The Importance of Community
Building a strong sense of community within your classroom is an important factor in your students’ SEL development and learning. It is valuable for students to have the opportunity to celebrate the successes of their classmates, to practice doing the right thing, and to build general teamwork skills. All of this can be accomplished with a fun Escape Room Challenge! (Get it free here.)
By participating in this activity, students will practice cooperative learning skills that they will then be able to transfer over to other group projects and assignments. Students will naturally take on team roles and form surprising friendships in the class as they notice strengths in their teammates and have fun working with students that they normally would not have the change to get to know.
How It Works
Students will work in teams to solve a series of three reading and
How to Use Escape Rooms to Build Community in Your Classroom
- First, download the free resource and spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with it.
- Thoughtfully place your students into groups. I do not recommend allowing students to choose their own groups because they may unintentionally exclude someone, or gravitate towards their friends.
- Prepare the materials by making copies and prepping the envelopes and badges. (All of this is explained in greater detail in the pdf, by the way.)
- On the day of the challenge, spend plenty of time explaining the directions and setting expectations for behavior and participation as needed.
- Enjoy the game!
