4 Simple Ways to Create a Positive Classroom Culture with Poetry

Creating a positive classroom culture doesn’t end after the first week of school. It takes consistent practice and modeling for students to develop positive ways of handling big emotions. To have a positive classroom culture, I think it starts with small conversations. In this post, I am going to share tips using the social emotional poetry sets that I created a few years ago. I think they work very well for both classroom teachers and interventionists.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this is the perfect time to work on classroom culture and on traits such as empathy, gratitude, inclusion, and kindness. When I created this collection of poems, my hope was that they would spark conversations around all of the many feelings and emotions children experience. This product was kind of personal too because I have a family member who struggles with anxiety, and I saw a hole in our curriculum for helping kids with social emotional struggles. Fast forward to now, and I think we’ve made great strides in this area. However, we as teachers need a variety of resources in our pockets, right.

With these poems, I have focused on character development and social emotional learning. Each poem is intended to be used in conjunction with related literature to foster classroom discussions around the specific trait. The poetry sets are perfect for building characterization language and vocabulary, for digging deeper into social skills, as inspiration for writing, and of course, creating a positive classroom culture.

How to Use Your SEL Poetry Sets

1) BUILD A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CULTURE THROUGH MORNING MEETINGS

One of the best ways to use my poetry sets with your students is through morning meetings (or afternoon meetings if the timing is better). Kids have big emotions, and sometimes those big emotions come in from the school bus or in from recess. Agree?? Well, having a morning meeting to diffuse those big emotions into purposeful discussions can prevent the eruptions during your valuable lessons. And, it provides the opportunity for reflective listening and dialogue.

2) BUILD A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CULTURE WITH SEL VOCABULARY

Another benefit of using my SEL Poetry sets is to build vocabulary. Giving kids the language to use to describe their feelings or struggles helps improve communication. This could be communication related to describing their struggles or as they work to resolve conflicts with peers.

With each poetry set, I have selected keywords from the poems that you can preteach and give context for the words. These words are also great for teaching characterization in literature.

3) BUILD A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CULTURE THROUGH ART

Visualizing is an important reading skill, and for many kids, it’s not easy to do. With each poetry set, I include the opportunity for kids to draw what they visualize. In this example, students draw what respect looks like. There are examples within the poem, and students can choose which to illustrate.

This activity might provide the opportunity for role playing what respect looks like and how respectful language sounds. You might share books about respect too. Julia Cook has an amazing collection of SEL themed titles and is my go-to author. However, you can find many titles in the SEL category of my shop too.

4) BUILD A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CULTURE WITH SHARED READING

Finally, my favorite idea of all is with shared reading. As a classroom teacher, my favorite time of the day was when I could read my favorite books to my students. With careful selection, you can weave in so many skills…academic and social.

For teaching respect, you might use Do Unto Otters, Recess Queen, The Bad Seed, or The Crayon Box That Talked. Each of these titles is linked to resources I have developed to go with them. There are probably a few others I have missed too. You can view all SEL resources HERE.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING POETRY BUNDLE FOR YEAR-ROUND LEARNING

Interested in having the full bundle? I have marked the bundle down for this week. You get 32 poetry sets in the bundle for just $18…less than a dollar a set, but way more valuable!

HELPFUL ACTIVITIES FOR A POSITIVE CLASSROOM CULTURE

Coming up with ways to work on increasing positive interactions between students is a win-win for all. With these activities, the ultimate goal is a positive classroom culture for improved instructional time. You’ll experience fewer classroom disruptions, have happier students who look forward to being in school, and healthier relationships for students, teachers, and parents. Here are a few ideas you might incorporate within your classroom routine. These are geared to foster positive relationships between students and to help build self-esteem:

Compliment Circle

Have students sit in a circle and take turns giving a genuine compliment to the person next to them. This encourages kindness and self-worth, but it also gives other students positive ways to support each other. These are great behaviors to copy!

Team Challenges

Organize activities like building a tower with spaghetti and marshmallows, newspapers and tape, or pieces of cardboard and playdough. Students must work together, communicate, and celebrate their collective effort.

All About Me Shields

Have students design a shield with symbols representing their strengths, interests, and values. They can present their shields to the class, highlighting their uniqueness. These would be fun to display in the hallway for open house too, and they provide another opportunity for building a positive classroom culture.

Buddy Reading

Pair students together to read a book or share stories. This helps build connections and mutual support. You might consider reading levels just for a level pairing, but this is a great way for students to support each other but also provides time for book discussions.

Kindness Bingo

Create a bingo sheet with acts of kindness (e.g., “helped a classmate” or “said thank you”). Students mark off completed acts, reinforcing positive behaviors. You could do a drawing each month to reward those showing kindness or support for others. I used to use “caught being good” tickets and just kept them in my pocket to reward as I saw positive behaviors. Kids wrote their name on the back of the ticket for the drawing.

Talent Showcase

Provide an opportunity for students to showcase their talents, hobbies, or interests in a supportive environment. This builds confidence and appreciation for diversity. Invite your parents to attend so they can also reinforce these positive experiences.

Group Art Projects

Collaborate on a mural or large art piece. Each student contributes their creativity, fostering teamwork and pride in a shared accomplishment. Again…display to show off your students’ talents.

Gratitude Journal Sharing

Have students write about things they’re grateful for and share with the class. This promotes positive thinking and mutual appreciation. This is the perfect activity for the month of November with Thanksgiving, but I also think it could be used all year too.

“Who Am I?” Game

Students write facts about themselves on index cards (e.g., “I have a pet dog”). The cards are shuffled, and the class guesses who each card describes, promoting connection and recognition. You might adapt this to a mystery person of the week where you add clues to a bulletin board and do the big reveal on Friday. Fun, but also another way to showcase your students.

These activities can help create a supportive classroom atmosphere where students feel valued and connected to one another. In the comments, share ideas you’ve tried. There are so many possibilities, but ultimately, your students are the benefactors.

RELATED POSTS YOU’D LIKE:

As you can see below, I love writing about this topic. I have lots of posts about social emotional learning and development. In fact, I have many SEL focused book companions you might check out.

• 3 Powerful Ways that Last Stop on Market Street Models Empathy
• Five Simple Ways to Improve Your Reading Climate
• 7 Character Education Strategies to Teach Kids Respect, Kindness, and More
• Mentor Texts for Teaching Responsibility
• Cultivating Empathy: Strategies for Teaching with Heart
• Stick and Stone Lessons for Building Friendships

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES & ARTICLES:

• 43 Awesome Team-Building Activities for Kids
• 10 Powerful Community-Building Ideas for the Classroom
• 41 Team Building Exercises and Activities for Work in 2024