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 * __ Building a Safe and Respectful Classroom __**

Here are some ideas about how to set up a safe and respectful classroom and how to build community:


 * __From Chaos to Community:__**


 * Grade Level:** 4th-6th grade

1. At the beginning of the year, ask students to brainstorm the worst possible classroom they could imagine. What would it look like? Sound and feel like?

2. Next do the same thing for the best possible classroom they could imagine.

3. Write up the qualities on a piece of paper and sign in make it a “contract”. Then ask each student if they would like to sign in. Eventually you could frame it and hang it up in the class.

4. Brainstorm another list of what behaviors would hurt or help maintain a safe classroom. Categorize items as either hurtful or helpful.

5. From this brainstorm list, have students create a classroom mission statement and sign it. And then have them create posters with these messages to hang around the classroom.

6. To reinforce helpful qualities, the teacher can use the phrase, “thank you for playing above the line”, and if a child is exhibiting a harmful quality the teacher can remind them by saying, “You are playing below the line”.

Lisa Anderson Hull Elementary School Livonia, Mich.
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 * __Building our Classroom Community:__**

** Grade Level: ** 3rd-4th grade

On the first day of school, it is important to make students feel like they are part of a classroom community. On their desks when they arrive, they find a plastic zipper bag containing several items and an index card with the significance of each of the items. The items usually include: .   Though many of the students may ask if they can take the bags home, you should encourage them to keep them in their desks until the end of school. This way, they are reminded of the values and principles they share every time they look into their desks. You will be pleasantly surprised, and quite pleased, in June when most of the kids pull out their bags to take home.
 * A box of multi-colored crayons **, because it doesn't matter what we look like, we are part of a set;
 * An eraser **, because it is okay to make mistakes in our classroom;
 * A gold star **, because everyone in our classroom is a star;
 * A small kaleidoscope **, because there are many different ways to see a problem and find a solution;
 * A piece of wrapped candy **, to remind us to keep our words sweet when we speak to and about our classmates and;
 * A glue stick **, because as a class we need to stick together and stick up for one another.

If you want to spark discussion, you could hold onto the index cards, and ask the students to share what they think the significance of each item is. Their ideas might spark some more ideas for you!

Lorrie Soria
 * Created by: **

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 * __Building Community Day by Day:__**


 * Grade Level:** Any

Morning Meetings help students and teachers connect and start the day on a positive note. It's the start of the school day at Kensington Avenue School in Springfield, Mass. In a 1st-grade special-needs inclusion class, everyone partners up and exuberantly sings: "Hello, neighbor, what do you say, it's gonna be a wonderful day." They switch partners and continue singing until everyone in the class has been greeted. Down the hall, a 5th-grade class has decided to greet each other in Spanish, accompanied by high-fives. Before they begin, the teacher asks, "What do we need to remember as we do this greeting?" The students respond: "We need to speak each other's names clearly." "We need to do a soft high-five instead of a slap." "We need to make eye contact." "OK!" the teacher says. "Who wants to begin?" Welcome to Morning Meeting, a 15- to 30-minute gathering where teachers and students welcome each other, share news, have fun and prepare for the day ahead. Over time, this daily routine can help transform a group of individuals into a caring community of learners. Morning Meeting is part of the //Responsive Classroom®// approach to teaching, which helps teachers create environments where both social and academic learning thrive. Each meeting consists of four components: The routines of Morning Meeting can have a powerful impact on classroom life. The sense of community and the habits of respectful interaction inform every conversation, every academic lesson, every conflict or hard moment throughout the day. As Kensington teacher Tina Valentine notes, the social skills children learn during Morning Meeting — caring, empathy, self-control, respectful communication — aren't just important classroom skills, they're also important life skills. ** Created by: ** Lynn Bechtel Northeast Foundation for Children Greenfield, Mass.
 * Greeting: ** Students greet each other by name. There are many greeting activities, including handshaking, singing, clapping and greeting in different languages.
 * Sharing: ** Students share information about important events in their lives. Listeners offer empathic comments or ask clarifying questions.
 * Group activity: ** All participate in a brief, lively activity fostering group cohesion — reciting a poem, dancing, playing a word game or singing.
 * News and announcements: ** Children read a news and announcements chart written by their teacher. The chart often includes an activity that builds classroom community and reinforces academic skills.

// To learn more about Morning Meeting or the // Responsive Classroom® //approach to teaching, visit// www.responsiveclassroom.org //or call// //(800) 360-6332//  []