An Actually Easy Community Building in the Classroom Reboot

Is your classroom community struggling right now? Could students use a quick classroom community restart? Here are some quick tips for community building in the classroom when a restart is needed. 

I’ve been there. Your students return from a holiday break. Or even a rough day at p.e., and they seem to be at each other’s throats. Billy is fighting with Jackson about a seat on the rug. Ruby won’t talk to Emma because she picked Rachel as a partner. Drama and irritations like these can cause a classroom community to break down quickly. But luckily, I have been working in a classroom long enough to realize community building in the classroom can sometimes need a reboot or restart. 

A Classroom Community

At the beginning of the year, teachers often start building a classroom community. On that first day, teachers start to work with their students to create a class contract or formulate the rules they should follow in the classroom. Students practice the procedures and routines multiple times a day for a couple of weeks until they know each. You read multiple picture books about respect, friendship, empathy, etc, and hold daily morning meetings.  All of this works well when building a strong classroom community. 

But why is building a community so important in the classroom? 

Importance of Community Building in the Classroom

There are many important reasons you want to build community in the classroom, but I always found that the two reasons below are the most important in my book. 

Trust and Relationships

Throughout the year, you want to allow students to build relationships with each other and you. Completing projects, games, and even just having conversations can help students see what similarities and differences they have with each other. 

If you are in primary or even in upper elementary classrooms, you want to also allow for time for unstructured play. The more opportunities students have to make connections and their own networks, the better! They also will have a chance to deal with conflict resolution. 

With this groundwork, your classroom will start functioning as a self-organized system. Children will be more motivated to change, grow, and learn. 

Social-Emotional Learning 

When a classroom is built around rules that the students created with the help of the teacher enhance critical social and emotional learning, it also helps foster a sense of independence in the classroom, and they also help students self-regulate, demonstrate independence and even practice empathy. 

A classroom community is amazing; you’ll see so many benefits once you have formed a well-working community in the classroom. But sometimes, it needs a reboot.

Classroom Community Reboot

It happens to the most veteran teacher. Your classroom community may start to break down, whether a long school break happened, maternity leave, a new student, or really anything. Some classes need a little more work than others throughout the year to keep that community feeling. 

What can you do for community building in the classroom during the middle of the year? 

Here are some community building activities that may help get your class back on track and help bring back that positive classroom community. 

Picture Book Readings and Activities

Just like at the beginning of the year, pull back out your picture books and go back to the basics. These picture books should focus mainly on what students are struggling with. If you find students struggling with many aspects, you may want to look for a book that helps incorporate multiple building community topics. 

One of my absolute favorite picture books that helps you cover multiple community building topics is In Our Classroom. 

Topics covered in In Our Classroom are:

• Celebrating differences
• How to help others learn
• How to show we care
• How to include others
• How to help others learn

Grab the In Our Classroom Book Companion by My Day In K, and use it to help reboot your classroom and build community again!  It includes many great activities like writing prompts, bookmarks, vocabulary cards, and more! 

Team Building Activities 

If you notice, students are starting to “pick sides,” only hang out with certain friends, never want to work with anyone outside their circle, or are being rude or mean to classmates. It may be time for some team-building activities, and there are so many fun activities out there that help foster a community vibe.

Classify This 

• Arrange random objects on your desk. (paperclips, umbrellas, jewelry, etc.) 
• Divide and team up students.
• Set a timer.
• Teams then work together to categorize objects, even if they seem not to have a connection.
• Teams then share their list of connections and explain the logic.

Spaghetti Tower

• Divide students into teams and provide them with building materials (dry spaghetti, marshmallows, string, and tape.) 
• Set a time limit for designing and building a spaghetti tower.
• When time is up, the tallest freestanding tower wins.

Scavenger Hunt

• Split students into teams and give them a time limit to find as many items as possible on the list provided.
• You can give them clues or hints rather than names.

Deserted island

• Separate students into small groups and tell them they are stranded on a desert island.
• After dividing students into teams, provide them with a list of items for survival. Students must prioritize and rank those items—first on their own and then as a group. 
• Not only does this test their problem-solving skills, but it also helps them differentiate between the needs of the individual and the needs of the collective.

Classroom Discussions

Finally, it’s important to talk to your students and review the rules they set up at the beginning of the year. They invested much time in making the rules, practicing the procedures, and building classroom community. Sometimes a quick reminder of this is all a class needs. 

You may also create anchor charts, drawings, writing activities, etc., which may help students remember what is expected. Encourage students to share their writing pieces, drawings, or ideas when students see their classmates struggling, sharing and being honest. They are more likely to do the same. 

Community Building in the Classroom

Community building in the classroom doesn’t happen overnight; you often have to continue working on it throughout the year. Some years everything will run smoothly for the entire year, and other times, your students will need a reboot and refresh on exactly what it means to be a classroom community.

Using some of the above tips and tricks to help with community building in the classroom will make this reset easy to implement and fun for students!