By exploring the question, “What does it meant to be part of a classroom learning community?” this project lays the foundation for a successful classroom community in which all students feel trusted, safe and valued. In just 60 minutes a day for one week, you’ll build a strong classroom community through peer interviews, a teacher-to-student email exchange and a class book discussion. Use this project at the beginning of the school year to set a positive tone for learning and collaborating!

1. Students will grow in self-awareness and respect for individual differences inside and outside of the classroom.

2. Students will think critically about the essential question, “What does it mean to be part of a learning community?”

3. Students will write informally and formally on a daily basis.

4. Students will work on building authentic human connections with their peers.

5. Students will learn and explore different forms of classroom communication, including email.

6. Students will write emails to communicate personal ideas.

7. Students will demonstrate listening comprehension and critical-thinking strategies through discussion about the read aloud book Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise.

8. Students will write to introduce a peer, and contribute their introduction to a class community wiki.

 

Common Core State Standards:

This project meets up to 8 Common Core ELA Standards including R1, R3, W2, W4, W6, W9, W10, SL1.

View the Common Core Alignment document for a complete standards listing by grade.

Kids really get to know each other in this culminating activity! Students conduct peer-to-peer interviews and then write to inform their class about the fascinating things they discovered about their interview partner. Students use the Informational Writing Checklist to make sure they include the key elements of informational writing! All student writing is combined into an Introducing Our Classroom Community private class wiki for your class to read!

Get ready for the project using the Project Preparation Checklist for Teachers.

Day 1: Community Membership •

• Play game “Two Truths and a Lie” •
• Discuss community membership
• Introduce essential question •
• Begin read aloud (focus: how class communicates)

Day Two: All About Me •

• All about me graphic organizer •
• Student-to-teacher email •
• Learning Community concept map •
• Continue read aloud (focus: character development)

Day Three: Community Communication •

• Brainstorm types of communication •
• Students create comics demonstrating a form of communication within your classroom •
• Read aloud (focus: using text to answer questions)

Day Four: Building Peer Relationships •

• Complete Culminating Activity: Peer Interviews and post in private class wiki •
• Read aloud (focus: tone of communications)

Day Five: Our Classroom Community •

• Class Reflection on Essential Question •
• Post-Self-Assessment for Students •
• Finish read aloud (focus: letter writing)

 

View/Print a PDF of the complete instructional plan including Common Core Connections.

1. Instructional Plan: Building A Literacy Rich Classroom Community

2. Project Preparation Checklist for Teachers

3. Introducing Me: Graphic Organizer for students

4. Informational Writing Checklist for students

5. Common Core Alignment: Building A Literacy Rich Classroom Community

6. Creating a Common Core Learning Environment: Teacher Tutorial

7. Writing to Inform (Elementary): Teacher Tutorial

8. Read-aloud Strategy

9. Discussion Group Reflection Strategy

Day 1
60 minutes
Community Membership

 

Day 2
60 minutes
All About Me

 

Day 3
60 minutes
Community Communication

 

Day 4
60 minutes
Building Peer Relationships

 

Day 5
60 minutes
Our Classroom Community

Project Leader:

Country:
Subjects: Writing

# of Students: 21-30
Age Range: 9-10
Collaboration: Email Exchange, Skype / Video Chat
Languages: English

About my classroom: BF Yancey is a small, rural elementary school of approximately 150 students in grades pre-Kindergarten through Fifth, located in central Virginia, USA. We are interested in communicating with other students from as many countries as possible regarding your school lunch experience. Do students eat in a cafeteria or common space? What foods are eaten for lunch at school where you live? Is the lunchtime meal prepared by the school or do students bring their own food from home? Are the meals sourced from local farmers and providers? What are the components of your favorite school lunch? We are especially interested in collecting photos of school lunches from around the world! Currently, we prefer to correspond by email and Skype, and to write at least 2x per month. We look forward to meeting you and learning about the food culture of your area.