My Dragon SEL Read Alouds Character Education Book Activities Worksheets Bundle gives teachers a growing collection of structured read-aloud companions based on Steve Herman’s My Dragon picture book series. Designed for students in 2nd–5th grade, these resources help students build emotional regulation, self-control, honesty, perseverance, responsible decision-making, and other social-emotional skills while reinforcing essential ELA instruction.

Each companion combines guided discussion with differentiated SEL and literacy activities. Students explore the skill through a relatable story and then apply what they have learned through emotional regulation learning worksheets, reflection pages, classroom scenarios, writing activities, and practical decision-making exercises.

Growing Bundle

This is a growing bundle that includes all current and future My Dragon interactive read-aloud companions added to my store. As new resources are added, the bundle price will increase. Buyers who purchase the bundle receive access to future additions at no additional cost.

Please note: The picture books are not included. You will need access to the books to use the complete interactive read-aloud lessons.

What My Dragon SEL Read Alouds Help Teachers Address

Students often need more than reminders to make a different choice. A student who lies, refuses a difficult task, reacts angrily, argues when told no, or ignores a rule may understand the expectation but still lack the emotional-regulation or decision-making skills needed to meet it consistently.

These SEL read alouds help teachers address the skill underneath the behavior. Instead of relying only on correction after a problem occurs, students receive direct instruction, guided practice, and repeated opportunities to reflect on how their thoughts, emotions, and choices affect what happens next.

Included Book Companions

Teach Your Dragon to Stop Lying by Steve Herman

Students learn about honesty, trust, taking responsibility, and repairing relationships after dishonesty. The included honesty and lying activities help students examine why someone may avoid the truth and how honest choices help rebuild trust.

Fix Your Dragon’s Attitude by Steve Herman

Students explore negative thinking, complaining, and what happens when life does not go as expected. Reframing negative thoughts activities help students recognize an unhelpful attitude and practice choosing a more balanced response.

Train Your Angry Dragon by Steve Herman

Students learn that anger is a normal emotion while practicing safe, respectful ways to respond. Anger management worksheets and activities help students identify triggers, recognize body signals, use calming strategies, and repair problems after an angry response.

Train Your Dragon to Accept NO by Steve Herman

Students practice accepting limits, managing disappointment, and responding appropriately when the answer is no. Accepting no activities help students build flexibility while connecting emotional responses with choices and consequences.

Train Your Dragon to Follow Rules by Steve Herman

Students examine why rules exist and what following them looks like across different school settings. Follow school rules activities help students build self-control, consider the impact of their behavior, and make more responsible classroom choices.

Train Your Dragon to Do Hard Things by Steve Herman

Students explore perseverance, effort, and the role of mistakes in learning. Perseverance worksheets help students move from “I can’t do this” to “I can’t do this yet” while practicing strategies for continuing when a task feels difficult.

Character Education Read Aloud Activities

These character education read aloud activities give teachers a structured way to discuss behavior without focusing the lesson on one particular student. Students can examine the dragon’s thoughts, emotions, and choices before connecting those ideas to their own experiences.

The format supports meaningful class discussion while creating some emotional distance from a recent behavior concern. Students are able to consider what happened, what the character could do differently, and how the same skill applies in real situations.

Character Education Book Activities and Worksheets

The character education book activities extend each story through writing, reflection, discussion, and application. Rather than asking students to complete every page, teachers can select the worksheets and activities that best match the group, setting, and skill being taught.

Activities across the bundle include:

• Before-, during-, and after-reading questions
• Making predictions
• Summarizing fiction
• Character traits and story elements
• Compare-and-contrast worksheets
• Sequencing activities
• Text-to-self connections
• Writing prompts
• Look-and-write activities
• Comic-strip creation
• Book reviews
• Self-evaluations
• Classroom and behavior scenarios
• Reframing negative thoughts
• Gratitude journals
• Apology letters and templates
• Relationship-repair discussions
• Resilience and perseverance activities
• Drawing and coloring activities
• Word searches and brag tags

Emotional Regulation and Self-Control

The emotional regulation learning worksheets help students connect feelings with thoughts, body signals, behavior, and outcomes. Students practice recognizing emotions early, selecting a coping strategy, communicating what they need, and evaluating whether their response was effective.

Emotional regulation is not taught as staying calm at all times or hiding difficult feelings. Students learn that they can feel angry, disappointed, embarrassed, or frustrated while still making safe and responsible choices. This distinction helps teachers maintain accountability without treating the emotion itself as the problem.

Choices, Consequences, and Positive Behavior

Choices and consequences activities help students examine how decisions affect safety, learning, trust, and relationships. Students consider both the immediate result of a choice and what may happen afterward.

Positive behavior choices activities give students opportunities to identify alternative responses and think through realistic situations. The goal is not simply to tell students what they should have done. It is to help them understand the decision-making process well enough to make a more effective choice in the future.

Why Teachers Use This Bundle

This collection helps teachers:

• Teach several connected SEL and behavior skills through one consistent format
• Address the skills underneath challenging behavior
• Integrate SEL instruction into the literacy block
• Reinforce ELA skills through engaging picture books
• Differentiate for student needs without creating separate lesson plans
• Provide proactive instruction before behavior escalates
• Revisit important skills using different stories and activities
• Support whole classes, small groups, and individual students
• Save planning time with ready-to-use questions, worksheets, and activities
• Build a reusable library of character education resources

Flexible Use and Differentiated Instruction

Each companion contains more activities than teachers are expected to complete with one class or student. The variety allows you to choose the pages that best match your students’ readiness, instructional goals, and available time.

You can use the resources during:

• Whole-group interactive read-aloud lessons
• Small-group SEL instruction
• School counseling groups
• Behavior-support or intervention programs
• Centers or independent work
• Self-contained classroom instruction
• Individual reflection and skill practice
• Literacy events such as World Read Aloud Day

Interactive Read-Aloud Discussion Questions

The included questions help students engage with each text before, during, and after reading. Students make predictions, connect story events with their own experiences, examine character choices, and discuss how the featured skill applies outside the book.

These discussions also allow students to:

• Build vocabulary and background knowledge
• Practice speaking and listening skills
• Explain their reasoning
• Consider perspectives that differ from their own
• Collaborate with classmates
• Access and discuss texts that may be above their independent reading level

ELA Skills Across the Bundle

Students practice:

• Making predictions
• Summarizing
• Identifying story elements
• Analyzing characters and their choices
• Comparing and contrasting
• Sequencing events
• Explaining cause and effect
• Making text-to-self connections
• Responding to writing prompts
• Participating in text-based discussions

Social Emotional Learning Skills Across the Bundle

Students practice:

• Identifying and expressing emotions
• Using calming and coping strategies
• Managing anger and disappointment
• Accepting limits
• Following rules and expectations
• Telling the truth
• Taking responsibility
• Repairing relationships
• Reframing negative thoughts
• Building perseverance
• Responding to mistakes
• Making thoughtful decisions
• Understanding choices and consequences
• Developing more positive behavior choices

Family Connections and Additional Supports

The individual companions include notes to families with practical ways to continue the targeted skill at home. Real photographs are also included to help students connect abstract social-emotional concepts with recognizable emotions and situations.

Because the resources share a similar structure, teachers can introduce the format once and use it repeatedly across different skills. This consistency makes it easier for students to focus on the new lesson rather than learning an entirely new activity routine each time.

Bottom Line

If you want to teach emotional regulation, behavior, and character skills through engaging picture books, this bundle provides a flexible collection of SEL read alouds, character education book activities, and differentiated worksheets. Students learn to understand the thoughts and emotions underneath their behavior while practicing the skills needed to make responsible choices at school, at home, and in relationships.

Curious for More?

Discover your next impactful and engaging interactive read aloud & book companion available here, each carefully crafted to ignite student growth on multiple fronts.

Learn More: Interactive Read Alouds for SEL and Literacy Skills

Discover the power of an interactive read aloud in promoting social-emotional learning (SEL) and literacy skills in children.

Whether you’re a teacher or a caregiver, learn how an interactive read aloud can positively transform young lives with this blog post: Interactive Read Alouds: How to Use Them to Promote SEL and Literacy Skills.

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