A Perfect Partnership: SEL & Executive Function
By Marilee Sprenger
In today’s classrooms Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and executive function skills are critical components of student success. While SEL builds emotional awareness and self-regulation, executive function skills show students how to apply this awareness effectively. Together, they shape how students process emotions, make decisions, and navigate challenges.
How SEL Engages the Cortex
The brain’s prefrontal cortex is responsible for higher-order thinking, problem-solving, and impulse control. SEL activates this region by helping students recognize emotions, develop empathy, and regulate their responses. When students understand their emotions, they are better equipped to engage in rational thinking rather than reacting impulsively.
The Role of Executive Function Skills
Executive functions – working memory, cognitive flexibility, and self-control, among others – act as the bridge between emotion and action. Once SEL has engaged the prefrontal cortex, executive function skills help our students:
- Pause before reacting to emotions.
- Plan and organize responses to challenges.
- Adapt to social situations with flexibility.
Example in Action
Imagine a student who feels frustrated during a group project. SEL helps them recognize their frustration and name their emotions. Executive function skills then guide them in choosing an appropriate response – such as taking a deep breath and expressing their concerns calmly instead of shutting down or lashing out. (I wrote more about executive function skills here.)
Why This Matters in Education: A Lesson Plan
By integrating SEL and executive function skills, educators equip students with the ability to think before they act, handle stress, and build strong relationships. When students can access their cortex effectively and apply executive function strategies, they become more resilient learners and thoughtful decision-makers.
Middle school kids need to understand how SEL engages the brain and how executive function skills help them apply emotional awareness in real-life situations. Here’s a lesson plan to help them understand the connection:
Materials Needed:
- Chart paper or whiteboard
- Markers
- Scenario cards with different social-emotional challenges. (You can find them online – here’s an example.)
Lesson Steps:
1. Warm-Up Discussion (5 min)
Ask: What do you do when you feel overwhelmed or upset?
Write responses on the board under two categories: Immediate Reactions vs. Thoughtful Responses.
2. The Brain Connection (10 min)
Explain how SEL helps activate the prefrontal cortex, where logical thinking happens.
Introduce executive function skills (working memory, cognitive flexibility, self-control).
Draw a simple brain diagram and highlight the prefrontal cortex and amygdala (which controls emotional responses).
3. Interactive Scenario Activity (15 min)
Hand out scenario cards (e.g., A friend makes a rude comment about you in class).
Have students discuss in small groups:
What emotion would they feel? (SEL – identifying emotions)
What is an impulsive response? (Amygdala-driven reaction)
How could executive function skills help them respond better? (Cortex-driven response)
Groups share their answers.
4. Reflection & Closing Discussion (10 min)
Discuss: Why is it important to pause before reacting?
Have students write one takeaway about how they can use SEL and executive function skills in their daily lives.
Assessment:
Students will journal a time when they used or could have used SEL and executive function skills in a real-life situation.
After they have this understanding, it’s time to integrate both SEL and EF into the content we are teaching. Let’s look at some examples of that in math, science, social studies, and English language arts.
Math: Problem-Solving & Growth Mindset
Lesson Connection:
Students practice self-regulation and flexible thinking when facing math challenges.
Activity:
- Give students a complex multi-step problem.
- Before solving, ask: What emotions do you feel when facing a hard problem?
- Teach self-regulation strategies:
- Take deep breaths.
- Break the problem into smaller steps.
- Use positive self-talk (“I can figure this out.”).
- Executive Function Focus:
- If one approach doesn’t work, what’s another strategy? (Cognitive flexibility)
- How can we check if our answer makes sense? (Working memory)
- Reflection: Have students write about how they managed frustration and adjusted their thinking.
Science: Handling Setbacks in Experiments
Lesson Connection:
Students learn resilience and problem-solving when experiments don’t go as planned.
Activity:
- Conduct an experiment where results may not match expectations (e.g., testing plant growth in different conditions).
- Ask students:
- How do scientists react when experiments fail? (SEL – emotional management)
- What should we do next? (Executive function – problem-solving)
- Strategy Focus:
- Pause & Reflect: Instead of getting frustrated, what can we learn?
- Plan a New Approach: What variable can we adjust?
- Journaling: Have students describe how they felt and what adjustments they made.
Social Studies: Evaluating Historical Decisions
Lesson Connection:
Students analyze how historical figures regulated emotions and made critical choices.
Activity:
- Choose a historical event (e.g., The Civil Rights Movement, The American Revolution).
- Discuss:
- What emotions were leaders and citizens likely feeling? (SEL – empathy)
- What could have happened if they reacted impulsively?
- What executive function skills (planning, flexibility, self-control) helped leaders make wise decisions?
- Extension:
- Role-play an historical figure faced with a difficult decision.
- Debate how different responses might have changed history.
ELA: Teaching SEL & EF Skills Through Literature
Middle school students often find themselves navigating complex social situations, sometimes reacting impulsively before fully considering the consequences of their actions. Through literature educators have a unique opportunity to guide students in developing social-emotional learning (SEL) and executive function skills.
By analyzing character decisions, students can reflect on their own emotional responses, impulse control, and problem-solving strategies. 
Imagine a classroom where students are deeply engaged in a discussion about Auggie Pullman’s first day at school in the popular middle grades novel Wonder. As they read, they begin to recognize the emotions Auggie experiences – nervousness, hope, and fear – and how his classmates respond.
The teacher poses a question: “Have you ever reacted emotionally and later wished you had handled a situation differently?” Hands go up, and students begin to share personal moments of frustration, regret, or impulsivity.
This lesson is designed to help students explore how characters – and by extension, they themselves – can manage emotions and make thoughtful decisions. Using excerpts from Wonder, The Giver, or other novels that pose emotional dilemmas, students analyze how characters react to challenges.
Students can categorize reactions as impulsive or thoughtful and discuss alternative ways the characters could have responded using SEL and executive function skills. A visual chart on the board organizes responses, helping students see patterns in decision-making.
The lesson then shifts to creative application. Students rewrite a key scene, adjusting the character’s choices to incorporate better impulse control, flexible thinking, and self-regulation. As they share their rewritten scenes, a discussion emerges: “How did this change the outcome? What might this teach us about our own lives?”
Finally, students reflect personally. On an exit ticket, they describe a time when they used – or could have used – self-regulation in their own life. These reflections help them internalize the strategies discussed and connect literature to real-world experiences. Assessment occurs throughout the lesson, from participation in discussions to the depth of rewritten scenes and final reflections.
By integrating SEL and executive function skills into literature lessons, educators not only enhance students’ comprehension but also equip them with tools for emotional intelligence and thoughtful decision-making in their daily lives.
When students can regulate their emotions and apply executive function strategies, they become more engaged learners. They are better at managing stress, staying focused, and problem-solving, all of which contribute to academic success. By linking SEL and EF into lessons, educators empower students with the tools to not only understand their emotions but also harness them for growth and achievement.
Here are some general strategies for any content area:
► Have daily check-ins – use mood meters or journals to help students recognize their emotions before lessons.
► Use think alouds – model how to regulate emotions when solving problems or analyzing events.
► Peer discussions encourage students to reflect on their decision-making in both academic and social situations.
► Try exit tickets that ask questions like: When did you use executive function skills in today’s lesson?
Marilee Sprenger is an international educational consultant in the fields of social-emotional learning, executive function, and brain research. Marilee was a classroom teacher for 25 years, mostly at the middle school level. She has written 16 books, chapters in other publications, and numerous articles.
Her most recent book is The Missing Link to Help Them Think: Connecting Executive Function and SEL Skills to Boost Student Achievement (ASCD, 2024). She is also the author of the best-selling book, Social-Emotional Learning and the Brain: Strategies to Help Your Students Thrive (2020). Marilee can be reached at brainlady@gmail.com.
Brain illustration by Amberrose Nelson from Pixabay
