Middle School SEL Curriculum for Grades 6–8
Part of Ori Learning’s Emotional Well-Being Curriculum for grades 6–12
Three courses, one each for grades 6, 7 and 8, give middle schoolers explicit practice in managing emotions and stress, making and keeping friends, and responding to peer pressure. Each grade has 25 lessons aligned to CASEL’s five competencies, and every unit ends with a project.
Courses
3 (grades 6, 7 and 8)
Units
15
Lessons
75
Lesson length
20-minute core lessons + extensions
Assessment
Pre/post for every course and unit
What Middle Schoolers Work On
Middle school brings new friendships, stronger feelings and more pressure from peers. Across grades 6–8, students work on five areas, and each year comes back to them with more depth:
- Knowing themselves: identity, positive thinking and personal strengths in grade 6; shared identities, priorities, beliefs and self-expression in grade 7; self-esteem, interests and aspirations in grade 8.
- Managing emotions and stress: naming emotions, handling stress and getting organized in grade 6; complex emotions, accepting feelings and asking for help in grade 7; self-care, procrastination, habits and goal-setting in grade 8.
- Understanding others: perspective-taking, empathy and kindness in grade 6; sympathy versus empathy and caring communities in grade 7; spotting flawed thinking and accepting differences in grade 8.
- Friendships: making friends, fitting in while being yourself and coping when a friendship ends in grade 6; collaboration, communication and conflict resolution in grade 7; boundaries and expressing needs in grade 8.
- Pressure and decisions: responding to peer pressure and making amends in grade 6; how the brain makes decisions and how to say no in grade 7; reputation, learning from mistakes and making confident decisions in grade 8.
Students also learn named tools they can use outside class: growth mindset from grade 6, the RAIN approach for accepting emotions in grade 7, and SMART goals and Ikigai in grade 8.
Grade by Grade: Every Middle School Unit and Lesson
Each grade has five units, one for each CASEL competency. Lessons 1–4 in every unit are 20-minute core lessons, and lesson 5 is an end-of-unit project that pulls the unit together. Every course and every unit also has a pre- and post-assessment.
Grade 6
Grade 6 starts with identity and a growth mindset, then moves through stress, empathy, friendships and peer pressure. Project options include a Decision Matrix that helps classmates work through common problems (Unit 5).
| Unit | CASEL competency | Lessons |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Self-Awareness |
|
| Unit 2 | Self-Management |
|
| Unit 3 | Social Awareness |
|
| Unit 4 | Relationship Skills |
|
| Unit 5 | Responsible Decision-Making |
|
Grade 7
Grade 7 goes deeper into complex emotions, asking for help, sympathy versus empathy, communication and saying no. Project options include a personal code of conduct that sets boundaries for students’ own choices (Unit 5).
| Unit | CASEL competency | Lessons |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Self-Awareness |
|
| Unit 2 | Self-Management |
|
| Unit 3 | Social Awareness |
|
| Unit 4 | Relationship Skills |
|
| Unit 5 | Responsible Decision-Making |
|
Grade 8
Grade 8 starts looking ahead: self-esteem, aspirations, habits, SMART goals, boundaries and the reputation students’ choices build. Project options include writing a long-term SMART goal (Unit 2).
| Unit | CASEL competency | Lessons |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Self-Awareness |
|
| Unit 2 | Self-Management |
|
| Unit 3 | Social Awareness |
|
| Unit 4 | Relationship Skills |
|
| Unit 5 | Responsible Decision-Making |
|
Inside Three Middle School Lessons
- Grade 6, “Under Pressure” (Responsible Decision-Making): Students look at how peers can influence each other, for better and for worse, and practice three ways to respond to peer pressure.
- Grade 7, “Seeking Support” (Self-Management): Students learn that everyone needs help sometimes, and work out when, where and how to get support when they need it.
- Grade 8, “My Boundaries” (Relationship Skills): Students learn how boundaries protect their time, space and well-being, then write clear personal boundary statements.
How the Lessons Are Taught
Every lesson follows the same flow: goals, a quick pre-check, an opening question, the core ideas, realistic scenarios, a post-check and, in most lessons, a journal reflection. Collaboration boards, where students post answers and see classmates’ responses, appear in 64 of the 75 middle school lessons.
Core lessons take 20 minutes, so they fit an advisory or homeroom period, and extension activities fill a longer block. Teachers can present from the front of the room, run a live session on students’ devices, or assign lessons for students to complete at their own pace. Each lesson has two ready lesson plans and teacher notes on every page, and the curriculum is designed for minimal prep.
See how lessons work across the SEL curriculum for grades 6–12
Research Basis and Recognition
The lessons are built on established research. They follow CASEL’s SAFE practices (sequenced, active, focused and explicit) and the 5E instructional model (Bybee, 1997), apply Universal Design for Learning (Rose & Meyer, 2002) and formative assessment research (Black & Wiliam, 1998), and draw on social learning theory (Bandura, 1977), growth mindset (Dweck, 2006), cognitive behavioral theory (Beck, 1993), positive psychology (Seligman, 2002) and mindfulness practice (Kabat-Zinn, 1994). Students can use text-to-speech, translation into 136 languages, speech-to-text and zoom, and their settings are saved. See the full research basis: Research Basis (PDF).
Pre- and post-assessments for every course and unit, 36 across grades 6–8, give administrators reports that compare pre- and post-assessment scores and export to Excel.
Awards
- EdTech Breakthrough, SEL Solution of the Year (2024)
Continuing in High School
The middle school courses lead straight into Ori Learning’s high school SEL curriculum for grades 9–12. The five competencies, the unit structure and the lesson flow stay the same, so grade 9 doesn’t mean starting a new program. Grade 9 picks up where grade 8 leaves off, with situations older students face:
| CASEL competency | Grade 8 lessons | Grade 9 lessons |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Awareness | My Mindset · My Aspirations | My Identity · My Outlook · Growth Mindset |
| Self-Management | Building Habits · Reaching My Goals | Prioritizing My Time · Building Habits |
| Social Awareness | New Perspectives · Accepting Differences | Understanding Perspective · Respecting Others |
| Relationship Skills | Connection Matters · My Boundaries | Building Relationships · Healthy Vs. Unhealthy Relationships |
| Responsible Decision-Making | Making Mistakes · Being Decisive | Making Decisions · Problem Solving |
Some threads run further: the SMART goals students first set in grade 8 return in grades 11 and 12, and “My Boundaries” comes back in grade 11.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SEL look like in middle school?
In middle school, SEL is explicit teaching of the skills students lean on as friendships, feelings and pressures change: managing emotions, handling stress, making friends, saying no to peer pressure and making decisions. In Ori Learning’s curriculum, grades 6, 7 and 8 each have 25 lessons across CASEL’s five competencies, and every unit ends with a project that pulls it together.
What topics does the middle school curriculum cover?
Grade 6 covers identity, positive thinking, growth mindset, stress, getting organized, empathy, kindness, friendships and peer pressure. Grade 7 adds complex emotions, asking for help, sympathy versus empathy, collaboration, conflict resolution and saying no. Grade 8 covers self-esteem, aspirations, procrastination, habits, SMART goals, boundaries and reputation. The scope and sequence lists all 75 lesson titles.
How long are lessons, and where do they fit in the school day?
Core lessons take 20 minutes, so they fit an advisory or homeroom period, and extension activities add more when time allows. Teachers can lead a lesson from the front of the room, run it live while students follow on their own devices, or assign it for students to complete at their own pace. Every lesson comes with two ready lesson plans and teacher notes.
Is it aligned to CASEL?
Yes. Every middle school grade has five units, one for each CASEL competency: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision-Making. The alignment is Ori Learning’s own mapping of units and lessons to the CASEL framework, not a designation from CASEL, and the scope and sequence shows which lessons sit under each competency.
What can families see about what students learn?
The scope and sequence is free to download and lists every unit and lesson title, including all 75 middle school lessons. The lessons teach practical skills: managing stress, making and keeping friends, responding to peer pressure and setting goals. Districts can share the scope and sequence with families and school boards, so conversations about SEL start from what students are actually taught.
What happens after grade 8?
Students move into the high school courses for grades 9–12, which keep the same five competencies, unit structure and lesson flow. Grade 9 returns to identity, habits, perspective, relationships and peer pressure with situations older students face, and the sequence ends in grade 12 with planning for life after high school.
See a Middle School Lesson
Request a demo to walk through a grade 6, 7 or 8 lesson, or download the scope and sequence to see all 75 middle school lesson titles.
Curriculum led by Dr. Miriam Gayle, EdD. Originally developed with Tess Hileman, M.Ed., Kate Sundquist, M.Ed., and Tynishia Williams.