Social-emotional learning software your students will actually use
Character education built around 13 true guiding principles and values, taught by funny cartoon characters. Free for classrooms today.
Most SEL lessons feel like lessons. Vernaculator feels like a game. Students type what they want to say, and our animated characters say it back their way, from Brooklyn slang to Shakespeare. Along the way they practice the skills SEL is about: choosing words with care, seeing a situation from someone else's side, and answering an insult without throwing one back. We call it character education, and every piece of it points back to one of our values.
The 13 true guiding principles and values
- Integrity
- Humility
- Don't take it personally
- Adaptability ("roll with it")
- Generosity
- Taking responsibility
- Discipline
- Courage
- Don't make assumptions
- Empathy
- Gratitude
- Loyalty
- Perseverance
Each value has an animal "shoulder guide" hero who whispers good advice in the cartoon. Read the full lessons for the first three on the teachers page; the rest are coming.
SEL classroom activities that work today
- Clever comebacks instead of insults. Students practice answering a put-down without becoming a bully (relationship skills, self-management).
- Watch and discuss Big Sal's World. A short cartoon episode, then a free discussion guide with questions for the class (one value per episode).
- Code-switching. The same idea in slang, plain English and formal English, so students learn to read the room (social awareness).
- 5-minute bell ringer. Word of the Day on the projector, plus a value of the day on the free Class screen.
- Talk about it at home. Students can take home a family card with the words they learned and questions about the day's value.
See all the classroom activities
Student privacy
- Students join with the 6-digit code on the board: no names, emails or accounts.
- We never save what students type. The class word cloud keeps only the AI's suggested words, deleted after 24 hours.
- PG for everyone: no swearing, no ads, no Google trackers.
Questions about FERPA? See the FAQ and our privacy policy.
Paying for it: Title IV-A and grants
The classroom activities and Class screen are free, so you can start today without a purchase order. For the school worlds coming later, many districts pay for SEL and well-rounded education tools with Title IV-A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment) or 21st Century Community Learning Centers funds. Your district's federal programs office decides what qualifies. Email us and we'll send a short program description you can use in a grant application.
A fundraiser your students write. Each school can get its own world: students create the characters, we turn their best answers into a weekly cartoon, and the episodes become picture books the school sells on Amazon. No door-to-door selling, and every penny of book income goes to the school.
More for schools: For teachers · School worlds · FAQ · Local schools need
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