Community is at the forefront of our minds in these early weeks of school. Your children have put in the hard work of saying goodbye to their grownups and are learning the many routines of classroom life. Now, we are looking ahead to creating a classroom community where everyone feels safe, heard, and valued.
Some questions we ask ourselves as we begin the year are:
Where do children see themselves and their families in the room?
What Purple Room rituals can we develop to help create a sense of belonging?
How are teachers modeling respect for others in our community?
As Purple Room students came to school on their first day, they saw themselves inside a seed on the bulletin board outside our room.
They found their picture and name underneath their hook.
They discovered their family photo (and their classmates’ and teachers’ family photos) hanging on the bulletin board by the rug.
They worked with teachers to create a family photo necklace, picking out the color of string they wanted. These are much-loved objects!
They found a yearbook on the bookshelf, where they could find themselves, their teachers, their classmates, and/or their siblings.
During our Hello Meeting, we greet each child and teacher by name. Recently, when friends are having “home days,” we’ve begun a practice of sending well-wishes to our absent friends.
We started a tradition of ending the week with the “Friday Dance.” Each child gets a turn to dance in the center of the rug, as the rest of the class cheers them on.
Already, we are hearing signs of a strong community. In the past week, we’ve heard Purple Room friends say:
“Can I have that?”
“I can help!”
“Are you okay? Do you need…?”
“I made space for you.”
“Let’s snuggle!”
Looking ahead, our next steps in community building are: creating our attendance rocks and choosing a class name. You’ll see Storyparks on these projects coming soon!
