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Grasping the causes behind challenging behaviors, such as running away,
throwing materials, and yelling, can be difficult, as these actions can be a source
of stress for both families and educators (Chai & Lieberman-Betz, 2016; Maddox
et al., 2018; Owens et al., 2018; Zolkoski & Lewis-Chiu, 2019). Involving family
in behavior-intervention processes can lead to better outcomes for students (Chai &
Lieberman-Betz, 2016; Turgeon et al., 2020). Cooperative interventions between
home and school may increase the amount of support students receive across
Dr. Jill T. Tussey is a multiple settings (Turgeon et al., 2020). Providing intervention support in students’
member of Beta Kappa everyday routines has also been shown to be beneficial (Chai & Lieberman-Betz,
Chapter in Iowa State 2016). Without effective intervention, students with reactive behavioral challenges
Organization. Her career
in literacy education has tend to maintain the rate of challenging behaviors as they age, widening the gap
provided a variety of between these students and same-aged peers (Owens et al., 2018).
experiences in curriculum Educators’ behaviors influence the behaviors of students (Haydon et al., 2019).
and instruction across Understanding challenging behaviors and appropriate ways to provide intervention
K-12, undergraduate, and can improve educational experiences for students and educators. Educators can
graduate courses. Service model and provide class-wide support through mindfulness practices, which have
leadership is important
to Tussey and can be been shown to support student learning and positive behaviors (Zolkoski & Lewis-
clearly seen in her current Chiu, 2019). Teaching students, as well as educators, to focus on breathing and the
work as the Division Chair way the body feels can, over time, lead to better behavioral and emotional outcomes
for Literacy, TESL, and (Zolkoski & Lewis-Chiu, 2019). Through mindfulness practices, educators and
Early Childhood at Buena students can reduce reactivity (Haydon et al., 2019). Body awareness, emotional
Vista University. She has regulation, and reduced reactivity can help create a better educational experience.
authored and edited
books, chapters, and
journal articles as well as Teacher Resources
presented at local, state, Students need teachers who have received training and are willing to embrace
national, and international the changing emotional needs of those in their classroom. According to Ho and
settings over a variety of Funk (2018), “teachers can promote children’s social and emotional health in many
literacy topics. Jtussey18@ ways, for example, by organizing a material-rich environment to stimulate social
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interactions among children” (para. 5). Teachers can utilize literacy resources to
support SEL development via high-quality, interactive read-alouds and through
well-developed activities accessed both in and out of school. Below are examples of
early childhood and elementary books with accompanying SEL activities as well as
educator resources (Table) in print and online.

Sample Literacy and SEL Activities
Literature: Positive Me!: A Kids’ Guide to Self-Compassion (Hornstein, 2019).
• In-school Activity:
◦ Teachers will read the book aloud to students.
◦ Whole class will discuss the story.
◦ Whole class will create a word web for the key terms in the story.
◦ Students will work in pairs or independently to write their own sentences
utilizing the words from the word web.
◦ Partner groups or students will partner up and read their sentences aloud.
• Out-of-school Activity:
◦ Students will take their sentences home and work with family to create new
sentences with the same words.

58 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators