Building Relationships in a High School Classroom
Get to know your students both academically and personally — and help them get to know each other, too!
- Grades: 9–12
High school students need to engage in getting-to-know-each-other activities during the first week of school. By incorporating these activities into your first week while you discuss rules and expectations, you will create a high level of comfort and begin forging relationships that will make your classroom successful for the rest of the year. The diagnostics are any-level user friendly and will give you a good idea of where your students are with their writing, vocabulary, and reading skills.
- Work cooperatively
- Access prior knowledge
- Display essay writing and prior literary terms knowledge
- Develop collegial relationships with classmates
- Create "Bio Poems"
- Make verbal presentations
- Use context clues
- Think critically
Lesson Plans for this Unit
Lesson 1: Hey Teachers! Get to Know Me!
After introducing the literary terms, have students work in groups to create a story that includes a protagonist, antagonist, conflict, climax, conclusion, setting, and any other literary elements that you choose. Have them present the story, or a part of it, in a creative way (i.e., drawing a storyboard, acting, etc.).