Does this sound familiar—one student melts down over a small mistake, another blurts out answers without thinking, and someone else rushes through their work just to be “done”? Self-regulation isn’t something kids just have—it’s a skill that needs to be explicitly taught and practiced.
The good news? There are simple ways to help students manage their emotions, stay focused, and work through challenges. This post will walk you through practical self-regulation strategies that you can use every day—and show how Lucky to Learn Writing seamlessly integrates them into writing instruction.
Simple Self-Regulation Strategies
What is Self-Regulation (and Why Do Kids Struggle With It)?
Self-regulation is being able to manage emotions, stay focused and control impulses. All of these skills are important for student success. Lower elementary students are still developing this skills. This lack of development causes many of the behavior issues seen in classrooms:
- Students getting frustrated and shutting down.
- Consistently off task
- Negative reactions to feedback
- Out of seat behaviors
- Blurting
Self-regulation skills need to be taught, just like you teach all other subject areas: through modeling, practice and tools. Here are the self-regulation skills we will be targeting:
- Positive self-talk and self monitoring
- Flexible thinking
- Goal-setting
- Breaks & time management
- Mindfulness and awareness
- Visualization
Simple Self-Regulation Strategies That Work
Now that we’ve identified the strategies to focus on, let’s explore some proven and effective approaches. Keep in mind no one strategy will work best for every student or class. Think of these as tools to add to your teacher toolbox.
1. Stop and Think
Students in this age group have trouble controlling their impulses. Whether it is blurting during a lesson, getting up out of their seat to wander or making noises, they just can’t seem to stop! Or, maybe you have a student who is easily frustrated or emotional.
Try teaching your students the ‘Stop and Think’ strategy. It should be explicitly taught and modeled several times, as it focuses on self-monitoring, flexible thinking, visualization, and mindfulness.
1st Step – STOP
Guide students to pause before reacting when they experience strong emotions, both positive and negative. This helps prevent impulsive responses.
2nd Step – THINK
Encourage students to internally ask themselves these questions. You may also consider using a stop & think sheet for reflection on past incidents.
- “What is the problem?”
- “What are my options?”
- “What is the best choice to make?”
Teach students how to work through these questions in their mind before they act. Often this will deescalate the situation before it even begins!
3rd Step – ACT
After pausing, and thinking it through, the student will decide how to respond to their big emotions.
Try This: The Stop and Think Folder: A Gentle Solution to Classroom Behavior Challenges is a great tool for successfully implementing this strategy.
2. Visual Supports & Checklists
Students thrive on structure and predictability. When they understand routines, expectations, and steps to complete a task, they feel more in control and are less likely to become overwhelmed or frustrated. This reduces impulsive behavior and will build independence skills.
Use visual reminders of expectations & routines in your classroom to reinforce expectations. This targets mindfulness & awareness, breaks & time management and self-monitoring.
The visual reminders can be as simple as:
- Projecting the steps & materials for a project-this will halt many of the, “What do I do next” or “What do I need” questions.
- Anchor charts of routines.
- A visual timer or working clock to keep students on track.
- Checklists for projects – especially in writing!
3. Pause, Plan, Proceed
Similar to the Stop and Think strategy, Pause, Plan, Proceed encourages students to work things out in their brain before beginning or continuing an assignment or project. This strategy focuses on the self-regulation skills of self-monitoring, positive self-talk, visualization and goal-setting.
1st Step – Pause
Students pause before they begin the assignment or project. They think to themselves:
- How do I feel about this assignment? Do I understand the directions?
- Do I have the needed materials?
- How should my body and voice level be right now?
2nd Step – Plan
Teach students how to create a step-by-step plan in completing their assignment. This could be as simple as: 1) Find all materials, 2) Take a deep breath to focus, 3) Decide what to do when they feel stuck or confused.
3rd Step – Proceed
In the last step, students begin the task, making sure they stick to the plan they visualized in step 2.
4. Reflection & Growth Mindset Practices
Self-regulation improves when students reflect on their choices, emotions, and actions. Recognizing what worked and what didn’t, can help them become more independent and self-regulated in the classroom. Students with a goal of improving positive self-talk, impulses, and really any self-regulation skill can benefit from reflection.
Ways for students to reflect:
- Journaling: How the school day? What could have been better?
- Talk it out: Have a quick meet up with the student and discuss how they used their strategies that day.
- Goal of the day: Have students write down or tell you a goal each morning, then reflect on how it went at the end of the day. One idea for this is to have students write their goal on a sticky note first thing in the morning. They can stick the note in their desk as a reminder throughout the day.
Self-Regulation in Writing: A Perfect Fit
Writing is one of the best opportunities to practice all of these self-regulation skills! This is because writing requires:
- Patience – Planning ideas before jumping in
- Focus – Sticking with a task even when it’s tricky
- Perseverance – Revising and improving work over time
Lucky to Learn Writing, our newest curriculum, embeds self-regulation strategies right into the lessons, making it easy to build these skills without extra planning.
All of the above mentioned self-regulation skills are included in this curriculum!
Lucky to Learn Writing includes video lessons that walk students through not only the writing & grammar lesson, but also quick video lessons on self-regulations skills!
How to Support Self-Regulation in Writing:
✅ Use Visual Schedules – Show students what the writing process looks like with a simple, step-by-step visual. This helps them stay on track and know what comes next.
✅ Provide Writing Checklists – A checklist reminds students of what they need to do at each stage, giving them a sense of accomplishment as they check off completed tasks.
✅ Use Step-by-Step Guides – Breaking down big tasks ( into smaller, manageable steps helps students stay focused and avoid frustration.
Why Teaching Self-Regulation in Writing Works:
- Encourages independent problem-solving.
- Helps students feel successful and motivated in their writing.
📌 Lucky to Learn Writing supports self-regulation with:
- Graphic organizers – Help students organize their ideas before writing.
- Skills embedded – No need to set aside extra time to teach self-regulation skills, they are embedded right in the writing lessons!
- Step-by-Step resources: Lucky to Learn Writing is structured to help students stay on task with step-by-step directions.
- Checklists – Guide students through the writing process, helping them slow down and reflect on their work.
Make It Easy: Get These Self-Regulation Tools for $1!
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Great strategies for helping students develop self-regulation skills! Teaching children how to manage their emotions and impulses is so important for their success in school and beyond.