What Kind of School Would You Wish For?

Build safe and supportive school and classroom environments by focusing on lessons that bring the school community together.

By Alison Panik

What kind of school would you wish for?

If you ask your students what kind of a class they would like to be in, their answers may surprise you.  Most children will say they want to have fun, but when probed for more details, you may find out that kids also want other kids to like them, that they want to feel like they make a difference, and they want to be treated with dignity by the adults at school. Kids want to belong. Kids have a stake in creating the family, school, and civic communities they live in, but often they are asked to conform to a school environment that is very different from the home and neighborhood environments they come from. While students are one of integral parts of the school community, they may have very little say in what that community looks like and how it functions.

Community is defined as, “A group of people living together in one place, especially one practicing common ownership.” While we can clearly see that the school community includes the adults and children in the school building, often we forget the element of common ownership. Who “owns” your school? The honest answer in most schools would be “the adults.” A large segment of the school community – the most integral some might say – is often not given ownership of the very community in which they spend so much of their time each day.

What are some ways to elevate “school spirit” to the next level? By striving to become a community instead of an organization. By developing a healthy school identity. By including students in goal-setting at the classroom and school-wide levels, and by inviting children to get to know all of the adults in the school community on a more personal level. The lesson plans below provide a variety of activities which will lead toward community building in your classroom and at your school.

School Community Building Lesson Plans:

Grocery Bag Art

Self-expression meets positive school publicity in this lesson that can serve as an inspiring idea for any member of the school staff. While this lesson was created by a physical education teacher, it includes artistic elements, and provides a way for members of a school community to get their names out in the community in a positive way. I imagine my students creating Grocery Bag Art for the local farmers market or neighborhood merchant. Individual students can draw self-portraits on bags or groups of children could “advertise” their latest exciting learning adventures on the bags. Be sure to include the name of the school on one side of the bag in large lettering so local community members will connect your school with the art on the bags.

Creating Classroom Community

This is Part One in a series of lessons designed to encourage group decision-making and the development of a safe, supportive classroom environment. This lesson should be scheduled for the third or fourth week of the school year. Students in first through eighth grades define classroom goal setting and identify and practice the steps of a goal-setting process. The benefits of goals-setting are clearly stated in kid-friendly language. While this is identified as a guidance lesson, it could be done by the teacher of any class that stays together for most of the school day. I like that the lesson begins with personal feelings and moves toward group action. And I find the included half-page hand-out to be very useful tool.

Giving Back to Our School Community

While this multi-day lesson requires a long list of materials, it is an experience worth giving to your upper elementary students. Children engage in problem-solving, design, cooperation, and hands-on constructive learning. Be sure to discuss the concept of giving with your class and how this project reflects how the school is a community. One of my favorite parts of this lesson plan is the “Evaluate the Lesson” section, providing prompts for teachers to think reflectively about the experience.

Who Works at Our School?

This lesson for kindergarten through eighth grades integrates literacy with artistic design as students gather firsthand information about school staff and create a display to reflect what they’ve learned. It is imperative that the teacher discuss with staff the logistics of how and where the student interviews will be undertaken in order to ensure student success. I would include not only school staff, but also parent volunteers in the school workers category. Ideas for how to determine good interview questions are included in this lesson plan. I really like the idea of doing mock interviews (with the teacher asking students questions) to demonstrate the difference between good interview questions and great interview questions.   

School Worker Guessing Game

Students in kindergarten to second grade discuss the importance of showing respect as they make a class book about the adults who are a part of their school community. The best parts of this lesson for students are the opportunities for rich discussion about what a community is, and finding ways to demonstrate respect. This lesson explores the roles each person plays in a community. To add an additional creative component to this lesson, teach children a new book-binding technique - such as how to make an accordion book. Children create their own small accordion books and work together to arrange their class book using this technique.