Kikori October Social Emotional Learning Calendar
Updated: Oct 22
Bravery Boost: Help Students Move into their Growth Zone with Kikori Social Emotional Learning Calendar
In October, students will embark on their journey with "Bravery Boost: Get into Your Growth Zone." This month focuses on facing fears, building confidence, and taking positive risks, all symbolized by adventure maps and compasses that represent the exciting journey of stepping out of comfort zones and navigating new challenges. The theme also emphasizes fostering meaningful connections and social awareness, encouraging students to support each other while exploring personal growth and development.
October Experiential SEL Overview
Week 1: Self-Awareness – Accurate Self-Perception
Students develop an understanding of their strengths and areas for growth, which helps them recognize when to step out of their comfort zones and into new challenges.
Week 2: Self-Management – Self-Discipline
Building self-discipline allows students to manage their emotions and stay focused when facing difficulties, helping them push through challenges in their growth zone.
Week 3: Social Awareness – Empathy
Empathy enables students to connect with others, making them feel more comfortable taking social risks, such as participating in discussions or group work.
Week 4: Relationship Building
Strong relationships provide a supportive environment, encouraging students to take risks and try new things knowing they have a network of support.
Week 5: Responsible Decision-Making
Responsible decision-making empowers students to assess risks and make thoughtful choices, helping them confidently embrace new opportunities and challenges.
By the end of October, students will have a greater understanding of how to face fears, build confidence, and embrace positive risks. They will also develop stronger connections with their peers, enhancing their social awareness and empathy. The journey through adventure maps and compasses will help students visualize their personal growth and the importance of bravery in their everyday lives.
What resources does Kikori provide you?
Our October SEL Calendar provides you with daily experiential social emotional learning (eSEL) activities accessed via the Kikori platform that you can lead with your students.
Here’s what that our eSEL Calendar provide you with EVERY DAY:
Start your day with a Morning Message or Advisory Announcement
Practice those ever-important social skills with Greeting Activity
Encourage connection with a Sharing or Acknowledging Activity
Facilitate an interactive National Day Activity (i.e. Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day, National Ice Cream Day, World Kindness Day, etc.)
BONUS: Looking to help your students build critical social emotional skills? Each of Kikori's activities are aligned to CASEL's Social Emotional Learning standards, 21st Century Skills and Sustainable Development Skills!
Ready to get started? Download October Social Emotional Learning Calendar Week 1 For FREE Below
October Elementary SEL Calendar
October Middle & High School Advisory Social Emotional Learning Calendar
PLUS, check out the great resources that bring the Kikori eSEL Calendar to life!
Top 3 Tips to Empower Students to Step into Their Growth Zone:
Research shows that creating a supportive environment where students feel safe trying new things leads to higher engagement and learning (Dweck, 2016). Helping students step out of their comfort zone and take positive risks is key to their personal and academic growth (Bandura, 1997). Here are 3 easy-to-implement strategies to encourage students to take risks and try new things in your classroom:
Start with Small Wins During Morning Meeting/Advisory: Kick off each day with small, low-stakes opportunities for students to take positive risks. For example, begin with a low-pressure “Would You Rather” question or a “Two Truths and a Wish” activity. This allows students to warm up to sharing their thoughts while building their confidence in a fun and safe environment. The more they practice sharing, the more comfortable they’ll feel stepping into bigger challenges later.
Use Encouraging Language and Set Clear Expectations for Risk-Taking: Create a culture where mistakes are viewed as part of the learning process. Phrases like "It's okay to not know yet" or "Taking risks helps us grow" remind students that effort and learning go hand in hand. Setting clear expectations that trying something new is celebrated (not perfect outcomes) builds a safety net that encourages students to stretch their abilities.
Offer Multiple Ways to Try Something New: Not all students are ready to take big leaps, so offer different ways for them to experiment with new skills. Some may feel more comfortable participating through hands-on activities, while others may prefer verbal responses or digital tools like interactive polls. Providing flexible opportunities to engage—whether through small group discussions, partner work, or personal reflections—helps students explore new territory at their own pace, boosting their courage to keep pushing boundaries.
Kikori's Goal: Empowering Every Student to Take Small Risks and Build Confidence!
At Kikori, we believe that every student’s ideas matter. How does Kikori support you in creating an environment where students feel safe taking small risks and growing their confidence? Through our SEL Calendar, we provide daily Morning Meetings and Advisory lessons designed to encourage students to share their thoughts in ways that gradually increase their comfort level and risk-taking:
Monday: Popcorn Sharing
Tuesday: Partner Sharing
Wednesday: Round Robin Sharing
Thursday: Journal Writing
Friday: Small Groups
These structured opportunities allow students to share in a variety of ways with different levels of risk, helping them feel validated each time they contribute. As students engage and receive positive reinforcement, they begin to feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts, fostering the confidence to take bigger risks over time.
We also integrate Think-Pair-Shares into nearly every sharing activity, giving students time to reflect and connect with others before speaking to the whole group. This step-by-step approach builds the brain’s neural networks (Davidson et al., 2012) and strengthens students’ ability to think critically and respond creatively across all subjects, from math to reading and writing.
The power of this approach is clear—check out how the Lower Yukon School District saw remarkable growth in student engagement and confidence in just four weeks using Kikori's experiential SEL Curriculum!
Would you like October's full SEL calendar?
Are you an individual educator? Sign up for Kikori Premium!
For the price of one Teacher's Pay Teacher's printable, gain access to an entire month of curated, research-backed activities! Premium memberships include access to daily Morning Meeting slides (now for K-2 AND grades 3-5!), downloadable activity printables and access to a library of playlists designed to support student outcomes aligned with SEL Standards and 21st Century Skills!
Are you and other educators in your school using Kikori? Sign up for the Kikori School-wide Solution!
Kikori's School-wide Solution provides all educators in your school with access to Kikori's platform including extra school-wide bonuses like Morning Meeting customizable slides, school-wide sharing and communication, staff training on trauma-informed eSEL best practices on community-building and so much more!
Would you like to learn more about the research-backed practices built into Kikori's eSEL Calendar?
How does Kikori ensure these activities build social emotional skills like self-awareness and relationship skills?
Each activity provides you with instructions that follow Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle. This means the activities help youth actively engage and then provides reflection questions related to the activity.
These questions help youth reflect and build self- and social-awareness (what happened during the activity?), make meaningful connections to their own lives (how did what happened during the activity connect to other experiences?), and engage in personal growth (what are they going to take from this activity into their lives?)
Daily National Day 10-min Prop-free Activities
At Kikori, we think it's important to educate our students on important days of the year and learn what they stand for. To make team building in the classroom or at youth development programs MEANINGFUL and RELEVANT, we've included a special National Holiday for every day and a corresponding team building activity. The National Days are specially curated for a mix of important moments in history; STEM learning related to math and science; days related to well-being; and some days Just for FUNN!
Kikori's Day-of-the-week Activities
In the platform you'll also find activities focused on the following daily Kikori themes:
Mindful Monday activities include meditations, visualizations and mindfulness
Together Tuesday activities involve team building and initiatives that build trust
Wellness Wednesday activities focus on ways to build physical and emotional health
Thoughtful Thursday activities use problem solving and reflection to help grow inward
Fun Friday activities are energizing activities that reinforce the importance of joy
How to Use Your Monthly eSEL Calendar:
How easy is it? Just click the activity!
All of the Planners are CLICKABLE to take you straight into the national days and Kikori activities in the Kikori platform! The Elementary and Advisory calendars share a monthly theme, and activities within the two clickable calendars are specially catered to that age range. If you want to specify for your student grade further, click on the correct grade level variation within the activity! We also encourage you to explore “Variations” offered within individual Kikori activities.
How to Kikori:
Dive into the world of Research on Growth Mindset:
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Davidson, R. J., McEwen, B. S., & Pollak, S. D. (2012). Neuroplasticity: The effects of environment on the brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 63(1), 25-32. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100412
Dweck, C. S. (2016).Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.
Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693
Prince, M. (2004).Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93(3), 223-231. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2004.tb00809.x
What is your favorite activity to play in October with your students? Let us know in the comments below - and we can help you add it into the Kikori platform!
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