Compliment Can ~ Building Classroom Community with Purposeful Writing!

One thing I do to help build classroom community and encourage purposeful writing is the Compliment Can.  This is a very easy way to encourage even the youngest/beginning writers to write as well as reluctant writers; it gives real purpose to their work.  The Compliment Can encourages students to focus on the positive characteristics/actions of their peers, and it builds a optimistic outlook in each student. 

All you need for the Compliment Can is an old jar/coffee can/plastic tubby/etc.  My first one was an old coffee can covered with contact paper; my current one is an old plastic almond container from Costco.  It doesn't have to be big and any container with a lid will do.  You'll also want a small container to hold slips of scratch paper in, little slips of paper, and the sentence frame title for the jar.  You can print one out for FREE at my teachers pay teachers site - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stephanie-Madison  

Each week, I have students write at least one compliment to someone else in the class.  We usually do this as part of the morning task list (the list of things students work on between the first bell ring at 9:10 when students start pouring in and when school actually starts at 9:30.  I encourage them to compose a specific, detailed compliment in a complete sentence, and there are sentence frames on the actual can to help get reluctant writers, developing writers, and English Language Learners started.  Once they've written their compliment, they place it inside of the Compliment Can and move on to the next thing on the morning task list.  

Every Friday afternoon, we have a Classroom Meeting.  I usually begin this meeting by reading each compliment aloud to the class as we all sit on the carpet in a large circle.  After I read the compliment, we pass it to the student who the compliment is to so they can take it home.  The rule is that if the tiny piece of scratch paper that each student writes their note on doesn't have the name of who it is to, who it is from, and a complete sentence compliment, it goes into the recycling without being read.  I also let students write a compliment to a class pet/class plant/inanimate object in the classroom once a year, just because it's fun and keeps the classroom meeting interesting.

How do you help students recognize positive actions and words of their peers?  What do you do to encourage positive thinking and good behavior in your class?  Please share your ideas in the comments below, and share this post with your friends.

Compliment Can

To:______  From:______

*I like how you _____________.

*When you ____________, I appreciate it.

*You do a great job at ____________.

*One thing I like about you is ______________ because it makes me feel ________.