Our Class Agreements

Overview

This 30-minute lesson is designed for Year 0-1 students in New Zealand as Lesson 9 of 10 in the unit "Working Together in Aotearoa". The focus is on collaboratively creating class agreements, using visuals to help students identify and choose positive behaviours that matter to them. This fosters a strong sense of belonging and connection within the classroom community, aligned with the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum for Social Sciences and key competencies for this age group.

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Curriculum Links

Learning Area: Social Sciences (Aotearoa New Zealand Histories & Social Sciences Years 0-1)

• Achievement Objective:
  • Understand how individuals and groups participate and work together in communities.
  • Encourages students to develop a sense of belonging and responsibility within their community by creating shared agreements.
• Key Competencies:
  • Managing Self — Developing self-regulation and understanding the importance of positive behaviour.
  • Relating to Others — Cooperating, engaging in whakawhanaungatanga (building relationships), and respecting others.
  • Participating and Contributing — Taking part in group decision making to form shared agreements.

Values:

• Integrity, Respect, Diversity, Community and Participation — Embedding classroom behaviour choices that reflect these.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Recognise positive behaviours that support working well together in the classroom.
2. Collaboratively contribute to a simple set of class agreements.
3. Understand why these agreements help everyone feel safe, heard, and respected.
4. Express their ideas with support, using visuals and oral language.

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Materials

• Visual cards/pictures depicting positive behaviours (e.g., listening ears, kind hands, sharing, waiting turns).
• Large paper or whiteboard/chart paper to write class agreements.
• Markers.
• Example story or puppet to introduce the concept of agreements.
• Stickers or stamps for affirming choices.

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Lesson Structure (30 minutes)

1. Welcome and Recap (5 minutes)

• Begin with a brief reminder of what was learned in previous lessons about working together and respecting each other (unit context).
• Use a simple storytelling puppet or picture book that highlights cooperation or kindness in Aotearoa to engage students and activate prior knowledge.

2. What Makes Our Class a Good Place? (7 minutes)

• Show the visual cards representing positive behaviours one at a time (e.g., listening, sharing, gentle hands).
• Ask questions: “What do we do when we listen to our friends?” or “How do you share toys nicely?”
• Invite students to share ideas verbally or through gestures (raise hand, thumbs up).
• Emphasise behaviours that promote kindness and safety.

3. Creating the Class Agreements (12 minutes)

• Using a large chart or whiteboard, collaboratively pick 3-5 key agreements based on the visuals and student input. For example:
  • We listen when others are speaking.
  • We use kind words and gentle hands.
  • We share and take turns.
  • We help each other.
• Write each agreement next to the matching visual for accessibility.
• Support inclusion by allowing students to point to or place stickers on agreements that matter most to them.
• Use positive reinforcement and encouraging language throughout, reinforcing manaakitanga (care and kindness).

4. Role Play and Reinforcement (5 minutes)

• Invite 2-3 students to demonstrate examples of the agreements (e.g., taking turns, listening attentively).
• Encourage the class to identify which agreement is being shown.
• Reinforce the importance of these agreements for helping everyone feel like they belong.

5. Conclusion and Reflection (1 minute)

• Summarise the created agreements.
• Explain that these agreements will help everyone in the class feel safe, happy, and included.
• Promise to remind and use these agreements together every day.

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Assessment / Evidence of Learning

• Observation of student participation in discussions and decision-making.
• Students' ability to identify and match visuals with positive behaviour concepts.
• Contribution to forming the class agreements (verbal or non-verbal input).
• Ability to recognise examples of positive behaviours through role play.

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Notes for Teachers

• Use simple, clear language and be patient, providing plenty of wait time for young learners to respond.
• Reinforce connections to Tikanga Māori concepts of respect, care, and community, enriching the social sciences context of the refreshed curriculum.
• Ensure the environment and visuals support all learners, including those with additional needs.
• Keep the tone warm, inclusive, and celebratory to build a strong classroom culture ahead of the final lesson in the unit.

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This lesson scaffold is designed to align with the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh's emphasis on social participation and belonging within communities, particularly in Social Sciences for Years 0-1, fostering key competencies and values. It respects the young learners' developmental stage by integrating interactive visuals, collaborative decision making, and role play.