Hopes and Dreams (Goals)

Hopes and Dreams (Goals)

“Taking the time to help students articulate their goals for school – their Hopes and Dreams – sets a tone of collaboration and mutual respect.”

Chip Wood, author of Rules in Schools

Purpose

• To articulate academic or social goals for school that are realistic and achievable
• To foster reflection and self-knowledge
• To set a tone of collaboration and mutual respect
• To create a meaningful context for creating classroom rules

Parent Communication

• Open parent communication is a vital component of a successful social skills curriculum. Ideas for communication include:
• Having students share what they have learned about this topic with a parent
• Addressing this topic in your weekly newsletter home
• Sending home a letter to parents addressing the topic in your classroom. An example letter is available in the Social Skills Dropbox.

From the Classroom…K-2

• Students choose their most important hope or dream for the year.
• A chart of the students’ hopes and dreams is displayed.
• Students draw a picture of their hope or dream and these are displayed with their written hope or dream 
• Students create a symbol that reflects their ideas. These are put together as a class quilt and hung in the classroom.
• Students write the hope or dream in a thought bubble, star, or cloud which is then displayed above the child’s picture

From the Classroom…3-5

• Students fill out My Hopes and Dreams Planning Sheet or write in journals to express the goals and then choose their most important hope or dream for the year to share with the class.
• Students make an illustration or collage that expresses their most important hope for the year.

Literature Connections:

• Appelemando’s Dreams, by Patricia Polacco

For more information and ideas:

The First Six Weeks of School by Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete

Rules In Schools by Kathryn Brady, Mary Beth Forton, Deborah Porter, and Chip Woods