you play, you choose how to talk to other characters and learn to understand their feelings by looking at their tone and body language. After each part of the game, there’s a short quiz to help you remember what you’ve learned.
It’s a good idea to play SS Grin for about 30 minutes once or twice a week. But remember, you can’t save your progress right now, so try to finish your session before you stop playing.
Teachers can see how you’re doing in the game through a special dashboard. This helps them know what you’re learning and if you need help with anything.
SS Grin costs $600 a year for up to 100 students, but there are smaller options too. If it’s too expensive, don’t worry! There are free lesson plans and tools available to help you learn.
SS Grin is a great way to learn how to talk to friends and understand their feelings. It gives you examples and words to use in real-life situations. If you want to know more, you can visit the Center Vention website or check out reviews on Common Sense Education.
Thanks for joining us today! We hope you have fun learning with SS Grin. Come back next time for more exciting learning adventures!
Feelings Charades: Gather your friends or family and play a game of charades focused on feelings. Write down different emotions like happy, sad, surprised, or angry on pieces of paper. Take turns picking a paper and acting out the emotion without using words. See if others can guess the feeling. This will help you understand how body language can show how someone feels.
Emotion Journal: Start a small journal where you write or draw about your feelings each day. Think about what made you feel that way and how you reacted. Share your journal with a parent or teacher and talk about different ways to express those feelings. This will help you practice talking about your emotions clearly.
Friendship Role-Play: With a partner, take turns pretending to be in different situations, like meeting a new friend or solving a disagreement. Use respectful words and clear communication, just like in SS Grin. After each role-play, discuss what you did well and what you could do better next time. This will help you apply what you’ve learned in real-life situations.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
—
Welcome back to our weekly show, where we share a tool that we’ve reviewed over on Common Sense Education. Today, we’re discussing a program called SS Grin. It’s designed to help kids navigate social-emotional learning, especially during these challenging times as many students return to school after being impacted by the pandemic.
SS Grin is part of Center Vention, which offers various products for different grade levels. We rated it four stars for grades three to six. The program takes kids through a narrative where they make choices about interactions between characters. It’s evidence-based and student-led, addressing different modalities of social-emotional learning, such as respect, communication, and critical thinking.
In SS Grin, students create avatars and embark on an adventure to protect valuable friendship stones. Throughout the experience, they engage with dialogue choices and learn to interpret tone and body language, which are crucial aspects of effective communication. After each scene, students take a short quiz to reinforce their learning.
One recommendation is to use the program for 30 minutes per session, one to two times a week. However, a drawback is that there is currently no option to save progress, which can be frustrating for students if they need to leave a session unexpectedly.
Educators can track student progress through a dashboard, which breaks down the skills students are working on. This feature is helpful for identifying areas where students may be struggling.
Regarding pricing, a license for up to 100 students costs $600 per year, but there are options for smaller groups or single licenses. If the program is outside your budget, there are free resources available, including lesson plans and classroom management tools.
Overall, SS Grin could be a valuable addition to your classroom, especially for middle grades. It provides context for discussions about student interactions and participation, helping to equip students with the language and examples they need to navigate social situations.
If you’re interested, you can find more information and resources on the Center Vention website and check out our review on Common Sense Education. Join us next Tuesday for more insights!
—
This version removes informal language, filler words, and any potentially confusing references while maintaining the core information about the program.
