Quick Answer
Move This World and Be The Buffalo Classroom both cover K-5 social-emotional learning through low-prep, ready-to-use delivery models. They differ in pedagogical foundation, weekly structure, evidence base, bilingual support, and content scope.
Move This World is a video-based PreK-12 SEL platform founded in 2007 and rooted in creative arts therapy and positive psychology. Content is delivered through short participatory videos led by on-screen hosts, with 36 week-long units per grade. In March 2026, Move This World was acquired by Riverside Insights, which pairs the curriculum with the DESSA SEL assessment system.[1][5]
Be The Buffalo Classroom is a K-5 specific SEL and character education curriculum with 40 weeks of projector-led whole-class content per grade band, native bilingual English and Spanish delivery, and zero teacher prep.[9]
The decision typically comes down to whether you want short daily video routines with integrated assessment (Move This World) or K-5 specific character education plus SEL delivered whole-class with native bilingual support (Be The Buffalo).
Key Takeaways
- •Move This World is video-first: students watch on-screen hosts. Be The Buffalo is projector-first: the teacher facilitates whole-class content.
- •Move This World's evidence is a 2023 quasi-experimental study of 3,531 K-3 students. Be The Buffalo does not yet have a published evaluation.[4][10]
- •Move This World now integrates with DESSA assessment through the Riverside Insights acquisition. Be The Buffalo does not currently include a bundled assessment toolkit.[5]
- •Move This World translates a subset of foundational video content into Spanish. Be The Buffalo delivers English and Spanish as native parallel modes.
- •Move This World is SEL-focused. Be The Buffalo explicitly integrates character education alongside SEL.
What is Move This World?
Move This World is a PreK-12 SEL platform founded in 2007 by Sara Potler LaHayne. It is rooted in creative arts therapy and positive psychology, with a delivery model built around short participatory videos.[1]
Acquisition. In March 2026, Move This World was acquired by Riverside Insights, the publisher of DESSA (Devereux Student Strengths Assessment). Founder Sara Potler LaHayne now leads Riverside Insights' Behavioral and Mental Health vertical. The stated integration goal is to combine Move This World's Tier 1 instruction with DESSA's screening, assessment, and progress monitoring across Tiers 1, 2, and 3.[5][6]
Structure. 36 week-long units per grade level. Each unit includes 2 to 3 curricular videos, facilitation guides, additional content, and “Power of Pause” videos. Videos are short and interactive, designed to incorporate movement, play, and expression.[2]
Delivery. Browser-based platform. Videos are led by on-screen “hosts” with pauses for educator-facilitated discussion. Per Move This World's own materials, no prep or training is required and each lesson is self-contained and pre-loaded.[3]
Pedagogical approach. Rooted in creative arts therapy and positive psychology. Videos incorporate movement, breathing exercises, expression activities, and relaxation practices. Content focuses on empathy, active listening, impulse control, and conflict resolution.
Common Sense Education review notes. Videos may move fast for some students and require teacher pausing. Some content (draw, write, complete coordinated motor actions, quickly identify conflicts) may be challenging for students with learning disabilities or ADHD without teacher scaffolding.[7]
Language support. According to CASEL Program Guide, a selection of foundational video content is translated into Spanish. Not full translation of the curriculum.[4]
Beyond Tier 1. Move This World offers Tier 2 interventions, adult wellness courses and experiences, admin coaching, and family platform access. Post-acquisition, these connect to DESSA assessment.
Evidence. CASEL Program Guide lists Move This World with a “Promising” evidence designation, based on evidence of effectiveness in grades K-3. The supporting study is a 2022-2023 quasi-experimental evaluation of 3,531 K-3 students in Title I urban, rural, and suburban schools in the US Midwest (89% white).[4][10]
Scale. Move This World reports use with over 4 million students across 45 states and 9 countries.
Panorama integration. Move This World videos appear in Panorama Education's Playbook as “moves,” aligned to Panorama Life Skills Survey topics.[8]
What is Be The Buffalo Classroom?
Be The Buffalo Classroom is a K-5 specific SEL and character education curriculum published by Mindwired Labs LLC.[9]
Structure. 40 weeks of content per grade band. Three elementary grade bands: K-1, 2-3, and 4-5.
Delivery. Projector-led whole class. The teacher opens the curriculum on their own device and projects the day's or week's content to the class. No student accounts. No student devices required.
Content library. Weekly projector activities, illustrated stories (including choose-your-own-adventure formats for grades 4-5), original SEL songs, printables, and a 40-week lesson planner with CASEL color-coding. Safety modules cover topics such as lockdown response in age-appropriate format.
Pedagogical approach. Integrates SEL and character education explicitly rather than treating them as separate frameworks. Curriculum design centers on teacher-led whole-class engagement rather than video-driven instruction.
Language support. English and Spanish delivered as parallel native modes through a single interface toggle.
Prep time. Zero. Lessons are designed to be opened and taught without preparation.
Evidence. No published evaluation at this time. Not listed in the CASEL Program Guide or Evidence for ESSA. CASEL competency alignment is documented in the curriculum's own materials.
Pricing. Free tier covering the first four weeks of content. Full curriculum is $149.99 per teacher per year.
Direct Comparison
| Feature | Move This World | Be The Buffalo Classroom |
|---|---|---|
| Grade band | PreK-12 | K-5 specific |
| Weekly content | 36 week-long units per grade | 40 weeks per grade band |
| Grade organization | Per-grade | Grade bands (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) |
| Delivery format | Video-based, on-screen hosts | Projector-led whole class |
| Weekly structure | 2-3 videos per unit plus facilitation guides | Varies by content type |
| Pedagogical roots | Creative arts therapy, positive psychology | K-5 character education plus SEL |
| Movement component | Central to design | Not a primary component |
| Teacher prep required | Advertised as none | Advertised as none |
| Student accounts required | No for classroom; available for home | No |
| Student devices required | No for classroom delivery | No |
| Spanish support | Subset of foundational videos translated | Native English/Spanish toggle |
| CASEL Program Guide | Yes, “Promising” designation, K-3 | Not yet listed |
| Published evaluation | Yes, 2023 quasi-experimental (K-3, 3,531 students) | None yet |
| Assessment toolkit | DESSA integration (post-Riverside acquisition) | Not currently included |
| MTSS Tier 2/3 pathway | Yes, plus adult wellness and admin coaching | Not currently offered |
| Character education | SEL-focused | Explicit character education alongside SEL |
| Publisher | Move This World (Riverside Insights, March 2026) | Mindwired Labs LLC |
| Founded | 2007 | 2024 |
| Public pricing | Not published (contact for quote) | Free tier; $149.99/teacher/year |
| Free content | Not documented | Yes, first 4 weeks |
Delivery Model: What Actually Happens in the Classroom
Both programs advertise no teacher prep and quick classroom launch. The similarities end there.
Move This World
Teacher opens the browser-based platform, selects the current unit's video, and plays it for the class. Students watch on-screen hosts guide movement-based, expression-based, and discussion-based activities. Teacher pauses when needed to facilitate in-person discussion or scaffold students who need it. Common Sense Education's teacher review notes that pausing is often necessary, particularly for students with learning differences or ADHD.[7]
Be The Buffalo
Teacher opens the curriculum on their own device and projects it to the class. Content is designed for whole-class teacher-led facilitation rather than video-first instruction. Students engage with the projected content directly, not through an intermediary video host.[9]
Be The Buffalo projector view — the teacher opens and projects, no student devices needed
The practical difference:in Move This World, the primary voice students hear is the on-screen host. In Be The Buffalo, the primary voice is the teacher's own, with the projected content supporting rather than driving instruction.
Neither approach is inherently better. Teachers who prefer video-anchored routines tend to like Move This World. Teachers who prefer to be the one leading and want their own voice central to delivery tend to prefer projector-led whole class.
Weekly Structure and Dosage
Move This World's 36 units each contain 2 to 3 videos plus facilitation guides and “Power of Pause” content. Videos are short. Common Sense Education's review notes lessons are meant to be repeated throughout the week or returned to throughout the year. Historical implementation guidance has included 10-minute daily use (5 minutes morning, 5 minutes afternoon) as one usage model, though implementation is flexible.[7]
Be The Buffalo provides 40 weeks of content per grade band. Weekly dosage varies by the specific content type used (projector activity, illustrated story, song, printable). The design does not follow a fixed weekly time template.
Move This World's model works well for schools that want a predictable short daily video routine. Be The Buffalo's model works well for schools that want flexibility in what and how much to teach each week within a whole-class facilitation frame.
Bilingual Support
Move This World and Be The Buffalo handle Spanish differently.
Move This World, per CASEL Program Guide, translates a selection of foundational video content into Spanish. Not the full curriculum. This means Spanish-speaking students receive translated versions of a subset of core videos, not equivalent Spanish delivery across the full program.[4]
Be The Buffalo delivers English and Spanish as parallel native modes through a single interface toggle. Content is designed with Spanish as a first-class delivery mode rather than as a translation of a subset of English videos.
Be The Buffalo bilingual toggle — one click switches the entire lesson between English and Spanish
For classrooms with substantial Spanish-speaking populations that need Spanish content across the full curriculum year (not only a subset), the delivery models diverge meaningfully. For classrooms where Spanish is used primarily for family communication or occasional student support, either model can work.
Evidence Base
Move This World has documented evidence at the CASEL “Promising” designation level, based on a quasi-experimental study. Be The Buffalo does not yet have a published evaluation.
Move This World's supporting evidence is the 2022-2023 quasi-experimental study by Kharitonova et al., which included 3,531 K-3 students in Title I schools across the US Midwest (89% white). Findings: higher ELA and MATH RIT scores in Move This World classrooms compared to controls, measured 15 to 35 weeks after baseline. The study controlled for outcome pretest, age, gender, and ethnicity.[10]
Two caveats worth naming
First,this is a quasi-experimental design, not a randomized controlled trial. Quasi-experimental studies are valuable but sit lower on the evidence hierarchy than RCTs because schools are not randomly assigned to condition. The CASEL “Promising” designation reflects this evidence tier accurately.
Second, the study sample was 89% white and drawn from a single US region. Generalizability to more racially and linguistically diverse populations is not established by this study alone.
Be The Buffalo does not currently have a published evaluation. For districts where procurement requires documented evidence, Move This World meets the CASEL “Promising” bar and Be The Buffalo does not.
The DESSA integration through Riverside Insights adds a separate evidence layer for schools that adopt both. DESSA itself has a substantial research base as an assessment tool, distinct from Move This World's curriculum evidence.
Assessment and Tier 2/3 Support
This is where the recent Riverside Insights acquisition changes the picture.
Move This World is now paired with DESSA, one of the most widely used SEL assessments in K-12 education. The stated integration goal is to align screening, instruction, intervention, and progress monitoring within a unified MTSS framework. For districts already using DESSA (or open to adopting it), this creates a bundled assessment-plus-curriculum stack.[5]
Move This World also offers Tier 2 interventions, adult wellness courses, admin coaching, and family platform access as part of its broader ecosystem.
Be The Buffalo does not currently offer bundled assessment tools, Tier 2 or Tier 3 products, or an adult SEL layer. Schools that need integrated assessment or tiered intervention pathways would need to source those separately.
Cost
Direct pricing comparison is difficult because Move This World does not publish pricing publicly and quotes based on district size and configuration.
Post-acquisition pricing may shift. Riverside Insights has not published integrated pricing for the Move This World + DESSA bundle at the time of writing.
Be The Buffalo offers a free tier covering the first four weeks of content. Full curriculum access is $149.99 per teacher per year. Because there is no separate hardware or per-student device requirement, total cost of ownership at the school level depends primarily on subscription cost.[9]
For a single teacher, counselor, or small school, the free tier plus subscription model is likely lower up-front cost than a district-level Move This World contract. For a large district, the cost gap narrows and the decision shifts to fit rather than cost alone.
Prep Time
Both programs advertise no required teacher prep, but the delivery models create different practical demands.
Move This World's videos are self-contained and pre-loaded. Teachers who want to run the program at minimum viable effort can play the video, pause when needed, and move on. Common Sense Education's teacher review notes that teachers should be ready to pause and scaffold, particularly for students with learning differences.[7]
Be The Buffalo's zero-prep claim depends on the teacher opening the projector content and facilitating it directly. There is no video host to lean on. This means the teacher is more visibly in the driver's seat, which increases the demand for teacher comfort with SEL facilitation but decreases dependence on video content pacing.
The honest test: request a sample lesson from each vendor at your grade level and time yourself preparing to teach it, then teach it, then note how much of your own facilitation time was needed beyond the video or projected content.
Which is Right for Your School?
District already using DESSA for SEL assessment. Move This World is now the aligned curriculum through the Riverside Insights acquisition. This is a real integration advantage.
District that wants integrated Tier 1 through Tier 3 supports plus assessment. Move This World's post-acquisition ecosystem is designed for this. Be The Buffalo is Tier 1 only.
School with substantial Spanish-speaking population needing full-year Spanish equivalence. Be The Buffalo's native bilingual toggle covers the full curriculum. Move This World translates a subset of foundational videos.
School that wants explicit character education alongside SEL. Be The Buffalo integrates both. Move This World is SEL-focused with a movement and creative arts emphasis.
School with limited teacher SEL facilitation confidence. Move This World's video hosts lead lessons, reducing demand on teacher facilitation skill. Be The Buffalo's whole-class projector model puts the teacher in the primary facilitator role.
School that prioritizes teacher voice and relationship-based delivery. Be The Buffalo's teacher-led model keeps the teacher as primary instructional voice. Move This World's video hosts become the primary voice.
School with substantial ADHD, learning disability, or language learner population. Common Sense Education's teacher review flags that Move This World videos may require pausing and scaffolding for these students. Neither program is disqualified, but this warrants a demo test.
PreK implementation. Move This World covers PreK. Be The Buffalo is K-5 only.
Small school, single teacher, or counselor with tight budget. Be The Buffalo's free tier and $149.99/teacher/year pricing removes the up-front barrier. Move This World contracts are typically district-scale.
Movement-based SEL as an instructional philosophy. Move This World's design centers on this. Be The Buffalo does not.
What the Research Says
The overall SEL evidence base is well established. A 2011 meta-analysis by Durlak and colleagues, published in Child Development, reviewed 213 school-based SEL programs and found an 11-percentile-point academic achievement gain for students in SEL programs compared to controls. Follow-up meta-analyses have generally supported these findings.[11]
Program-level evidence varies significantly. Move This World has a CASEL “Promising” designation based on one quasi-experimental study in K-3. Be The Buffalo has no published evaluation. The DESSA assessment (now bundled with Move This World post-acquisition) has a separate, more established evidence base as an assessment tool, including a Johns Hopkins study cited in Riverside Insights' acquisition announcement.
Implementation quality and dosage fidelity matter substantially. A curriculum with strong published evidence that teachers do not actually teach with fidelity will underperform a curriculum with weaker evidence that teachers use consistently.
How to Run a Fair Comparison at Your School
If you are choosing between Move This World and Be The Buffalo:
- 1Define your must-haves before evaluating either program. Evidence tier, assessment integration, delivery model, budget, language demographics, teacher facilitation capacity.
- 2Request a demo of the Move This World platform. Request access to the Be The Buffalo free tier. Watch one video lesson from Move This World with a class (or with test users), and project one Be The Buffalo lesson.
- 3Ask Move This World specifically about post-acquisition pricing for the DESSA + Move This World bundle. Get answers in writing.
- 4Ask both vendors for their scope and sequence in writing.
- 5Ask both vendors about contract length and cancellation terms.
- 6Talk to at least two current customer schools of similar size to yours for each program.
Sources
- Move This World. movethisworld.com
- Move This World. “Early Elementary School.” movethisworld.com/social-emotional-activity-early-elementary-students
- Move This World. “PPC - Curriculum.” movethisworld.com/ppc-curriculum
- CASEL Program Guide. “Move This World.” pg.casel.org
- Riverside Insights. “Riverside Insights Acquires Move This World to Advance a Connected System for Student Behavioral and Mental Health.” March 18, 2026. blog.riversideinsights.com
- GlobeNewswire. “Riverside Insights Acquires Move This World.” March 18, 2026.
- Common Sense Education. “Move This World Review for Teachers.” commonsense.org/education/reviews/move-this-world
- Panorama Education. “Move This World and Panorama Partner.” panoramaed.com/blog/move-this-world-and-panorama
- Be The Buffalo Classroom. bethebuffaloclassroom.com
- Kharitonova, M., McKown, C., Sweeney, K., Krupa, K., Bauer, P. (2023). Evaluating the Impact of the Move This World Program. Unpublished report. xSEL Labs.
- Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. PubMed
What the Research Says
(and Doesn't Say)
The overall SEL evidence base is well established. A 2011 meta-analysis by Durlak and colleagues found an 11-percentile-point academic achievement gain for students in SEL programs compared to controls.
Program-level evidence varies significantly. Move This World has a CASEL 'Promising' designation based on one quasi-experimental study. Be The Buffalo has no published evaluation.
Research also shows:
- Move This World's quasi-experimental study included 3,531 K-3 students in Title I schools across the US Midwest.
- DESSA assessment (now bundled with Move This World) has a separate, more established evidence base as an assessment tool.
- Implementation quality and dosage fidelity matter substantially. A curriculum teachers actually use consistently outperforms one with stronger evidence that sits unused.
Follow-up meta-analyses since 2011 have generally supported Durlak's findings, with specific effect sizes and mediating factors continuing to be studied.
This article compares two specific K-5 SEL programs. Be The Buffalo publishes this article and is transparent about that relationship throughout.
Want to see how Be The Buffalo works?
Try the first four weeks free. No student accounts, no devices, no prep. Open and teach.
Related Resources
CharacterStrong vs Be The Buffalo
A head-to-head comparison for K-5 SEL
Second Step vs Be The Buffalo
A head-to-head comparison for K-5 SEL
CharacterStrong Alternatives (2026)
Comparing K-5 SEL and character education programs
Best SEL Curriculum for Elementary (2026)
A practical guide to choosing SEL curriculum