Time
1 or 2 periods
Level
Primary / Junior / Intermediate
Material
Paper, pencils, sentence strips, chart paper, markers, tape
Purpose
To establish norms as a group and to identify what matters to students as a group/classroom
Think:
- Independently, students make a list of classroom expectations (e.g., trying new things, attentive listening, keeping the room clean, etc.).
Pair:
- In pairs, each student shares their list and identifies ideas they find important.
- The pair selects their top four or five expectations and joins another pair.
- In small groups, repeat the process.
- The small groups select their top four or five expectations and write these clearly on sentence strips.
Share:
- Groups present their sentence strips.
- As a class, students select the top five or six most important norms.
- The selected norms are written on chart paper, so they are visible for everyone.
- To be done at the beginning of the school year or the start of a new group project.
- Ask students what classroom norms are important to them by using Wordle.
Establishing explicit classroom norms of inclusion, respect for diversity, compassion, and collaboration will help create a classroom with a positive and safe emotional climate, in which students can effectively engage in learning (Brackett, Reyes, Rivers, Elbertson, & Salovey, 2011; Rivers, Brackett, Reyes, Elbertson, & Salovey, 2013).
Brackett, M. A., Reyes, M. R., Rivers, S. E., Elbertson, N. A., & Salovey, P. (2011). Classroom emotional climate, teacher affiliation, student conduct. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 46(1), 27-36.
Rivers, S. E., Brackett, M. A., Reyes, M. R., Elbertson, N. A., & Salovey, P. (2013). Improving the Social and Emotional Climate of Classrooms: A Clustered Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the RULER Approach. Prevention Science, 14(1), 77-87. doi:10.1007/s11121-012-0305-2
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