A special community building activity I have done for most of my teaching career is writing words of affirmation. This is a whole class activity—for students and teacher.

Everyone needs small pieces of paper—one for each person in the class (this includes support workers, EA’s and can even include office and support staff). Next students write the names of their classmates on each paper (or you can have it done ahead of time).

Then students take each paper and write a few sentences of positive affirmation for everyone in the class. These affirmations are NOT about physical attributes or clothing.

This activity stretches students to look for positive character traits and “catching their peers being kind” as well as  celebrating someone else’s skills and talents.

Finally, students deliver their notes to their peers.  This activity should not be rushed or done lightly.  Students need to feel safe and supported before completing this task.  Talk to your students about recognizing the good in others, even if the “other” isn’t your friend.

This activity can be done a few weeks or a month into the school year, or as the year is starting to draw to a close. However, it’s best to warn students to begin looking and thinking about what they will say a few days BEFORE you plan to complete this activity. Help your students to look for the good in others as they go about their daily [school] lives.

A very important element to this words of affirmation activity is that students need to SIGN each of their notes.  This helps to create a layer of accountability, but it also helps students to learn that their words can impact others for the better.

These notes can become a special keepsake for students —and teachers!