ELEMENTARY

Core Course
RESOURCE BOOK

Create safe, joyful and engaging classrooms and schools

© 2019 by Center for Responsive Schools, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Photographs by Jeff Woodward

Responsive Classroom®
Center for Responsive Schools, Inc.
85 Avenue A, P.O. Box 718
Turners Falls, MA 01376-0718

800-360-6332
www.responsiveclassroom.org

This resource book has been created to accompany the Responsive

Classroom Elementary Core Course. It is not intended to be sold and
can be obtained only through participation in the course.
Contents

Responsive Classroom® Interactive Modeling........................................ 50

Elementary Core Course Overview................... 1 Interactive Modeling of a Procedure:
Responding to a Signal............................... 51
The Responsive Classroom Approach..............5
Using Signals to Gain Student Attention..... 52
Core Belief.........................................................5
Interactive Modeling vs. Guided Discovery.. 53
Guiding Principles.............................................6
The Four Domains.............................................7 Guided Discovery.............................................. 54
Teaching Practices............................................8 What Is Guided Discovery?........................... 54
Key Maxims of Child and Script for a Guided Discovery....................... 55
Adolescent Development.............................9
Teacher Leadership Styles.............................. 59
Morning Meeting................................................10 Teacher Leadership Styles: Jigsaw
Goals of Morning Meeting..............................10 Graphic Organizer...................................... 62
Format of Morning Meeting...........................10
Establishing Rules............................................ 63
Four Components of Morning Meeting.........10
Envisioning Hopes and Dreams.................... 63
Greeting............................................................11
Creating the Rules in Grades K–2................. 65
Greeting: Stop-and-Jot Graphic Organizer... 12
Creating the Rules in Grades 3–6................. 69
Sample Greetings........................................... 13
Using Existing Rules.......................................73
Sharing............................................................ 18
Establishing the Rules in Special Area
Sharing: Stop-and-Jot Graphic Organizer... 20 Settings........................................................77
Group Activity................................................. 21 Schoolwide Rules Creation........................... 82
Group Activity: Stop-and-Jot Graphic Rules Created Using the Responsive
Organizer.................................................... 22 Classroom Approach................................. 85
Sample Group Activities................................ 23
Morning Message........................................... 28 Teacher Language............................................. 86

Morning Message: Stop-and-Jot Graphic Reinforcing Language: Naming Strengths....87

Organizer..................................................... 31 Reminding Language: Helping Students
Sample Morning Messages........................... 32 Remember Expectations........................... 90

Introducing Morning Meeting....................... 36 Teacher Language Graphic

Organizer.................................................... 93
Energizers...........................................................37 Reinforcing Language Practice..................... 94
Reminding Language Practice...................... 94
Quiet Time.......................................................... 40
Role-Play............................................................ 95
Closing Circle.................................................... 42
Overview......................................................... 95
Classroom Organization.................................. 43 When to Use Role-Play.................................. 95
Shopping Activity........................................... 43 Typical Situations for Role-Play.................... 96
Goals of Classroom Organization................. 44 Steps in a Role-Play........................................97
Organizing Classrooms for Success............ 45 Role-Play Guidelines...................................... 98
Classroom Organization: Learning Role-Play Video-Viewing Guide..................... 99
Space Map.................................................. 48
Routines and Procedures Brainstorm.......... 49
Student Grouping for Collaborative Appendix A........................................................ 141
Learning............................................................ 100 My Current Teaching Context......................142
Flexibility With Forming Partnerships 3-2-1 Reflection: Day 2..................................143
and Groups............................................... 100
3-2-1 Reflection: Day 3..................................144
Characteristics of Engaging Academics......103 Journal Reflection.........................................145
Engaging Academics Video-Viewing Geometric Shape Reflection........................146
Guide..........................................................104 Plan for Implementation.............................. 147
Academic Choice..........................................105
Character Traits Graphic Organizer 1..........106 Appendix B........................................................149

Character Traits Graphic Organizer 2..........107 Morning Meeting Daily Planning Guide.......150

Some Examples of Academic Choice Morning Meeting Weekly Planning Guide... 151
Lessons......................................................108 Role-Play Planning Guide.............................152
Academic Choice Sample Lesson Plans.....109 Establishing Rules Planning Guide..............154
Interactive Modeling Planning Guide 1........155
Sustaining Student Learning......................... 112
Interactive Modeling Planning Guide 2....... 157
Actively Observing Students....................... 112
Interactive Modeling Planning Guide 3.......159
Reinforcing Expectations............................. 113
Guided Discovery Planning Guide............... 161
Connecting With Families............................. 115
Student Grouping Graphic Organizer 1.......163
Teaching Discipline.......................................... 118 Student Grouping Graphic Organizer 2......164
Teacher Empathy.......................................... 119 Academic Choice Planning Guide 1.............165
Practice Scenarios........................................ 121 Academic Choice Planning Guide 2............ 167
Responding to Misbehavior Overview.........122 Connecting With Families:
Redirecting Language...................................123 Brainstorming Guide................................. 167
Punishment vs. Logical Consequences.......125 Connecting With Families Graphic
Logical Consequences.................................. 127 Organizer...................................................168
Logical Consequences: Note-Taking Connecting With Families: Family Letter
Guide..........................................................128 Graphic Organizer.....................................169
Break It, Fix It................................................129 Energizers: Note-Taking Guide......................171
Loss of Privilege............................................ 131 Interactive Learning Structures:
Note-Taking Guide..................................... 174
Take a Break: Positive Time-Out..................133
Sample Interactive Learning Structures..... 176
Introducing Logical Consequences
to Students................................................136
 Responsive Classroom®
Elementary Core Course Overview
(Lunch and quiet time at noon each day)

Day 1
• Morning Meeting • Classroom Organization
• Component Focus (Greeting) • I nteractive Modeling
• Overview of the Responsive Classroom • Guided Discovery
Approach • Closing Circle
• Introduction to Energizers
• Child Development
• Quiet Time

Day 2
• Morning Meeting • Teacher Language
• Component Focus (Sharing) • Role-Play
• Child Development • Planning Workshop
• Teacher Leadership Styles • Closing Circle
• Envisioning Language, Hopes and
Dreams, and Establishing Rules

Day 3
• Morning Meeting • Sustaining Student Learning
• Component Focus (Group Activity) • Connecting With Families
• Child Development • Planning Workshop
• Student Grouping and Interactive • Closing Circle
Learning Structures
• Academic Choice

Day 4
• Morning Meeting • Quiet Time Debrief
• Component Focus (Morning Message) •R
 esponding to Misbehavior and
• Morning Meeting Planning Logical Consequences
• Child Development • Reflection
• Introduction to Teaching Self-Discipline • Closing Circle
• Teacher Empathy

1
 Notes

2
 App Partners

Twitter Facebook

Pinterest YouTube

3
 Characteristics of a Safe, Joyful, and
Engaging School Environment

4
 The Responsive Classroom Approach
Core Belief
In order to be successful in and out of school, students need to learn a set of social and emotional
competencies—cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control—and a set
of academic competencies—academic mindset, perseverance, learning strategies, and academic
behaviors.

Social & Emotional Competencies Academic Competencies

Cooperation Academic Mindset

Students’ ability to establish new rela- Four self-perceptions influence a
tionships, maintain positive relationships student’s academic mindset:
and friendships, avoid social isolation, 1. I belong in this academic community;
resolve conflicts, accept differences, be
2. my effort improves my performance;
a contributing member of the classroom
and school community, and work produc- 3. I can succeed at this work; and
tively and collaboratively with others. 4. I see the value in this work.

Assertiveness Perseverance
Students’ ability to take initiative, stand Perseverance is a student’s tendency
up for their ideas without hurting or to complete assignments in a timely and
negating others, seek help, succeed at thorough manner and to the best of their
a challenging task, and recognize their ability, despite distractions, obstacles,
individual self as separate from the cir- or level of challenge.
cumstances or conditions they’re in.
Learning Strategies
Responsibility Learning strategies are techniques,
Students’ ability to motivate themselves processes, and tactics a student uses to:
to take action and follow through on ex- 1. learn, think, remember, and recall;
pectations; to define a problem, consider
2. monitor their own comprehension
the consequences, and choose a positive
and growth;
solution.
3. self-correct when they are confused
or have an error in thinking; and
Empathy 4. s
 et and achieve goals and manage
Students’ ability to “see into” (recognize, their time effectively.
understand) another’s state of mind or
emotions and be receptive to new ideas
and perspectives; to appreciate and value Academic Behaviors
differences and diversity in others; to have Academic behaviors are the ways in
concern for others’ welfare, even when it which students conduct themselves
doesn’t benefit or may come at a cost to that sup­port their success in school,
oneself. including such things as regular atten-
dance, arriving ready to work, paying
attention, participating in instructional
Self-Control activities and class discussions, and
Students’ ability to recognize and devoting out-of-school time to study-
regulate their thoughts, emotions, ing and completing assignments and
and behaviors in order to be successful projects.
in the moment and remain on a success-
ful trajectory.
5
 Guiding Principles

1 2
Teaching social and emotional How we teach is as important
skills is as important as as what we teach.
teaching academic content.

3 4
Great cognitive growth occurs How we work together as adults
through social interaction. to create a safe, joyful, and
inclusive school environment is
as important as our individual
contribution or competence.

5 6
What we know and believe Partnering with families—
about our students—individually, knowing them and valuing
culturally, developmentally— their contributions—is as
informs our expectations, important as knowing the
reactions, and attitudes children we teach.
about those students.

6
 The Four Domains
The Responsive Classroom approach creates the conditions for students to be successful by
coupling a strong belief system and practical practices to build the following four domains:

Engaging Academics
Designing and delivering
high-quality, rigorous,
and engaging instruction.

Effective Management
Four Domains Positive Community
Creating a calm, orderly Responsive Classroom Creating a safe, predict-
environment that able, joyful, inclusive
promotes autonomy practices influence classroom where all
and allows students students have a sense
to focus on learning.
four domains that of belonging and
support and sustain significance.

student success.

Developmentally
Responsive Teaching
Responding to students’
individual, cultural, and
developmental learning
needs and strengths.

7
 Teaching Practices
Educators who use the Responsive Classroom approach employ dozens of successful practices.
In fact, there are too many great practices to pack into one course. Practices include strategies,
structures, techniques, and processes that teachers can implement to create an optimal learn-
ing environment in which students can learn and demonstrate academic, social, and emotional
skills.

In this course, participants will experience and learn about some of the core practices of the
Responsive Classroom approach:
• Teacher Language

• Logical Consequences

• Interactive Modeling

• Morning Meeting

• Establishing Rules

• Academic Choice

• Guided Discovery

• Role-Play

• Interactive Learning Structures

• Quiet Time

• Energizers

• Student Grouping

• Closing Circles

aging Academic
Eng s
t
ctive Managemen

Posi

+ =
tive Communit
ffe

y
E

De ll y
Core Belief and Responsive Classroom R e s ve l o p m e n t a i n g
Guiding Principles Teaching Practices ponsive Teach

8
 Key Maxims of Child
and Adolescent Development
(from Yardsticks: Child and Adolescent Development Ages 4–14, 4th ed., by Chip Wood)

1. Stages of growth and development follow a reasonably predictable pattern.

2. Children and adolescents do not proceed through each stage at the same pace.

3. Children and adolescents progress through the various aspects of development

at their own rate.

4. Growth is uneven.

9
 Morning Meeting
Morning Meeting gives students a consistent time and place every day to explore and practice
social skills and to merge social, emotional, and academic learning. Morning Meeting also nur-
tures empathy by offering students an opportunity to practice taking care of others.

During Morning Meeting, everyone gathers in a circle for twenty to thirty minutes at the begin-
ning of the school day and proceeds through four sequential components: greeting, sharing,
group activity, and morning message. Although there is much overlap, each component has its
own purposes and structure.

Goals of Morning Meeting

1. To set a tone for respectful and engaged learning in a climate of trust
2. To create the positive power of community by fulfilling students’ needs to belong, to feel
significant, and to have fun
3. To model and practice social and emotional skills

4. To merge social, emotional, and academic learning

Format of Morning Meeting

• Morning Meeting rules and procedures are posted in the meeting area.
• Students sit in an even circle; the teacher makes sure students practice sitting next to
everyone, not just their friends.
• Students come empty-handed.
• The four components are done in the following order: 1) greeting, 2) sharing, 3) group activity,
and 4) morning message.
• Morning Meeting is relatively short: twenty to thirty minutes, depending on students’ ages.
• A management signal (such as a chime or raised hand) is taught and used to bring quiet and
attention.

Four Components of Morning Meeting

1. Greeting: Students greet each other by name, often including handshaking, singing,
movement, and other activities.
2. Sharing: Students share some news or information about themselves and respond to each
other, articulating their thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a positive way.
3. Group Activity: The whole class does a short, inclusive activity together, reinforcing learning
and building class cohesion through active participation.
4. Morning Message: Students practice academic skills and warm up for the day ahead by
reading and discussing a daily note to the class posted by their teacher.

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 Greeting
Overview
Greeting is the first component of Morning Meeting. Many teachers make sure to do a greeting
even when there isn’t time to do an entire Morning Meeting. The purposes of the greeting com-
ponent are to learn and use everyone’s name and to become friendly caretakers who greet and
welcome everyone in the room.

Greetings can be short and straightforward—a simple handshake and hello—or more complex
(for example, greeting in different languages). But no matter how simple or complicated the
greeting, all students begin the day hearing their name spoken clearly and making friendly
contact with peers.

Key Tips for Implementing Greeting

• Discuss, model, and practice how to greet someone in a friendly, warm, respectful way.

• Teach a variety of age-appropriate greetings, beginning with simple, low-risk greetings.

• When introducing new greetings, build on and reinforce previously mastered greeting skills.

• As the complexity of greetings increases, it’s particularly important to pay attention to the
basics, such as eye contact, a friendly voice, and friendly body language.

• Through your consistent positive attention, communicate your trust that students can use
friendly and appropriate words and body language.

• Make sure that students practice greeting everyone in the class, not just their best friends.

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 Greeting: Stop-and-Jot Graphic Organizer
Goals of Greeting
1. To set a positive tone for the day
2. To provide a sense of recognition and belonging
3. To help students learn and use everyone’s names
4. To let students practice hospitality and friendliness

Video Summary: This video features greetings demonstrated by a fifth grade class in
New York, a second grade class in Virginia, a kindergarten class in Minnesota, and a sixth
grade class in Virginia.
Video-Viewing Guide
• Review goals
• Watch and take notes
• Consider ideas for implementation

Morning Message Ideas

Considerations for Implementation

12
 Sample Greetings
The “Good Morning” Greeting (Grades K–6)
This is the most basic greeting, making it a great one for the beginning of the year. Two students
face each other, make eye contact, smile, and say, “Good morning, ________,” using each other’s
first name.

Some variations to use early in the year:

• With a wave
• With a salute
• With a bow
• With a thumbs-up
• With a peace sign

Greetings That Incorporate the “Good Morning” Greeting

Ball Toss Greeting (Grades K–6)
Each child greets another child, then gently throws, rolls, or bounces a ball to that child, who
returns the greeting (but not the ball). The second child then chooses a new child to greet and
pass the ball to. The greeting continues in this way until each child has been greeted once. The
greeting ends when the ball returns to the starter. If you’re using a soft, small ball, throwing
underhand works best. With a large, bouncy ball, rolling or bouncing the ball works best.

Ball Toss Variations (Grades 3–6)

Here are some variations that make the Ball Toss Greeting more challenging and more effective
for building cooperation among older students.

• Pass the greeting ball around the circle as explained above. Now the ball goes around one
more time silently (with no greeting or talking), repeating the pattern it just made. Students
will enjoy doing it several times this way and competing against the clock.

• Pass the greeting ball as explained above. Then repeat, passing the ball silently in the same
pattern. As the ball goes around, add one or two more balls at even intervals so that there
are several balls going around in the original greeting pattern. Challenge students to see if
they can do it three times without dropping the ball or skipping anyone. You can also add the
element of competition against the clock.

• Once the greeting ball has gone around the first time, have students “undo” the greeting pat-
tern by sending the ball back to the person who greeted them. This can be done with a greet-
ing attached or silently. When students get very good at remembering who greeted them, try
ending your Morning Meeting with a ball toss in the reverse greeting pattern as students wish
each other “Have a good day!” or whatever encouraging words they decide they want to say
that day.

13
Different Languages (Grades 3–6)
The basic greeting, but in different languages, for example:
• Bonjour (French)
• Buon giorno (Italian)
• Shalom (Hebrew)
• Buenos días (Spanish)
• Ohayo (Japanese)
• Guten Morgen (German)
• Dzien dobry (Polish)
• Jambo (Swahili)
• Kalimera (Greek)
• American Sign Language
• Marhaba (Arabic)
• Zao an (Mandarin Chinese)

Handshakes (Grades K–6)

A few weeks into the school year, when students are more comfortable with each other and
with the format of Morning Meeting, you might add the following variations to the basic
“good morning” greeting:
• With a handshake
• With a handshake that students make up
• With a high five
• With a high five and ankle shake
• With a pinky shake
• With a touch on the shoulder
• With an elbow shake

Other Greetings
Marbles Greeting (Grades K–6)
This is a quick greeting. Each student has three marbles (or other small objects). When the
teacher says, “Go,” students mingle, greeting each other by saying, “Good morning, ________.”
Every third person that a student greets gets a marble. When a student has given away all three
original marbles, he or she sits down.

Name Card Greeting (Grades K–6)

Place name cards in the center of the circle. Turn over the top card. The student whose name is
on that card begins the greeting. That student turns over the next card in the stack and greets
that child. That child then turns over the next card, and so on. When all the cards have been used,
the greeting ends with the last child greeting the first child.

14
One-Minute Greeting (Grades K–6)
A great greeting to use when time is limited. Students mingle and say, “Good morning, ________,”
to as many other students as they can in one minute. Emphasize the importance of standing still
and making eye contact when greeting someone, so that the pace doesn’t get too frantic.

Pantomime Greeting (Grades K–6)

The child who begins the greeting pantomimes something about herself (favorite activity, favorite
food, favorite sport). The whole class greets that child by saying, “Hello, ________,” and then mim-
ics the pantomime. This continues around the circle until all have been greeted.

Skip Greeting (Grades 3–6)

In this greeting, everyone stands up. The student who begins the greeting announces the number
of spaces that will be skipped. For example, he says, “Skip four.” He then walks to the fifth person
in the circle, greets her, and takes her place and sits down. The student who was greeted walks to
the fifth person down, greets, and sits down, and so on. Once students sit down they are no longer
available for greeting. The greeting flows around the circle several times until everyone has been
greeted. Before the greeting begins, work with the class to figure out how many spaces to skip
based on the number of people in the circle that day. The challenge is to make sure that every-
one gets greeted.

Snowball Greeting (Grades K–6)

Each student writes their name on a sheet of paper and crumples it up so that it looks like a snow-
ball. Students then toss the crumpled pieces of paper into the center of the circle. Students pick
up a snowball that has landed near them and open the paper. The student who begins the greet-
ing walks over to the student whose name she has and says, “Good morning, ________.” She then
returns to her place in the circle, and the student who was greeted finds the student whose name
is on his snowball and greets that student, and so on until everyone has been greeted.

Variation: After the initial round of greetings, students recrumple the papers that they’re holding
and toss them. Each student picks up a new snowball, reads the name, and then respectfully
watches that classmate for the rest of the day, with a goal of noticing something positive about
them. At the end of the day, the class circles up and each student pays a compliment to the class-
mate they observed.

Songs and Chants

Hello, Neighbor (Grades K–2)
Children form an inner and an outer circle, with the inside circle facing the outer circle. Children
who are facing each other are now partners who greet each other with the following chant. The
inside circle then moves one person to the right so that everyone has a new partner and repeats
the chant. This continues until everyone is back in their original place.

Hello, neighbor, what d’ya say? (Wave to your partner.)

It’s gonna be a wonderful day. (Arms circle over head and then move down to the sides.)
Clap your hands and boogie on down. (Clap hands and wiggle down.)
Give me a bump and turn around (Gently bump hips.)

15
Variation 1: Instead of bumping hips, children can jump (Give me a jump and turn around) or
raise hands high (Then raise your hands and turn around).

Variation 2:
Hey there, [partner’s first name], what d’ya say?

It’s gonna be a dynamite day.

Grab your hands (Partners join hands.)

And circle around. (Partners gently swing each other in a circle.)

Reach real high (Each person raises hands over head.)

And boogie on down. (Wiggle down.)

________ Is Here (Grades K–2)

Children begin this greeting seated in the Morning Meeting circle. The child who starts the greet-
ing stands up, turns to the next child in the circle, and offers a handshake. That child stands up to
receive the handshake. While this is happening, the rest of the group begins to sing the following
to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell,” filling in the name of the child who is being greeted, and
clapping in rhythm:

________ is here, ________ is here,

It’s a great day because ________ is here.

The first two children remain standing while the second child passes the greeting to the third
child in the circle, who also stands, and so on around the circle. The song continues until every-
one is standing. The song ends when it comes back to the first child, who is greeted last. The
greeting then closes with everyone clapping and singing:

We all are here. We all are here.

It’s a great day because we all are here!

One, Two, Three, Four (Grades 3–6)

This greeting can be sung or chanted. When a student’s name is called, she comes into the circle
and does any movement she wants—for example, a bow, curtsy, wave, dance, wiggle, etc. During
the last line of the song, the child moves back to her place in the circle. Another child’s name is
called, and so on around the circle.

One, two, three, four,

Come on, ________, hit the floor.

We’re so glad you’re here today.

Hurray, hurray, hurray!

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Roll Call (Grades 3–6)
This is a call-and-response greeting. Individual students name themselves, then say their nick-
name, and finally choose another designation, such as “student,” “soccer player,” or “friend.”

G(roup): R
 oll call, check the beat, check, check, check the beat.
Roll call, check the beat, check, check, check a-begin.

C(hild): My name is ________.

G: Check!

C: They call me [nickname].

G: Check!

C: I am a [student, soccer player, etc.]. That’s what I am.

G: That’s what [she or he] is.

More Greetings Learned This Week

17
 Sharing
Overview
During sharing, which follows greeting in Morning Meeting, students share news or information
about themselves or a topic related to their studies, and classmates respond. The skills involved
in successful sharing are sophisticated and complex. Students need to:

• Choose appropriate items to share, focus their presentation, and speak in a clear voice.

• Listen carefully and respond appropriately—at times, students might need to formulate
respectful and empathic questions and comments.

Formats for Sharing

• Around-the-circle sharing: Each person says one thing about a specific, teacher-chosen
topic.

• Partner sharing: Two people share with each other, usually on a specified topic. There are a
number of ways to structure partner sharing (for example, teacher-chosen pairs, Concentric
Circles, Maître d’, Mix and Mingle).

• Dialogue sharing: One person briefly shares with the whole group and then responds to
questions and comments.

• Focused topic: The teacher chooses a social or academic topic.

• Open topic: Students choose their own topics.

Early in the year, use highly structured formats such as around-the-circle or partner sharing.
Teach skills gradually and introduce open-topic dialogue sharing last.

Some ideas for sharing topics:

Favorites (food, animal, day of the week, sport, season)

Weekend plans

A treasured memory

Special interests and skills

A language other than English that students speak or want to learn

Family traditions, family members, and pets

Introducing Sharing to Students

• Introduce the idea of sharing and why it’s important.

• Begin with highly structured formats (around-the-circle or partner sharing).

18
• Continuing with structured formats such as around-the-circle and partner sharing, teach,
model, and practice how to do the following, building skills gradually as students are ready:
▸ Speak in a clear voice.
▸ Look at the audience when speaking.
▸ State one main idea.
▸ Stay on topic.
▸ Listen quietly and respectfully while others are speaking.
▸ Raise hand to speak and speak only when called on.
▸ Remember details of what was shared.

• Introduce focused-topic dialogue sharing. Teach, model, and practice how to:
▸ Sign up to share.
▸ State one main idea with supporting details.
▸ Initiate questions and comments (for example, I’m ready for questions and comments).
▸ Ask friendly questions to elicit more information (provide a list of question starters
beginning with who, what, when, where, why, and how).
▸ Make empathetic comments (provide a list of empathetic sentence starters, such as
You sound ______, and feeling words, such as happy, excited, sad, and scared).

• Introduce open-topic dialogue sharing. Teach, model, and practice how to choose appropriate
news to share.

• Provide structure and guidance as needed to help students develop skills and to keep
sharing safe:
▸ Pay attention to the flow of sharing, helping students stay focused and maintaining a
comfortable conversational give-and-take.
▸ Direct the tone and content of sharing to keep it caring and inclusive, and intervene as
needed if tone or content strays off course (for example, if questions are challenging;
comments sound sarcastic or competitive; information shared is violent, boasting, or
overly silly, etc.).

• Step back when appropriate so students can take ownership:

▸ Allow the sharer to initiate questions and comments.
▸ Avoid voice-overs (repeating students’ questions and comments).
▸ Give students time to respond before you ask a question or make a comment.

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 Sharing: Stop-and-Jot Graphic Organizer

Goals of Sharing
1. To help students get to know each other
2. To develop important social and emotional competencies
3. To teach thinking, listening, and speaking skills
4. To strengthen language development and reading success

Video Summary: This video features a fourth grade class in Washington, DC, demonstrating
a group share, a third grade class in Minnesota demonstrating an open-topic dialogue share,
a fifth grade class in New York demonstrating an around-the-circle share, and a kindergarten
class in Minnesota demonstrating a focused-topic dialogue share.
Video-Viewing Guide
• Review goals
• Watch and take notes
• Consider ideas for implementation

Sharing Ideas

Considerations for Implementation

20
 Group Activity
Overview
Group activities are short, varied activities that allow everyone to contribute at their own level.
The teacher and students together build a repertoire of physical, intellectual, or artistic activities
that may include active games, math activities, choral and poetry readings, memorization, singing,
and chanting.

Some activities have clear academic skill-building components and may tie in to the current cur-
riculum; others seem to be “just for fun” but offer practice in skills such as listening, following
directions, and exercising self-control. All activities should be active, inclusive, cooperative, and
engaging.

Key Tips for Implementing Group Activity

Choosing Activities
• Choose activities that reinforce the academic and social curriculum, emphasizing skills that
you want students to internalize.

• Choose varied activities that are age-appropriate and include all skill levels.

• Choose activities that start at the group’s skill level and then build on success.

Introducing Activities
• Be proactive. Teach, model, and practice appropriate social and physical behaviors. These may
include moderating voice level, staying in control physically, taking turns, solving problems,
and playing cooperatively.

• Model one element at a time, specifically and thoroughly.

• Make directions simple, clear, and consistent.

• Engage students in saying and remembering the rules of activities.

• Check students’ understanding of the rules: “Who remembers and can share the rules to
our game?”

During the Activity

Encourage appropriate behavior, redirect when students get off track, and stop the activity if
necessary.

After the Activity

Reflect with students on the learning: “What did we do that made the activity fun? What did we
do that made the activity work?”

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 Group Activity: Stop-and-Jot Graphic Organizer
Goals of Group Activity
1. To build positive community by developing a repertoire of songs, games, chants, and poems
2. To provide a sense of recognition and belonging
3. To help students learn and use everyone’s names
4. To let students practice hospitality and friendliness

Video Summary: This video features group activities demonstrated by a fourth grade class
in Washington, DC, a third grade class in Minnesota, a kindergarten class in Minnesota, and a
sixth grade class in Virginia.
Video-Viewing Guide
• Review goals
• Watch and take notes
• Consider ideas for implementation

Activity Ideas

Considerations for Implementation

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 Sample Group Activities
Aroostasha (Grades K–6)
Students stand in a circle with their hands clasped in front of them, fingers interlaced.

Begin the activity by demonstrating the chant and body movements. To do this, chant “Aroostasha,
aroostasha, aroostasha-sha,” while moving your clasped hands from the right side of your body
to the left and pulsing your hands up and down to the beat. Then do the chant while moving your
hands back to the right side of your body, pulsing to the beat as you go. Have the class repeat the
chant and body movements after you.

Call out “Thumbs up.” Then chant and do the above movement with hands clasped and thumbs
up. Call out “Thumbs up, wrists together.” Do the chant and movement with hands clasped,
thumbs up, and wrists together. Keep going in this way, adding one body position at a time.
For example, you can add:
Knees together
Toes in
Bottom out
Tongue out (Ever try to say “Aroostasha” with your tongue out? Kids really get a laugh
out of this!)

Aunt Minerva (Grades 3–6)

The student who begins the activity decides on a category but doesn’t tell anyone else. Instead,
she demonstrates the category by giving several examples of things Aunt Minerva likes and
doesn’t like. For example, if the category is “hot and cold,” she might say, “Aunt Minerva likes
Florida but doesn’t like Alaska. Aunt Minerva likes heavy down quilts but doesn’t like thin sheets.”
The other players try to figure out the category based on the clues. When a student thinks he
knows the category, he gives an example of his own, without naming the category: “Aunt Minerva
likes soup but doesn’t like ice cream.” The starter acknowledges whether the statement is true,
and continues to give examples to help more classmates figure out the category.

To avoid the scenario of the class waiting for the last few students to catch on, have the starter
reveal the category when a solid number of classmates have guessed it. Then choose another
student to begin a new round.

A Warm Wind Blows (Grades K–6)

Move chairs into a circle, setting one less chair than the number of students. Students sit in the
chairs and one person stands in the middle of the circle. He says, “A warm wind blows for anyone
who ______,” filling in the blank with a category that would be true for himself and some of his
classmates, such as “has a dog.” Everyone who fits that category comes into the center of the
circle and then quickly finds a new place to sit. The one person who doesn’t find a seat now
stands in the center of the circle and says, “A warm wind blows for anyone who ______,” naming
a new category. The activity continues for several rounds.

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This lively activity is a great way for students to learn about each other and to see what they have
in common with classmates. Encourage students to name categories that relate to interests,
hobbies, and family rather than clothing or appearance. You could brainstorm a list of categories
before beginning the activity.

Category Snap (Grades K–6)

The group sits in a circle. The leader starts a rhythm using a sequence of knee slap, hand clap,
right-hand finger snap, left-hand finger snap. The leader then announces a category, such as
fruits, on the right-hand finger snap and names an example, such as “apples,” with the left-hand
finger snap. The next person in the circle must be ready to name the leader’s fruit with the right-
hand finger snap and then a new example in that same category with the left-hand finger snap:
Knee slap, hand clap, “apples, apricots.” The play continues around the circle. Once an item has
been named, it cannot be used again.

Variation: The category is announced before the activity begins. Each person chooses and says
out loud an item that belongs in that category. Once an item has been named, it can’t be used
again. The leader begins by identifying her own item with the right-hand finger snap and then
names another player’s item with the left-hand finger snap. That player then names his item
followed by another player’s item and so on. This variation sends the action jumping around the
circle and demands that students not only listen but also remember what other players said.

Coseeki/Follow the Leader (Grades K–6)

One player leaves the group and stands where she cannot see the group. The group chooses a
leader who does a movement, such as tapping a toe, which the others follow. The leader changes
the movement regularly and the others follow the leader’s movement. The hidden player returns,
stands in the middle of the circle, watches the movements, and tries to guess who the leader is.

Variations:
• Limit the guesses.
• Choose two leaders, who take turns starting new movements.

Description: A Variation on 20 Questions (Grades 3–6)

This activity is similar to 20 Questions. The group sits in a circle. The student who is “It” gets a
card with a word written on it taped to her back. The word names a person, place, or thing; the
word can be related to subjects the class is studying, such as fish, mountains, rivers, capitals,
books. The student can ask the class up to ten yes-or-no questions to try to determine what is
written on the card. To increase the difficulty, the group can agree ahead of time that certain
questions or types of questions are not allowed. Each time a question is asked, the class responds
with thumbs up to indicate “yes” or thumbs down to indicate “no.” The student can make a guess
at any time with a maximum of three guesses. After ten questions, the student can ask for clues
from the class before making a final guess.

Guess the Number (Grades K–6)

Think of a number and write it down on a piece of paper that you hide. Let students know that
you’ve chosen a number between one and ______, choosing a number range that appropriately

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challenges the group, given their age and skill level. Going around the circle, students take turns
asking a yes-or-no question to try to determine the number. Any student who does not have a
question may “pass.” Anyone can make a guess at any time. If the guess is incorrect, the question-
ing continues. If it’s correct, the teacher may choose another number or pick a child to choose a
number. To emphasize the cooperative nature of this activity, be sure that the child who correctly
guesses the number is not the next one to choose a number.

Encourage students to think of questions that will give them information about the number, rather
than questions that just eliminate one number. Instead of asking if it’s the number after fourteen,
for example, students might ask if it’s a two-digit number, whether it’s larger than ten, or if it has
a five in it. This activity helps them develop questioning skills and listening skills.

Hands Up for 20_ _ [insert correct year] (Grades 3–6)

Name a category and choose a student to begin the activity. (Once students are familiar with the
activity, they can name the category and start the round.) The whole group begins the following
chant, filling in the name of the category in the fourth line. The last line names the student who is
beginning the activity. Going around the circle, each student then quickly names an item in the
category. If someone misses by repeating or taking more than a few seconds, the activity starts
over again with the chant, naming the student who is next in the circle. The object is to get all the
way around the circle without a miss.
Hands up / / (silent beats)
For 20_ _ / / (silent beats)
Gonna name (clap, clap)
Some ______ (clap, clap) (A category such as rivers, animals, etc.)
One apiece (clap, clap)
No repeats (clap, clap)
No hesitation (clap, clap)
No duplication (clap, clap)
Starting with (clap, clap)
______ (Fill in with student’s name, and student says something that fits in the
category.)

Human Protractor (Grades K–6)

Everyone stands in a circle, hands touching toes. Tell students they’re going to straighten up
gradually, keeping their arms stretched out in front of them. At the same time, they’ll count from
zero to a number that you specify. By the time their hands are reaching overhead, they should be
at the upper number. Let students know that they need to remember where their hands are at
different numbers, and set the range of numbers to suit the ages and abilities in your classroom
(0–10, 0–100, and so on).

Once students have moved through the range of numbers from toes to overhead, call out num-
bers within the specified range. Students take the position for each number as you call it. When
students are familiar with the activity, they can take turns being the number caller.

25
Incorporations (Grades K–6)
In this activity, students form and reform groups as quickly as possible. The leader hits a gong
or rings a bell and then gives directions for forming groups, such as “Get into groups of three.”
The leader hits the gong again and gives a different direction: “Get into groups where everyone
is wearing something of the same color.” The activity moves very quickly.

My Bonny (Grades K–2)

Everyone sings the song “My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean.” Whenever words beginning with a “b”
are sung, children alternate between sitting and standing. For example: “My Bonny [stand] lies
over the ocean. My Bonny [sit] lies over the sea . . .”

The words to the song are:

My Bonny lies over the ocean.
My Bonny lies over the sea.
My Bonny lies over the ocean,
Oh bring back my Bonny to me.
Bring back, bring back,
Oh bring back my Bonny to me, to me.
Bring back, bring back,
Oh bring back my Bonny to me.

Nonverbal Birthday Lineup (Grades 3–6)

Challenge students to line up according to their month and day of birth, without any talking.

Oliver Twist (Grades K–2)

The whole group chants the following song and does the accompanying movements. Begin
slowly, then speed up until children are all laughing as they try to keep up.
Oliver twist, twist, twist (Hands on hips and twist body)
Can’t do this, this, this (Tap right foot and shake forefinger
of right hand)
Touch his head, head, head (Touch head with hands)
Touch his nose, nose, nose (Touch nose with hands)
Touch his ears, ears, ears (Touch ears with hands)
Touch his toes, toes, toes (Touch toes with hands)

“One-to-Ten” Math Game (Grades K–6)

This activity begins like Human Protractor: Students stand in a circle touching their toes. To a
slow count of ten, they straighten up until they are standing with hands reaching for the sky. Let
students know that they need to remember where their hands are at each number. Once the
group is all upright, the leader calls out a math problem whose answer is a number between one
and ten—for example, “ten minus two.” The rest of the group responds “eight” and assumes that
position. You can use whatever range of numbers is most appropriate for the group.

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What Are You Doing? (Grades K–6)
One person goes to the center of the circle and mimes a simple action, such as brushing one’s
hair. The next person in the circle approaches the hairbrusher and asks, “What are you doing?”
The hairbrusher responds by saying something completely different, such as “I’m washing the
floor.” The person who asked now pretends to be washing the floor. The next person from the
circle then comes to ask the floorwasher, “What are you doing?” This goes on until everyone in
the circle has had a chance to mime an action.

Zoom (Grades K–6)

The person who begins the activity says, “Zoom!” and turns his head quickly to a neighbor on
either the right or left. That person passes the “Zoom!” to the next person and so on around the
circle. The word “Eek!” stops the “Zoom!” and makes it reverse direction. In the first round, allow
one “Eek!” and then in subsequent rounds increase the number of “Eeks!” Remind students that
the goal is to get the “Zoom!” passed all the way around the circle. If only a few students have
had a chance to say “Eek!,” you can end the activity by having everyone say “Eek!” together. You
can challenge the group to go faster and use a stopwatch to time them.

Variation for young children: Stick with passing the “Zoom!”; don’t introduce the “Eek!”

Variation for more experienced players: Add in “Bump,” which skips over the next person in the
direction that the “Zoom!” is going.

More Group Activities Learned This Week

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 Morning Message
Overview
The morning message component focuses on a message to the group that the teacher writes
each day. The message allows students to reflect on learning and to practice language, math,
and other academic skills as well as social skills. It also helps them orient to their day and reflect
on events of previous days.

The information in the message should be familiar and of interest to all students and requires
everyone’s interaction during Morning Meeting. The message provides a transition to the aca-
demic day and reinforces community.

Key Tips for Implementing Morning Message

Content
• Model neat handwriting.

• Unless you’re inviting students to test their skills by finding mistakes you’ve deliberately
made, make sure all grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are correct.

• Keep the message simple but vary the type of work. Focus on one language or math skill.

• Embed skill work in the content of the message. For example, to embed literacy skills, you
could use current vocabulary words or use prefixes, suffixes, grammar and punctuation
rules, or sentence structure the class is studying.

• Connect to the content of the day. What do you want students to think about to get ready
for math, science, or social studies? The morning message can be a great way to build
excitement and anticipation for the academic work ahead.

• Include a meaningful interactive piece that stimulates discussion during Morning Meeting
and connects to the day. This interactive piece might require a written response on the
chart, or it might be a request to do some thinking before the Morning Meeting.

• Build for success. Start simple, include a range of skill levels, and increase the degree of
challenge as students gain competence.

• Be sure that the content requires students’ input before or during Morning Meeting, or both.

• End Morning Meeting with announcements to help students transition to the rest of the day.

Elements of Morning Messages

• Greeting: Friendly words, such as “Dear Second Graders,” or “Good morning, learners,” tells
students, “This message is written especially for you! Come and read it!”

• Date: For younger children, you can write the date in a simple sentence (“Today is [day,
month, year].”). For older children, place it in an upper corner, as in a letter.

• Body: Write in a style that’s developmentally appropriate for your students. Except for begin-
ners, most students should be able to read at least parts of the message either independently
or with assistance.
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Optional Elements
• Related interactive tasks: Conclude the message with a simple activity for students to
complete at the bottom of the chart, such as sharing a prediction or opinion related to the
message body. Aim for tasks that don’t require new materials or skills.

• Announcements: Morning messages focus on thinking and learning, not classroom logistics,
so they don’t usually include daily schedule information. If students must see such informa-
tion before Morning Meeting, write it succinctly in a “News Corner” of the chart.

• Class riddles: To foster engagement and help students get to know each other better, try
riddles that encourage students to pay attention to and remember facts classmates have
shared: “Who has a new pet that has feathers?” or “How many people in our class have
brothers?”

Preparation
• Decide where and how the message will be displayed (for example, chart paper, interactive
board, dry-erase board, etc.).

• Prepare the message before students arrive. This communicates to students that you’re
ready to start the day.

• Stick to a single solid, visible color. Use one other color sparingly for emphasis. Too many
colors can be visually overstimulating for some children.

• Teach students to read and “do” the chart; their individual work with the message should
happen before they come to Morning Meeting each day.

• On the basis of students’ needs and abilities, select the best way to read the message
together (for example, unison, teacher reading aloud while students follow along, one stu-
dent reading aloud, many students reading aloud, paraphrasing, etc.).

• Play with the content in a variety of ways to keep interest high while providing practice with
an array of skills (for example, pick out familiar names, letters, or words; match words; guess
words [in context]; fill in blanks; correct mistakes; solve math problems).

Tips for K–2 Teachers

• Use a regular and predictable format for the message.

• Build and use familiar, predictable language and number patterns to reinforce skills.

• Include one or two sentences at the end of the message that are not predictable or repeti-
tious so that children learn strategies for independent reading of unfamiliar language. To
motivate children, these sentences should reflect exciting or important classroom content.

• The expectation is that children will read the message before coming to Morning Meeting,
but children need to learn how to do this. Early in the year, use Morning Meeting time to
teach and model necessary skills. Read the message out loud and practice interacting with
predictable formats such as surveys, graphs, drawing and writing in a bubble space, and
using a numerical list.

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Tips for 3–6 Teachers
• The format of the morning message can be like a friendly letter, memo, or journal entry.

• The message can be used to practice or review language, math, and other academic skills in
an interactive, rather than direct, teaching mode.

• Use language patterns and math problems appropriate to the grade level (for example, spell-
ing strategies, punctuation, syllabication, dictionary skills, descriptive language, sequencing,
paragraphing, computation, word problems, graphing, fractions, etc.).

• Ask questions related to content as an alternative to always reading or paraphrasing.

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 Morning Message: Stop-and-Jot Graphic Organizer
Goals of Morning Message
1. To develop and reinforce language, math, and other skills in a meaningful and interactive way
2. To build community through shared written information
3. To reinforce social and emotional skills
4. To help students make the transition from Morning Meeting to the rest of the day and get
them excited about what they’ll be learning

Video Summary: This video features students interacting with the morning message at the
start of the day. The video also shows a kindergarten class, a fourth grade class, and a fifth
grade class addressing components of the morning message during Morning Meeting.
Video-Viewing Guide
• Review goals
• Watch and take notes
• Consider ideas for implementation

Morning Message Ideas

Considerations for Implementation

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 Sample Morning Messages
Kindergarten—Fall Kindergarten—Spring

Dear Kindergartners,
Good morning!
Today is Tuesday. We will think about soil.
It is Monday. What is one thing we may find in the soil?
Write or draw what you think below.
We will paint today.
Mrs. Otero

Have a good day!

worms rocks

First Grade—Fall First Grade—Spring

Good morning! Good morning, first graders!

Today is Thursday, May 9.
Today is Monday, October 1st.
We will have art today with Mr. Rivera.
It is sunny and windy outside. Which primary color will you add to your
paper mask today? Place a tally below.
Be ready to share one thing you like
Mrs. Hardy
to do on a sunny day.

Ms. Minor
Red Blue Yellow

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Second Grade—Fall Second Grade—Spring

Thursday, October 8, 2020 Friday, May 22, 2020

Dear Readers and Rhymers, Dear Melting Experts,
Today’s a new day for work and for play. Today during science, we’ll face an unusual
challenge. We’re going to use what we’ve
Can you rhyme more than Sam in Green Eggs
learned to figure out some ways to melt ice
and Ham?
without a stove or fire. Do you have an idea
Here, write some rhymes, and we’ll have of how you and a partner could melt a cube
some good times! of ice during science time? Write your idea
on a sticky note and post it below.
Bell Day Hat Your teacher,
Mr. Sterling

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 Third Grade Fourth Grade

Good morning, weather watchers! 2/10/20

Today is Friday, March 6, 2020. Dear Mathematicians,
Yesterday we learned about four types of Wow! You’ve been multiplying up a storm
clouds, and today we’ll be drawing them. the past few days! We will continue the
What do you notice about today’s clouds? same multiplication work today. Here’s one
sample for you to try: 17 x 23 = .
Be ready to share at meeting.
Bring your answer to Morning Meeting and
Your weather-watching teacher
be ready to tell what you did to solve it.
Sincerely,
Mr. Kleintop

Fifth Grade Sixth Grade

5/5/20 Dear Cooperative Students,

Greetings, adventurers! We will continue to work in our history
project groups today. I have been impressed
Last week we were really engrossed in
with each group’s creativity and productiv-
our wagon train game. The Donner Party
ity. I have also noticed the positive ways
definitely had a difficult and disagreeable
that the groups have been working together.
journey!
How have our rules supported you in being
While preparing for this game, you’ve had to productive? Be ready to share during
make some critical decisions to ensure that Morning Meeting.
you make it to Oregon. What has been your
Literacy Query:
most challenging decision so far? Be ready
How many synonyms can we come up with
to tell why this decision was hard.
for the word “cooperative”? Write one
What words can you identify with prefixes? below.

—Mr. Espinoza  Mrs. Simon and Ms. Neal

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Special Area—Library Special Area—Music

November 13, 2020 4/24/20

Greetings, researchers! Good morning, happy harmonizers!

November is National Aviation History Our spring concert is two weeks away! We
sure have learned a lot of songs from around
Month. An aviator is someone who
the world and have had fun learning to sing
flies an airplane or other aircraft. in different languages. What’s one thing you
Thinking question: What resources want to work on between now and the
could you use to research famous concert? Have a seat on the risers and be
aviators? ready to share with a partner.
Cheerfully yours,
Mrs. Arrington

Special Area—Physical Education

May 2020
Dear Athletes,
May is National Physical Fitness and Sports
Month. This month we will be learning
exercises that will keep you moving. To get
us started, stand on a poly spot marker
and do 20 jumping jacks, 20 plank jacks,
or both!
Your pumped PE teacher,
Mrs. Smith

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 Introducing Morning Meeting

1. Connect with students’ prior knowledge.

SAMPLE TEACHER LANGUAGE: What are some kinds of meetings you know about?
What are some meetings you’ve been in?

2. Introduce Morning Meeting.

SAMPLE TEACHER LANGUAGE: We will begin each day with a Morning Meeting. Here are some
things we might do in Morning Meeting.

3. Establish procedures and rules that will help Morning Meeting work. Procedures might include:
• Listening respectfully
• Looking at the person who’s talking
• Speaking clearly
• Offering thoughtful questions and respectful comments
SAMPLE TEACHER LANGUAGE: How will we make sure everyone can hear our important
words? What can we do to make our meetings work for everyone?

4. Model and practice skills and procedures so that students have a concrete understanding of
what the procedures and skills look and sound like.
SAMPLE TEACHER LANGUAGE: Watch while I listen respectfully. What do you notice? Who can
show us what it looks like to listen respectfully?

5. Begin with simple, low-risk meetings (for example, basic “good morning” greeting, around-the-
circle sharing about a favorite hobby, Just Like Me for activity [see Appendix B of The First Six
Weeks of School], and straightforward chart read in unison).

6. Practice and build slowly, adding more complex greetings, sharing structures, activities, and
messages when students are ready.

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 Energizers

Tips for Using Energizers

Know the Students—and Yourself
When choosing energizers, consider the developmental level of students, as well as their energy
level and mood at any particular moment. It’s also important that you feel comfortable doing the
energizer. Students are always watching their teachers. If you’re feeling reluctant or shy, they may
respond in the same way. However, keep in mind that doing the energizer in spite of your discom-
fort can give students courage. It’s one way to show that the classroom is a safe place to take
risks, knowing that they will be respected and accepted, mistakes and all.

Increase the level of risk gradually. Start with energizers that both you and your students are
comfortable with and adapt them to suit your style. Later, introduce some that might feel riskier.
Interactive Modeling is a good way to teach children anything involving actions.

Take Your Time

Allow plenty of time for you and the children to learn an energizer—several teaching periods,
if needed. This will help you all feel more relaxed and keep the energizer safe and fun.

Also remember that doing an energizer faster doesn’t always mean more fun. Speed can bring on
laughter and foster engagement only after students have shown success in doing the energizer.
The same goes for adding other variables, such as louder voices or more movements.

Make Each Energizer Your Own

Don’t know the tune to an energizer? Make up your own. Can’t catch the exact rhythm? Ask
students to come up with one that fits the words. Your creative, on-the-spot substitutions will
invigorate the children and get them to trust their own creativity and sense of fun. You can also
vary words, rhythm, pace, or volume or add new verses using the children’s ideas.

Invite Students’ Ideas

Once children are comfortable with an energizer, invite their ideas on different tunes, tones, and
actions—they’ll have fun making it their own. Knowing their ideas matter develops self-confidence
and encourages continued independent thinking. And knowing that they can learn from each
other builds community. It’s important, however, to know the class and judge their mood before
deciding how much independence they can handle.

Repeat Students’ Favorites

Most children enjoy repeating a fun energizer. The familiarity lends a sense of security and
competence, and they enjoy sharing a classroom routine.

Students can also learn more from an energizer each time they do it, especially if you focus each
time on something slightly different: keep your voices to a whisper, hold a song’s words in your

37
heads as you try to keep the beat, or do a song as a round. Just watch the children’s interest level
and try new energizers before they—or you—tire of their favorites.

Find Ways to Include Reluctant Students

Shy and reluctant children have the same needs for belonging, significance, and fun as all other
children, yet they may feel uncomfortable doing energizers with the class. Consider giving them
a more indirect role—for example, a child could point to the words on the chart while the class
sings, observe carefully, and then share three adjectives that describe what they saw, or a child
could take responsibility for turning the lights off when it’s time for a quiet energizer and back on
when it’s over.

Help students meet their needs in ways that feel comfortable to them, and they’ll likely respond
positively. They may even join in the next time you do the energizer.

Write Out Songs and Chants

Song charts help students join with the rest of the class when they’re learning to read or still
mastering the words of a song.

Join In and SING!

Doing energizers with your students builds community, no matter your singing talents, so join
in and sing or chant with them. Children really don’t care how you sound! What they notice and
remember is that you sing with them, genuinely and joyfully.

Remember too that singing with any energizer is optional. Children will have just as much fun if
you skip the tune and simply chant or say the words to any easy-to-follow beat. Do whatever
feels comfortable to you and your students.

Sing High
Children naturally sing higher than adults, so you’ll want to use your highest voice when singing
with them. Remember that energizers are all about having fun, so it doesn’t matter a bit if you
have a shaky high voice or lack perfect pitch.

Plan How to End Lively Energizers

It’s important to keep liveliness within reasonable limits and to help children calm themselves as
they finish an exuberant energizer so they can focus on their learning. Here are some tips:

• For energizers that end with slowing down, overemphasize the settling down movements
when you model for the children. As they practice, encourage them: “Wow! That was fun! I
see you’re all sitting down now, taking some deep breaths, becoming quieter, and looking up
at me. You’re really ready for what’s coming next.”

• End with a chant or song that directs the children to a seated position.

• Hold up your five fingers while singing a downward scale as you fold down each finger one
at a time: “Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . shhh.” End with your index finger on your
mouth as you say shhh very softly.

38
 • Use a quiet signal. When well taught, modeled, and practiced, quiet signals reliably get chil-
dren’s undivided attention. A raised hand, a gentle chime, a rain stick, a clapping pattern that
the class echoes, or any auditory signal the children are familiar with will help them transition
to the next task.

• If children are struggling to gain self-control, use calm but firm redirecting language to end
the activity: “Stop. Everyone take a seat. We’re being too wild and noisy, so we have to end
right away. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

It’s OK to Play!
Not only is it OK for teachers to play with children, it’s important to the children’s learning.
Through shared play, we can model risk-taking, cooperation, self-control, and assertiveness.
Appropriate, structured play also lets us experience each other in an informal, friendly way
and helps children learn to establish positive connections with other people. These are all
skills important to children’s success in school and in life.

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 Quiet Time
Purpose of Quiet Time
Quiet time is a period right after lunch or recess when students engage in silent, independent,
purposeful activity for five to fifteen minutes. Quiet time acts as a transition from the socially
charged excitement of lunch and recess back into the calm, safe, and orderly classroom. Activi-
ties such as reading, writing, drawing, playing a solitary game, completing unfinished classwork,
beginning homework, or simply resting allow students to calm down and refocus for the learning
ahead.

Goals of Quiet Time

Along with helping students transition back into the classroom for an afternoon of engaged
learning, quiet time supports a range of goals related to students’ emotional, social, and cogni-
tive development. Students practice focusing and critical-thinking skills as they engage in an
independent activity. Because they choose what activity most interests them from a list the
teacher offers, students are given the opportunity to follow their natural curiosity, which can
lead to an increased willingness to stay engaged and retain more information. Students also
practice the invaluable skills of being mindful and relaxing. The atmosphere of calm and recali-
bration quiet time creates is the optimal learning environment for afternoon learning, giving all
students a chance to be productive learners. The restful time it affords teachers gives them a
chance to reenergize and be more productive as well.

Quiet Time Guidelines

Time
Quiet time should happen right after lunch or recess and transition into that afternoon’s lessons
and activities. Being consistent with this routine lets students know what to expect, which will help
them find success. You should reserve five to fifteen minutes for quiet time. Start off with five
minutes and reinforce appropriate quiet time behaviors as students become familiar with the
routine. You can extend the time as students get comfortable working silently and independently.

Choices
When students have a choice in what they do, they have a sense of power and control that trans-
lates to engaged learning. Create a list of silent, independent activities for your students to
choose from. Start the list small and build it out as students grow more accustomed to the quiet
time routine. To start off, they might be able to read, write, or draw, for example. Set students up
for success by allowing them time to master an activity before broadening their options.

When choosing activities, some teachers keep choices focused on the daily work of the room.
For example, students can read, write, work on unfinished classwork, or get a start on upcoming
homework. Other teachers offer choices such as doodling, playing a solitary game, meditating,
or resting. Meditating and other activities that promote mindfulness, such as stretching, belly
breathing, and body scanning, can be helpful calming techniques for students to turn to if they’re

40
feeling restless or having a hard time quieting their bodies and minds. Make sure to teach and
model these techniques separately from quiet time and scaffold them in as quiet time choices
only once students have shown they are ready to do them independently. Consider your goals
for this time and your students’ developmental needs as you decide what choices to offer.

Teacher’s Role
As students work on their own, teachers have options about how they spend quiet time. Some
teachers give themselves the same choices as their students; it can be therapeutic to take a few
minutes to read, write, or draw. Others take the opportunity simply to relax and recharge their
batteries for an afternoon of teaching. Other teachers use quiet time to prepare their afternoon
lessons and activities or catch up on some paperwork. Whatever you choose, make sure that, like
your students’ activities, it’s quiet and independent. Some students may have a hard time follow-
ing the rules of quiet time if adults aren’t following them as well.

Considerations
As with any other routine or structure, teachers need to teach and model for students how quiet
time will work. Be clear with students about when and where quiet time will happen. Use Interac-
tive Modeling to teach students expectations for quiet time, as well as skills such as how to tran-
sition into the room, how to make productive choices, and what to do if they finish what they’re
working on. Slowly increase the time and number of options when students show you they are
ready for it. This will help make quiet time an oasis of peace and quiet that students and teachers
alike can look forward to.

Notes

41
 Closing Circle
A closing circle is a strategy for bringing a peaceful end to the school day. Closing circles are
brief—five to ten minutes—and consist of a quick activity or two. But this brief routine has a big
impact on learning, behavior, and classroom climate.

Just as Morning Meeting sets a tone of pleasant anticipation for the day’s work, a closing circle
wraps up the day on a positive note. No matter how the day went, a closing circle can build trust
and cooperation in the classroom—and this, in turn, sets the stage for students’ best learning.

Closing circles benefit the teacher too. A hectic dismissal can leave teachers feeling exhausted
and unproductive, even if the majority of the day went smoothly. After using closing circles, many
teachers report ending the day with more positive attitudes and increased energy. In short, clos-
ing circles can help students learn better and teachers teach better. It’s a small investment of
time that makes a big difference in the life of the classroom.

Goals of Closing Circle

1. To end the day on a calm and positive note

2. To practice the habit of reflection

3. To foster students’ awareness of valuable aspects of school, themselves, and classmates

4. To build and reinforce a sense of community

Ideas for Closing Circles

• Sing a song together

• Think about an accomplishment from the day

• Set a personal goal for the following day

• Play a game

• Send a friendly goodbye around the circle

42
 Classroom Organization

Shopping Activity
Think about the following questions and jot down quick answers.

Imagine a store where you do not like to shop. Put yourself there. Look around; feel it. What about
the space makes the shopping experience unpleasant?

Imagine a store where you like to shop. Put yourself there. Look around; feel it. What about the
space makes the shopping experience enjoyable?

43
 Goals of Classroom Organization

1. Welcome all children.

2. Value everyone’s ideas and work.

3. Support active, engaged learning.

4. Support diverse developmental levels and learning styles.

5. Foster independence, responsibility, and cooperation.

6. Cultivate care of materials and equipment.

44
 Organizing Classrooms for Success
Classroom organization involves setting up the room’s physical space, materials, and visual
displays to create a safe and predictable learning environment that encourages students to be
engaged learners. While each classroom will be uniquely organized according to students’ needs
and capabilities, as well as the teacher’s vision for how learning should look, the goal is always
the same: to support students’ emotional, social, cognitive, and physical developmental needs
so they can be productive members of their learning community.

Space
The best learning occurs when students can navigate the room in a safe and orderly way. Regard-
less of the size of your classroom, children should be able to move easily around the room. Furni-
ture that takes up space but isn’t used regularly makes the room feel cluttered and acts as an
obstacle for students to navigate around. Limit furniture in the classroom to only the essentials.
All classroom furniture should have at least one clear purpose and be used every day—preferably
for most of each day.

Once you’ve removed furniture without a clear purpose, it’s time to organize the room to best
support students’ development and your curriculum. The goal here is to accommodate a wide
range of instructional approaches and student learning styles. Cluster work areas deliberately.
Provide spaces in the classroom for various kinds of work—relaxed work, quiet independent
work, lively group work, and potentially messy work. Arrange furniture to allow for flexibility in
work configurations, such as working independently, with partners, in small groups, or in a whole
group. Keep in mind that every piece of furniture and every area of the room should have multiple
uses during the day.

Here are some other tips for setting up your classroom’s physical space:

• Avoid constantly rearranging the room or frequently alternating the use of an area—
be consistent in room arrangement and in the routines defined by that arrangement.

• Provide a personal space for every child.

• Make sure the entire classroom and everyone in it is visible.

• Make sure all students have a clear path to the whole-group meeting area.

• All furniture should be in good condition and safe for children to use.

Materials and Storage

When choosing what materials to have in your classroom, consider that, much like the furniture,
all the materials in the room should have a clear purpose that relates to your students’ develop-
ment and the curriculum. Choose classroom materials that are developmentally appropriate and
accommodate a wide variety of student needs. Materials with more than one purpose are ideal.
Make the classroom feel less cluttered and easier to organize by getting rid of materials that
aren’t getting enough use.

45
To help students take control of their learning and develop autonomy, clearly label materials that
are meant for independent use and store them at eye level. Label the storage areas with words,
graphics, or both. To increase student investment, have students help make the labels. Make sure
to teach and model how to use any materials students will be using independently. Use Guided
Discovery to generate student interest in new materials and Interactive Modeling to show stu-
dents how to properly take out, use, and clean up materials.

Materials you do not want students to use independently, or which they will not be introduced
to until later in the school year, should be stored in areas not accessible to them. Consider using
covered boxes, fabric to hide an open or low shelf, or signs marked “Teacher Materials.” Rotate
materials frequently to keep students engaged and curious.

Here are some other tips for setting up your classroom’s materials and storage:

• Design clear pathways to areas where materials are stored.

• Every child should have at least one individual storage space.

• Storage for materials not in use should take up no more than a quarter of all available storage.

• Consider adding more storage if you frequently use children’s storage space for overflow
teacher materials.

• Provide materials that reflect the life experiences and the cultural and ethnic backgrounds
of the children and that promote understanding and acceptance of diversity.

Displays
Classroom displays, along with making the room more colorful and inviting, can serve as effec-
tive learning tools while also helping students feel a meaningful connection to the classroom.
Classroom rules and anchor charts prominently displayed on classroom walls can reinforce
classroom expectations, academic content, and other important information. These nonverbal
reminders support students’ autonomy. Make sure the information is relevant, useful, and devel-
opmentally appropriate for students. Having students create a classroom rules poster, illustrated
directions, anchor charts, and reference posters for units of study can also increase students’
engagement in the classroom space.

Along with using displays to remind students about expectations and to generate excitement
about learning, use your wall space to acknowledge and celebrate every student’s efforts. Dis-
playing student work sends a powerful message to students that their work and their learning
are what’s most important in the classroom. Create displays that honor effort by displaying
work in progress as well as finished work. Be sure to display samples of every student’s work
and involve students in deciding what to display. This can build a sense of individual and group
ownership of the classroom.

To get the most out of your displays, present only a few items at a time in any one area. When
there are too many displays, they lose their meaning. Display only what is immediately useful. If
you haven’t used or referred to a display in the last two weeks, put it away and bring it out again
when and if you need it. Make sure also to post displays where students can see them, taking
into account their eye levels and the traffic pattern of the classroom space.

46
Here are some other tips for setting up your classroom’s physical space:

• Keep store-bought and teacher-created displays to a minimum.

• Label and frame children’s work to draw attention to it.

• Create displays that reflect the class’s identity as a community of learners.

▸ Display students’ hopes and dreams for the school year where everyone can see them.
▸ Post lists of commonly known songs, activities, and greetings that show what everyone
in the class has learned together.

• Change or rotate items rather than continually adding to them.

• Keep the visual field clear so that you can see every area of the room without
obstructions.

47
 Classroom Organization: Learning Space Map
Use this grid to create a map of the learning spaces where you spend time with students.
Include the locations of doors, windows, meeting area(s), work areas, tables, desks,
chairs, bookshelves, storage areas, closets, whiteboards, computers, etc.

48
 Routines and Procedures Brainstorm
List routines and procedures that students would need in order to be successful
in the classroom setting.

49
 Interactive Modeling
Interactive Modeling is a simple seven-step strategy that can be used to teach routines (e.g., how
to line up at the classroom doorway), social and emotional skills (e.g., how to greet a classmate
in a friendly and respectful way), and academic skills (e.g., how to write a complete sentence or
how to use the partial-product multiplication algorithm).

Following are the seven steps of Interactive Modeling:

1. Say what you will model and why.

2. Model the behavior.

3. Ask students what they noticed.

4. Invite one or more students to model.

5. Again, ask students what they noticed.

6. Have all students practice.

7. Provide feedback.

50
 Interactive Modeling of a Procedure:
Responding to a Signal
Signals for attention may be visual or auditory. A common visual signal that Responsive Classroom
teachers use when they are working with a class is a raised hand. When excited children begin to
speak out of turn during a discussion or turn around and chat with each other in line when it’s time
to face forward quietly, teachers can simply raise a hand and wait silently. Children learn that when
they see the raised hand, they are to be quiet and look at the teacher for further instruction. They
may also raise their hands to help “spread the word” that quiet attention is required.

When a class is busily working independently or in small groups, an auditory signal such as a bell
or chime usually works better than a raised hand to gain attention. The children might not notice
a hand signal when absorbed in their own work or play.

These signals for quiet are only effective if the teacher first takes the time to model how students
are to respond to the signal. Modeling needs to be followed by opportunities to practice the new
behavior until children show that they know the expectation and are able to consistently follow it.
Even after children have learned what to do when the signal is given, teachers will need to reteach
the expectations from time to time (with more modeling and practice) to ensure that students
remain consistent in responding to the signal.

Interactive Modeling Example: Signal to Gain Students’ Attention

(Grades 2–4)
1. Say what you will model and why. “When we’re working together, there will be times when
I need to get the attention of the whole group. When I need you to stop, look, and listen, I’ll
raise my hand (or ring the chime, etc.) like this.

2. Model the behavior. “I’m going to show you what to do when the hand signal is given. Watch
and see what you notice.” Have a student volunteer take the role of teacher. Pretend to be
working on something and have the student raise their hand. When the student gives the sig-
nal, show how to respond (quickly finish work, turn body, and bring eyes to the signal giver).

3. Ask students what they noticed. “When Leo gave the signal, what did I do?” (Make sure
students mention all important attributes. If needed, ask, “What did you notice about . . . ?”)

4. Invite one or more students to model. “Who else can show how it looks to follow the signal?”
Give the signal and have others observe the volunteer(s).

5. Again, ask students what they noticed. “What did you notice about the way that Elena and
Todd followed the signal? What did they do well?”

6. Have all students practice. “Now we’re all going to practice. When I give the signal, respond
just the way we’ve been discussing. Go ahead and talk with a neighbor.” Give the signal and
observe how everyone does.

7. Provide feedback. “That’s it, everyone! I saw people finish speaking quickly and turn their
bodies toward me. This is just the way the signal should work. If we follow the signal this way,
we’ll be able to be really efficient all year and be able to transition well!”

51
 Using Signals to Gain Student Attention
Children in Ms. Gibbs’s classroom are moving to table groups after sitting in the whole-group
meeting area for the introduction to a math lesson. As children make their way to tables, they are
slow to settle into their seats. Some chatter loudly while others rummage through their belong-
ings or lean across desks to get in on the action across the table. Calmly, Ms. Gibbs rings a chime,
a well-rehearsed signal for the children to be quiet and attend to her words. She waits a few mo-
ments until the last child is settled, quiet, and looking at her. Then she says, “I see that everyone
is ready to continue the math lesson. Let’s get back to work.”

Early in the year, Ms. Gibbs had carefully taught the children what the chime meant—to stop
whatever they’re doing and pay attention to the teacher—and had given the children opportuni-
ties to practice responding to it. With that grounding, the use of the chime now allows her to get
children’s attention without needing to raise her voice. She can then give instructions in a calm,
conversational way.

Signals for attention may be visual or auditory. A common visual signal that Responsive Class-
room teachers use when they are working with a class is a raised hand. When excited children
begin to speak out of turn during a discussion or turn around and chat with each other in line
when it’s time to face forward quietly, teachers can simply raise a hand and wait silently. Children
learn that when they see the raised hand, they are to be quiet and look at the teacher for further
instruction. They may also raise their hands to “spread the word” that quiet attention is required.
When a class is busily working independently or in small groups, an auditory signal, such as a
bell, chime, or rattle, usually works better than a raised hand to gain attention. The children
might not notice a hand signal when absorbed in their own work or play. These signals for quiet
are only effective if the teacher first takes the time to model how students are to respond to the
signal. Modeling needs to be followed by opportunities to practice the new behavior until children
show that they know the expectation and are able to consistently follow it. Even after children
have learned what to do when the signal is given, teachers will need to reteach the expectations
from time to time (with more modeling and practice) to ensure that students remain consistent
in responding to the signal.

52
 Interactive Modeling vs. Guided Discovery

Interactive Modeling Guided Discovery

Definition One way Exploration, multiple ways

Examples of Scissors Pencils

Likely Materials Stapler Colored pencils
Eraser Markers
Paintbrush Pattern blocks

Purposes Teach clear expectations Teach clear expectations

Build a repertoire of creative
ideas

Strategies Tell – show – practice Tell – show – practice and

brainstorm – model – try out

Leading to . . . Appropriate, safe care and Appropriate, safe care and use
use of materials of materials; creative use of
materials; variety of ideas;
and multiple techniques for
use of materials

53
 Guided Discovery

What Is Guided Discovery?

Guided Discovery is a strategy for teaching children to think creatively and critically about multi-
ple ways to use materials and tools. The primary goal of Guided Discovery is to generate interest
in and excitement about classroom resources and to help children explore their possible uses.

Steps of Guided Discovery

1. Introduction and naming
2. Generation and modeling of ideas
▸ Use of materials for learning
▸ Care of materials during exploration
3. Exploration
4. Sharing exploratory work
5. Cleanup and care of materials

Keys to Success With Guided Discovery

• U
 se Guided Discovery flexibly, adjusting the structure and timing to fit the material, the
group of students, and the curriculum.

• P
 lan logistics carefully, taking into account any special considerations for the material being
introduced and developmental needs of students. Will students stay in the circle throughout
the Guided Discovery? How much supervision will they need during the exploration phase?
Will you release them to work at tables?

• G
 ive each student a small amount of the material to explore (for example, just a small piece
of clay or only two colored pencils per student).

• I ncorporate Interactive Modeling as needed. For example, at the end of the Guided Discovery,
you might use Interactive Modeling to teach cleanup and care of the material.

• I f possible, have a small amount of the material available for a few days after the Guided
Discovery for students to explore on their own.

• D
 o Guided Discovery using materials that are available all year long. Don’t bother doing a
Guided Discovery on a material that’s just for a one-time special project.

• T
 o save time, scaffold the introduction of similar materials. For example, once you’ve intro-
duced pattern blocks, you can group together other math manipulatives that have similar
qualities for a shorter Guided Discovery that builds on what children have learned about
pattern blocks.

• Use Guided Discovery extensively at the beginning of the year.

• U
 se Guided Discovery throughout the year to renew interest, extend knowledge, introduce
new uses or new materials, solve problems, and review procedures and care.
54
 Script for a Guided Discovery

This script takes you through each of the steps in Guided Discovery. Please follow the sequence
of steps and use the scripted language.

1. Introduction and Naming

A. Ask open-ended questions to find out what students already know about the materials:
• What do you know about _______?
• How have you used _______ in the past?

Take a few ideas. As students share ideas, introduce or reinforce important vocabulary.

B. Ask open-ended questions that help students notice details:

• What do you notice about the _______?
• How many different details can you notice?

C. If students need more help with focused observation, ask:

• What is _______ made of?
• What shapes/colors/textures, etc., do you see?

D. You might want to walk around with the materials so students can look at them more closely,
or you might put the materials in the center of the circle so all students can have a good
view. Do not hand materials to students at this point.

2. Generating and Modeling Students’ Ideas

Use of Materials for Learning
A. Begin with an open-ended question to generate ideas:
• How might we use _______ in our classroom?
• How might we use _______ to help us with our learning?

B. If student response is slow or if you want to spark their imaginations, you could ask:
• What new and different ideas can you think of for using _______ to practice new learning?
• What new and different ideas can you think of for using _______ to share something we
learned?

Keep asking until you have several student-generated ideas.

C. Ask a few students to model their ideas using a small set of the materials. Write the rest of
the ideas on a board or chart.

Ask the first student: Will you show us how you might do that?

Before the student begins the modeling, say: Everyone watch carefully and see what you
notice about what _______ does.
55
 The class observes while the student briefly models an idea. After the modeling, ask the
class: What did you notice that _______ did?

Ask the other students to model and again have the class observe and report what they
noticed.

Care of Materials During Exploration

A. Generate ideas about how to care for the materials by asking: What can we do to take care
of the _______ when we use them?

B. Gather student ideas, then ask one student to model their idea: Will you show us a safe and
careful way to take the _______ out and use it?

Before the student begins modeling, remind the class to watch carefully: Everyone watch
carefully and see what you notice about what they do.

After the modeling, ask the class: What did you notice that _______ did to care for the _______?

3. Exploration
A. Remain in the circle formation unless the nature of the materials requires that students
work at their tables or desks. Say: Now we will all practice using the _______. Try one of our
ideas.

B. Pass out a limited number of materials to each student. Observe students as they work.
Use reinforcing, reminding, and redirecting language as needed to facilitate a positive,
successful exploration. This segment should take about ten minutes.

4. Sharing Exploratory Work

A. If work resulted in a product, say: If you’d like to share your work, hold it up so all in the
circle can see it.

Allow a minute or two for students to view one another’s work.

B. If you want to keep the focus on the process of the work, ask: Who would like to tell one
thing you like about your work?

Call on two or three volunteers. For each sharer, ask for one comment from the group.

5. Cleanup and Care of Materials

A. Begin by asking a volunteer to model careful cleanup: Who will show a safe and careful way
to put away the _______?

Remind the class to watch carefully: Everyone watch carefully and see what you notice
about how _______ cares for the _______.

After the modeling, ask the class: What did you notice?

56
B. As the whole class begins to clean up the materials, say: I will watch and notice as you all put
away the _______ safely and carefully.

C. Observe students as they clean up. Use reinforcing, reminding, and redirecting language as
needed.

57
 Notes

58
 Teacher Leadership Styles
A teacher’s leadership style generally reflects both their classroom management skills and their
behavior management strategies. On the following pages are descriptions of some common
leadership styles.

An Autocratic Style: “Because I said so!”

Often characterized by rules stated in the negative—such as “Don’t interrupt”—and presented
without discussion, the implicit belief of this style is that children are naturally unruly and impul-
sive, and that without strict rules aimed at keeping them quiet and obedient, the classroom would
melt down into chaos. This is the teaching style most of us experienced as children, so it can feel
intuitive to use this way ourselves.

A drawback of this style is that, rather than assessing if children understand the rules, it is only
concerned with whether or not children follow them. Fear of what might happen if they don’t fol-
low the rules compels students to comply with them. For many students, this means only follow-
ing the rules in the presence of the teacher when the possibility of punishment is present, and
disregarding the rules when no adult is nearby to enforce them. For other children, an autocratic
style can cause them to become defiant or resistant to rules whose purposes have not been
clearly explained, while others cling so completely to the rules that without an adult to guide
their behavior, they are unable to make decisions.

An autocratic style can create an orderly classroom, but enforcing compliance rather than teach-
ing self-control can cause anxiety, resentment, and anger in children. Research has also shown
that punitive teaching strategies lead to students blaming external factors for their behavior
rather than taking responsibility. So while an autocratic style can produce a calm and even pro-
ductive classroom, it is at the expense of both students’ dignity and their social and emotional
development.

A Permissive Style: “Can you please cooperate now, please?”

On the other end of the spectrum is a permissive teaching style, in which expectations are not
clearly explained or consistently enforced. Here, even if the rules are clearly stated and promi-
nently posted in the classroom, students know they are negotiable and easy to influence.

Teachers using this style might believe that the most important thing is for students to like them.
They might put a high premium on being nice and might worry about stifling or alienating their
students by being too hard on them. Or they might believe that the best way to influence stu-
dents’ behavior is to reinforce the good with praise while turning a blind eye to the bad in the
hopes that ignoring it will make it go away. Or perhaps they’ve experienced the negative effects
of an autocratic approach and don’t want to inflict it on others.

Whatever the underlying intention, a permissive style leads to many problems. Among them:
small disturbances routinely escalate into bigger ones; conflicts are unresolved; and rudeness,

59
teasing, and taunting go unchecked, leaving many children feeling physically and psychologically
unsafe. If somehow students are behaving in such a classroom, they’re often doing so only to
please the teacher and win the teacher’s approval.

Students in these classrooms can feel just as fearful and dependent as students with an auto-
cratic leader. We might think that having no limits and no adult guidance makes students feel
free, but it actually can make them feel tense and out of control because they’re always trying
to figure out what’s acceptable and what isn’t.

The teacher too can feel exhausted by this approach. Teachers who rely on a permissive style hold
so little authority that they must resort to pleading, begging, and bribing to convince students to
cooperate. Consistent use of rewards tends to lessen motivation, which creates a disastrous cycle
in which student motivation decreases as the teacher’s pleas increase. Teachers in this situation
may grow so discouraged that they end up feeling burned out.

A Flip-Flop Style: “I said ‘No.’ Well, maybe one more chance.

Now, that’s it. I mean ‘No.’”
There are teachers, many of them in their early years of teaching and without enough support
regarding classroom management, who bounce back and forth between the autocratic and
permissive extremes. This may be the most difficult approach for students and teachers alike:
teachers swing wildly between poles in an attempt to coerce their students into behaving,
and the lack of predictability and consistency leads students to feel confused, frustrated,
and anxious.

Although new teachers may have learned about classroom management in teacher-education
coursework, actually managing 25 or more students in a small space for seven hours a day can
be challenging, especially if teachers lack mentoring or administrative support. But it’s not only
new teachers who face this challenge. Experienced teachers, too, can feel overwhelmed by the
demands placed on them as more and more students come to school with poorly developed
social skills, a lack of impulse control, and few tools to handle their anger and frustration.

Discipline in our nation’s classrooms and schools is clearly a pressing concern and an important
factor in students’ success. How teachers approach discipline can make all the difference be-
tween whether children feel safe or threatened in school, motivated or discouraged, successful
or defeated.

The Responsive Classroom Teacher Leadership Style

Is Authoritative
An authoritative style aims to help students develop self-control and then self-regulation. It guides
their understanding of what socially responsible behavior is and helps them learn to value such
behavior.

Teachers who lead with authority do not rely on punishment or rewards to “get students to be-
have.” Neither do they ignore behavior that is detrimental to the student or the group. Rather,
they establish clear expectations for behavior and actively teach students how to live up to
those expectations. They help students become aware of how their actions can bring positive

60
and negative consequences to themselves and others. When students misbehave, these teachers
use respectful strategies to stop the misbehavior and restore positive behavior as quickly as pos-
sible so that students can continue to learn and the teacher can continue to teach.

Teachers who lead with authority strive to be firm, kind, and consistent. Their aim is to create
calm, safe, and orderly classrooms while preserving the dignity of each child. This requires a con-
stant balancing of the needs of the group with the needs of the individual, the need for order with
the need for movement and activity, and the need for teachers to be in control of the classroom
with the need for students to be in control of their own lives and learning. It requires taking the
time to teach students how to be contributing members of a caring learning community.

Just as teachers don’t expect children to come to school knowing how to solve math problems
or write a research paper, authoritative teachers don’t make assumptions about the social or be-
havioral skills students bring to school. Some students will come to school with highly developed
social skills and many years of experience being productive members of a group. Others will
need to start from the beginning. These teachers know that as children develop and change from
year to year, their skills will need to be continuously developed. School provides an ideal setting
for social and behavioral learning. There are endless opportunities at school for students to learn
to control their impulses and to think about the needs and feelings of others. Whether they’re
learning to wait their turn to talk, ask politely for a marker, welcome a newcomer into a group, or
disagree with someone’s ideas without attacking them personally, school is rich with opportuni-
ties for students to learn to think and act in socially responsible ways.

61
 Teacher Leadership Styles: Jigsaw Graphic Organizer
Responsive Classroom:
Autocratic Style Permissive Style Flip-Flop Style
Authoritative Style
Characteristics
Beliefs or Intentions
Impact on Students

62
 Establishing Rules

Envisioning Language and Hopes and Dreams

Rules are most effective when students understand their purpose and how the rules will help them
reach their goals, and one of the most powerful tools we have in making the connection between
students’ goals and classroom rules is envisioning language.

Envisioning language offers children a chance to see themselves achieving in ways that connect
to, but go beyond, what they already know they can do. It helps students see what the goal is,
picture themselves achieving it, and believe in their own ability to do so. By using envisioning
language to name positive identities for students, we help them form a vision of themselves as
learners.

Envisioning statements:

• Inspire effort and persistence

• Set a positive tone for learning

• Build a sense of belonging and community

To use envisioning language effectively:

• Connect with students’ interests. The more we know students, the more we can use that
knowledge to help them connect the work of school to those things they care about.

• Use positive identities that apply to your students. Referring to them as readers, writers,
scientists, athletes, teammates, artists, or musicians can generate excitement and help stu-
dents identify with and inhabit those roles.

• Use concrete words and images that students understand instead of abstract terms.
If students in your class are giving presentations, you might talk about having quiet mouths
and active ears so everyone can enjoy the presentation.

• Use metaphors to add clarity and power. These metaphors can come from the curriculum,
classroom life, or your own experiences.

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 • Prompt your students to fill in some of the details. Pose open-ended statements and
questions, such as:
▸ I hope that ____________.
▸ Imagine that you ___________.
▸ What needs to happen so that everyone can ___________?
▸ You’re going to [name the activity]. How can you do that successfully?
▸ Think about what you would be doing if you were a professional ___________.
▸ What will make your ___________ successful?

For envisioning language to be effective, it needs to connect to students’ interests and aspira-
tions. Children must be able to see how the rules are there to support them and their goals.
Having students name their hopes and dreams sends the message that what they care about
matters, that their interests and aspirations are taken seriously, and that they have a say in what
they’ll learn.

Of course, students will need guidance to create goals that are realistic, learning-oriented, and
achievable in school. Here are some tips for helping your students name their goals:
• Set the context by talking about the kinds of work that happens in classrooms. Give
students a tour of the classroom, look at projects completed by your class in the previous
year, or allow students to start trying out materials.
• Express your own hopes and dreams for the school year. Thinking about your own hopes
and dreams and setting a goal for yourself establishes clear expectations about the kinds of
goals that students will be naming.

• Use qualifiers when asking students to name their goals. Limiting the question to the
arenas of academic and social and emotional skills that are relevant to school ensures that
students name goals that will be attainable.

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 Creating the Rules in Grades K–2
Beginning the Process: “Why Do We Come to School?”
A great way to begin the rule creation process is with a group conversation. First grade teacher
Ms. Porter, who has led many classes of young children through this process, starts by asking the
children, “Why do we come to school?” The purpose of this first conversation is to set the context
for children to think about their hopes and dreams for the year. She has found that young children
are more thoughtful in this process if they understand precisely what their teacher means by
schoolwork.

After some thought, children begin to articulate what they think:

“To learn things.”

“To get better at making friends.”

“To learn the things you need to learn to be a grown-up.”

“To have fun. Fun! Fun! Fun!”

“Yeah, because you learn better when things are fun.”

“So if you come to school to learn things, make friends, and have fun,” Ms. Porter asks, “what do
you think our schoolwork will be this year?” Hands wave madly. She writes each child’s idea on
chart paper. Here’s a sampling:

“I think we will learn to read.”

“We will make new friends.”

“I think we will learn how to write.”

“We might write stories or about stuff we’re learning.”

Soon, she sees that the ideas are pretty much exhausted and the children are getting antsy, so
she stops this preliminary discussion to go on to other things. She doesn’t want to rush such
important work.

Listing Hopes and Dreams

The next day, Ms. Porter brings the class back to their list of different kinds of schoolwork; they
reread it together to see if they want to add anything. She then asks the children, “Of all these
things, what do you most hope you will get to do this year?” She tells the children to think about
the question for a minute before they answer. Then she goes around the circle so everyone has a
turn giving an answer. Those who are not ready to give an answer simply pass for the moment.
She will come back to them.

“I hope I get to build lots of different things.”

“I hope I get to build giant Snap Cubes things.”

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“I hope to do puzzles.”

“I hope to play on the computer.”

And so forth.

The list of personal hopes generated at this stage tends to be simpler and more concrete than
the children’s fairly abstract ideas of what schoolwork might be. That’s OK. It’s a reflection of
where children this age are in their thinking.

This list is a rough draft that Ms. Porter will come back to several times. She wants the children
to think carefully about this question, and as is true for all of us, their first idea is not always what
they ultimately want to stick with.

Brainstorming for Rules

The next day, Ms. Porter reads aloud the list of everyone’s hopes. She then says to the class, “It’s
important that we all get to do the things we really want to do this year. If we want to get to all
our schoolwork and to our own hopes and dreams, what rules do we need? What will make our
classroom a safe and friendly place where everyone can learn?”

Again, she records everyone’s ideas. For example:

“I think we should keep everything nice and beautiful.”

“You should work hard and do your best.”

“You shouldn’t knock anything down.”

“Fix up your mistakes.”

“Don’t be mean.”

“You shouldn’t hit.”

“What about hurting kids in other ways?” Ms. Porter asks.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“Treat others the way you want to be treated. That’s the . . . um . . . What is it?”

“The Golden Rule?” Ms. Porter helps with terminology.

“Yeah, the Golden Rule.”

“Stay in your own space.”

“Do you mean at Morning Meeting?” she asks.

“Yeah, at Morning Meeting.”

“What about at other times, like if you were at a table drawing?”

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“Well, yeah, I guess at all times.”

Seeing that the children are out of ideas for now, she tells them that this list is also a rough draft
and that, together, they will look at it again later to make sure they have everything.

Grouping the Rules: Place, Self, and Each Other

That night, Ms. Porter reviews the list of rules. At the bottom of the list she writes place, self, and
each other in three different colors. The next day, the class looks at the list again. Ms. Porter has
three markers that match the colors of the words at the bottom of the chart.

If an idea for a rule was originally phrased in a negative way, she now asks the children to think
about how to phrase it in a positive way. For example, one of the ideas was “Don’t be mean.”

“If we aren’t going to be mean, what will we do, even if we are really mad?” she asks.

“Nice, you have to take care in a nice way.”

“Well, what about when you have a problem with someone? Is there a way you should solve the
problem?”

“You gotta solve a problem in a nice way.”

Turning the negative into a positive is a critical step. So often we assume that if we say what not
to do, everyone will know what to do. But that’s not necessarily the case. Stating a rule in the
positive gives everyone a road map to follow as they negotiate the many twists and turns of the
day.

After reading through the rules, Ms. Porter tells the children that she notices that all the rules
they came up with fit into three different and important categories. She points to the words
place, self, and each other at the bottom of the chart. “Let’s see if that’s right.”

The class reads the ideas on the chart together and decides which category each idea fits into.
As they decide, the teacher brackets the idea in the color that matches the category. When
they’re done, she asks the children if they can come up with a rule that covers all the ideas in
each category. That way, she explains, they’ll have fewer ideas, and that will make them easier
to remember.

The category about place is the easiest because it contains only one idea: “Keep everything
looking nice and beautiful.” This becomes the rule for that category.

The class then looks at the category about how to treat each other. They easily consolidate the
ideas in that category into one rule: “Treat others the way you want to be treated.”

The last category about how to treat yourself is a little harder. The children look confused about
how to consolidate all the ideas in this category into one sentence. Ms. Porter asks them, “If we
just said ‘Take care of yourself,’ would all the ideas fit into that sentence?” They look doubtful, so
she says, “Well, let’s try.” The class then goes through each idea in the category to see if it fits the
sentence. When everyone is satisfied that all the ideas fit, the class adopts “Take care of yourself”
as a rule.

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The Final List: Ms. Porter Adds a Rule
As the class reads over the final draft of their rules, Ms. Porter tells them that she has one more
rule that she, as the teacher, thinks is important to have. She tells them it’s a rule she learned
from a student in her class several years ago, and she has never forgotten it.

“Who in our room should be able to play and learn?” she asks the children. They stare at her as if
she had just asked the most obvious question in the world.

“Everyone gets to!” one child exclaims.

“I think so too!” Ms. Porter declares. “So the rule I want to add is ‘Everyone gets to play and learn.’
What do you think?”

Several heads nod, and one student remarks, “School wouldn’t be fun if you didn’t get to play.”

“And you gotta learn because if you don’t, when you grow up, you won’t know how to do stuff,”
adds another.

Ms. Porter adds the last rule to the list. The class ends the meeting by reading over their final
rules. From the wiggly bodies and hungry looks, she can tell it’s time to stop and have a snack.

“Publishing” the Rules

The next step in this process is to “publish” the class’s work; this means displaying the final rules
in a prominent place so that everyone can refer to them throughout the year. In this class, the
children are just being introduced to the idea of publishing their work, so Ms. Porter emphasizes
taking the time needed to make the display beautiful.

She also makes sure the display reflects the children’s work. With some of her classes, she comes
up with the basic design for the display; sometimes she combines the children’s ideas and hers.
But the students do the artwork and the writing. And because this is a “publication,” she tells stu-
dents they have to use correct spelling and helps them with the spelling and writing as needed.

Ms. Porter knows it’s important to continue linking the hopes and dreams with the rules as the
class uses the rules throughout the year. To ensure that this happens, each student’s hopes and
dreams are included as part of the display. This is also the children’s last chance to revise their
hopes, so Ms. Porter sits down with each child to write their statement. If the child is satisfied
with the statement, the child signs it, and Ms. Porter adds the statement to the display.

At times, Ms. Porter has felt that this rule-making task is just too hard for young children. In some
years, she feels as if she has to pull the ideas out of the children, and often it takes several tries
to get a workable list of ideas.

But she keeps reminding herself that this is an important first step in a yearlong process of learn-
ing to live in a careful and caring way. For many children at this age, framing rules in the positive
and linking them to what they most want to accomplish is a very new way of thinking. It’s no
wonder this is hard for them. But Ms. Porter knows it’s important to engage them in this hard
work.

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 Creating the Rules in Grades 3–6
Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders walk into school on the first day just as excited and nervous
as their teachers. Although more savvy than their early elementary counterparts, these students
still rely on the adults in charge to set the tone for the school year. They need to know from day
one that the teacher is organized and in control and that this is a classroom where predictable
routines and procedures will help them feel safe and respected. Questions reflect their unspoken
thoughts and fears: “Will we have homework this year?” “Do we get recess every day?” “What are
the rules?” “Will I be safe here?” “Will I be able to do the work?” “Is this classroom ‘ours’ or just
the teacher’s?” “Does the teacher like kids?”

Setting the Tone from Day One

Fourth grade teacher Mrs. Brady knows that basic routines and meeting guidelines must be in
place before the class discusses their hopes and dreams for the year. On the first day of school,
she spends time modeling and practicing procedures for basic routines such as lining up, coming
to the meeting circle, and using the signal for quiet.

She also tells the students that they’ll be meeting together as a whole group a lot this year, and
they need to make sure these meetings run smoothly. She leads the class in brainstorming
guidelines that will help everyone be heard and feel comfortable participating.

Articulating Hopes and Dreams

Mrs. Brady’s Hopes
To get ready for talking with students about their hopes and dreams, Mrs. Brady reflects on her
own vision for the year: How will they all treat each other? How will students approach their
learning? What will they accomplish? She knows this reflection is important—her positive vision
for the year will set the tone for students as they articulate their own hopes.

She then opens the conversation about hopes and dreams by expressing her own hope. For ex-
ample, she might say, “This year, I hope everyone will feel safe about trying things that feel hard.”

Posing the Question to Students

Next Mrs. Brady asks the students, “What are your hopes and dreams for this school year?” or
“What would you like to accomplish this school year?” She offers some specific examples: “Do
you want to get better at reading, or learn to do harder math problems, or write lots of stories?”

Sometimes Mrs. Brady has students write their answers in class or as that night’s homework.
Often she simply gathers students in a circle and invites them to respond. Typically, some stu-
dents will name three or four hopes right away; others formulate ideas as they listen to their
more vocal classmates. Mrs. Brady writes all of the students’ ideas on chart paper.

She then asks students to choose their most important hope, giving them a few minutes to think
before responding. Students who need more time can share their ideas the next day. She records
each response on the chart with the child’s name next to it and posts the chart in a prominent
place.

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This public sharing of hopes and dreams conveys the message that everyone’s hopes and dreams
are important. It will also help Mrs. Brady establish two important ideas: they will all help each
other achieve their hopes and dreams, and they have rules in their classroom for this purpose.

The Importance of Social Goals

The first time Mrs. Brady asked students about their hopes and dreams, one student said his
goal was to make a friend. She was tempted to redirect him to an academic goal but then real-
ized that making friends was probably the most important thing he could work on that year. She
has learned over the years that students are remarkably astute at choosing a “just right” goal.
She’s also learned that social goals are just as worthy as academic ones and that it’s important
to help children address these goals in their classrooms.

Here’s a partial list of hopes and dreams from Mrs. Brady’s class:
• Chris hopes that he will get better at writing.

• Katelyn wants to learn fractions and decimals.

• Pha hopes to improve his art skills.

• Shanice hopes to learn to use the Internet for research.

Moving from Hopes and Dreams to Rules

Once everyone has publicly articulated a hope for the year, Mrs. Brady helps students see the
connection between their hopes and their classroom rules. She says, “We’ve all named goals for
the year. What rules help all of us reach our goals?” She then leads a whole-group discussion to
allow children to hear one another’s ideas.

If this is the first time a group of students is doing this activity, Mrs. Brady has learned to expect
many negatively framed statements: “Don’t be mean,” “Don’t copy other people’s work,” “Don’t
interrupt people.” Children (and adults) are used to thinking of rules as expressing what they
shouldn’t do. She’s prepared to help students turn their “don’ts” into “do’s.”

“If Juan hopes to learn a lot of math this year, what can he do to try to make that happen?” she
asks.

“I could do all my work,” Juan says.

She writes Juan’s idea on the chart paper. “What could we do to help Juan?”

“We could not bug him when he’s working,” Chris suggests.

“So if we’re not going to bug Juan, what are we going to do?”

“We could let him work until he’s done.”

Mrs. Brady writes Let people finish their work on the chart. The class continues the discussion
until they’ve generated a long list of positively stated rules. Mrs. Brady is always struck by how
well this exercise suits children this age, with their developing sense of personal and community
responsibility and a keen interest in fairness.

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Getting It Down to a Few Global Rules
After a break, the class synthesizes all of the ideas for classroom rules into a few broad ones. To
begin, Mrs. Brady brings out a chart on which she’s listed a handful of the many rules the class
came up with, divided into three groups:

Invite others to play. Take care of basketballs. Respect silent reading time.
Use nice words. Put art supplies away. Let people finish their work.

Though Mrs. Brady hasn’t labeled the columns, she knows that they represent three fundamental
categories into which classroom rules tend to fall:
• Treatment of self and others (first column)

• Treatment of personal and communal property (second column)

• Treatment of the learning environment (third column)

The first two categories are familiar and easy for most children to understand. The third is not
often addressed overtly in upper elementary classrooms, yet it’s critical to students’ success
in school. Mrs. Brady knows that children need to be taught why and how they should be quiet
during quiet times, participate fairly in activities, use established cleanup routines, respect the
quiet signal, and so forth, so that all class members have the environment they need to work at
their best. In making this a separate, equally important category, she draws children’s attention
to these important behaviors and encourages active discussion of them.

Showing the children the chart, she invites them to finish the columns and think of appropriate
labels for each column.

“What do you notice about the rules in the first column?” she asks.

“They talk about how we should be friends.”

“Do we have any other rules that could be grouped with them?”

“‘Be nice to everybody,’” someone suggests.

Mrs. Brady adds that rule to the column.

“‘Invite others to lunch’ fits with those too,” another student says.

She adds that idea to the chart as well. The first column now looks like this:

Invite others to play.

Use nice words.
Be nice to everybody.
Invite others to lunch.

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When the class is satisfied that no other rules fit into this group, Mrs. Brady says, “These rules
are all very important, but it’s hard to remember a long list of rules. It might be easier if we could
make one rule that says what all these rules say. How might we say that one rule?”

“How about ‘Be friendly with everybody’?” Tyler says.

Mrs. Brady writes this on the chart paper. “What are some other ideas?”

“Remember that people should get respect?” Cara asks tentatively.

She writes that on the chart paper too. “Other ideas?”

After some discussion, the children decide that “Respect and take care of everybody” would be
a good label for column one. This becomes their first classroom rule.

The class goes through the same process for column two and then column three until they’ve
come up with three global rules that cover all the specific rules generated the previous day:
• Respect and take care of everybody.

• Use materials carefully.

• Let everybody learn.

This process of synthesizing the rules can feel time-consuming, but taking children through it is
of great value. Thinking together about how various rules are related leads the group to a shared
understanding of what the rules really mean. During the year, children will need to make countless
decisions, big and small, as they navigate classroom life. Mrs. Brady knows that this shared under-
standing will be critical if the rules are to be truly useful for guiding them to decide responsibly.

A Final Reflection: “Where Did These Rules Come From?”

After the class has arrived at a final list of rules, Mrs. Brady asks the children one last question:
“Where did these rules come from?” Sometimes children get so wrapped up in thinking about
consolidating the rules and choosing the right words that they forget how the whole process
started. This question helps them remember that the rules grew out of their own hopes and
dreams. When children keep connecting the rules with some desire of their own, they are more
likely to feel that the rules are fair and valuable and are more apt to follow them willingly.

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 Using Existing Rules
The Responsive Classroom strategy of collaborating with students to create rules can be an in-
credibly powerful process, but sometimes teachers might need or want to use premade rules
instead. Perhaps the whole school has rules that are in place and all teachers use these same
school rules. Or perhaps a particular group of students will struggle with the rule-generation
process or may need clearly defined rules on the very first day of school. Regardless of the rea-
son, teachers using premade rules can take some steps to help students understand and invest
in the rules.

Setting a Positive Tone for Learning

Ms. Wallace’s eyes sparkle as she greets students on the first day of school. “Welcome to third
grade,” she beams, extending a hand for a warm handshake to each student as the children enter
the room. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

We all know how important first impressions can be. When children enter the classroom at the
beginning of the year, they are nervous and excited. Right off the bat, we want to make sure they
know that their learning environment will be friendly and safe. We can do this in many small but
important ways. We can make sure students know where to put their backpacks and supplies. We
can have a spot for each student to sit in. We can clearly teach and explain simple routines, such
as how to respond to signals for attention and when it’s OK to use the bathroom. We can also use
warm body language and inclusive words. We can get to know our students personally, making
positive connections with them and building warm relationships.

A simple, short list of rules can also set an inviting tone in a classroom. The rules should be few
in number, stated positively, and written in kid-friendly language. Ms. Wallace has three simple
rules:
• Be safe and kind.

• Take care of yourself.

• Take care of our room.

She posts these rules and refers to them frequently in the first few days of school:
• “I’m going to pass out crayons for you to make name tags. How can you ask a neighbor to
borrow a crayon in a safe and kind way?”

• “We’re about to head to lunch. Look around you, and find one thing you can pick up or clean
up to help take care of our room.”

• “If you have a question, make sure to take care of yourself and ask it.”

Creating Hopes and Dreams

Once children are comfortable with the basic routines of the classroom, Ms. Wallace is ready to
begin a process that will help children gain a deeper understanding of the rules and begin to take
more ownership of them. She begins with establishing goals for the year, which she refers to as
“hopes and dreams.”

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The Teacher’s Hopes
“I am so excited to be working with all of you this year. We’re going to have such a wonderful year
in third grade! I hope that we have the kind of classroom where everyone loves coming to school
and where everyone can work hard and learn a lot.”

By stating some of her hopes and dreams for her class, Ms. Wallace continues building the tone
of excitement for the year. She also helps her students think of their own hopes and dreams.

Students’ Hopes and Dreams

Teachers use many different techniques to help students generate hopes and dreams. Some
teachers have children share their ideas with the whole group while the teacher charts their re-
sponses. Others ask children to think about possible hopes and dreams as a homework assign-
ment. Some teachers even ask students to think about their hopes and dreams before the year
starts by sending a letter to students over the summer.

Ms. Wallace likes to give children some time to think about many hopes and dreams before they
choose one for themselves. She begins by saying, “We’re going to start brainstorming some pos-
sible hopes and dreams for third grade. We might think of academic hopes and dreams—things
like writing long stories, solving challenging math problems, or learning about a certain topic in
science. We might also think about social hopes and dreams, like making new friends, learning to
compromise with others, or working with lots of different people. What are some ideas you have
for hopes and dreams, or goals, that kids might have in third grade?”

The class generates many ideas as Ms. Wallace jots them down on a piece of chart paper. Here
are just a few that her students come up with:
• Learn about electricity

• Make new friends

• Learn how to read cursive writing

• Make a slide show presentation

• Learn more about snakes and bugs

• Work with younger kids in the school

There were a few ideas that Ms. Wallace didn’t write down. When Jimmy said that his goal was to
be a better soccer player, she said, “That’s a great goal, but it’s not something that we’ll be able
to work on in our classroom. We’re just going to list ideas that we can work on together in this
class.” When Maria, with a slight smirk, said her goal was to have an hour of recess every day,
Ms. Wallace smiled right back. “Yeah. It would be nice to have that much free time, wouldn’t it?”
and went right on to the next hand that was up.

For the next few days, Ms. Wallace sets aside five or ten minutes for students to add ideas to
their chart, and by the end of the week over 50 ideas are listed. She then says to the class, “Now
it’s time for everyone to choose a hope or dream that you want to share with the class. What’s a
goal you have for third grade? You can choose one from our list, or you can check with me to
make up a new one.”

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All students then create a poster that shows their hope or dream in action. They color them with
crayons and colored pencils, mat them on construction paper, and hang them proudly on their
hopes and dreams bulletin board. Ms. Wallace’s hope is displayed on the bulletin board right
along with students’.

Connecting Hopes and Dreams to Rules

Ms. Wallace now helps students see how their goals connect with their class rules. With a copy of
the class rules in her hands, she gathers the students into a circle.

“You’ve all seen our class rules, and I’ve been talking about them a lot. Now we’re going to see
how they can help us with our hopes and dreams.” (She intentionally uses the inclusive language
of “our rules” to build students’ sense of ownership of the rules.) “Everyone think about your
hope or dream. See if you can find a rule that might connect with your hope or dream. I’ll show
you what I mean. My hope is that everyone will enjoy school and will learn a lot. I see a connec-
tion with the rule ‘Be safe and kind.’ If we’re safe and kind, people will enjoy school. Who can see
how our rules might help you with your hope or dream?”

Joey ventures, “I want to get better at math. Being safe and kind will help me too because if I’m
safe and kind, I’ll help the classroom be peaceful, and I’ll be able to concentrate better.”

Allysa says, “My dream is to write super-long stories. I can take care of myself and push myself
to write a lot.”

This process of connecting students’ hopes and dreams to the rules is important. It helps children
start to see rules as positive guidelines that help create the kind of community where everyone
works together. Instead of seeing rules as necessary evils, students start to see rules as tools to
help everyone reach for their goals.

Connecting Rules to Concrete Behaviors

Using the Language of the Rules

Ms. Wallace also knows that she needs to make the rules visible throughout the day. Even though
her rules are stated in child-friendly terminology, not all children will have the same definition of
“being kind” or “taking care of things.” Ms. Wallace helps children build their understanding of the
rules by weaving the language of the rules into every part of the day:

• “We’re about to play a fun math game together. How can we follow our rule about being safe
and kind as we play?”

• “I noticed that everyone who signed out recess equipment brought it back in and put it away.
That followed our rule about taking care of our classroom!”

• “Tomorrow I’m going to be out of the room first thing in the morning for a meeting. What are
some ways you can take care of yourself if someone else gets silly with the guest teacher?”

By focusing on how children will understand and connect with the rules, Ms. Wallace is building a
classroom climate where discipline is focused on meeting the demands of the rules, not simply
complying with the teacher.

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Teaching Positive Behaviors Through Interactive Modeling
Ms. Wallace also uses the language of the rules as she models skills and routines. “I’m going to
show you how to move a chair through the classroom. Watch how I move it safely and kindly.”
She then moves the chair with two hands, saying “Excuse me” when she passes near a student.
She turns to the class: “How did you see me being safe and kind as I moved the chair?” Again,
using the language of the rules as she models routines helps ground expectations in these rules.
Why are we safe and kind as we move chairs? Because that’s how the rules work in our room.

Keeping the Rules Front and Center Throughout the Year

Although establishing, understanding, and investing in rules is part of the critical work that a
teacher does at the beginning of the school year to foster positive community with a class, it
would be a mistake to think that once November rolls around, discussion of the rules can be
dropped. In fact, paying the same kind of attention to rules throughout the year is an important
way to help children continue growing in their capacity to function independently, in the class-
room, and elsewhere throughout the school.

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 Establishing the Rules in Special Area Settings
Art, music, physical education, library, computer, and other special area subjects are often some
of students’ favorite parts of the day. They typically arrive in these areas with great energy. They
bounce through the door, smiling and chattering, excited about the upcoming class and grateful
for the change of pace that specials provide.

Special area teachers know that each class comes with its own special energy. One second grade
class tends to be quiet, and getting children moving and talking can be difficult. The fifth grade
class that follows is polite but chatty, and they require a different kind of attention. The first grade
class that ends the day on Thursday is really challenging. For whatever reason, that particular
mix of children is rough, and students often alternate between arguing loudly and getting overly
silly.

Special area teachers also know that classroom teachers have different expectations. Even in a
school where Responsive Classroom practices are widely used, each teacher has their own par-
ticular routines and rules. One class arrives at the door silently walking in a single-file line with
the teacher leading the way. Another spills through the door, laughing and talking loudly, their
teacher still halfway down the hall.

Children’s natural excitement about specials, the typical variations in class personality, and differ-
ing teacher expectations mean that it’s crucial for special area teachers to establish rules early
in the year and to help children understand how the rules will give them the opportunity to learn
a lot and have fun in the special area setting.

Setting a Positive Tone for Learning

Mr. Benevedes, an art teacher, looks at the second grade class whose teacher has just escorted
them to his room for the first time. He has a welcoming smile. “Just wait until we really get going
with art this year!” he begins. “Second grade is an exciting year in the art room. You will get to
explore all kinds of different materials, like oil pastels, papier-mâché, and acrylic paints. You’ll be
amazed at how much you’re going to learn and how fun it is. Did you know that we’re going to get
to showcase our work at a local grocery store this year?”

Helping children get excited about their learning in special area rooms is an important first step
in establishing positive rules. It’s a step that sets a tone of anticipation and grounds the rules in
the work the children will do in the special area room. It also helps children understand that rules
make all of this great work possible.

Another important task for the special area teacher at the beginning of the year is making sure
that children know some of the basic routines and procedures in the special area room. How
does the bathroom routine work? What materials can be used, and which ones are off limits?
How will students know where to sit when they enter the room? These seemingly small details
can create anxiety for students if they don’t know what to do. Helping children navigate these
routines sets a tone of safety that enables children to concentrate on learning.

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Articulating Hopes and Dreams
The Teacher’s Hopes
Mr. Benevedes continues, “This year, I hope that we have the kind of art class where kids can be
really creative, take some risks, and try new skills. I hope that you all enjoy art class and look for-
ward to coming each week.”

By articulating his own hopes and goals for the year, Mr. Benevedes continues to set a positive
tone for his students. He also plants the seeds that might inform students’ own hopes and
dreams.

Students’ Hopes and Dreams

“Now I want you to think about your hopes and dreams for art this year. What are some goals you
have? What are some materials you might like to try? What are some things you might like to
learn?” Mr. Benevedes knows that having students think about their hopes and dreams, or goals,
for the year is important. It will help him get to know the students a little better and may spark
some ideas for lessons that he could teach. Their thinking and discussion will also help ground
the rules of the class in students’ hopes and dreams.

Teachers find many different ways to have students share their hopes and dreams. Ms. Franklin,
the physical education teacher, has all students in the school create an academic or social goal
for PE and write it on a paper basketball. These are then proudly displayed outside the gymnasium
on the “Hoops and Dreams” wall. Mr. Charlvoix, the music teacher, has a different strategy. His
room is filled with pictures of children playing an instrument, dancing, singing, or engaging in
various other musical pursuits, each one a vision of a student’s musical hope or dream for the
year.

These are just a couple of examples that illustrate how children in special area classrooms can
think about their goals for the year. In some schools, special area teachers meet at the beginning
of the year to talk about how they will have children set goals in each of their classrooms to avoid
too much repetition that might weaken the experience for children.

Connecting Hopes and Dreams to Rules

Mr. Benevedes works in a school where a set of schoolwide rules are used in many common areas,
such as his special area classroom:
• Be safe.

• Take care of others.

• Work hard and follow your dreams.

• Keep our school clean.

Mr. Benevedes now works at connecting students’ hopes and dreams for the year to these rules,
which he has hanging on a colorful poster in the art room. At the beginning of each art class for
several weeks, Mr. Benevedes takes a few minutes and has students think about their hopes and
dreams and the class rules.

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“These rules will help us do great work in the art room this year. Let’s think about the first one:
‘Be safe.’ This could refer to being physically safe, like holding scissors safely, or it could refer to
being emotionally safe, like supporting each other as we try new skills. If someone’s hope or
dream is about learning something new, how might this rule help?”

“If people throw things, someone might get hurt, and then we’ll have to put stuff away,” offers
Richard.

“If people are mean to each other, they might not try new ideas,” adds Lisa.

“OK. It sounds like you’ve got some great ideas,” says Mr. Benevedes. “Now think about your own
hope or dream for art. Think of a way being safe can help you reach for your hope or dream.
Share an idea you have with a partner at your table.”

Connecting Rules to Concrete Behaviors

Next, Mr. Benevedes helps students connect the rules with positive behaviors that are concrete
and immediate for them. He continues, “Today, we’re going to work with brand-new paintbrushes,
and you’re going to try painting using very thin lines. Who has an idea for how we can follow our
rule about being safe as we work today?”

Garrett’s hand shoots up. “I know! We can be safe with the brushes and not poke people with
them—just keep them to ourselves!” Mr. Benevedes nods and looks for more ideas.

“We can be careful when we pass stuff so we don’t mess up people’s paintings,” suggests Jessie.

“We can pass paints safely so we don’t spill them,” offers Chris.

Mr. Benevedes asks a question to help extend the second graders’ thinking. “How about being
safe with feelings? I’m going to ask people to try something that might be hard today. What are
some ways we could be safe with each other’s feelings so people can feel safe trying something
new?”

“Don’t say mean stuff to people if they mess up?” asks Lisa.

“OK,” pushes Mr. Benevedes. “What could we do?”

“We could say something nice, like ‘Nice try,’” says Rico.

“Sounds good,” says Mr. Benevedes. “Let’s check in at the end of art class to see how we did with
being safe today.”

Short and simple discussions like this throughout the early part of the year can help children
understand how rules will work in their special area classrooms. By connecting the rules to stu-
dents’ hopes and dreams and helping them think about ways to follow the rules as they work,
Mr. Benevedes is setting the stage for children to feel some investment in the rules as useful
guidelines to ensure that they have a positive experience in art class.

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Teaching Positive Behaviors Through Interactive Modeling
Another important way to help children understand and invest in rules at the beginning of the
year is to teach important skills and routines through Interactive Modeling. For example, before
Mr. Benevedes has students clean up their work, he teaches them how to clean their brushes.
“In a few minutes, we’re all going to rinse out our brushes at the sink. I’m going to show you how
to do this safely, so everyone watch me carefully as I show you what to do.”

Once Mr. Benevedes and several students have modeled what to do, all children proceed to
rinse their brushes. By using the language of the rules as he models the positive behavior,
Mr. Benevedes is able to reinforce the idea that rules guide positive behavior.

Connecting Special Area Rules with Classroom or School Rules

Children can have a hard time keeping track of multiple sets of rules. Having one set of rules for
their classrooms, another set in the gym, and another set in the hallways might be a bit hard for
them. One thing that special area teachers can do to ease this situation is to help children see
the connections between their rules and other rules in the school. In Mr. Benevedes’s school,
younger grade classes bring “traveling rules”—essentially a copy of their classroom rules—to
specials to help them see how those rules can apply around the school. Mr. Benevedes helps
children make connections between the classroom rules and the art room rules so that children
see that expectations are similar even when rules are worded in slightly different ways.

Keeping the Rules Front and Center Throughout the Year

Mr. Benevedes pays a lot of attention to helping children understand and invest in rules at the
beginning of the year, but this is just the start! Throughout the year, he uses the language of the
rules as he teaches:
• “Jimmy, I see that you finished your work in about five minutes. Remember our rule about
working hard. What’s a way you can spend more time and effort on this piece of work?”

• “Hey, everyone, I want you to look around the art room. Do you see how clean it is? You have
really followed our rule about keeping the room clean! The next class to come in will have a
great environment to work in!”

Mr. Benevedes knows that by embedding the language of the rules in all that he does, he’ll help
students see the rules as positive guidelines, not onerous restrictions. Also, by keeping the rules
front and center, he removes himself as the prime motivator for students’ behavior. Instead of
following the rules for the teacher, students follow the rules with the guidance of the teacher.
His consistency will help keep the art room safe and productive throughout the year.

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 Sample Rules
Music Art Technology

1. Participate. 1. Do your best learning. 1. Work hard.

2. Do your best. 2. Encourage everyone’s 2. Use computers safely
creativity. and carefully.
3. Keep your body safe.
3. Be careful. 3. Treat everyone kindly.
4. Respect all materials and
instruments. 4. Keep everything tidy. 4. Take care of our room.
5. Always have your materials 5. Ask for help if you need it.
ready.

Physical Education Library/Media Center Any Special Area

1. Take care of yourself. 1. Take care of yourself. 1. Respect everyone and

everything.
2. Take care of others. 2. Take care of one another.
2. Respect our school
3. Take care of our space and 3. Take care of our space and
equipment. resources. 3. Be kind.
4. Use self-control.
5. Try your best.

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 Schoolwide Rules Creation
A grades 3–6 school in the Northeast identified a positive school climate as a top priority and
knew that ensuring a positive school climate would require a consistent schoolwide approach to
discipline—an approach that would apply not just in individual classrooms but also in common
school areas, such as the playground, lunchroom, and hallways. A key element in this approach
was the establishment of schoolwide rules. To craft these rules, the whole school community—
principal, counselor, teachers, students, and parents—began a process that engaged children
throughout the school in creating the school’s “constitution”: a set of schoolwide behavioral
guidelines distilled from separate sets of classroom rules.

Setting a Positive Tone

Before beginning the schoolwide rules process, the school community took two important steps:
• A task force made up of teachers, staff, and parents worked together to create guidelines for
handling children’s behavior struggles anywhere in the school. The plan included steps to
take for serious misconduct, but it emphasized reducing the need for those steps by articu-
lating steps to self-control that would help students manage their own behavior.

• Each classroom worked together early in the year to articulate their hopes and dreams for
the school year, created rules that would help those hopes and dreams come alive, and con-
nected their rules to concrete behaviors.

With these two pieces in place, the school community was ready to create their constitution.

From Hopes and Dreams to Grade-Level Rules

The first step was to create grade-level rules by holding grade-level mini-conventions. These
grade-level rules would embody, in a general way, all of the hopes and dreams expressed in the
classroom rules.

Each of the school’s fourteen classrooms chose two student delegates to represent them at the
four grade-level mini-conventions. At each mini-convention, the delegates discussed the rules
from all the classrooms for their grade, and selected three to five on which they could all agree.

To bolster the classroom delegates’ sense of ownership, they were given control, with adult guid-
ance, over how they arrived at their grade-level rules. Some voted rule by rule for inclusion or
exclusion; others grouped similar rules so they could more easily decide among them. One grade
wanted to include at least one rule from each classroom.

Connecting Rules to Concrete Behaviors

The mini-convention delegates discussed not only the words they were using—words such as
respect and responsibility—but also how following rules inspired by those words would look,
sound, and feel outside the classroom.

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One group of students said that respect meant “listening when any school adult is talking, not
just your classroom teacher.” Another group said that respect in the lunchroom meant, in part,
saying thank you to the lunch servers. “If Rebecca is being kind to Simon during a soccer game,”
the adults asked, “what might she say if he missed a pass?” One student said, “She could say,
‘That’s OK, Simon—we all miss sometimes.’” Another suggested that Rebecca could say, “I have
some tricks for getting passes like that, Simon. Would you like to hear them later?”

From Grade-Level to Schoolwide Rules

By the end of the grade-level mini-conventions, delegates had four sets of three to five rules
each, one set for each of the school’s grades, and a solid idea of what those rules would look like
in action in different areas of the school. The classroom delegates then chose two delegates to
represent their whole grade at a constitutional convention, where the grade-level rules would be
transformed into a single set of rules that would apply throughout the school. The eight grade-
level delegates, along with the school counselor and principal, gathered in the superintendent’s
conference room and began the next step of the process.

Taking their responsibility very seriously, the delegates reviewed and discussed how to reduce the
numerous rules before them to just three to five. In many settings, adults would have strongly
structured and facilitated this work, but the adult team at this school recognized that the stu-
dents needed some independence to figure things out, so they left the students on their own—
with frequent check-ins. At the end of an hour and a half, the delegates announced that they had
their set of rules. Their focused deliberation had distilled fourteen sets of rules crafted by over
270 students into one set of proposed schoolwide rules:

1. Respect everyone and everything around you.

2. Speak kindly.

3. Be helpful and responsible.

4. Take care of classrooms and school property.

The delegates were now ready to present their work to the school community.

Ratifying the Rules: A Ceremony

On the big day, the whole student body assembled in the auditorium along with teachers, parents,
principal, counselor, and official guests. The school counselor asked everyone to stand. “Everyone
you see standing here,” he said, “participated in creating the classroom rules that are the founda-
tion for the schoolwide rules we will ratify today.”

In front of an enthusiastic audience, the eight grade-level delegates presented the schoolwide
rules, which were printed on a giant poster. “Rule one,” they began. “Respect everyone and every-
thing around you.” They went on to read aloud and explain each of the four rules. When they fin-
ished, the rules were affirmed by voice vote and a standing ovation. Invited guests congratulated
the delegates on their accomplishment. They also reminded students that, for the work they had
done to be meaningful, members of the whole school community would need to help one another
learn and live by the constitution in the months ahead.

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Keeping the Rules Front and Center
After the ratification ceremony, smaller versions of the schoolwide rules poster were posted
in classrooms as well as hallways, the lunchroom, the library, and other common school areas.
Teachers helped children see how the school rules were similar to their own classrooms rules.
For example, a teacher might say, “The school rules are the ones we follow when we’re outside
our classroom. They have the same ideas as our classroom rules, although some of the words
are different.” The teacher might then guide the children through a comparison of words and
ideas to help them relate the two sets of rules.

Parents also received copies of the schoolwide rules with reminders of which sections in the
parent-student handbook would apply when any of these rules were broken.

Moving Into the Future

Creating schoolwide rules and disciplinary policies helped this school take a huge step toward
resolving concerns about school climate. Engaging all the children in the rule-setting process
helped them take ownership, and engaging all the adults emphasized to the children the signifi-
cance of their work. Together, children and adults created a calmer, happier place for learning.

Adults reported that they (and students) felt a sense of both accomplishment and responsibility.
The schoolwide rules needed to belong to the students present in the constitutional year and to
all students following them as well. That would mean discussing, modeling, and practicing the
rules as the school community welcomed new children each year. It would also mean ongoing
communication among all the adults, including parents. Everyone agreed, though, that the work
would be more than justified by the return: helping the entire school community achieve its hopes
and dreams.

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 Rules Created Using the
Responsive Classroom Approach
Characteristics of Rules That Help Children
Learn Positive Behaviors

Are proactive

Frame an ideal

Are general guidelines

Encourage reasoned thinking and discussion

Require action

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 Teacher Language
The language we use in the classroom is an essential and powerful mode of communicating our
expectations to children. Research has shown that children’s academic performance and class-
room behavior are influenced both positively and negatively by teachers’ expectations: if we be-
lieve a student will succeed, that student has a greater chance of doing so than if we believe the
student will fail. Positive teacher language can communicate to students both your confidence
in their ability to meet high expectations and that you recognize and appreciate their efforts at
behaving well.

Skillful teacher language employs the use of words, phrases, tone, and pace to support students
in three broad ways: gaining academic skills and knowledge, developing self-control, and building
a sense of community. When teacher language is positive, it encourages and supports students
in each of these three areas as they learn through mistakes, rather than criticizing them for their
mistakes. Positive teacher language helps students articulate a vision of themselves as success-
ful learners, conveys faith that students can attain their goals, gives feedback that helps students
build on their strengths, and offers guidance that improves students’ skills.

Teacher language should be used to form a community built on positive interactions, responsibility,
accountability, and trust. Guidelines for positive teacher language are:

• Be direct and genuine

• Convey faith in children’s abilities and intentions

• Focus on action

• Keep it brief

• Know when to be silent

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 Reinforcing Language: Naming Strengths
Children build on their strengths, not their weaknesses, so it’s important to see and name what
children do well. With this information, children can grow further. Reinforcing language enables
teachers to do this naming. In the commotion of a school day, it’s easy to lose sight of or take for
granted children’s strengths and skills. However, once you’ve gotten comfortable with this power-
ful tool, you’ll find yourself consistently acknowledging children’s positive behaviors.

Characteristics of Reinforcing Language

Reinforcing language can highlight students’ skills, attitudes, work processes, or the quality of
their work products. Teachers using reinforcing language first carefully observe and analyze stu-
dents’ behavior. Then they offer informational feedback that expresses genuine appreciation and
respect for children’s efforts.

Reinforcing language has the following characteristics:

• Names concrete and specific behaviors

• Points out approximations toward mastery

• May be followed by a question to extend students’ thinking

• Applies to all students

• Emphasizes description over personal approval

• Reflects important goals and values

• Scaffolds growth and change

• Points out children’s leading-edge behaviors

• Describes the process and progress of learning

Names Concrete and Specific Behaviors

Reinforcing language goes beyond general praise such as “Good job!” or a description of abstract
qualities such as “Beautiful drawing!” Instead it provides concrete information about what aspects
of students’ behaviors, processes, or products are working well. A teacher observing a particularly
productive math session might say, “You’re really learning how to read large numbers. Last week
we worked with numbers up to one thousand, and today you read numbers in the millions!”

Identifying and describing such behaviors helps children become more aware of what they know
and can do and how they’ve progressed. With that awareness, children have greater access to
and control over the behaviors that lead to optimal growth and learning.

Points Out Approximations Toward Mastery

Even when children’s behavior or work isn’t completely successful, careful observation will reveal
positive aspects and growth that you can point out with reinforcing language. During a class dis-
cussion in which only a few children shared ideas, the teacher might observe that most students

87
who didn’t speak paid attention to those who did, so the teacher points out these positive steps:
“Some of you shared your thoughts today, and many of you listened respectfully. What else did
you do that helped us have a good discussion?” By sharing observations about where and how
children are doing well, we build scaffolds for more complete success over time. Children realize
that change and learning are processes and can celebrate milestones indicating progress as well
as final achievements.

May Be Followed by a Question to Extend Students’ Thinking

Reinforcing language followed by an open-ended question can help students extend their aware-
ness of a behavior, understand how the behavior helps them, and understand what steps they
might take to improve further. Suppose children in music class get their instruments out particu-
larly efficiently. To develop their awareness of the skills they bring to a task, say something like:
“Everyone got their instruments out so quickly today. What helped you do that?”

Applies to All Students

Many teachers try to promote good behavior with statements like: “I’m looking to see which table
is quietest” or “I see that Marie is ready to go.” But such comparisons and competitions reinforce
some children while giving others implicitly negative and discouraging messages about their
behavior. Reinforcing language focuses on specific behaviors, not general qualities, so it should
be used with all students, not just the “best.”

A teacher using reinforcing language during a transition might say something like: “I see more
and more children sitting quietly. I see others working on putting things away so they can be
ready soon.” Rather than comparing children, such language notes positive steps taken by indi-
vidual children.

Emphasizes Description Over Personal Approval

Reinforcing works best when teachers de-emphasize personal approval and focus instead on
giving clear information about what children are doing well. Instead of “I loved how you put the
oil pastels away so carefully,” try “You handled the oil pastels carefully so they wouldn’t break
when you put them away.”

Focusing on our feelings about children’s behavior implies that the purpose of good behavior is
to please us and undermines children’s sense of self-control and intrinsic motivation. If, instead,
we focus on children’s actions, we motivate them toward cooperative, careful behaviors for the
sake of themselves and the group. Plus, when we describe behaviors we genuinely value—those
important for children’s growth and success—our warmth and caring naturally come through in
our tone of voice and body language.

Reflects Important Goals and Values

Should teachers mention every positive behavior, no matter how small? No. Instead of showering
children with any descriptive feedback you can think of, describe only those positive behaviors
that truly matter to the child’s growth and the group’s shared goals. If using pencils appropriately
is an important goal and a child independently chooses a pencil for a “pencil task” rather than
their preferred marker, then feedback about pencil use is meaningful and reinforcing. If a child
usually uses pencils appropriately, commenting on pencil use may be descriptive, but it’s neither
meaningful nor reinforcing.

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Scaffolds Growth and Change
As children learn, they display well-intentioned and skillful behavior in the midst of mistakes and
limit testing. Reinforcing those aspects of behavior that do demonstrate skill and good intentions
may provide the motivation needed for improvement. Picture, for example, an antsy fourth grade
classroom. Students continually interrupt class discussions by speaking out of turn, talking to
neighbors, playing with small objects, or making odd noises. During an unfocused session, their
teacher tries something new, stopping the discussion and remarking, “I’ve noticed several chil-
dren sitting calmly and listening when others speak, and we’re hearing good ideas from lots of
people. What other things have you noticed going well in this discussion?”

With this positive scaffolding, their teacher finds students quite willing to share ideas about what
they could do better. The teacher encourages them to try out the suggestions they’ve just made.
The group’s subsequent behavior is not perfect, but it is better. And the children are encouraged
and invested rather than discouraged or resistant.

Points Out Children’s Leading-Edge Behaviors

Educator Peter Johnston defines the “leading edge” as the place at which a student reaches a bit
beyond what they already know or can do (Johnston, 2004, p. 13). Pointing out children’s suc-
cesses at their leading edge can nudge them toward increasingly skillful work and behavior. A
teacher might notice a student who often speaks out impulsively raise their hand and wait to be
called upon. “You’re remembering to raise your hand today,” the teacher tells the student in pri-
vate. “That really helped our discussion include lots of different kids’ ideas.” The student doesn’t
always raise their hand after that, but the times when they do represent progress—important
moments for the teacher to remark upon.

Describes the Process and Progress of Learning

Children rightfully feel proud and competent when we remind them, “A few weeks ago, our list of
Spanish sight words was one page long, and now we have three charts full!” Pointing out how
children’s current behavior compares with less-skilled earlier behavior is another way to scaffold
growth. It reminds students that learning is an ongoing process, not simply an end product.

Reinforcing Language in Action

To an individual child (privately):
• You’re remembering to raise your hand today, Bria. That really helped our discussion include
lots of different kids’ ideas.
• I see you’re using chapter headings in your writing. Did you notice that in the books you’re
reading?

To a group:
• Did you notice how many facts we listed about vernal pools? This class knows a lot about
that topic!
• I noticed lots of careful listening and pausing to think before talking.

Reference: Johnston, Peter. 2004. Choice Words. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

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 Reminding Language: Helping Students
Remember Expectations
Reminding language communicates our trust in students’ good intentions. Unlike the reminders
we are used to receiving via mail or email about upcoming appointments or deadlines, reminding
language places the responsibility on the student to remember what is expected of them. This
reminding can be posed either as a question (“What are you supposed to be doing right now?”)
or as a statement (“Show me how you should be doing this”).

When you consistently use reminding language in this way, you communicate to students your
assumption that they are competent learners with good intentions, even when their behavior is
beginning to go off track. Reminding language helps children develop the feelings of autonomy
and competence that lead to self-control and intrinsic motivation. They develop habits of attend-
ing carefully to expectations because they know they will be expected to remember them and
behave accordingly.

Characteristics of Reminding Language

Reminding language can be used in a wide range of school situations, from transitions to whole-
group discussions and from all-school meetings to class bus rides. Effective reminders have the
following characteristics:
• Based on clearly established expectations

• May be a question or a statement

• May be proactive or reactive

• Used when the teacher and the child feel calm

• Briefly stated

Based on Clearly Established Expectations

Reminding language succeeds only when teachers first take the time to establish and teach clear
expectations for children’s behavior through structured discussions about the expectations,
followed by active modeling and practice.

The goal of a structured discussion about expectations is to guide children in making connec-
tions between agreed-upon goals and the behaviors that will enable them to achieve those goals.
To invest students in this process, invite them to think about and name the positive behaviors
that will help them meet expectations. You might say to your class, “Our rules say that we will
respect each other. If someone is sharing work with the class, what will we be doing if we’re
being respectful of the sharer?”

Because children need to see examples of expected behaviors, structured discussions are always
followed by Interactive Modeling. You might follow a discussion about respectful listening with
modeling for students what respectful listening looks like. After you demonstrate, an indispens-
able part of Interactive Modeling is asking children to name what they saw. They may point out
the ways your face showed attention and interest, how you held your hands and feet still, or how
you raised your hand when you wanted to speak.
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After you have modeled the behavior, children need supervised opportunities to try out the be-
haviors for themselves. You might, for example, hold up a book as you read aloud from it while
children practice sitting calmly and focusing their attention on you. After they practice, give
students the chance to name their own positive behaviors and those of their classmates by
asking them what they did to listen respectfully.

May Be a Question or a Statement

Reminding often comes in the form of a question that asks children to think about what they
know, such as “What do you need to be doing right now?” or “How will you follow the rules in this
case?” But it may also come in the form of a statement communicating our belief that children
know what we expect, such as “I will begin when everyone is ready” or “I’m waiting for you to
remember the rules.”

Additionally, you can cue children with a few brief words, such as “Cafeteria voices” or “Cleanup
time,” or with directions, such as “Show me how you will take care of the chairs when you move
them” or “Think about what will help you have a peaceful and friendly bus ride today.”

May Be Proactive or Reactive

Reminding language may be used proactively to help children mentally rehearse appropriate
behaviors before an activity or event or reactively to support children in correcting themselves
when their behavior is beginning to go off track.

Proactive reminders require us to think ahead about upcoming activities and predict aspects
that will be challenging for students. Before getting on the bus for a field trip, a teacher might say
to students, “What are some things you can do to make sure our bus ride is both safe and fun?”
These words remind students what they’ve been learning and practicing about safe and friendly
bus rides. Proactive reminders work best when they include simple statements about positive
expectations, such as the expectation that the bus ride will be both safe and fun.

Reactive reminders are most effective when used just as behavior is beginning to go off track. To
ask a child who is deeply invested in a behavior to stop and think about expectations is unrealis-
tic and potentially counterproductive. This means we need to observe closely and respond quickly.
A teacher who notices two children poking each other while walking in the hallway might imme-
diately say, “Mateo and Andrew, show me how to follow the rules in the halls.” This helps students
remember to keep their hands to themselves while walking.

Used When the Teacher and the Child Feel Calm

Reminders are generally most effective when both the student and the teacher feel calm. Calm-
ness helps the teacher issue a reminder in a direct and trusting tone of voice, and it helps the stu-
dent think about appropriate behavior and then follow through. This is one reason why reminders
should be used just as students are veering off course. Usually, when misbehavior has gone on
for a while, frustration is high and tempers are hot.

Picture, for example, how the situation above with Mateo and Andrew might look if the teacher
waits to issue a reminder until the children’s behavior escalates and they are fighting. At this
point when their teacher intervenes, they are out of control and unable to think about hallway
rules. They ignore the reminder—and the teacher’s frustration is obvious. The boys need to

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be firmly separated and taken to a place where they can calm down and regain their self-control
and ability to reason. Their teacher also needs some time to regain composure.

Briefly Stated
As with all adult-to-student language, the fewer words we use, the better—one short sentence at
most. Our brevity gives students time and space to respond with their words and actions. A lunch
monitor may be tempted to explain and reason, “Jana, we just went over the right way to clear
and stow your tray, and now you’re not following directions. What do you need to do? Don’t you
remember the part about dumping trash?” But the extra explanation only distracts Jana from
focusing on the actions she needs to take. She may feel fussed at and upset. Or she may simply
lose the central message amidst all the words. A concise, clear question will be more effective:
“What steps did we practice for clearing and stowing your tray?”

Reminding Language in Action

Before a transition
• What will you need to do so you can be ready for math quickly?

• Think about how you will help each other put the sports equipment away.

During a transition
• “Ethan, what do you need to be doing right now?”

• “I’ll begin when everyone is ready.”

During independent work

• How did we plan to take care of the books?

• What’s the next step in this work?

Before an activity
• What might be hard about this activity? What might help you with the hard parts?

• Who can show us a safe way to hold the thermometers (rulers, markers, etc.)?

During an activity
• I’m watching for all the ways you follow our classroom rules as you do this activity.

• Show me a safe way to do that.

Before a whole-group meeting or discussion

• What will help us have a good meeting?

• What can you do if you have an idea to share but someone else is speaking?

During a whole-group meeting or discussion

• Meeting rules, everyone.

• What do you need to do with your hands so that Isaac can concentrate, Ursa?

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 Teacher Language Graphic Organizer
Key Characteristics
Examples Reinforcing Reminding

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 Reinforcing Language Practice
Characteristics Sentence Starters

Names concrete, specific behaviors “I noticed . . .”

Applies to all students “You paid attention to . . .”

Emphasizes description over personal “You remembered . . .”

approval
“You all helped . . .”
Reflects important goals and values
“Did you notice . . .”

“You followed our rule by . . .”

Reminding Language Practice

Characteristics Sentence Starters

Reflects clearly established expectations “Who can remember . . .”

Question or statement “Remind me . . .”

Proactice or reactive “Let’s remember . . .”

Used when teacher and child feel calm “Think back to yesterday . . .”

Brief “How might we follow our class rules

as we . . .”

“How will you . . .”

“Let’s review . . .”

“What can you do if . . .”

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 Role-Play

Overview
Role-play is a strategy that teachers can use to help students prepare for complex social inter­
actions that require making a choice among a range of possible positive behaviors. Teachers can
begin to introduce role-playing shortly after the class agrees on the class rules.

In role-playing, the teacher and students discuss the situation, brainstorm possible ways to handle
it, and then act out these possibilities. Role-plays are generally done with the whole class but can
also be done with small groups or even individual children.

When to Use Role-Play

Role-play can be used proactively before problems occur, or reactively to prevent reoccurrence
of a problem. Role-playing is effective in the following situations:
• Dilemmas with more than one right solution (for example, how to be a good sport when
losing—or winning—a game)

• Common and challenging situations (for example, what to do if disagreeing with a partner’s
ideas)

• Situations that have not yet occurred (for example, how to share materials during small-
group work)

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 Typical Situations for Role-Play

Beginning of the Year

Social • Inviting someone who is eating alone at lunch to sit with you
Situations • Starting a conversation with your lunch partner
• Asking if you may join an activity at recess
• Inviting someone to join an activity at recess
• Choosing a good spot in the Morning Meeting circle

Academic • Sharing limited materials

Situations • Working independently while the teacher is working with other students
• Deciding what to do if you forget your homework
• Sharing a book during buddy reading
• Telling your partner about the book you’re reading

Later in the Year

Social • Including a new class member at lunch or recess

Situations • Taking action if you see someone making fun of another student
• Choosing teams fairly
• Being a good sport if you’re losing (or winning) a game

Academic • Working on a collaborative project: listening to group members,

Situations asserting your own ideas, figuring out what to do if you each want
something different
• Explaining your work to a parent at a school open house or a work
exhibition

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 Steps in a Role-Play

1. Describe a specific situation using language that will bring the scene to life for students.
Stop the narration just before the point where a behavior decision—and possible conflict—
will occur.

2. Name the positive goal and connect it to classroom rules.

3. Invite and record children’s ideas for solutions. It’s important to make sure ideas are
framed positively.

4. Act out one idea with the teacher in the lead—or “tricky”—role. It’s important for the
teacher to take the lead at first in order to maintain control of the tone of the role-play.

5. Ask students what they noticed. Ask specific questions as needed to gather relevant infor-
mation. For example, prompt students to notice your tone of voice, specific words you used,
body language, etc.

6. Act out another idea; consider having a student play the lead role. Choose new actors and
replay the scene using another suggestion with a student in the lead role, if students are ready
for this.

7. Again, ask students what they noticed.

8. Continue acting out the other ideas listed.

9. S
 um up lessons learned. Briefly reiterate the strategies that have been tried and reinforce
how these strategies meet the goals for behavior.

10. F
 ollow up. Remind students of when they’ll have a chance to put the strategies into action.
Also let them know you’ll revisit these strategies as needed.

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 Role-Play Guidelines

• Plan how to describe the dilemma and the goal

▸ Acknowledge children’s real feelings
▸ Refer to classroom rules
▸ Clarify the behavior goal to yourself
▸ Name behavior expectations

• Think ahead about who should play the roles

• Plan when and where the role-play will take place

• Dramatize only the positive behavior

• Honor children’s perceptions

• Keep it fast-paced

• Use proactively and reactively

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 Role-Play Video-Viewing Guide
Video Summary: This role-play video features a second grade class in Virginia. The students
will begin a group project during social studies and the teacher wants to prepare them to
handle disagreements in respectful ways.

1. What might the teacher have done ahead of time to prepare for this role-play?

2. What are some examples of teacher language used in this role-play?

• To share the goal of the role-play

• To keep the role-play moving

• To involve students

3. What might be some outcomes of spending time on a role-play like this for both the teacher
and the students?

4. How might a special area teacher or administrator use role-play?

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 Student Grouping
for Collaborative Learning
Giving students the opportunity to learn collaboratively in pairs or small groups benefits their
development in many crucial ways. One of its chief benefits is that it creates variety in how stu-
dents learn, which better addresses the range of learning styles, needs, and aptitudes found in
most classrooms. Students whose learning needs are being met are more likely to engage with
activities and lessons.

Just as importantly, partners and small groups provide a safe space for students to try new things,
make mistakes, practice being assertive, and articulate ideas. Students reluctant to speak up in
a large group setting can often find their voices in a smaller one, and the questions, comments,
and new information offered by peers help them refine their ideas, clarify their thinking, and see
things from new perspectives.

Finally, collaborative work meets students’ needs for belonging, significance, and fun—three
needs that drive human behavior. In pairs or small groups, students strengthen their social and
emotional skills along with their academic skills as they connect with classmates, share ideas,
and have fun together.

Partner and small group work makes the most sense when interwoven with whole-class discus-
sions and opportunities for students to work on their own. By finding time during the day for
partner and small group work, you are promoting stronger student-to-student relationships and
increased academic engagement.

Flexibility With Forming Partnerships and Groups

Because students are at different places in their social, emotional, and cognitive development,
flexibility is key in collaborative learning. For partner and small group work to be effective, all stu-
dents need to be appropriately challenged and engaged. Some things to consider when forming
partners or small groups:
• What are the goals of the lesson?

• What are each student’s skills and needs?

• What type of group would benefit each student the most?

• Are students ready to thoughtfully choose their own partners or groups?

• Who is working above grade level?

• Do some students need extra support?

• How many students have relevant prior knowledge about the material?

• Which students share one or more interests?

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Creating pairs or small groups based on skill, interest, or learning style can ensure that each child
gets the most out of each lesson. There are a variety of ways to create such groups.

Teacher-Created Groups
There are occasions when you’ll need some control over the formation of pairs or groups, either
because of a lesson’s content or the unique needs of your students. In these instances, you’ll
partner or group students intentionally, putting students together who can stay on task as they
collaborate. Complementary skills and compatible interests should also be represented in each
group or partnership.

Other times, creating random pairings and groupings is effective, giving students experience
working with a diverse set of classmates. Whatever system you use to create pairs and groups,
make sure you teach and model it beforehand so students know what to expect, including how
they’ll transition from the grouping activity to group work. Following are some examples of fun
structures and activities for creating random pairs and groups:

Pairs
• Fair Sticks: Write each student’s name on one end of a craft stick. Place all the sticks into a
cup with the names facing down. Pull out two sticks, and those two students become part-
ners for the lesson or activity.

• Matching Cards: Each student receives one card. Each card has a match, and students mix
and mingle to find their match. Matching cards could be math problems and their solutions,
synonyms, states and capitals, vocabulary words and definitions, or other content you want
your students to review.

• Nonverbal Lineup: Without talking, students line up by height, birthday, or house or apart-
ment number. They can use gestures and signals, such as a show of fingers. Then they pair
up with the person standing next to them in line.

Small Groups
• Picture Cut-Ups: Cut each of several different images (such as postcards, maps, or pictures
of works of art) into four pieces. Each student gets a piece of an image. They search for and
group with classmates who have the other pieces.

• Playing Cards: Give each student a playing card. Create groups of various sizes by having
students with the same color, suit, or number gather together.

• Humdingers: Write the titles of four well-known songs (such as “Happy Birthday” and “Old
MacDonald”) on slips of paper, one per slip, and give a slip to each student. Students mingle
while humming the song on their slip and listening for others humming the same song. When
students find a match, they stand together and hum the song in unison until four groups are
each humming a different song.

• Apps and Websites: You can use a wide variety of apps and websites to form random groups
as well as groups based on ability or other criteria. For example, with the app Make My Groups,
you can make groups by entering data about the class, the number of groups you want, and
any criteria such as specific interests.

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Student-Selected Groups
Letting students choose their own partners or small groups provides a measure of autonomy that
is key to increased academic engagement. When students have a choice in what or how they learn,
they are more likely to be invested. Children naturally gravitate to their best friends and may need
some guidance in creating pairs or groups that are inclusive, productive, and engaging. Here are
some tips for how you can provide that guidance:
• Establish an inclusive classroom community before you ever have students select their
own partners or groups. Reinforcing classroom rules such as “Treat each other kindly” and
connecting those rules to daily classroom activities can create the foundation for inclusion.
Use whole class meetings, such as Morning Meeting, to help establish a positive classroom
community in which students have lots of opportunities to interact with and get to know a
range of classmates.

• Give students opportunities to practice making simple choices and reflecting on their ex-
perience with those choices. For example, early in the year, have students choose whom to
sit next to in Morning Meeting or during teacher read-aloud. Use that choice to discuss how
to choose a partner who helps them learn and stay focused on work. This will help students
figure out with whom they might work well. Start slowly and build on success.

• Guide them in choosing work partners. When you think children are ready for this step,
choose a fun interactive learning structure for choosing partners, such as Mix and Mingle to
Music, and keep the task or discussion they are partnering for brief. Once they’ve found suc-
cess with brief and structured partner-choosing opportunities, have them choose partners
in less structured ways and for longer tasks.

• Observe students closely as they learn how to choose partners. Intervene if you notice the
same students working together frequently, students making choices that lead to distracted
or unproductive work, or certain students consistently getting chosen last. Go back to creat-
ing pairs and groups yourself while you revisit with your students the rules related to treating
each other with respect.

• Vary how groups are formed. Even when children are successfully creating inclusive, pro-
ductive pairs and groups, it’s important to use other ways to form groups as well, including
taking charge of forming the groups yourself.

Interactive Learning Structures

Interactive learning structures provide opportunities for students to engage with one another
in structured ways that allow for social interaction and physical movement. Teachers use these
structures to open a lesson or introduce a topic, to have students work with content in the mid-
dle of a lesson, or to reflect at the end of a lesson.

Interactive learning structures help teachers create active and interactive learning environments,
which can increase student engagement. Students are able to dig into content while practicing
essential listening, speaking, and thinking skills, as well as key social skills, such as cooperation
and responsibility.

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Characteristics of Engaging Academics
Pedagogically Sound:

• Active

• Interactive

• Follows the natural learning cycle

Purposeful and Challenging:

• Clear objectives

• Appropriately challenging

• Sets high expectations

• Effective questioning techniques

Student Focused:

• Student strengths and interests

• Autonomy

• High-quality feedback

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 Engaging Academics Video-Viewing Guide
As you watch the video clip, note examples of the following elements of engagement.

Pedagogically Sound:

• Active

• Interactive

• Follows the natural learning cycle

Purposeful and Challenging:

• Clear objectives

• Appropriately challenging

• Sets high expectations

• Effective questioning techniques

Student Focused:

• Student strengths and interests

• Autonomy

• High-quality feedback

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 Academic Choice

Students have choices about:

content
(what they learn)

process
(how they learn)

Phases in Academic Choice

Planning: Students make thoughtful choices about their work.

Working: Students follow through on their plan.

Reflecting: Students reflect on their learning/work.

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 Character Traits Graphic Organizer 1
Directions: Choose one character from the book. Identify two traits and give supporting evidence.

Book Title:

Character

Traits Evidence

Thinking Question: How are you similar to this character?

How are you different from this character?

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 Character Traits Graphic Organizer 2
Directions: Choose one character from the book. Write the name of the character or draw the
character in the large circle. In the two smaller circles, write or draw a symbol to illustrate two
different character traits. Write the page numbers of two places in the book in which the charac-
ter trait is evident.

Book Title:

Thinking Question: How are you similar to this character?

How are you different from this character?

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 Some Examples of Academic Choice Lessons
• Kindergartners practice creating mental images when listening to a story by illustrating
a scene from a read-aloud using markers, crayons, or colored pencils. They share their scenes
with a partner, then take them home to share with family members.

• First graders practice addition facts by using dice, number cards, or spinners to create
equations and then solve the equations. Students share how their practice strategy helped
them learn their facts.

• Second graders show what they’ve learned from several weeks of word study by catego-
rizing a list of words according to spelling patterns. Students can choose from three lists of
words, and decide to arrange the words using notecards, using color to indicate shared pat-
terns among words, or creating a chart showing the words arranged by categories. Students
meet individually with the teacher to share how they categorized the words.

• Third graders research the characteristics of desert regions of the world using books,
maps, encyclopedias, or websites and creating a poster or a brief presentation to share the
facts they discover with another third grade class.

• Fourth graders relate themes of fiction to personal experience. They read a passage
and then share their personal connection by painting or drawing a scene, making a cut-and-
paste picture, or writing a story or poem. The class gathers for an around-the-circle sharing
of personal connections. They play “Who Remembers?” to practice their listening skills.

• Fifth graders show their understanding of fractional equivalency by choosing from one
of two sets of fractions and showing equivalency with fraction bars or pattern blocks or by
drawing or writing. The class holds a meeting to share their work, and a few students share
about how they solved a problem they encountered with their choice.

• A sixth grade class works in small groups to research an impressionist artist and his
important works of art. They present their findings to families and the school community
during a schoolwide evening event called The Arts at Adams School.

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 Academic Choice Sample Lesson Plans
Making Mental Images (Kindergarten)

Goal: Practice making mental images when listening to a story.

What: No choice How: Choice

All students will listen to the same story. Students can choose markers, crayons,
or colored pencils to illustrate a scene from
the read-aloud.

Plan:
• Introduce learning goal and choices.
• Give time frame for the work—20 minutes.
• Oral planning—students will tell the teacher their choice when they are called on.

Work:
• Check in with each student—ask about details they remember from the story.
• Look for details in their drawings.
• Reread sentences from the passage to students who may need to hear it again.

Reflect:
Students will share their scenes with a partner, then take them home to share with
family members.

Notes:
Teacher can take notes on each child and the child’s ability to listen and make mental
images of what they hear.

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 Learning About Desert Regions (3rd grade)

Goal: Learn about the characteristics of desert regions of the world.

What: Choice How: Choice

Learn about three categories of information • Use an encyclopedia, nonfiction book, or
about deserts and report back to the class website.
(plants, climate, animals, people, physi­cal • Study an atlas or map showing locations
features/landforms, locations). of deserts.
• Listen to a book on tape.
• Watch a short video about deserts.
• Everyone will use a note-taking sheet
to organize their information.

Plan:
• Introduce learning goal and choices.
• Give time frame for the work—one week (three work periods to gather information, one work
period to meet with others who researched the same facts, one work period to create short
presentations).
• Use a sign-up chart on the interactive whiteboard.
• Hand out note-taking sheets.

Work:
• First work period will be in the school library (librarian will call up desert websites on the
computers and pull nonfiction books at a variety of reading levels, as well as maps, atlases,
and encyclopedia volumes).
• Two work periods in the classroom to continue to gather information.
• One work period to meet with others who researched the same facts.
• One work period to create short presentations.
• Observe and coach as needed throughout.

Reflect:
• Students share their short presentations during Morning Meeting sharing and several other
times during the school day.
• The information shared in each presentation is used to create a Facts About Deserts class chart.

Notes:
• Presentations can be individual or small group.
• Add an option for creating a poster or doing a short presentation.
• Have students research a desert and find information for each category about that one desert.
• Have students work as individuals, partners, or small groups, or give a choice.

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 Demonstrating Mastery of Equivalent Fractions (5th grade)

Goal: Demonstrate understanding of equivalent fractions.

What: Choice How: Choice

Students have the choice to work with Students can choose to demonstrate how the
1/2 and 3/6 or 3/12 and 1/4. two fractions are equivalent by using fraction
bars, pattern blocks, drawing, or writing.

Plan:
• Introduce learning goal and choices.
• Present sign-up chart with choices for showing understanding of equivalency.
• Students write their names on sticky notes and the fraction set they want to work with.
Sticky note goes under choice for demonstrating equivalency.
• Give time frame for the work—one work period of 5–10 minutes.

Work:
• Check in with every student.
• Look for students who might be willing to share how they solved a problem they encountered
with their choice.

Reflect:
The class holds a meeting to share their work, and a few students talk about how they solved a
problem they encountered when trying to demonstrate equivalency with the choice they made.
Sharing of work could be around-the-circle, partner, or whole group.

Notes:

111
 Sustaining Student Learning
To effectively support students as they learn and grow, we need to understand who they are indi-
vidually, culturally, and developmentally. As teachers, we’re always observing our students. The
behaviors, enthusiasms, and aptitudes we note as we interact with them one-on-one and in groups
over a variety of learning environments is information we use to better support their learning and
development. But by making observation intentional and taking time each day to actively observe
children, we can learn a lot more about who they are as a group and as individuals. We can then
use that knowledge to inform daily classroom planning and heighten students’ engagement with
their learning.

Actively Observing Students

It can be beneficial to begin observing students during times such as academic-based lesson
openers, warm-ups, and energizers, when students are processing information and practicing
social and emotional skills such as sharing, following directions, cooperating, and practicing
self-control. It’s also helpful to vary the vantage point from which you are observing students.
Sometimes observe the whole group, and sometimes sit with one or a few students at a time.
Set aside a few minutes at the end of the school day while the information is still fresh in your
mind to review and reflect on what you noticed. Capturing these observations can help you
create learning environments that engage and nurture all the children you teach.

As you actively observe your students, here are some topics to focus on:
• Peer relationships: Knowing how children usually interact helps you structure working
groups and collaborative projects that challenge and support each student.

• Physical activity: With a sense of children’s typical energy levels, you can incorporate
appropriate amounts of movement into daily classroom life.

• Mental energy: As you gauge children’s mental energy, you’ll be able to plan regular check-
ins for some, longer periods of independent work for others, and strategies for sustaining
attention during challenging tasks for those who need it.

• Learning styles: The better you know students’ learning styles, the more you can design
lessons with activities and choices that use their dominant style and strengthen their less
developed styles.

• Language and cognitive skills: How well do students express ideas in words? What about
their logic, reasoning, and synthesizing abilities? Knowing where students stand with these
skills helps you craft lessons that challenge students and build on the skills they already
have.

Taking the time to gather information during these quick observational moments will help you
develop the skills necessary to observe more complex learning situations. You want to ensure
that your observations include focusing on students in the act of learning. Watching students
work through creating an AB pattern, reading a book aloud, solving a word problem, or planning
a project can give insight into how students are processing information and guide your under-
standing of ways you can both clear up any confusion and extend their learning. Taking the time

112
to listen, watch, and engage with children so that you can get to know their learning styles,
strengths, struggles, and passions will yield rich rewards.

Reinforcing Expectations
One of the essential functions of the teacher is to support students’ learning by managing the
classroom in a way that lets students know where the boundaries and limits are. Students need to
have an understanding not just of classroom expectations but of how the rules you’ve established
will support them in their learning. Students will benefit from revisiting these rules throughout
the year and being reminded of classroom expectations and how those expectations will support
them in their goals. This establishes a powerful connection between classroom rules and learning.
For example, as a class begins to transition into a partner chat, a teacher might say, “Thinking
about our rules, what should it look like, sound like, and feel like during your conversation?” Or as
students prepare to work on a task that may present some challenges, a teacher might say, “Our
rule is ‘Be responsible.’ What might you do if you get stuck while you are working?”

Teacher Proximity
When classroom expectations are clear, a teacher’s presence can do the talking. Sometimes
standing in close proximity to a student is enough for them to become aware of themselves and
adjust their behavior to classroom expectations. Such a refresher preserves the dignity of the
student by not drawing attention to them. It also allows the teacher to observe learning in action,
making it easier to intervene and stop misconceptions before they become formed habits. Addi-
tionally, it creates a safe environment to ask questions. Students are less likely to ask for help
from a teacher who is off to the side and not circulating the classroom. However, if a teacher is
moving throughout the classroom and stopping to interact with multiple students, then stopping
a teacher for a question may seem less daunting. When using proximity, there is no need to hover
or be an intrusive presence. Simply standing close enough to the student that they are aware of
you can be enough of a reminder. Then you can observe the child for a minute or so after from
afar to ensure their positive behavior continues.

Visual and Verbal Cues

Visual and verbal cues—such as eye contact, a head nod, a finger to the lips, saying the child’s
name, pointing to the rules, drawing attention to an anchor chart, placing a finger next to a wrong
calculation, or employing reminding language—are ways to remind students of actions necessary
for learning. These simple visual and verbal cues operate under the assumption that the student
knows what to do and just needs a little prompt to do it. Crucially, none of these cues requires
you to stop what you’re doing to explain the rule, expectation, or example. You can communicate
with the student involved in a way that minimizes the attention called to them. The rest of the
class can continue their work uninterrupted.

Visual and verbal cues can give children the opportunity to learn and practice self-control. They
can also promote independence by prompting students to problem-solve their own instructional
missteps, which communicates to students your faith in their ability to correct their own errors.
Giving children the opportunity to recognize their behavior and correct themselves in the moment
helps them to preserve their dignity, develop self-control, and practice independence.

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Don’t Overuse Cues and Reminders
While these can all be effective ways to help a student regain control of their behavior and ad-
dress their own learning needs, cues and reminders can lose their effect if they are overused.
Students who receive too many reminders might start tuning them out, or they might realize
that they don’t need to change their behavior until the teacher has reminded them three or
four times. If a teacher repeatedly stands in close proximity to two friends who are chatting but
doesn’t follow up by separating them, the power of the reminder is undermined. Similarly, if a
teacher continuously refers to an anchor chart but never intervenes and expects the student
to independently make adjustments, the student may become easily frustrated.

Getting Students Back on Track

When connected with classroom rules, cues and reminders can help ensure students are sup-
ported as they engage in learning. But what do you do when a student loses control, disrupts
their own learning, and needs help getting back on track?

A student who has lost control is not in a state to discuss or negotiate. What they most need is
help de-escalating the situation they are in. For this reason, the most effective language to use is
redirecting language that is firm, direct, simple, and clear. Using redirecting language, calmly and
clearly tell the child to stop and explain exactly what to do instead. Because it is nonnegotiable,
redirecting language is always given as a statement, never a question. A firm direction clarifies
for the student what the limits of the classroom are and reinforces your authority to reinforce
those limits. A direct statement helps the student understand what they need to do to get back
under control, whereas a question asks them to do the work of figuring it out—an impossible
task for a student who may already be feeling overwhelmed. Finally, a simple, clear directive—
something as succinct as a single phrase—means the student doesn’t have to follow or attempt
to rationally understand a long lecture when they’re out of control.

In an effort to avoid sounding mean, it can be tempting for teachers to shy away from being firm
and direct. But when delivered in a calm voice that is kind yet firm, redirecting language is not the
same as being harsh, sarcastic, or disrespectful. When using redirecting language, it is important
to pay attention to your tone and volume. Watch out for the negative tone that slyly slips in or the
raised volume that makes a directive sound more like a threat, instead striving for a neutral tone
and reasonable volume that match the intended message.

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 Connecting With Families
Investing in the First Six Weeks of School
Teachers know the importance of using the first six weeks of school to lay the groundwork for a
successful year with their students. This investment early on makes for a smoother and more
productive school year for the teacher and students. The same holds true for parents: building
a strong foundation with them in the first six weeks can make for better communication with
parents all year long.

The goals for connecting with parents in the first six weeks are comparable to the goals for con-
necting with students. For example, one of the main goals with students is to create a climate of
warmth and safety by building trusting relationships. Similarly, investing in parents during the
first six weeks means creating a relationship of respect, trust, and collaboration. Your main goals
should be:

• To help parents feel welcomed and valued: Make clear to parents that their opinions,
concerns, interests, and family culture are important to you, as well as how excited you are
to have their child as a student.

• To welcome parents to take an active role in their child’s education: The first six weeks
is the right time to begin sending the message that parents are welcome to visit the class-
room, get in touch with you via email or phone, and voice their opinions.

• To build a sense of community among families: When parents have positive relationships
among themselves, they’re more likely to get their children together outside of school, be-
come active members of the school community, and reach out to you about their child.

To have this type of relationship with parents, we need to set aside time to get to know them indi-
vidually, acknowledge them as the expert on their child, and invite them into the educational
partnership—and we need to start as early in the year as possible.

Talking With Parents

Having your first parent-teacher conferences before school starts or during the first few weeks of
school is one way to learn crucial information about your students and their families early, while
also sending the powerful message to parents that their thoughts and perspectives matter. One
way to open the dialogue with parents is by asking, “What do you think is most important for
your child to learn this year?” or “What’s your biggest hope for your child this year?” Not only do
these questions immediately and meaningfully engage the parent, but they set a tone of collabo-
ration, and the answers give you important insights into your new students. When we have a true
understanding of who a child is socially, emotionally, and intellectually, we can teach them much
more effectively. Parents can provide a wealth of information that teachers might take months to
learn or possibly never discover.

Conferences are also an opportunity to discuss child development with parents. In a one-on-one
setting, parents can raise questions unique to their child. A child development handout can get
the conversation started and help parents locate any developmental characteristics they want
to talk about. Take note of any insights parents share about child development and parenting in

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their culture or their family’s specific circumstances; this will give you a richer understanding of
how to more effectively support their child. This is also a chance for you to raise any developmental
issues that you want to discuss.

Keeping in Touch All Year Long

Periodically reaching out to parents to check in and offer some small positive comment about
their children is a simple act but one with a large impact. When parents trust that you know and
appreciate their child, they’re more likely to work collaboratively with you to support their child’s
education. This differs from a more traditional model of teacher-family relations, in which parents
only hear from teachers during required conferences or if their child is having behavioral or aca-
demic problems. The issue with that model is that parents begin to equate any contact from the
teacher with trouble. Any time there’s a phone message from the teacher or a note sent home,
parents immediately assume it’s bad news. A more positive approach, on top of brightening a
parent’s day, shows that you are invested in the success of their child.

Reasons for Staying in Touch

Of the many reasons it’s important to maintain regular, positive communication with parents,
a few in particular stand out:

• It gives parents a window into their child’s daily school life: Parents need to know what
their child is studying and what else is going on in the classroom to be able to offer construc-
tive support.

• It sets a positive tone for school-home communication: Parents tend to mirror the tone
you use when you communicate with them. Sporadic, negative, or accusatory communica-
tion will probably be met with a similar response. But if we’re supportive and encouraging,
parents will most likely be supportive and encouraging in return.

• It builds a trusting relationship with parents: Frequent positive communication lays the
groundwork for a productive, trusting school-home relationship. Once that trust is in place,
it’s possible for the teacher and parent to work collaboratively on difficult issues that might
come up during the year.

Methods for Staying in Touch

While there are many ways to communicate with parents, you will need to find an approach that
works for you and your particular group of families. As you experiment with options to see what
works best for you and for parents, keep your goals in mind: to let parents know what their child
is learning in school, to set a positive tone for school-home communication, and to build a trust-
ing relationship with parents. Here are some possibilities to consider:

• Positive news phone calls

• Regular emails

• Apps or electronic resources

• Weekly or biweekly newsletters

• Daily or weekly notes home

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 • Weekly work folders

• Family message journals

• Invitations to visit the classroom

• Videos

Inviting Parents Into the Classroom

Inviting parents into the classroom benefits both parents and students. Parents gain a clearer
understanding of how their child is being taught, and children’s learning is enriched by the pres-
ence of parents. Along with adding energy and inspiration to the classroom, parents can broaden
children’s perspectives on their community and the world by sharing their ideas, interests, family
traditions, and cultures in person.

Sometimes, we teachers can be hesitant to invite parents into the classroom because we simply
don’t know how to include them in the activities, and the whole idea of managing a roomful of
children and their parents is just too overwhelming. Here are different roles parents can play that
will integrate them into the classroom:

• Observer: This is a great role for parents to start with. It involves little risk on their part but
still allows them to experience what’s going on in the classroom.

• Participant: Parents join their children to take part in the day’s activities.

• Sharer: Parents can also come into the classroom to share a hobby, a skill, a cultural tradition,
or a family interest.

• Helper: Parents can help in lots of ways. They can do clerical tasks, such as copying or filing
papers, hanging up children’s work, laminating, or cutting things out.

Though creating structures for involving parents in classroom life requires an initial investment
of time and energy, there are significant benefits to such involvement. The regular presence of
students’ parents in the classroom can bring a diversity of style and a richness of experience that
no teacher alone can provide. As you plan for parents’ visits, here are some guidelines for making
those visits successful:

• Invite parents often.

• Find out how parents would like to be involved.

• Emphasize that all parents have something valuable to share.

• Decide how often to have drop-in visits.

• Be clear what the parent’s role will be.

• Provide written guidelines for visitors.

• Consider a “first-time helpers” meeting.

• Give parents reminders privately.

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 Teaching Discipline
• Discipline leads to learning

• Discipline can be taught

• Proactive discipline
▸ Set a positive tone and build positive relationships
▸ Use knowledge of children to guide design of classroom and curriculum
▸ Pay attention to needs for belonging, significance, and engagement
▸ Model, practice, and reflect
▸ Provide positive structures to support success

• Reactive discipline
▸ Stop misbehavior
▸ Restore safety
▸ Guide children to use positive strategies

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 Teacher Empathy
A key component of implementing reactive disciplinary strategies is teacher empathy. Empathy
is often misinterpreted as feeling sorry for someone or as having a caring or kind attitude toward
someone. Some might even see empathy as a barrier to effectively imposing reactive strategies.
However, teacher empathy is none of these things. Empathy is the ability to recognize, appreciate,
respect, and understand another’s state of mind or emotions. Teacher empathy results in stu-
dents feeling understood and heard, and it’s critical to connecting with and relating to students.

Empathy Through Metaphors

Teacher empathy draws on a teacher’s own feelings and emotions and requires an “imaginative
leap” to understand and describe a student’s unarticulated feelings. Based on the work of physi-
cian John Coulehan (2001), imaginative leaps can enable teachers to express empathy through
metaphors, which are a powerful way to demonstrate that the teacher understands the intensity
of the emotions the student may be feeling.
For example, Josh is a first-grade student who often blurts out. His teacher sits down to talk to
Josh about his outbursts, and starts by saying, “I notice sometimes you blurt out. You must feel
like a volcano that just erupts sometimes.” Josh smiles and says, “Yes! I just feel like it builds and
builds and builds until I can’t hold it in anymore.”

Identify What the Student Is Feeling

Although a student’s misbehavior is evident, the emotional causes of it often are not. Empathy
requires the ability to respond to the student’s expressed or implied feelings. Common emotions
that lead to misbehavior are sadness, anger, uncertainty, distrust, fear, and boredom.

Some examples of empathetic response to these emotions:

• Sadness: “That must have been hurtful. I can hear the sadness in your voice.”

• Anger: “I can see that you are angry. I imagine if the same thing had happened to me I would
feel pretty angry as well.”

• Uncertainty: “It seems to me you aren’t ready to make a decision to resolve the conflict you
have with Lucas.”

• Distrust: “I understand why you wouldn’t want to return to our class since you’ve had so
many problems in there.”

• Fear: “It sounds like you are feeling really anxious about how you’ll perform on your test.”

• Boredom: “I can understand how it can be hard to do your work when you feel it’s unrelated
to your life or uninteresting. I would have a hard time sitting still if I felt that way.”

In brief, teacher empathy does not excuse student misbehavior, attempt to minimize the situation
or distance the student from the problem, or have as its sole intent to problem-solve or provide an
optimistic outlook. Teacher empathy does take into account that because real events, concerns,
and feelings influence student behavior, we need to give students the opportunity to be seen,
heard, and understood.

Reference: Coulehan, John, et al. 2001. “‘Let Me See If I Have This Right . . .’: Words That Help Build Empathy.” Annals of
Internal Medicine, 135 (3): 221–227.
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Sample Dialogue 1
Ms. Russell: I’ve noticed you’ve been saying unkind things and talking out of turn for several
days now. What’s going on?

Jennifer: I’m so mad! My best friend lied about me to my mom and now my mom is mad at me.
(shrugs in frustration)

Ms. Russell: Well, you know things like this happen, but you can’t let it cause you to get in trouble
at school.

Sample Dialogue 2
Ms. Ramirez: I’ve noticed you’ve been making unkind comments and talking out of turn for
several days now. What’s going on?

Cameron: I’m so mad! My best friend lied about me to my mom and now my mom is mad at me.
(shrugs in frustration)

Ms. Ramirez: Well, it sounds like you’re worried.

Cameron: Yeah, I’m kinda worried, and it makes me feel like my life is over.

Ms. Ramirez: I see. You’re feeling worried and sad.

Cameron: Yeah, and that’s why I’ve been so mean and talking back.

Both Jennifer and Cameron will experience logical consequences for their misbehavior, but
Jennifer is likely to feel unheard and misunderstood, whereas Cameron will have the sense
that the teacher understands and “sees” him.

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 Practice Scenarios
Dialogue Example 1
Ms. Lee: How many famous people examples do you have left to finish?

Enid: (shoves her paper across her desk and slams her head down) I don’t want to do this!

Ms. Lee: It seems like you’re frustrated.

Enid: I’m not doing this! I don’t want to!

How do you respond so that the student feels heard?

Dialogue Example 2
Elijah: You can’t do that! Your time on the laptop is over.

(Sierra continues on the laptop.)

Elijah: Sierra, it’s my turn! I need to finish my research.

(Mr. Clark walks over to the two students.)

Mr. Clark: How’s it going over here.

Elijah: Mr. Clark, Sierra’s turn on the laptop is over. It’s my turn now and she won’t get off!

How do you respond so that both students feel heard?

Dialogue Example 3
(Students are heading into art class after a class bathroom break.)

Mr. Rivera: Welcome, artists! It’s great to see you! Come on in and have a seat in front of the
whiteboard.

(Students enter and Robyn stands off to the side.)

Robyn: Mr. Rivera, I have to go to the bathroom.

Mr. Rivera: I think your class just came from a class bathroom break, is that right?

Robyn: Yes, but I didn’t have to go then.

How do you respond so that the student feels heard?

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 Responding to Misbehavior Overview

Empathy for Children’s Misbehavior

We all break rules at times. We forget the rule, we don’t know the rule, we think the rule is unfair,
or we think we won’t get caught. Recognizing that we break rules sometimes can help us empa-
thize with children when they misbehave. For children, testing rules and limits is a normal part
of development. Some children are more persistent in their testing, but all children, if they are
learning, will make mistakes, actively experiment with rules, or simply act out.

Having empathy doesn’t mean we let go of accountability; instead, we hold children accountable,
but with empathy for why they might be misbehaving and faith that they can choose a better way
to behave. In the process, we might just help them learn to manage their own behavior.

The proactive work we do in our classrooms can reduce the amount of time we spend responding
to children’s misbehavior, but it won’t completely eliminate the misbehavior. Like all of us, children
will have many moments when impulse wins over reason, desire over logic, feelings over rational
thought. They will get curious, they will get carried away, and they will forget.

The number one priority in responding to misbehavior is to stop the misbehavior and restore pos-
itive behavior as quickly as possible. This sounds obvious, but so often teachers skip this step.
Children need to hear the words “Stop now” to break the momentum of their running, yelling,
teasing, etc., and change course. Teachers need to observe children carefully in order to see and
respond to small misbehaviors before they become entrenched patterns.

Goals of Responding to Misbehavior

1. To stop the rule-breaking behavior

2. To maintain a safe and orderly classroom

3. To help students recognize and fix their mistakes

4. To help students develop internal control of their behavior

5. To preserve the dignity of the child and the group

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 Redirecting Language
When students are doing something dangerous to themselves or others, are too emotional to
remember expectations and think reasonably about what they’re supposed to be doing, or are
otherwise too deeply invested in their off-track behavior to correct themselves, teachers need
to redirect them with firm words. Such redirecting language consists of statements or commands
that are clear and respectful of children. Skillfully used, redirecting language lets us provide wise
external control to keep children safe and productive when their self-control is failing them.

Characteristics of Redirecting Language

As most teachers know, a lot can go wrong when we tell children what to do. It takes knowledge
and practice to redirect children in ways that get them to act differently while preserving their
dignity and sense of belonging in the group.

Effective redirecting language:

• Is direct and specific

• Names the desired behavior

• Is brief

• Sets firm limits (if necessary, action follows words)

• Makes a statement instead of asking a question

Redirecting Language in Action

A second grade teacher observes the class as students begin sharing their work on an assign-
ment. The teacher notices David looking excited and waving his hands around wildly, almost
hitting neighboring children accidentally while humming to himself. The teacher walks over to
David and quietly but firmly says, “David, hands in your lap.”

Notice, first of all, that the teacher addresses David directly. If David’s hands are waving about
wildly, he is probably in a state of mind in which he won’t understand indirect communications
such as “Someone needs to get his hands under control.”

If he does understand the indirect message, he may feel embarrassed because the whole class
has been invited to observe his misbehavior. Embarrassment may provoke rebellion, corrode his
sense of belonging and competence, and sour his relationship with his teacher.

By contrast, “David, hands in your lap” gets David’s attention quickly and less publicly. He is
swiftly redirected to more positive behav they’re doing just what he wants them to do.

We do want to help children connect abstract terms (stay in control) and concrete behaviors
(hands in lap), but not when their self-control is shaky or gone and they need external help to get
back in control. When children are emotionally riled or misbehaving, we need to tell them specifi-
cally and clearly exactly what to do.

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When children need redirection, the fewer words we use to convey our message, the more effec-
tive those words will be. Giving only one or at most two action-oriented redirections at a time is
also important in making sure children understand what we want them to do. When children are
well into off-track behavior, simply commanding “Freeze!” or using an established signal for quiet
attention may be a good place to start. Once the children are quiet and still, they’re ready for the
next instruction.

Redirections represent firm limits, so we must take the time to observe whether students follow
them. And if they don’t, we must be prepared to intervene with clearer directions or a logical con-
sequence. Doing so reassures children that we mean what we say and that when we set limits on
what they may and may not do, those limits are firm.

When David’s teacher told him to put his hands in his lap, the teacher watched to see that he did
so. If he hadn’t, his teacher would have taken action to calm him down. If being near classmates
seemed to be stimulating the hand waving, the teacher might have directed David to move to a
seat away from classmates and closer to the teacher. Then the teacher would have waited until
David was resettled with hands in his lap before engaging with other children.

If David needed time to calm down, his teacher might have directed him to “take a break” for a bit
in a place away from the action. If David seemed too absorbed in his hand waving to comprehend
the first redirection, the teacher might have simply redirected again, but even more concisely—
for example, by saying “David, stop”—and then repeating the original instruction once sure of his
attention.

Make a Statement, Don’t Ask a Question

Redirecting children requires firm, nonnegotiable language. Although in social interactions we
often frame directions as questions (“Would you sit down?”), this is ineffective with children
needing redirection. They benefit from firm limits, not implied choices.

Phrasing a nonnegotiable command as a question may confuse a child who doesn’t understand
that we’re not really asking a question. A bus driver says, “Will you take a seat now?” “Well, I don’t
really want to take a seat,” one child thinks. “Seems like that’s an option.” The child, taking the
question literally, behaves as though they truly do have a choice and then suffers our impatience
when they don’t do as we thought we told them to. They’re as surprised by our impatience as we
are by their response.

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 Punishment vs. Logical Consequences

Punishment Logical Consequences

Intention To ensure compliance by using To help children recognize the

external controls that make the effects of their actions and
child feel ashamed or bad in develop internal controls
other ways

Underlying belief Children will do better only Children want to do better and
because they fear punishment can do better with reflection
and will seek to avoid it and practice

Teacher’s approach Reacts automatically with little Gathers more information

and tone thought; voice is angry and before reacting; voice is calm
punitive and matter-of-fact

Nature of the Not related to the behavior or Related to the behavior;

consequence the damage done; not reason- reasonable for the child to do
able for the child to do

Message to the The child is the problem The damage done, not the
child child, is the problem

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Characteristics of Logical Consequences
Respectful
The teacher’s words and tone of voice communicate respect for the children. The focus is on the
behavior rather than on the child’s character. For example, when one child pushes another, the
teacher tells the child to stop pushing rather than to stop being a bully.

Related
The consequence is directly related to the children’s actions. For example, if a group of children
are supposed to be working together on a project but spend the time talking about the weekend,
a related consequence would be that they don’t work together anymore that day.

Realistic
The consequence must be something the children can reasonably do and that the teacher can
follow through with. For example, a child who writes on a desk could be asked to clean that desk,
but they should not be asked to clean twenty desks or to clean the desk at a time that’s a hard-
ship for either the child or the teacher.

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 Logical Consequences

Break it, fix it

Loss of privilege

Positive time-out

127
 Logical Consequences: Note-Taking Guide

Summary of Key ideas to

Purpose When to use
the practice keep in mind

Break it,
fix it

Loss of
privilege

Positive
time-out

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 Break It, Fix It
When a student makes a mistake because they are acting carelessly, impulsively, or forgetfully
(rather than out of anger or malice), break it, fix it gives them the opportunity to remedy their
mistake by fixing the damage they have caused. This type of logical consequence reinforces the
fact that we all make mistakes and that when we do, the best recourse is to take responsibility
for it and fix the problem.

In the moment, all that children need to make amends is information about what to do and the
firm expectation that they will do it. The teacher’s job is to matter-of-factly offer simple directions
that will get the milk cleaned up, the tower rebuilt, the fish fed, or the books and papers put back
on the desk. No discussion between the teacher and the student is necessary.

When Is Break It, Fix It Not an Appropriate Logical Consequence?

Break it, fix it works best in a moment when a student has honestly made a mistake, not when
they are upset, losing control, or purposefully acting out against the rules. A child who is mis­
behaving willfully or repeatedly needs a logical consequence that will help them calm down and
regain self-control, while the other children in the class need their teacher to keep them safe by
stopping the misbehavior and removing the misbehaving child from the situation. An immediate
time-out or loss of privilege, therefore, is the appropriate consequence in such a scenario.

Only once the misbehaving child has calmed down will they have the necessary energy and
attention to listen to and interact productively with the teacher. What happens at that point
depends on the child and the situation. It might be beneficial to have the child make amends—
to fix what, if anything, the child broke while they were out of control.

Dealing With Hurt Feelings

Break it, fix it is also not a reasonable response in the moment when dealing with hurt feelings.
Fixing a situation in which a peer’s feelings are hurt requires an apology. When one student hurts
another’s feelings, emotions are generally running high for all parties involved, so time to regain
composure is critical for the students involved to respond appropriately to each other. Expecting
an apology while a child is still upset is likely to result in a forced, inauthentic apology or in the
misbehaving student growing even more upset. Authentic apologies generally require reflection,
which can only happen once the student has had a chance to calm down.

As in all potentially unsafe situations, when a child is doing something that may hurt someone’s
feelings (using mean words, laughing unkindly, rolling their eyes, or making other disdainful ex-
pressions), the immediate need is for the teacher to stop the hurtful behavior. Once the teacher
intervenes in the form of a logical consequence (time-out or loss of privilege), all the children
involved need a chance to calm down and regain their self-control. Only then can a teacher pur-
posefully guide the children toward taking steps to soothe the hurt feelings and get back to being
friends—or at least working together peacefully and respectfully.

The following are examples of situations in which break it, fix it would be an appropriate logical
consequence, along with sample teacher language.

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Individuals Making Amends
• A student accidentally knocks over a classmate’s block building: Ask Mark if he wants you to
help him build it back up.

• An older child uses a negative or boasting tone when speaking to someone: Use the rewind
button and say it again.

• A five-year-old habitually uses a mean voice, commanding instead of asking: Kazu, use your
kind words.

• At recess, a child running exuberantly on the playground accidentally bumps into a friend,
who trips and falls: Oops! Dennis tripped when you bumped into him, Kylie. Go ask if he’s
alright and find out if he needs any help.

A Group Making Amends

• A group has been socializing rather than doing its work: Your work isn’t done because you
have been chatting. You owe yourself a thirty-minute work time today. It needs to be done
before you go home. You can do it during lunch or during free reading time. Think a minute,
and then I will ask each of you for your choice.

• A group becomes argumentative and noisy while working on a map, getting very little work
done and disturbing the rest of the room: This group is disturbing others in the room and
getting very little accomplished. You need to quickly divide up the jobs and work alone.

• The class is rude and unruly with a substitute teacher: It sounds like some of you didn’t take
care of yourselves or our guest teacher. We need a plan for what you’ll do next time so that
everyone has a positive and productive day.

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 Loss of Privilege
As students show they can handle more responsibility, they gain more privileges in the classroom.
Losing a privilege is used when a student’s behavior does not meet the expectations you’ve estab-
lished and reinforced in your classroom. While classroom rules, routines, and procedures may
vary from teacher to teacher, they all reinforce similar expectations—that students will tell the
truth, do their jobs, take care of property, and treat each other with respect, fairness, and friend-
liness. A breach of those expectations includes telling lies, acting or speaking in ways that show
disregard for others’ rights or feelings, and acting in ways that show disregard for materials in the
room. When those instances happen, it’s time to reteach, remind, and, when necessary, remove
the relevant privilege.

It’s important to convey to students through your words and demeanor that this type of logical
consequence is not a punishment; it is a learning opportunity, and the privilege will be restored
once the student has shown, in a reasonable amount of time, their understanding of the appropri-
ate behavior. You can show this through your words and demeanor and by restoring the privilege
after giving the child time to practice the behavior with supervision and support. For example,
you might say to a child who leaves library books scattered on the classroom floor, “You haven’t
been taking care of the books in the class library. You won’t be able to use the library by yourself
today.” Once the student demonstrates, under adult supervision, the correct way to handle books,
it’s time to give them back the privilege of reading independently.

The following are examples of situations in which loss of a privilege would be an appropriate
logical consequence, along with sample teacher language.

Individuals Losing a Privilege

• To play games or avoid a task, a student says their work is done when it isn’t: I must be able
to believe what you say and trust you to follow routines for finished work. You will have to
show me your finished work every day this week.

• A child leaves the room to go to the bathroom, fools around in the bathroom, and doesn’t
return in a reasonable period of time: You’re not taking care of yourself in the bathroom, so
you won’t be able to go by yourself for the rest of the day and tomorrow. You will have to wait
until a teacher is free to go with you or until we go as a class.

• A child cheats when playing games: When you cheat, you make the game less fun for others.
You need to leave the game today and try again another time.

• A student is rude to a teacher, ignoring a request not to interrupt and then making a face:
It looks and sounds like you’re not ready to be in a group. You need to work individually.
I’ll check in with you later.

A Group Losing a Privilege

• A group playing four square applies the rules of the game unfairly to exclude or intimidate
certain classmates: The game is over. If you want to play tomorrow, you have to let me know
how you plan to use the rules in ways that are fair for everyone.

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 • Room cleanup is sloppy and difficult: Yikes! The art center is a mess! It’s closed for the day.
Think about what we need to do to clean it up and keep it clean. We’ll talk after lunch.

• The class misuses supplies: This class has been using so much paper that we are almost out
of a month’s supply. I’ve put out what I think is a reasonable quantity. When that is gone, there
will be no more drawing paper for the week.

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 Take a Break: Positive Time-Out
Time-out is a strategy to help children learn and practice self-control. Used consistently and
calmly—and in a nonpunitive way—it can be highly effective in maintaining clear limits for be­
havior while preserving both the dignity of the individual and the smooth functioning of the
classroom.

Unlike reparation or losing a privilege, in which students follow the directions you give them in
the moment, time-out requires students to understand a specific procedure, one that will not
vary based on circumstance. Be sure to explicitly teach time-out procedures by talking about,
modeling, and having students practice the behaviors that will help them and their classmates
successfully regain self-control. These behaviors include:
• Going to the time-out spot quickly, quietly, calmly, and promptly

• Regaining self-control while in time-out without distracting the class (using calming
techniques such as deep breathing or squeezing a stress ball)

• Coming back from time-out quietly and rejoining the work of the group

• Staying focused when a classmate is sent to time-out by leaving the classmate alone

• Going on with the classroom activity while the classmate is in time-out and welcoming
them back when they return

Because children may have experienced punitive uses of time-out, it’s important to frame time-
out as a tool to support them in their learning. Following are general guidelines for how to set
students up for success using time-out.

Explain the Purpose to Children

Explain clearly that the purpose of time-out in this classroom is to give students a chance to
calm down and regain self-control, not to punish them. Let children know that after they have
gathered themselves, they will be welcomed back into the group. To further remove the stigma
surrounding time-out, consider using a different term, such as take a break or rest stop. If stu-
dents are older or if it’s later in the year and time-out is well established, you may also choose to
allow students to send themselves to time-out if they feel the need to calm down. This is another
way of emphasizing that time-out is not a punishment but an opportunity to regain self-control.

Establish One or Two Specific Places

There should be one or two designated time-out places in the room that are visible to you from
anywhere in the room. Make sure that they are neither too far away nor in the thick of activity.
This gives children the separation they need to calm down but allows them to keep track of
what’s going on in the classroom so that they can join in the work when they come back.

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Use Time-Out for Small Disturbances Before a Situation
Gets Worse
Pay attention to your students’ behavior and respond when they’re about to lose control rather
than waiting until they are already out of control. Small signals—such as fidgeting, not keeping
their hands to themselves, or whispering to their friends—are often precursors to more disruptive
behavior. Directing a student who is exhibiting these signals to take a time-out makes it easier for
that student to regain self-control, preserves that student’s relationship with their classmates,
and allows you to remain empathetic (a much more difficult task once a child exhibits out-of-
control behaviors, such as being verbally abusive or hitting a classmate).

Keep Time-Out Brief and Clarify Who Decides When It’s Over
The duration of a time-out will fluctuate based on students’ needs, but it is generally meant to
be brief. The goal is for students to self-regulate and return to the class when they are ready,
but this might not be achievable right away for all students. Children who come back too early
can immediately become a disruption to learning, while other students might take advantage
of the time away by lingering in the designated time-out space for longer than necessary. When
modeling this routine, make clear to students if you will be deciding when the time-out is over or
if they will. It can be effective to start by making those decisions until students are ready for the
responsibility.

Use a Calm Voice and Few Words

Discussions about your reasons for telling a student to take a time-out can wait until after the
student has calmed down and is ready to reasonably discuss the situation. In the moment, your
job is to help the student use the tool of time-out to regain self-control while simultaneously en-
abling the work of the rest of the class to continue. Using a calm voice minimizes the possibility
of disruption, as does using a brief verbal cue or any number of visual signals, such as a hand
signal, pointing to a sign or spot in the classroom, or handing the student a card. Such signals
need to be introduced and modeled for students to effectively allow them to leave the group
without drawing attention.

Use Time-Out for Everyone

It’s important for students to see that time-out is a calming strategy that everyone needs some-
times, not just the same handful of students. It’s also important for them to see that it’s used for
subtle acting out, not just the more noticeable misbehaviors. This contextualizes time-out as a
necessary strategy for students at all ability levels, rather than a punitive tool meant only for
students who struggle most with behavior issues. It sends the message that anyone can lose
self-control and that anyone can regain it.

Keep Instructions Simple and Nonnegotiable

An important purpose of time-out is to allow the work of the group to go on when a student
is misbehaving. Discussing the situation with the student will only disrupt the group further.

134
Moreover, the student is usually not in a frame of mind at the moment to discuss the situation
reasonably. However, when introducing time-out, it’s important to assure students that they can
always talk with you about the situation later.

Time-Out Is Not a Universal Remedy

Even as students develop self-regulation skills, they will still need time-outs throughout the year
because they will still sometimes lose self-control and need a break to settle themselves. But
time-out is just one of many strategies we can use to help students learn positive behaviors; it
should not be treated as a cure-all.

When to Use Time-Out

The following are examples of situations in which time-out would be an appropriate logical con-
sequence, along with some variations of the simple words teachers can use to let children know
it’s time to leave the scene for a few minutes so that they can regain control.

• A child talks continually to a neighbor during a group activity: Chill-out time, Ashley.

• A student repeatedly bangs their pencil and drums their hand on the table: Take a break,
David.

• A child takes extra turns during a game or pays no attention when it isn’t their turn:
Gretchen, rest stop.

• A child makes negative and sarcastic comments: Rest and return, Mike.

• A student refuses to work with a partner or participate in a shared project unless they get
their way: Sylvie, calming space.

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 Introducing Logical Consequences to Students
In opening a conversation about logical consequences, you might start by asking questions such
as: “Why is it sometimes hard to follow the rules?” “What’s an example of a time you didn’t follow
the rules?” “How did you feel?” “How do you feel when you are following the rules?” In these con-
versations, it’s important to convey the following messages:

• We are all working together on learning to follow the rules.

• Following the rules takes lots of practice.

• Everyone makes mistakes. We all forget or choose not to follow rules from time to time.

• When you forget or choose not to follow a rule, it’s my job to help you get back on track and
learn to do better next time.

In introducing this concept to students, you might choose to use the actual term logical conse-
quences. If you do use the term, it’s important to define it as a way to solve problems, get back
on track, and learn. You can discuss it with your students and use low-stakes examples from
fiction and real life to help students understand cause and effect: “If you go outside without an
umbrella when it’s raining, you’ll get wet. That’s a natural consequence. Logical means related,
so a logical consequence is the related result of a student’s behavior. For example, if a student
knocks a stack of papers onto the floor, they will pick up the papers and put things back in order
so everyone can keep learning.” This type of conversation helps students understand the differ-
ence between punishments and consequences.

In other cases, such as with younger students, it may be better to keep the terminology simpler.
For example, you might begin by saying, “We’re all working on following our rules. Let’s think for
a minute about what happens when we follow our rules.” You might give some specific examples
of rule following (letting everyone join an activity, working hard with a partner even if they’re not
your best friend, cleaning the paintbrushes carefully after using them), and then talk with children
about the positive consequences of these actions.

Next, you might say, “We all make mistakes from time to time. Sometimes we might forget a rule,
or sometimes we might choose not to follow one. What happens when we don’t follow a rule—for
example, the rules we just talked about?” You can now guide children in thinking about the possi-
ble problems that might result, including safety risks, hurt feelings, work left undone, and others’
inability to do their work.

“In our classroom,” you might continue, “when students don’t follow a rule, it will be my job to
help them get back on track. I’ll also help them fix any problems they created and learn to follow
the rule next time.”

Whether or not you use the term logical consequences with students, it’s important to give exam-
ples of what those consequences look like. You might say, “A student is running in the classroom
and accidentally knocks over another student’s diorama. If that happens, I might tell the person
who was running to repair the damage to the diorama.” You could also say, “If we’re using staplers
for an art project and someone is using a stapler in an unsafe way, I might tell that person to stop
using the stapler for the rest of the activity. They could try again next time, and I’ll watch to make
sure they’re using it safely.”

136
By giving several concrete examples, you let students know ahead of time what sorts of things
will happen when they don’t follow the rules. Children will feel more comfortable and assured
when they know what the boundaries are and what will happen if those boundaries are crossed.
Students will know that you expect them to live by the rules and that if they don’t, you will help
them stay safe physically and emotionally and learn to do better next time.

Introduce the idea of logical consequences after rules are established and children have begun
to practice them. You can adapt the following guidelines and teacher language to suit children’s
developmental capabilities and needs.

1. Talk with the children about the positive consequences of following the rules (for example,
everyone is safe, everyone learns, etc.): What would it look like if you were playing on the
climbing structure and really making sure to do it in a safe way?

2. Encourage open, relaxed discussions with the children about their process of learning and
following rules: What are the hardest rules to follow? What makes them hard to follow? Why
is it hard to follow rules sometimes? What kinds of feelings do you have when you aren’t fol-
lowing the rules? How about when you are following them?

3. Present the need for logical consequences: When children are not in control of themselves or
not taking the responsibility to follow the rules, it is my job to help you get your self-control
back.

4. Discuss and model for children some concrete examples of respectful, related, and realistic
ways that teachers can help children get back on track: Let’s look at some ways that I might
help you get back to following rules. Let’s pretend that someone is being unsafe on the climb-
ing structure. I might give a reminder at first and then I would tell that child to leave the struc-
ture for the day. Here’s another example. Let’s pretend . . . (filling in with several examples of
logical consequences the teacher might use).

5. Introduce time-out procedures after rules have been established. This introduction should
involve talking about, modeling, and letting students practice how to use time-out. Modeling
lets all students, regardless of how they’ve seen time-out used before, see how it will be used
in this classroom. The teacher might ask while modeling, “What did you notice about how I
moved to the time-out chair?” Students might respond, “You walked,” “You didn’t stop along
the way to fool around with something,” and so forth. Similarly, the teacher can ask students
what they noticed about how the teacher sat in the time-out spot and how they walked back.

Here are key behaviors to teach as part of time-out procedures:

• Going to the time-out spot quickly without saying anything, making gestures, or stopping
along the way

• Doing whatever it takes to refocus or regain self-control as long as it’s quiet and doesn’t
distract the class

• Coming back from time-out quietly and rejoining the work of the group

• Helping a classmate in time-out, such as by leaving that person alone, going on with the
classroom activity as usual, and welcoming the classmate back when they return

137
Additional Tips to Keep in Mind
(Adapted from Teaching Self-Discipline, Center for Responsive Schools, 2019)

When using logical consequences, here are a few other considerations to keep in mind.

The Teacher Decides the Consequence

Choosing a logical consequence is not a collaborative process. When introducing logical conse-
quences, you may ask children to come up with some appropriate consequences for various
hypothetical situations. Such a discussion can help children understand the intention and char-
acteristics of this way of handling rule breaking. In actual rule-breaking situations, however, you
are in charge of deciding the consequence. Choosing an appropriate logical consequence is a
complex decision requiring knowledge and mature judgment. Most elementary school students
have a difficult time distinguishing between logical consequences and punishments. Asked to
decide on a logical consequence for each other, students are likely to dole out harsh punish-
ments and judgments. Deciding on logical consequences for other students is not a position
elementary school students should ever be in.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Each child—and situation—is unique, and different situations call for different responses. When
children misbehave, they offer valuable information about what they need. In Maintaining Sanity
in the Classroom: Classroom Management Techniques (1982), Dreikurs, Grunwald, and Pepper
write about the need that all people have for a sense of belonging and a sense of importance
or significance. Researcher Edward Deci (1995) frames these fundamental human needs as the
need for autonomy (the freedom to control oneself), relatedness (being connected to others),
and competence (the ability to achieve desired outcomes). Both Dreikurs et al. and Deci remind
us that when people’s basic psychological needs are not met, they often act out in negative
ways. Understanding what’s behind a child’s misbehavior can assist you in choosing an effec-
tive response.

Here are a few questions you might ask when a child misbehaves:

• Are expectations clear? Too high? Too low?

• Is this behavior part of a pattern, or is it an isolated incident?

• Is the child testing limits? Engaging in a power struggle?

• What’s been helpful for this child in the past? What hasn’t been helpful?

The same behavior may demand very different logical consequences with different children,
since what’s motivating each child and what each child understands determine what that child
needs to learn and what problem needs to be fixed. The point is not to apply consequences uni-
formly, but to understand where each child is coming from and choose a consequence that
makes sense for that child. We build trust with our students by being consistent in our response
to misbehavior, but consistency comes from always intervening when a student exhibits a mis-
behavior—regardless of who the student is, what the action is, or what logical consequence is
required.

138
Have Preset Consequences for Certain Situations
Although each situation is unique, there are times—particularly when safety is a concern—when
a preset response is justified. For example, you might decide that any child who runs in the hall-
way would, for a period of time after the incident, have to be accompanied when leaving the
classroom. Each teacher should decide what situations require such nonnegotiable, preset
consequences.

If It Doesn’t Seem Obvious, It’s Probably Not Logical

In making sure that logical consequences are, indeed, logical, the key is to look at each situation
and ask: “What’s the problem here? Hurt feelings? A safety issue? Distraction from work? Dis-
turbing others? How can I stop the problematic action? And, given what I know about this child
and these circumstances, how can I help this child see and fix the problem?” If the consequence
doesn’t become obvious after this reflection, then it’s quite likely that the situation requires some-
thing other than a logical consequence. We can still respond in a way that is respectful, related,
realistic, and nonpunitive. It’s also possible that, in this particular situation, no imposed conse-
quence is needed. If a child forgets to bring home a permission form to get signed and therefore
cannot participate in a field trip or a photo-taking session, not being able to take part is itself a
significant enough consequence that it no doubt teaches the child a great deal about taking
responsibility. In that case, there’s no need to impose a further consequence.

Sometimes Two Steps Are Needed

There are times when we can get so angry and frustrated that we can’t think clearly. In times like
these, when emotions obscure logic, the best thing for us to do is respectfully stop the misbe-
havior in the moment (for example, removing the child from the situation by sending them to
buddy teacher time-out). Later, after everyone has had time to cool off, you can decide if any fur-
ther action is needed. You might set up a time to talk with the child after lunch, after recess, or at
some later point in the day. Keep in mind, however, that this waiting time can be a great source of
anxiety for some children. If this might be the case for a particular child, keep the cool-off period
as short as possible.

Many teachers recognize that during these times of anger and frustration, they themselves need
a time-out. You can call on a colleague to be with your class for a few minutes while you take a
walk down the hall. If this isn’t possible, you might change the class activity so that students are
working independently. You can then sit quietly at your desk for a few minutes.

Keep Explanations Brief

When using a logical consequence, the less said, the better. Let the consequence do the job. If
the consequence is well chosen, it will be more powerful than any words. Additional explanations
can easily undermine that power and exacerbate any classroom disruption that the child’s be-
havior may have caused.

Rely on Colleagues for Help

Beyond setting up a buddy teacher system, there are informal ways for teachers to get crucial
support from each other. If the same behavior problem keeps showing up in your classroom or if
a particular child makes you especially angry or frustrated, talk with colleagues about it. Often,
good solutions emerge from the collective experience and wisdom of teachers and staff.

139
Have a Reentry Check-In if a Child Must Leave the Room
If the logical consequence involves the child leaving the room—for example, to go to a buddy
teacher’s room or to the principal’s office—it’s crucial to check in with the child before bringing
them back into the classroom. The conversation will be about what happened, what needs to be
done now, and how to prevent similar situations in the future. Taking the time for this step reas-
sures you that the child is ready to come back to the class. It also shows the child that they are
still liked and respected and that relationships are intact.

Try, Try Again

Responding to misbehavior is challenging—perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of teach-
ing. Even the most experienced teachers make mistakes. But the most experienced teachers will
also be the first to say that we must allow ourselves to make mistakes, just as we allow students
to make them. And just as we tell our students without shaming them to “try, try again,” we must
allow ourselves to try again without self-defeating judgments, but with the spirit of learning to do
better next time. As Dreikurs et al. (1982) point out, it’s not the mistake but what one does about
it that’s important. In time, mistakes will give way to successes.

References:

Deci, Edward L. (with Richard Flaste). 1995. Why We Do What We Do. New York: Penguin.
Dreikurs, Rudolf, Bernice Bronia Grunwald, and Floy C. Pepper. 1982. Maintaining Sanity in the Classroom:
Classroom Management Techniques. 2nd ed. New York: Harper and Row.

140
Appendix A

Reflections

141
 My Current Teaching Context
My role/grade level ______________________________________________________________________

Number of years in education ____________

1. Describe the school where you work and the students and/or staff you support.

2. Describe ways in which you create a climate of warmth, inclusion, and safety in your classroom
space or school.

3. Describe how you teach routines and behavior expectations.

4. Describe how you help students and/or staff get to know and care for the classroom or school
environment.

5. Describe how you establish expectations for academic work.

6. Reflecting on questions 2 to 5, in what ways are you hoping to grow as an educator through
this course?

7. What are some things you might consider doing in order to best support your learning during
this course?

8. What are some things you might need to consider in order to support the learning of
those around you?

142
 3-2-1 Reflection: Day 2
What are three ideas or topics from yesterday’s learning that squared with your thinking?

What are two questions you have about our learning from yesterday?

What is one idea or topic from yesterday’s learning in which you would like to grow?

143
 3-2-1 Reflection: Day 3
What are three ideas or topics from yesterday’s learning that squared with your thinking?

What are two questions you have about our learning from yesterday?

What is one idea or topic from yesterday’s learning in which you would like to grow?

144
 Journal Reflection
As a result of the knowledge I have gained, I plan to:

Steps I will take to implement my plan:

145
 Geometric Shape Reflection

Something I learned that A question that is still

“squares” with my thinking “circling” in my mind

Three important “points” One new “direction” I will go

I want to remember in (or action step I will take)

146
 Plan for Implementation
Setting Goals
What are some possible Responsive Classroom practices you would like to implement?

Choose one or two practices. Write a specific and clear goal statement for the implementation of
these practices.

Creating a Plan
What are some first steps you can take for implementation?

1.

2.

3.

4.

Implementation Check-In Supports and

Action Steps
Date Date Resources

147
Appendix B

Planning Guides
Graphic Organizers
Energizers: Note-Taking Guide
Interactive Learning Structures: Note-Taking Guide
Sample Interactive Learning Structures

149
 Morning Meeting Daily Planning Guide
What is the plan? Academic content/ Skills to focus on/reinforce
curriculum connections

Greeting:

Sharing
(circle one format):

Around-the-circle,
partner, or dialogue

Group activity
(circle one type
and list activity):

Song, chant, poem,

game, or other

Morning message
Topic:

How will you read the

message?

150
 Morning Meeting Weekly Planning Guide
Date:______________ This week’s special events:_____________________________________________

Academic content/curriculum connections:________________________________________________

Skills to focus on/reinforce: _______________________________________________________________

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Greeting

Sharing
(Around-the-
circle, partner,
or dialogue)

Group
activity
(Song, chant,
poem, game,
or other)

Morning
message
How will you
read the
message?

151
 Role-Play Planning Guide

1. Describe a specific What words will you use to describe the situation from
situation. Stop the a student’s point of view? How will you connect to classroom
description just at rules?
the point where a
behavior decision
will occur.

2. N
 ame the What do you want the children to be able to do? For example:
positive goal. “How can I get . . . ?” or “How can I be . . . ?”

3. Invite and record How will you invite ideas? How many ideas will you record?
students’ ideas for How many will the class dramatize? How will you redirect any
a solution. inappropriate ideas?

4. Act out one idea Who will you choose to act out other roles? Where will you stop
with the teacher the action so that the role-play stays positive?
in the lead—or
“tricky”—role.
Audience notices
what actors say
and do.

5. Ask students what What questions can you ask to elicit specific observations? For
they noticed. example: “What did you notice about the way . . . ?” “What did it
feel like to . . . ?” “How was this an example of following our rules?”

152
6. Act out another idea; Are students ready to take the lead role? If so, who will take the
consider having a lead role? Who will act out other roles? Where will you stop the
student take the lead action so the role-play remains positive?
role. Audience notices
what actors say and
do.

7. Again, ask students For example: “What did you notice about the way . . . ?” “What did
what they noticed. it feel like to . . . ?” “How was this an example of following our
rules?”

8. Act out other ideas. Assess children’s focus and energy. Are they ready to act out
other ideas? If so, who will take the roles?

9. S
 um up lessons What points do you want to emphasize? What do you want
learned. children to remember?

10. F
 ollow up. How and when will you follow up on this role-play?

153
 Establishing Rules Planning Guide

Introduction to the
Learning Space
How will you introduce
students to the learning
that will be happening in
this space for the year?

Your Hopes and Dreams

What might be your hopes
and dreams for this year?

Envisioning Language
How will you introduce stu-
dents to creating their own
hopes and dreams for the
school year?

Establishing Rules
What’s the basic process
you will use to establish
and teach rules?

Action
What are some ways to help
children build investment
in the rules? What are some
ways to help children build an
understanding of the rules?

154
 Interactive Modeling Planning Guide 1

Steps What It Might Sound/Look Like

1. Say what you will

model and why.

2. M
 odel the
behavior.

3. Ask students
what they
noticed.

4. Invite one or more

students
to model.

155
 Steps What It Might Sound/Look Like

5. Again, ask
students what
they noticed.

6. H
 ave all students
practice.

7. Provide feedback.

156
 Interactive Modeling Planning Guide 2

Steps What It Might Sound/Look Like

1. Say what you will

model and why.

2. M
 odel the
behavior.

3. Ask students
what they
noticed.

4. I nvite one or
more students
to model.

157
 Steps What It Might Sound/Look Like

5. Again, ask
students what
they noticed.

6. H
 ave all students
practice.

7. Provide feedback.

158
 Interactive Modeling Planning Guide 3

Steps What It Might Sound/Look Like

1. Say what you will

model and why.

2. M
 odel the
behavior.

3. Ask students
what they
noticed.

4. I nvite one or
more students
to model.

159
 Steps What It Might Sound/Look Like

5. Again, ask
students what
they noticed.

6. H
 ave all students
practice.

7. Provide feedback.

160
 Guided Discovery Planning Guide

1. Introduction and What open-ended questions can you ask? If you are introducing a
naming familiar material, how will you get children to look at the material
in a new way and notice new things? What vocabulary do you
want to emphasize or introduce?

2. G
 eneration and How will you help children generate ideas and model behaviors
modeling of ideas needed for use of material for learning and care of material
for use and care of during exploration?
materials

3. Exploration How will you facilitate children’s exploration of the material?

Where will the exploration happen? What behaviors do you want
to reinforce?

161
 4. Sharing of How you will facilitate children’s sharing of their work and ideas?
exploratory work What focus will you provide?

5. C
 leanup and care How you will help children think through and practice cleanup
of materials and care of materials? What do children need to know? What
behaviors will you model?

Notes 

162
 Student Grouping Graphic Organizer 1
Age/Grade ______________________

Developmental Considerations
What developmental characteristics will you need to consider when grouping students at this age?

Grouping
With these developmental considerations in mind, how might you group students for learning?

Interactive Learning Structures

With these developmental considerations in mind, what interactive
earning structures might you use with this age group? (See pages 176–184.)

Management Considerations
What are some management tips and ideas you will need to keep in mind
when grouping students for learning and using interactive learning structures?

163
 Student Grouping Graphic Organizer 2
Age/Grade ______________________

Developmental Considerations
What developmental characteristics will you need to consider when grouping students at this age?

Grouping
With these developmental considerations in mind, how might you group students for learning?

Interactive Learning Structures

With these developmental considerations in mind, what interactive
earning structures might you use with this age group? (See pages 176–184.)

Management Considerations
What are some management tips and ideas you will need to keep in mind
when grouping students for learning and using interactive learning structures?

164
 Academic Choice Planning Guide 1
Goal:

What: How:

Plan:

Work:

Reflect:

Notes:

165
 Academic Choice Planning Guide 2
Goal:

What: How:

Plan:

Work:

Reflect:

Notes:

166
 Connecting With Families Brainstorming Guide
Complete the graphic organizer by writing the ways you currently connect with families.

Ways in which
I connect with families

167
 Connecting With Families Graphic Organizer

Forms of communication with families

I would like to add to my practice

At the beginning of the year During the school year/Ongoing

Considerations and tips to best support my community of families

168
Connecting With Families: Family Letter Planning Guide
What is the focus of the
letter? (Hopes & Dreams,
establishing rules, morning
meeting, class visits, etc.)

What key ideas about

this topic do you want to
convey to families? (When
the practice occurs, the
purpose of the practice,
steps in the process, etc.)

What resources can you

provide for additional
information or support?
(books, teachers to consult,
etc.)

Letter Draft

169
 Sample Letter

Dear Families,

We welcome your visits to our classroom throughout the school year.

Whether you come to observe, share something, take part in classroom
activities, or help out, we look forward to having you.

Our goal in this classroom is for children to be independent workers who

support one another by working cooperatively and with self-control. To
encourage this, and to help ensure that your visit is a positive experience
for everyone, please keep these tips in mind:

• During independent work times, feel free to interact with students

by asking them to tell you about their work or what they are doing.

• If you’re observing a lesson, focus on what the students are doing.
If you have any questions to ask me, please save them until after
I’ve finished working with the students

• Interact with all students in addition to your own child

• Give help only when a student asks for it. Start by asking the student
what they have already tried.

• Please follow the rules of our classroom, particularly the signals

we use. A chime or a raised hand means, “stop, look, and listen.”

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

170
 Energizers: Note-Taking Guide*

Energizer Title

Directions Considerations

Energizer Title

Directions Considerations

*For sample energizers, refer to Appendix B: Engaging Activities, Songs, and Chants in The First Six Weeks of School.

171
 Energizer Title

Directions Considerations

Energizer Title

Directions Considerations

172
Energizer Title

Directions Considerations

Energizer Title

Directions Considerations

173
 Interactive Learning Structures: Note-Taking Guide

Interactive Learning Structure Title

Directions Considerations

Interactive Learning Structure Title

Directions Considerations

174
Interactive Learning Structure Title

Directions Considerations

Interactive Learning Structure Title

Directions Considerations

175
 Sample Interactive Learning Structures

Circle Maps
These maps help students look at different perspectives on a topic and synthesize information.

Skills practiced: Categorizing, brainstorming, cooperation, synthesizing information

Directions Tips for Success

1. Form groups of three or four students. • Make sure all students know the focus
Give each group a piece of chart paper for brainstorming and understand how
and designate a scribe for each group. to do the categorization task. Give exam-
ples if necessary.
2. The scribe draws a big circle on the pa-
per and writes the assigned topic—for • Model safe movement of the maps
example, insects—in the middle of the between groups at swap time.
circle.
• G
 ive each group a different-colored
3. As the group brainstorms ideas and marker.
facts about the topic, the scribe writes
these within the circle.

4. At the end of a designated time (for ex-

ample, ten minutes), each group swaps
maps with a neighboring group.

5. The recipients categorize the informa-

tion and provide a key to their catego-
ries. For example, for the topic “insects”
categories might be types, food, life cy-
cle, homes, and body parts.

6. Groups then swap the maps again and

read and reflect on the categories.

176
 Four Corners
Grouping students according to their preferences or opinions can spark discussions, help
students reflect about a variety of topics, and give them a chance to share ideas on topics
they care about.

Skills practiced: Making connections, making a choice, sharing ideas with others

Directions Tips for Success

1. Pose a question to the group and provide • Decide on the question and possible
four possible responses. Designate one responses.
corner of the room for each response.
▸ You might ask a question about as-
2. Students move to the corner of their pects of a topic they’re studying.
choice. (“Which type of fiction do you like
3. In the corners, students discuss the best—historical, mystery, fantasy, or
response their corner represents. They humor—and why?”)
can do this as a small group or in pairs.
▸ You might present a current event and
possible opinions. (“Which environ-
mental issue should be a priority for
our city to research and invest in—
recycling, alternative forms of trans-
portation such as bicycles or electric
cars, alternative forms of energy such
as solar or wind, or water conserva-
tion?”)

• Give students some think time before

releasing them to choose a corner.

• Model safe movement.

• Before students go to their chosen corner,

let them know whether they’ll discuss
their response with a small group or a
partner.
• Give a focus question for discussion
within each corner group; for example,
“What’s the one big reason you love the
genre you chose?” or “What’s one book
you think might convince other class-
mates to like your favorite type of
fiction?”

177
 Jigsaw
Students work in small groups to become knowledgeable about one aspect of a topic or one part
of a long text. Then they share their knowledge in “jigsaw” groups that fit together the bits of
knowledge like pieces in a puzzle.

Skills practiced: Listening, finding main ideas, summarizing, sharing ideas with others

Directions Tips for Success

1. Divide the class into knowledge groups • Consider creating a note-taking sheet for
of three or four students and assign both the knowledge and jigsaw groups.
each group a piece of text to read.
• To reduce confusion when grouping,
2. After reading, knowledge groups use different names for the two sets
discuss key ideas. of groups (for example, A, B, C for the
knowledge groups and 1, 2, 3 for the
3. Regroup the class into jigsaw groups
jigsaws).
with at least one representative from
each knowledge group. • Be clear about the purpose for reading
4. New groups share key ideas with each so that the knowledge groups pay atten-
other. tion to key ideas.

178
 MaÎtre d’
The teacher invites students to “tables” of various sizes, where they exchange ideas on a topic.
This is a good activity for helping students share a range of ideas or opinions.

Skills practiced: Listening, turn-taking, staying focused and brief when speaking, moving
carefully

Directions Tips for Success

1. Activity begins with students standing • Create

 your list of discussion topics for
in a circle. You call out a grouping (for the different groupings.
example, “Table for two”) and students
form groups with the specified number • Use a signal to get attention when it’s
of members. time to move to a new group.

2. Give a topic for discussion. Let students • Consider giving a 30-second warning
know how long they’ll have to share. before inviting students to move to a new
group.
3. When time is up, announce a new table
grouping and new topic. • Model how to move safely and efficiently
into new groupings.

179
 Mix and Mingle to Music
In this lively activity, students have a chance to gather ideas and information from several
partners. This is a useful way to share learning about a topic—and to get children moving.

Skills practiced: Listening, turn-taking, staying focused and brief when speaking, moving
carefully

Directions Tips for Success

1. Before doing the activity, students gather • Give students time to consolidate key
information, examples, techniques, or learning, facts, and ideas before doing
strategies related to a topic. the activity.

2. With notes in hand, students move • Consider providing a note-taking sheet.

around the room while music plays.
• Choose music that’s lively enough to
3. When the music stops, they find a part- energize but not so lively that self-
ner and each shares one idea or piece control is challenged.
of information.
• Model safe and efficient movement.
4. Repeat for several rounds.

180
 Museum Walk
Students get a chance to display and view recently completed work or brainstormed lists as they
share information, reflect on a project, or summarize learning.

Skills practiced: Reading for important information and main ideas, sharing ideas with others,
answering focus questions

Directions Tips for Success

1. Direct students to walk around and look • Post—or

 have students post—items you
at the items displayed. want students to see.

2. Give a focus for viewing; for example, • Consider providing a note-taking sheet.
if students are viewing timelines of the
lives of famous Americans, you might • Model safe movement.
ask them to discover how old each per-
son was when they made an important
contribution, or have them consider
each person’s educational experiences.

3. You can encourage students to take

notes on what they see.

4. After a few minutes, gather the group

together and ask a few people to share
their observations.

181
 Say Something
This is a useful structure for gaining a deeper understanding of a topic.

Skills practiced: Speaking concisely, staying on topic

Directions Tips for Success

1. Place students in pairs. Have them read • Choose a portion of text or a clip that
a small portion of text (or listen to a easily divides into sections.
short video or audio clip).
• Model how to make one focused state-
2. Partners decide together how far to ment or question.
read, view, or listen before pausing to
“say something.” • Model respectful listening.

3. At the pause, each partner says one

thing (a comment or question) related
to what they read, saw, or heard. Their
statements or questions do not need to
relate to each other.

4. Repeat this process until students have

worked through the text or clip. Students
can then have a conversation about the
whole text or clip and respond to any
questions or comments.

182
 Swap Meet
Students gather information, examples, techniques, strategies, or evidence and then share
with several partners.

Skills practiced: Speaking with a number of partners, staying on topic

Directions Tips for Success

1. Prompt students with an open-ended • Provide a structure for gathering and

question. For example, in a lesson on recording ideas before the Swap Meet.
3-D shapes, you might ask, “How are
3-D shapes different from 2-D shapes?” • Provide a note-taking sheet to use during
or “Where in our classroom do you the Swap Meet.
see specific 3-D shapes [cube, sphere,
• Emphasize that students swap just one
etc.]?”
idea before moving on to another person.
2. Students work alone to gather the
• Model safe movement.
information.

3. After a specified time, students mingle

and swap ideas.

183
 Think, Pair, Share
To dig deeper into a topic or reflect on all they’ve learned, students engage in focused
conversation with a partner and then share key ideas with the whole group.

Skills practiced: Listening, staying on topic, summarizing key ideas

Directions Tips for Success

1. Pair students up. Name a topic or ask an • Prepare topics/open-ended questions.

open-ended question.
• Let students know that they will be shar-
2. Give students a minute or two to think ing key ideas with the whole group and
about their response. direct them to identify the spokesperson
in each pair.
3. Partners then talk for a few minutes,
each sharing their response to the ques- • Consider providing a structure, such as
tion or topic. ringing a chime halfway through the
discussion time, to ensure that both
4. When they’re ready to share with the partners have time to talk.
whole group, they raise their hands.
• Model how to talk and listen in focused
5. When most hands are up, give a partner discussions.
30-second warning to finish up.

6. Invite one person from each pair to

share a key idea from their discussion.

184
 About the
Responsive Classroom® Approach
Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based education approach associ-
ated with greater teacher effectiveness, higher student achievement, and
improved school climate. Responsive Classroom practices help educators
build competencies in four interrelated domains: engaging academics,
positive community, effective management, and developmentally
responsive teaching.

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and internationally)
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Turners Falls, Massachusetts 01376-0718

800-360-6332 • www.responsiveclassroom.org
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