We all know bullying is a big problem in schools across the globe. Each year I like to host an anti bullying event. I set up a table with anti bullying pledges and during lunch, encourage students to come and sign them. I collect all the pledges and place them all over school to remind students of their promise. Could be great for the beginning of the school year or during anti bullying week. Great way to build community! Resource comes in color and black/white version. A HUGE thank you to the following content creators for making my resource possible: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Rainbow-Sprinkle-Studio-Sasha-Mitten https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Charlotte-Hollinger https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Bunny-On-A-Cloud https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kaitlynn-Albani
Build classroom community by incorporating these easy ICE BREAKERS. UPDATED - to include blank templates, black & white versions AND a directions & norms page! Students get up and MOVE around the room to find WHO in their class fits the description in each box. This product includes 5 templates for a Find Someone Who activity that will help YOU get to know your students AND help your students get to know each other! The FIVE topics include: 1. Talents & Skills 2. Learning Styles 3. Home & Community 4. Hobbies & Interests 5. Learning Traits PLUS - - extend their learning and build GROUP COLLABORATION skills by completing the GROUP INTERVIEW part of this product. In small groups, students will get to know their group members better by seeing where THEY FIT in the Find Someone Who grid you used. JOIN IN ON THE FUN - - if you add yourself to the mix, you BUILD POSITIVE STUDENT/TEACHER relationships and demonstrate the importance of BUILDING COMMUNITY! What's included? PDF: 5 Find Someone Who pages with varying topics, colors, and imagery. Directions: Instructions & Norms for the Find Someone Who activity and instructions for the Group Interview extension activity. Extension: A Group Interview activity that provides a recap for the Find Someone who and lets students DIG DEEPER with their group members. Black & White: all pages are included in black and white making this an easy, low cost printable too! Blank Template: two blank templates of the Find Someone Who, a blank directions & norms page. Make the resource fit YOUR CLASSROOM best!
This is a great activity that teaches how to build classroom community and mindfulness in the classroom. It's perfect for a variety of ages.
One of the best things to do on the first day of school is plan cooperative learning activities where students can get to know one another.
STEM Bins® Teambuilders for K-5th Grade are a wonderful way to build your classroom community and allow students to practice and reflect on essential character skills. They are ideal for use at the beginning of the school year as you are introducing STEM Bins to your class and as needed for team building throughout the year. 12 Challenges are provided for you to set up in stations, and you may choose how many stations you’d like your students to complete. Each challenge is designed to be used with your existing classroom set of STEM Bins®, along with a few other basic classroom materials. There is a tabletop tent for each station with the challenge instructions on one side and character emphasis on the other side. The character cards may be displayed in your classroom after the challenges are complete. Students need to be placed in groups of 2-3 and given at least 15-20 minutes per station to meet the challenge. Students each need a copy of the student booklet with cover, checklist, and challenge pages to bring with them to each station. EDITABLE PowerPoint pages are provided in a separate file for you to customize your own challenge checklists. Each student page provides an opportunity for students to reflect on how they showed the character emphasis for the challenge. Final reflection pages are also provided. Includes the following materials and challenges in LOWER GRADE AND UPPER GRADE VERSIONS: Page 3: How to Use Page 4: Supplies Checklist Pages 5-6: Photos of Possible Products Pages 7-8: Station Number Tents Pages 9-10: Student Booklet Cover and Checklist Pages 11-12: Take Flight (OPTIMISM) Pages 13-14: Build a Bridge (PERSEVERANCE) Pages 15-16: Goal Getter (SPORTSMANSHIP) Pages 17-18: Mirror Mirror (CREATIVITY) Pages 19-20: Tricky Tower (SELF-DISCIPLINE) Pages 21-22: Chain Reaction (PATIENCE) Pages 23-24: Safe Shelter (EMPATHY) Pages 25-26: Safety Net (ENCOURAGEMENT) Pages 27-28: Maze Mania (IMPROVEMENT) Pages 29-30: Parking Place (EFFORT) Pages 31-32: Rock and Roll (COOPERATION) Pages 33-34: Life Boat (FLEXIBILITY) Page 35: Teambuilder Reflections Pages 36-47: Optional Character Awards Page 48: Credits
Virtual icebreakers are perfect for getting students introduced to one another. They help encourage students to get to know one another better.
Use these six back to school activities packet to get to know your students and support them to get to know each other.
How has your summer vacation been going? Mine has been both relaxing and busy at the same time. I have been working like a busy bee planning for my mid-August nuptials! If you follow me on Instagram, then you’re definitely up to date on all things wedding! I’ve also been making more of an effort...
From how digital assignments are turned in to what students should do if they're confused, here are 50 common classroom procedures.
How do I build classroom community? Try these community building picture books and free lesson ideas and activities to build classroom community in upper elementary classrooms.
This post originally appeared on the blog Mom2punkerdoo. I always love it when I can find a fantastic book that ties to exactly what I want to teach! The picture book, The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi i
As you start another school year, I’m sure you have a million and one things planned to do with your students. One thing you should definitely take the time to do is set goals with your classroom. They really help set a purpose for ALL of your students and help with building classroom community.
Cooperative learning teaching tips, strategies, freebies, and resources from Laura Candler
Creating a positive classroom culture is the first thing every classroom teacher should do the first week of school. But it shouldn't stop there. You should continue to work on class culture the entire school year. We are hear to offer some tips, advice, and activities for you to use in your classroom to build on what you started the first month of school. Interest Inventory If you have not yet given an interest inventory to get to know your students you should. We have a simple one that we have created that you can download here for free. It contains thirteen questions that will help you to know your students better. You may be surprised at some of the answers! Use the surveys throughout the year by incorporating students' interests. Your students will be excited to see that you are interested in what they like. Cooperative Challenges Another way to build a positive classroom culture is through cooperative activities. One of our students' favorites is the Marshmallow Tower Trial. In this activity, students are given a box of toothpicks, 5 large marshmallows and a few handfuls of small marshmallows. Their task is to cooperatively build the tallest tower that they can in 10 minutes. They can not use anything except the materials provided. This is a great team-building activity that will show you how your students work together. We did this the first week of school and were pleased with how well the groups worked together. Of course, at the end, we gave them some marshmallows to eat too which probably helped. We also do a "Save Fred" activity. Students come into the classroom with a situation in their group. Fred the gummy worm is stuck on top of his boat (clear plastic cup) and he has to get his life preserver (lifesaver) from under his boat with only the use of paper clips! Watch students use the scientific method as they try to solve the problem. Click here for a blog post to read more about it. Whole Group Activity After the first few weeks of school, the "honeymoon" period may be over and some students may need a reminder on what it means to be kind and respectful to each other. We have created a toothpaste activity that is sure to hit home with your students. Pull out a brand new tube of toothpaste and show your students. Tell them that you have a challenge for them. Tell the students that you want to see if they can squeeze all of the toothpaste out onto a piece of construction paper in one minute. You will have tons of hands shoot up for volunteers. Take one volunteer, set a timer, and let the student squirt it all out. You will have students cheering as the toothpaste exits onto the construction paper. When done, write the time on the board. Then pick two more volunteers, but don't tell them what it's for. When you have two volunteers, hand them each a toothpick. Tell them that their job is to put every last bit of toothpaste back into the tube. Watch as they try and try but find it impossible to do it. This is where the true learning takes place. Discuss with the class how saying something mean or hurtful is like squeezing out toothpaste-easy. But the damage left on the person who was the target will never be complete again. Those unkind words will never be fully replaced. This is a powerful lesson. If you would like step by step directions for this, you can find it here. Be Prompt When issues arise, address the problems right away. We have found that contacting parents that first month of school can make all the difference. If behaviors are ignored, they will just continue to surface and grow throughout the school year. If you want to have a positive classroom culture, you cannot let a few students' behaviors ruin that for the rest of the class. Involving the parents is key to letting those students know that they need to fix their behavior. Culturally Responsive Teaching In order to have a culture of respect, you must value diversity in your classroom. We are not only taking about racial, physical and cultural differences, but learning styles as well. It is crucial that your teaching style incorporates a wide variety of methods to reach all of your learners. We have created 25 culturally responsive teaching activity cards that will engage your students in many different ways. We use these all the time and students respond well to the wide variety of learning methods. You can find them here. You are the key to continuing a positive culture in your classroom. Make sure to stop and evaluate your current atmosphere in your classroom and use some of the above tips, advice, or activities to help make it an environment that students can thrive and excel in.
The beginning of the school year is the perfect time to establish a sense of community within your classroom and school. Strong communities have members who feel safe to share and contribute, who trust one another, and who feel understood and valued as individuals. One way to begin establishing a sense of community within your classroom is by incorporating group activities (icebreakers, energizers, and team builders) into your Back to School plans. Goals of community building activities: Take students out of their comfort zone. Encourage collaboration and teamwork. Develop stronger relationships and trust among the group. Improve communication. Participate in new experiences and challenges. The 22 activities suggested in this resource are designed to help learners become more comfortable with one another while encouraging participation and trust among the group. All of the activities in this resource have been tried and tested in my own classroom with great success. Whether you choose to use them all, or only a select few, I hope they bring a positive community spirit to your classroom, just as they have to mine.
One of the best things to do on the first day of school is plan cooperative learning activities where students can get to know one another.
No prep community-building activities for the beginning of the school year! Use these at your small group table or group students together to play them. Included in this pack: All About Me Board Game (color and black and white included) and a Roll & Chat Activity with 6 different sets.
The first week of school generally consists of getting to know one another, in addition to discussion and practice of classroom procedures and routines. We also got our creative juices flowing by creating summer reflection writing pieces, squiggle stories, and "All About Me" mini-posters. Students are getting to know one another and me, and we are learning to work together to build a successful and positive classroom environment. On Wednesday, I wrote out six questions, all having to do with how to make our classroom and ourselves function to the highest level, on six pieces of chart paper. Students, in groups of three, spent two minutes at each chart, collaborating and responding to each question on a sticky note. After all groups visited each chart paper station, I hung all of the charts up and we discussed each answer and noticed some very interesting trends. Here's the finished product, which you can click on to enlarge: Inspired by Life in 4B To tie into the previous activity, I was inspired by my wonderful teammates, Mrs. Fadden and Ms. Mattox, to develop at class pledge with my students. We reviewed our responses to the above questions, and then we put all of the ideas together to form a cohesive paragraph that we have all agreed will help us to remember why we are here at school and what our common goal is. Below is the rough draft of our class pledge (which I will type up, make pretty, and have all of my students sign): Since we were able to develop a class goal (to achieve success in third grade), I also had each student determine an individual goal after reading the story Matthew's Dream by Leo Lionni. I displayed our "Hopes and Dreams" for third grade near the classroom door, so that we can refer to, and revisit, them throughout the year. Lots of students are interested in learning how to sharpen their cursive skills, multiplication and division skills. I was very impressed by the number of students ready to take on our 40 book challenge! More on that later! Here's our class display of our hopes and dreams for third grade: Lastly, I read a book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? The premise is that everyone carries an invisible bucket everywhere they go. When your bucket is "filled" you feel happy.When your bucket is "empty" you feel sad or upset. People can fill buckets by lending a helping hand, smiling, being kind, including others in games, and more. People can empty buckets by teasing, being ungrateful, acting disrespectfully, and more. I encourage my students to recognize the actions of bucket-fillers by writing them quick note and sticking it in their bucket display. This helps make everyone feel good. When we feel good, we want others to feel good. Therefore, kindess is passed from person to person. This is our bucket-filling display, complete with ways we can fill buckets and ways we can empty buckets: I look forward to more of these types of meaningful activities that promote teamwork, kindness, and achievement with your child!
Hey everyone!! I am just so excited to share with you a secret I have been keeping. A few amazing ladies and I are bringing you a new monthly series called… BOOKS {BLOGGERS} LOVE!! As teachers you know we ALL love books! These fabulous bloggers will be bringing you our favorite read alouds each month!!! […]
I really dislike icebreakers. They make me cringe. When I became a teacher, I swore I would spare my students the torture of icebreakers. That being said, I also realize how important it is to buil…
A Peek Inside My 5th Grade Classroom
All students want to feel part of their classroom community. Here are four activities to help them feel welcomed and comfortable.
Today I'm sharing one of my favourite tasks for building community in the classroom. Students are able to share an important aspect of themselves (the story of their name) with the class and with me, their teacher. Through this task we are also working on important skills, like reading comprehension, writing, and reflection. Day 1 To begin, I asked my students to write any name they wish they had on a sticky note. They then placed it in a mason jar. I read my class the story "The Name Jar" by Yansook Choi. We stopped at several points in the story to predict, make connections, infer, and ask questions. At one point, we paused in the story so that students could journal about the name they wrote down on the sticky note earlier: - Did they choose their own name? Or another? - Why? - If you chose another name, where did you hear that name before? Day 2 At the end of Day 1, students were given homework. (Stick around to the bottom of this post for a chance to get your own copy of this sheet.) I make it very clear, that while names all have meanings, your family may not have chosen your name for that reason. They might not know the meaning, and you can choose to look it up with your family if you wish. I also focus a lot on nicknames and your own feelings about your name. While I've never taught a student in foster care, or one who was adopted, I do think it's important to mention that this could be a touchy task in those situations, so be sure to know your students first, and modify as needed. Students use the homework task, and the journal write from the previous day, to write "The Story of their Name". Some possible options to include are: - who you are named after - the meaning of your name - a name you'd rather have - your feelings toward your name - nicknames you may have - the person (or people) who chose your name - how your name was chosen This piece of writing is then self, peer, and teacher edited, and a "good" copy is made. Day 3 I found this excellent step-by-step self-portrait from "Art Projects for Kids". I modified the task so that instead of drawing the left or right side of their face, they would draw the top half. Students find that folding their page into quadrants as she suggests is very helpful. Under the document camera I demonstrate each step, and students copy, adapting to their own facial features. Each student gets a mirror to look in to help them personalize. The final pieces are put on a bulletin board for display. Students also coloured in a bubble letter version of their names to complete the display. (I used the font KG Red Hands Outline for this.) Day 4 Once we've completed the task, the last job is to reflect on our work. I pulled some elements from our Arts Education curriculum (very relevant regardless of where you teach) for students to self-assess on. I've used the proficiency scale language our school has moved to for all reporting. A few students found it helpful to complete their reflection while looking at the finished product on their bulletin board, but most didn't need this. Want a copy of both my homework and reflection pages? Follow the image or button below to grab your copy. Take Me to the Free Download Pin this post.
How do you build a sense of community in your room? How about: 1. Let your students write your a class constitution. Here's a great printable you can use: 2. Help your students get to know each other with buddy interviews. Pair your students with a buddy. Each student will interview his/her buddy. You can use the form below. Buddies will share the results of the interview with the class. While your students are listening to reports, have them fill out the venn diagram. 3. Classroom themes are fun, too. Books such as Curious George or Arthur are great themes for a classroom. There are thematic packs you can purchase at TPT. Here's one Dr. Seuss fans should check out: Crystal @ Kreative in Kinder made a Seusstastic pack. Click to go to her TPT store. Would you like a little "peace" in your classroom this year? Mel D. @ Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations has a groovy packet you should check out! Click to go to her TPT store. Michelle @ No Monkey Business has several back to school thematic packets. Themes include: monkey, frog, bees, ocean, giraffe, owl, and mouse. 4. One of my followers from the blog, Every New Beginning, asked for suggestions for building community when you are departmentalized. Teaching 7 sections in one day presents a big challenge. Here are a few of my suggestion. If you have some other ideas, leave a comment below. How about giving each of the 7 classes a name, with the names having an overall theme. For example if your theme is cartoons, one class could be the Jetsons, another the Peanuts Gang, another class the Looney Tunes, etc. Older students might think cartoons are too childish, so use a theme such as sports teams. One class could be the Spurs, another class the Lakers, etc. This will help each class develop a class identity. You could give class points for things such as 5 points if 90% of the class has their homework, 3 points if 80-89% of the class has their homework, etc. You could also arrange desks into teams. It's easier for students to get to know 3 or 4 students on a team that an entire class at one time. Give 2 points if everyone on a team has their needed supplies and one point if all but one person has their supplies. To lessen paperwork hassles, assign each class a color. Example: the Jetson class is the blue class. Students in the Jetson class have blue homework/classwork folders. When they turn in their assignments, captains highlight names on the assignments with a blue highlighter. This will make it easier for you sort paperwork by sections of students plus ensure that everyone has their name on their paper. You will need one highlighter per team. Have captains of your teams highlight the names on class work/homework and then turn in the work to you. Clip the team's paperwork together at the top of the page. After collecting all of the teams' work, put a clip/binder clip on the side of the paper to clip all of the teams' work together. Grade each teams' work, clip teams' work back together, and give graded team work back to captain to hand out to his/her team. I hope you find these suggestions helpful. How do you build community in your classroom?
Enjoy 6 games to build community and promote team work in the classroom! The games are low or no prep, many with no supplies needed and some using only one or two that you can probably find easily at school (hula hoops, carpet squares, balloons/balls). I like the full size version, but you could...
Summary: This quick and low prep activity is perfect to use at the beginning of the school year to break the ice! It gets students moving about the room to reenergize. Students practice critical thinking by answering the provided questions and giving a reason for their answers. Students answer the questions by moving to the corresponding corners of the room. Then, students share their answers with each other. Classroom community is built by finding things in common with classmates! Students also practice their critical thinking, listening, and speaking skills. Set up: label your corners 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then, display the slides. Read the questions out loud, give students time to think about their answer, then signal for students to move to the corner of the room labeled with the matching letter. Contents: 10 questions with 4 answer options 10 sentence frames for sharing answers Social Distancing Ideas: Students can hold up a whiteboard with their answers and wait for the teacher to ask them to show their answers. Students can use sign language ( for a, b, c, and d) to show their answers. Students can use fingers (1, 2, 3, 4) to show their anwers. Use exercises instead of the letters, for example, a = jumping jacks, b = push ups, c = sit ups, and d = squats. Copy and paste the slides to a google jamboard and have students move their 'pieces' to the four corners. Virtual Learning Options for Video Meetings: Copy and paste the slides to a google jamboard and have students move their 'pieces' to the four corners. Call on students to share their answers. Use sign language for students to share their answers. Use breakout rooms so students can share why they chose their answers. IF YOU LIKE THIS CHECK OUT THESE RESOURCES! Click here for Four Corners Class Builder and Brain Break - Set 1 Click here for a back to school clipart freebie!
One of our most challenging tasks as teachers is to build classroom community. This post shares a huge list of ideas to help you do just that!
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
I dropped the boring syllabus and classroom policy review years ago. Let's admit it: kids block out half of the blah, blah, blah on day one. Your syllabus is best learned through doing. Sprinkle the important stuff throughout the first weeks. Introduce homework policies when kids do homework for the first time, and they'll better remember it anyway. Instead of syllabus and policy review, I spend the first days of school engaging my students in building THEIR classroom community. I am a part of
Who's already prepping for their back to school week?!? One of my very favorite things about the first few weeks of school is getting to know my students,....and my students getting to know one anothe
These discussion questions for kids are perfect for morning meeting or ice breakers to help build community in your classroom. Get the free printable!
In these early weeks of school, it's so important to enforce the idea of teamwork among your classroom. I feel that if you have a classroom that functions as a community, everything runs more smoothly. My teacher and I discussed the importance of team-building exercises among the students this week. She told me that she loves to incorporate them into the classroom and that they usually produce wonderful results! I was more than excited to see it with my own eyes. For our team-building exercise, we "saved Sam". ( idea found on Pinterest) You will need: Gummy worms (Sam) Life-saver Gummies (Life vests) Clear plastic cup (Boat) Cocktail stirrers (Oar) Paper clips Poor Sam is a worm that has found himself in a rather unfortunate situation. His boat has capsized and his life jacket is trapper underneath it! Poor Sam can't swim! His oar, his only means of movement, has fallen into the rocky waters as well! He now sits perched on top of his capsized boat and he needs our help! It is the students job to SAVE SAM! they will be responsible for flipping Sam's boat over and getting him back inside. He needs his life jacket ON him this time, and his oar laying horizontally across the top of his boat. Here's the catch: You can't touch Sam with your hands. You may only use the two paperclips supplied. Keep in mind we wouldn't want to hurt poor sam by stabbing him or popping his life jacket by stabbing it! Also, we cant let him touch the water (the floor or desk) because he can't swim! It was so enjoyable to watch the students problem solve! Our little engineers were hard at work. It was interesting to see how they utilized the materials given. Some bent the paperclips into tweezers, while others snapped them in half to create more tools. This fun exercise really got our students excited to work together. I loved seeing their wheels turn as they asked "are you sure this is possible?". I loved seeing the proud looks on their face when they figured it out!
I love this activity, and it's one of my best sellers! This cut and sort activity is great for all ages, and can be done individually or as a group. I typically completed this activity with my second graders after a read aloud at the beginning of the year (such as "Do Unto Otters" by Laurie Keller). It's such a great activity to build classroom community, and even build cut and paste skills! It's a great activity to encourage being a good citizen during Social Studies, also! While I mentioned second grade, I've had other grade levels purchase and use this item also. It's never too early (or too late!!) to review and discuss being a good citizen! :) Simply download and print!
STEM Bins® Teambuilders for K-5th Grade are a wonderful way to build your classroom community and allow students to practice and reflect on essential character skills. They are ideal for use at the beginning of the school year as you are introducing STEM Bins to your class and as needed for team building throughout the year. 12 Challenges are provided for you to set up in stations, and you may choose how many stations you’d like your students to complete. Each challenge is designed to be used with your existing classroom set of STEM Bins®, along with a few other basic classroom materials. There is a tabletop tent for each station with the challenge instructions on one side and character emphasis on the other side. The character cards may be displayed in your classroom after the challenges are complete. Students need to be placed in groups of 2-3 and given at least 15-20 minutes per station to meet the challenge. Students each need a copy of the student booklet with cover, checklist, and challenge pages to bring with them to each station. EDITABLE PowerPoint pages are provided in a separate file for you to customize your own challenge checklists. Each student page provides an opportunity for students to reflect on how they showed the character emphasis for the challenge. Final reflection pages are also provided. Includes the following materials and challenges in LOWER GRADE AND UPPER GRADE VERSIONS: Page 3: How to Use Page 4: Supplies Checklist Pages 5-6: Photos of Possible Products Pages 7-8: Station Number Tents Pages 9-10: Student Booklet Cover and Checklist Pages 11-12: Take Flight (OPTIMISM) Pages 13-14: Build a Bridge (PERSEVERANCE) Pages 15-16: Goal Getter (SPORTSMANSHIP) Pages 17-18: Mirror Mirror (CREATIVITY) Pages 19-20: Tricky Tower (SELF-DISCIPLINE) Pages 21-22: Chain Reaction (PATIENCE) Pages 23-24: Safe Shelter (EMPATHY) Pages 25-26: Safety Net (ENCOURAGEMENT) Pages 27-28: Maze Mania (IMPROVEMENT) Pages 29-30: Parking Place (EFFORT) Pages 31-32: Rock and Roll (COOPERATION) Pages 33-34: Life Boat (FLEXIBILITY) Page 35: Teambuilder Reflections Pages 36-47: Optional Character Awards Page 48: Credits
Middle grades ESL educator Walton Burns shares an epiphany: icebreakers need to give way to community building events, tailored specifically for adolescents.
One of the best things to do on the first day of school is plan cooperative learning activities where students can get to know one another.
It's that time of year! Back to school time (even though I know some of my bloggy friends have been back for a couple of weeks now.) While you may be in a district that wants you to hit the academics hard core from the first day of school and cut out "fluff", there's nothing fluffy about a cohesive classroom. And you can forget good things happening academically when nobody can get along. Do you hear me administrators? I think it's a wise idea to spend some time helping your students learn to live together in a room that gives everybody about one square foot of personal space. So here's a little collection of some fabuloso ideas I found through the wonderful world of blogging. Here are some great ideas to get your new friends talking to each other, working together, and thinking about what a successful classroom looks like. 1. Talk about how to treat each other. Tales from a Tidy Teacher shares a lesson using Finding the Green Stone by Alice Walker. She gives each student a shiny green "stone". They plan how they will keep their stones shiny all year. I think this would be a great anchor lesson to refer to all year long. Here's a post from Mrs. Robinson's Classroom Blog. She has a different question each day to get kids thinking about their role in the classroom. Your actions are who you are. When things were getting cranky in my classroom last year, we worked on this activity. We planned out the words that we would want our principal to use when describing us. Then we planned out the actions that would get us there. 2. Talk about words and what they can do (for good and evil). I love love love this poster. It is from Sweet Blessings who also happens to be the genius behind Technology Rocks. Seriously. I had it printed as an 11x17 on glossy card stock ($1.50 at Office Max). I referred to it all year long the last couple of years. By the second month of school, all I had to do was say, "THINK before you speak" and they knew exactly what had gone wrong. Yes, Mrs. O Knows will convince you that toothpaste and toothpicks will teach kids everything they need to know about words. I tried so hard to find the original source for this one. Please leave a comment if you know where it came from. Cause it's awesome. 3. Have kids work together in a fun way. Who wouldn't want to save Fred? This is a great team work lesson from Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies. This one's from Science Gal. Now tell me that doesn't look fun? And because the best way to learn that the world does not revolve around you, have your kids perform RACKS. Random Acts of Classroom Kindness. Here's an idea from 3rd Grade Thoughts. There are tons more great ideas out there on this, too. Have kids work in teams to plan out some RACKS for each the classroom, other students, and staff, too. And now for a little giggle: Hope you have a great school year!
Did you know that STEM activities are a great way to build classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year? Unfortunately, STEM challenges can tend to be used as a classroom competition where students and groups are competing against each other. While classroom comp
The beginning of the year is usually all about community building and getting to know your students. Even if you are fully virtual this school year, I think this is a great activity to get to know your students a little more! There are 13 pages to this activity! They are both preloaded to seesaw an...
Team-Building in a Student-Led Classroom
It’s the beginning of the year and the perfect timing for some fun professional learning and team-building activities. Why not combine the two together with this FUN Digital Escape Room that covers Professional Learning topics needed to start the school year? Kick-off your school year with the teachers by having them complete this Professional Learning...Read More
This is a great resource for back to school, especially with primary students or struggling readers. The graphics are there to help students determine what each category says. Have students write their name (or initials, stamps, stickers, draw a pic, etc.) in the boxes. Afterwards I have them share ...
Relationship building is key to good teaching. This system will help you quickly get to know students and benefit from those connections all year long.
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
Creative ideas for who you can build collaboration in the classroom - YOUR classroom! Ideas and videos included!
One of the best things to do on the first day of school is plan cooperative learning activities where students can get to know one another.
