Classroom Norms
Learn how to design and implement a classroom environment the facilitates the kinds of conversation and dialogue that are critical for beginning and sustaining student engagement in the Practices.
On this page you will find some of the strategies, techniques and approaches we have found most useful when creating classrooms where students engage in the Practices. One of the key things we figured out during our journey was that the classroom environment had to change in some profound ways. We had to be explicit with our students about how to participate as part of the whole class, in group work settings and even on an individual basis. Below we share some of the ways we've gone about making our classrooms into communities with a clear set of norms and guidelines. On most pages you will find an explanation of the strategies and some editable documents that may be helpful to you in bringing these strategies into your own classroom.
Card Sorting Activities
We have found card sorting activities useful in revealing and developing students' understanding across a range of subjects and particularly helpful in creating an authentic context for them to engage in the Practice of argumentation.
Peer Review
Peer review techniques are a great way to make students' thinking visible to others in the classroom. This can help students be reflective about their own ideas and open to revising them. Here we share some of the ways we have approached peer review in our classrooms.
Approaches to productive student interactions
In order for students to participate in productive ways in the Practices, they must be equipped to engage with one another. Here we share the approaches we've used to establish norms of interaction in our classrooms and how we've created the conditions for meaningful student-to-student interaction.
Lesson Design
See an example of a full lesson sequence for 4th grade, and all the supporting materials that would be needed, as well as the design tools