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Classroom Norms

Establishing classroom behavior expectations, also known as classroom norms, fosters an environment of mutual respect and accountability. Students will collaboratively create and illustrate a set of norms for their classroom.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Paper
  • Poster Board

Steps

  • Step 1

    Having established guidelines and norms within a classroom provides key benefits for both teachers and students. It fosters mutual respect, it reduces uncertainty by providing a consistent learning environment, and it encourages students to take ownership of their behavior.

  • Step 2

    Ask students to form small groups and brainstorm a list of guidelines for the classroom. Then have each group illustrate a few points on their list. They might want to get playful and creative by imagining they live in a different era, such as the Renaissance or medieval times.

  • Step 3

    Have each group present their illustrated list and discuss the benefits of each item they depicted. The class will vote on which norms will be added to the official class norm list and who will illustrate that poster.

Standards

SEL: Relationship Skills: Establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. 

SEL: Responsible Decision-Making: Make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations, using critical thinking skills. 

Adaptations

Have each student group create an original PSA (public service announcement) promoting the importance of classroom norms and guidelines. They might design a print ad, or they could write and act out a spot for an online streaming commercial.

Read a book such as "Officer Buckle and Gloria" (a Caldecott Medal winner) by Peggy Rathmann or "Teaamwork Isn't My Thing, and I Don't Like to Share" by Julia Cook and Kelsey De Weerd. Have a discussion about how characters in the book learned about the importance of guidelines and mutual respect.