Physical Education · Works with Softball and Baseball

SEL activities for Softball and Baseball

19 Physical Education activities you can teach during a Softball and Baseball unit. Each one builds one Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skill in about 20 minutes, inside the movement you already teach.

PE Course 1

• Who Am I as a Mover? Self-awareness · Week 1Students rotate through a movement sampler of jogging, dancing, throwing, and balancing stations, then journal about which movements feel most like them and why.
• Pressure on the Court Responsible decision-making · Week 5During a partner challenge, students rehearse short scripts for responding when peers push them to skip a safety step or mock a classmate.
• Nerves and Performance Self-awareness · Week 9Students attempt a target throw once calmly and once under a loud countdown, then analyze how nerves changed their focus and technique.
• Heat Smart in the Valley Social awareness · Week 11During a shaded, low intensity circuit, students learn the warning signs of heat illness in the Coachella Valley and practice checking in on a partner and following the class heat plan.
• Practice Plans That Work Responsible decision-making · Week 21After a quick skill check in an individual activity, students write a short practice plan based on their own results and test it for one round.
• Water and Weather Safety Responsible decision-making · Week 32In a dry land scenario circuit, students decide how to respond to risks in open water, extreme heat, and storms and journal one personal safety rule.
• How I Have Grown as a Mover Self-awareness · Week 35Students revisit their week one movement sampler and journal how their identity as a mover has changed this year.
• Thank You, Teammates Relationship skills · Week 36In a final cooperative challenge, students thank partners who supported them and write a gratitude note to a classmate or coach.

PE Course 2

• My Story as a Mover Self-awareness · Week 1Students try a short activity sampler, then sketch a movement timeline of activities they have loved and how their preferences have changed.
• Our Team Agreements Relationship skills · Week 2After a cooperative challenge, the class writes team agreements that support players of all ability levels and each student journals one they will lead.
• Encouraging Every Level Social awareness · Week 12In mixed ability stations, students practice specific encouragement for classmates at every level and journal about encouragement that helped them.
• Mistakes and Momentum Self-management · Week 15Teams practice a quick reset routine after errors during a game and analyze how emotions affect individual and team performance.
• What Makes a Good Captain Responsible decision-making · Week 19Students rotate as captains in a team game and then name the leadership skills that helped or hurt the group.
• Choosing Teams Fairly Social awareness · Week 21Students compare ways of forming teams, test fair methods in a game, and journal about how team selection affects belonging.
• Games for All Abilities Social awareness · Week 22Groups modify a team game so that players with different abilities, including wheelchair users, can fully participate, then play the new version.
• Coaching a Younger Player Responsible decision-making · Week 24Pairs plan a simple, modified activity they could teach to a younger child and practice explaining it with patience.
• Staying Calm When Pressed Self-management · Week 27During light pressure drills, students practice steady breathing and journal how calm thinking changes their reaction.
• Training Smart in Desert Heat Social awareness · Week 30Students adapt a training session for Coachella Valley heat with shade, water breaks, and partner check ins and practice spotting signs of heat illness.
• Gratitude for Our Team Relationship skills · Week 36After a favorite closing game played purely for enjoyment, students write a gratitude note to an assigned classmate.

Some activities are set in this sport. Others work in it with no changes, like a calm breathing reset or a self officiating routine.

RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.