What do a garden, spiral notebook, disposable camera, bunch of blocks and student-written constitution have in common? They're all tools teachers have used to build a stronger sense of community in their classrooms.
As any educator knows, community building is essential to a healthy and productive classroom. A strong sense of community promotes both academic success and social/emotional competence. Creating connections across lines of race, ethnicity, religion, class and other differences is a powerful way to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations.
But community doesn't just happen in a classroom. It requires planning and practice.
The following ideas and materials -- all tested by other diversity-minded educators across the country -- are designed to engage students in community-building activities. Working together, you can launch a new school year with a strong sense of classroom community.
Many of the ideas tie to core subject areas (e.g., civics, history, social studies, language arts, art) making them readily usable in your planned curricula.
This edition of The ABCs was compiled by Jeff Sapp, former curriculum specialist/writer for Teaching Tolerance, and Brian Willoughby, managing editor.
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