UNIT 1: Community Building

f Creates relationships and trust through ice breakers, sharing, and storytelling

f Establishes a foundation for safety, positivity, and support

f Fosters social engagement and communication

f Ensures that all students are seen and heard

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LESSON 1: Classroom Agreements
Lesson Overview:
Activities in this Lesson: About These Activities:
Opening Question Builds intimacy through sharing
stories about students’ names.
Tiny Teach Helps students value their
knowledge and appreciate a
positive learning environment.
Group Agreements Facilitates a democratic structure
for creating classroom norms.
Are You Like This or Like That? Invites students to share
something a little more personal
about who they are.

SEL Standards: Relationship Skills / Self-Awareness

SEL Objectives: Communication / Recognizing Personal Strengths

ACTIVITY 1: Opening Question

Time: 10–15 mins

Ask: “What is the story behind your name?”

a. Students can share who they are named after.
b. Students can share a story about how their parents came up
with their name.

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 c. Students can share whether their name has personal meaning
to them.
d. If students don’t know a story behind their name, they can share
the way a parent says their name when they are mad at them.

ACTIVITY 2: Tiny Teach

Time: 15 mins

Instructions: 1. Introduce the game “Tiny Teach.”

2. Students will have two minutes to teach someone else in the class
something that is easy to learn.

3. Give an example of teaching something that would be easy to

learn, such as:
a. Teach a few words in another language (but not the entire
language), or
b. Teach a dance move (but not an entire choreography), or

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 c. Teach a recipe (but not a whole cookbook), or
d. Teach a strategy for a video game (but not all of them).

4. Make sure everyone has something to teach. If a student seems

stuck, ask them to teach something related to what they like to
do. If they still don’t know, ask them to teach a technique they use
for getting something they want from a parent.
5. Have students pair up, introduce themselves, and give them two
minutes each to teach something.
6. Repeat one or more times with a new student.

Re!ections: • What was it like to teach someone else?

• What did you learn about teaching?

Teacher Note: This game can be used at the beginning of the year before discussing
classroom norms.

ACTIVITY 3: Group Agreements

Time: 10–15 mins

Instructions: 1. Ask, “What made “Tiny Teach” a positive learning experience?”

2. Ask, “What agreements can we make so that everyone can have
a positive learning experience in the class all year?”
3. Write these agreements on a sheet of chart paper or on a
white board.
4. Ask, “Which agreements can be consolidated?” Where possible,
consolidate agreements.
5. Ask students to give a thumbs up or thumbs down for each
agreement.

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 6. If any student gives a thumbs down, ask them to explain their
reasoning and suggest what works better for them.

7. Facilitate a discussion until a consensus for a complete list of

agreements is reached.
8. Write the new set of agreements on chart paper.
9. Have every student sign it.

Re!ection: Which agreement is the most important to you and why?

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 ACTIVITY 4: Are You Like This or Like That?
Time: 10–15 mins

Instructions: 1. Divide the class into groups of 4–5 students.

2. Pose the question and have each member of the group answer and
explain their choice.
Example Questions:
a. Are you more like the sun or the moon?
b. Are you more like a highway or side street?
c. Are you more like a tree or !ower?
d. Are you more like a river or ocean?
e. Are you more like breakfast or dinner?

Re!ection: Did the group maintain the classroom agreements in this activity?

Homework: Notice how the classroom agreements affect the learning environment
of the class.

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LESSON 2: Getting To Know Each Other
Lesson Overview:
Activities in this Lesson: About These Activities:
Opening Question Asks whether you would
prefer going backward or
forward in time.
Move Your Butt If… Combines relationship building
with musical chairs.
Who Wrote That Creates suspense and mystery
while challenging students to
notice each other.
If I Were A Uses a creative metaphor to
express who we are.

SEL Standards: Relationship Skills / Self-Awareness

SEL Objectives: Social Engagement / Self-Perception

ACTIVITY 1: Opening Question

Time: 5 mins

Ask: “If you could travel backward or forward in time, when and where
would you want to go?”

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 ACTIVITY 2: Move Your Butt If...
Time: 10–15 mins

Instructions: 1. Have just enough seats in a circle for everyone except one
volunteer, who will stand in the middle.
2. The volunteer says, “Move your butt if…” and states something
physical like, “You are wearing blue.”

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 3. Any sitting student wearing blue must get up and "nd another seat
anywhere within the circle, except the seat to their immediate left
or right. The initial volunteer also needs to race to claim a seat.
4. Tell students to move quickly, but also with safety in mind.
5. The student who is left standing after all the seats were claimed
announces the next statement: “Move your butt if…”
6. After a few rounds of physical criteria, introduce statements of…
a. Preferences such as, “Move your butt if you like ice cream.” or
b. Experiences such as “Move your butt if you have been on a
roller coaster.”

Variations: • You can play this game without competition by changing the
instruction to “Stand up if…”
• You can have the person in the middle give the prompt, “Never
have I ever…”

Re!ections: • What was it like to share a commonality with someone else?

• What was it like to be different from the group?

ACTIVITY 3: Who Wrote That?

Time: 15–20 mins

Supplies: Index cards

Instructions: 1. Give out an index card to each student.

2. Ask students to write an unusual experience, talent, or fact about
themselves that they don’t mind sharing.
3. Collect the index cards, mix them up, and give them back out so
that everyone has a new card.
4. Ask students to question each other to "nd the original author.

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 5. When a student "nds the original author, the author signs the card
and gives it to the teacher.

6. Post all of the index cards on a bulletin board in the classroom.

Re!ections: • What was something interesting that you enjoyed sharing about
yourself?
• What was something interesting you learned about other
members of the class?

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 ACTIVITY 4: If I Were A...
Time: 5–10 mins

Instructions: 1. Divide the class into groups of 4–6 students.

2. Give students the prompt one at a time. Ask students to answer
it and explain why.
a. If I were a type of weather, I would be _______________ .
b. If I were a kitchen appliance, I would be a _______________ .
c. If I were an item in the closet, I would be a _______________ .
d. If I were a tropical animal, I would be a _______________ .
e. If I were a famous building, I would be the _______________ .

Variation: Play as a class.

Re!ections: • What were you able to share about yourself through the questions?
• Did anyone’s answer surprise you?

Homework: Consider asking a follow up question to anything you’ve learned about

another student.

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LESSON 3: Learning About Who We Are
Lesson Overview:
Activities in this Lesson: About These Activities:
Opening Question Asks about your birth order in
your family.
Human Treasure Hunt Helps students get to know
each other.
Tracing Who We Are Uses an outline of our bodies as a
way to share experiences.
Web of Stories Increases the level of intimacy
through storytelling.

SEL Standards: Relationship Skills

SEL Objectives: Social Engagement / Relationship Building

ACTIVITY 1: Opening Question

Time: 5 mins

Ask: “How many siblings do you have or are you an only child?”

ACTIVITY 2: Human Treasure Hunt

Time: 10–15 min

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Instructions: 1. Photocopy and distribute the Human Scavenger Hunt Worksheet.
A full size version of this worksheet is available in the appendix.

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 2. Tell students that they will have 5 minutes to "nd someone who
matches the descriptions in the boxes.
3. Once they "nd someone who matches the description, they ask
that student to sign their name in the box.
4. One student can only sign one box on the worksheet.

5. The goal is to have as many signatures as possible on the worksheet

before time runs out.

Variations: • Have multiple students sign their names in each box using their
initials.
• Declare that the winner is anyone who has "ve boxes signed
in a row.
• Have students create the content of the scavenger hunt based on
what they want to know about other students. Everyone can have
their own scavenger map, or the class can create one together.

Re!ections: • What did you learn about your classmates?

• What was it like to compete to get to know each other?

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