Classroom Climate Learning Plans

Content experts at the Georgia Department of Education have developed Learning Plans for teachers and parents. These Georgia standards-based plans were specifically designed for school districts, administrators, teachers, and parents who are working to provide students with quality content.

The plans are easy-to-use and include both “plugged and unplugged” activities. Check back for more Learning Plans in each content area as they are updated weekly.

⬅Back to all learning plans

• K-2

  Functional Thinking: Functional Thinking Learning Plans provide a behavior strategy for general educators. Functional thinking is a proactive approach grounded in behavior theory to help teachers determine what students are communicating with their behavior in the classroom. Understanding what students are communicating with their behavior, can support behavior responses that benefit students’ academic achievement. Functional Thinking Learning Plans are available for all grade-bands.

  Attendance Counts: School attendance is a predictor of graduation and student achievement. This learning plan includes a class discussion on why regular school attendance is important for learning and builds routines that can lead to lifelong habits.

  Respectful Assertiveness: Respectful assertiveness is communicating personal needs while taking the needs, opinions, and rights of others into consideration. Learning respectful assertiveness will provide students with the skills to communicate their needs in a variety of situations. 

  Building a Positive Classroom Community: This learning plan aims to provide educators with strategies to create a positive classroom community. A positive classroom community enhances student learning by ensuring students feel valued and connected. Within this community, students are encouraged by supportive relationships with peers and adults. 

  Active Supervision: Active supervision is a best practice in which the teacher moves, scans, and interacts proactively with students. This learning plan will enhance instruction by providing prompt feedback on expected behaviors while building positive student/teacher relationships. 

  Ask 3 Before Me: Ask 3 Before Me is a strategy teachers can use when conducting small groups or during individualized instruction by having students ask up to 3 peers for help prior to asking the teacher. This learning plan will enhance instruction by encouraging students to take more ownership of their learning while minimizing the number of times the teacher is interrupted. 

  Attention Signals: Attention signals are used to quickly gain the attention of students and allows the teacher to provide directions or further instruction. This learning plan will enhance instruction by allowing the teacher to get the attention of students quickly saving valuable instructional time. 

  Behavior Specific Praise: In the Behavior Specific Praise strategy, the teacher gives a statement of praise to a student or group of students who are demonstrating expected classroom behaviors. This learning plan will enhance the academic instruction by reinforcing positive behaviors, minimizing disruptions and ensuring student success in context with teaching expected behaviors. 

  Box Breathing: Box Breathing is a strategy that can be used to teach students that sometimes a break is needed to improve focus and increase student performance. When given as an option, this learning plan will enhance instruction by giving teachers and students a chance to regroup and redirect their attention back to the task at hand. 

  Closing Routine with Exit Slip: An Exit Ticket is a closing assignment that helps the teacher assess what students learned for the day. This informal assessment checks for understanding, manages student behavior, and builds a classroom community. 

  Dialogue Circles: Dialogue circles are where all participants sit in a circle facing each other to participate in open and direct communication. This strategy provides a safe place in the classroom to build respect, collaboration and a positive community.

  I Wish My Teacher Knew: I Wish My Teacher Knew is a strategy that gives students the opportunity to tell the teacher something about themselves. This learning plan will enhance instruction by allowing teachers to build a meaningful connection with students and allow students to feel connected to the learning environment.

  Morning Greeting: Morning/Beginning of Class Greeting is when the teacher stands at the door and greets students as they enter the classroom. Greeting students at the door helps students feel welcome, connected to their teacher and builds positive relationships.

  Morning Routine with Do Now Activity: Morning activities set students up for success with well-established classroom routines. A Do Now assignment begins the day with an instructional activity to maximize the opportunity for student learning and minimize inappropriate behaviors in the classroom.

  Opportunities to Respond: An Opportunity to Respond is when the teacher asks a question that prompts or solicits a verbal, written, and/or gestural response. This learning plan will help teachers increase the number of opportunities for students to respond, elicit more academic feedback and increase on-task behaviors.

  Peer Encouragement Routine: Peer encouragement is important in building a positive and collaborative community in the classroom. This learning plan demonstrates instructing students how to address classmates to build positive relationships and a positive learning environment.

  Prescription Drug Safety: The purpose of this plan is to teach students how to use prescription medication safely and appropriately with adult supervision.

  Prompts and Pre-corrections: Prompts and pre-corrections are preventative strategies that teachers can utilize to reduce behavior problems by reminding them what behavior is expected. When used with effective praise, prompting and pre-correcting can also increase academic engagement.  

  See Something, Say Something: In this lesson, the phrase “see something, say something” applies to students observing and reporting suspicious activity (e.g., strangers) or harmful behavior (e.g., someone being mean) in their school community.

  Teaching Expectations: Explicitly teaching expectations reduces inappropriate behaviors because students have a better understanding of what behaviors are expected.  This learning plan will help teachers set up procedures and routines needed to create structure in the classroom and enhance the instructional setting.

  The Student Teacher Game: The Student /Teacher Game is a quick and easy competitive game to acknowledge students who follow expectations in the classroom. Instruction is enhanced because students "catch" their classmates engaging in expected behaviors and disruptions are minimized.

  Think-Pair-Share: Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students collaborate together to answer questions, solve problems and share solutions. This learning plan will enhance instruction by encouraging students to take ownership of their own learning and work together to solve problems.

  Transitions: Transitions are when students move from one activity or place to another. Routines need to be established to make these transitions smooth and efficient which will minimize lost instructional time.

  Vaping Prevention: This learning plan aims to provide educators with knowledge and strategies for the prevention of using e-cigarettes or vaping with the intent to empower students to "say no” to using these devices

  Voice Levels: Voice level can vary during class activities and instruction. Teachers can define voice level expectations and how to appropriately have discussions in the classroom. This learning plan will enhance instruction by clearly defining expectations for communication.

  
• 3-5

  Functional Thinking: Functional Thinking Learning Plans provide a behavior strategy for general educators. Functional thinking is a proactive approach grounded in behavior theory to help teachers determine what students are communicating with their behavior in the classroom. Understanding what students are communicating with their behavior, can support behavior responses that benefit students’ academic achievement. Functional Thinking Learning Plans are available for all grade-bands.

  Attendance Counts: School attendance is a predictor of graduation and student achievement. This learning plan includes a class discussion on why regular school attendance is important for learning and builds routines that can lead to lifelong habits.

  Respectful Assertiveness: Respectful assertiveness is communicating personal needs while taking the needs, opinions, and rights of others into consideration. Learning respectful assertiveness will provide students with the skills to communicate their needs in a variety of situations.

  Building a Positive Classroom Community: This learning plan aims to provide educators with strategies to create a positive classroom community. A positive classroom community enhances student learning by ensuring students feel valued and connected. Within this community, students are encouraged by supportive relationships with peers and adults. 

  Active Supervision: Active supervision is a best practice in which the teacher moves, scans, and interacts proactively with students. This learning plan will enhance instruction by providing prompt feedback on expected behaviors while building positive student/teacher relationships. 

  Ask 3 Before Me: Ask 3 Before Me is a strategy teachers can use when conducting small groups or during individualized instruction by having students ask up to 3 peers for help prior to asking the teacher. This learning plan will enhance instruction by encouraging students to take more ownership of their learning while minimizing the number of times the teacher is interrupted. 

  Attention Signals: Attention signals are used to quickly gain the attention of students and allows the teacher to provide directions or further instruction. This learning plan will enhance instruction by allowing the teacher to get the attention of students quickly saving valuable instructional time. 

  Behavior Specific Praise: In the Behavior Specific Praise strategy, the teacher gives a statement of praise to a student or group of students who are demonstrating expected classroom behaviors. This learning plan will enhance the academic instruction by reinforcing positive behaviors, minimizing disruptions and ensuring student success in context with teaching expected behaviors. 

  Box Breathing: Box Breathing is a strategy that can be used to teach students that sometimes a break is needed to improve focus and increase student performance. When given as an option, this learning plan will enhance instruction by giving teachers and students a chance to regroup and redirect their attention back to the task at hand. 

  Closing Routine with Exit Slip: An Exit Ticket is a closing assignment that helps the teacher assess what students learned for the day. This informal assessment checks for understanding, manages student behavior, and builds a classroom community. 

  Dialogue Circles: Dialogue circles are where all participants sit in a circle facing each other to participate in open and direct communication. This strategy provides a safe place in the classroom to build respect, collaboration and a positive community.

  I Wish My Teacher Knew: I Wish My Teacher Knew is a strategy that gives students the opportunity to tell the teacher something about themselves. This learning plan will enhance instruction by allowing teachers to build a meaningful connection with students and allow students to feel connected to the learning environment.

  Morning Greeting: Morning/Beginning of Class Greeting is when the teacher stands at the door and greets students as they enter the classroom. Greeting students at the door helps students feel welcome, connected to their teacher and builds positive relationships.

  Morning Routine with Do Now Activity: Morning activities set students up for success with well-established classroom routines. A Do Now assignment begins the day with an instructional activity to maximize the opportunity for student learning and minimize inappropriate behaviors in the classroom.

  Opportunities to Respond: An Opportunity to Respond is when the teacher asks a question that prompts or solicits a verbal, written, and/or gestural response. This learning plan will help teachers increase the number of opportunities for students to respond, elicit more academic feedback and increase on-task behaviors.

  Peer Encouragement Routine: Peer encouragement is important in building a positive and collaborative community in the classroom. This learning plan demonstrates instructing students how to address classmates to build positive relationships and a positive learning environment.

  Prescription Drug Safety: The purpose of this plan is to teach students how to use prescription medication safely and appropriately with adult supervision.

  Prompts and Pre-corrections: Prompts and pre-corrections are preventative strategies that teachers can utilize to reduce behavior problems by reminding them what behavior is expected. When used with effective praise, prompting and pre-correcting can also increase academic engagement.  

  See Something, Say Something: In this lesson, the phrase “see something, say something” applies to students observing and reporting suspicious activity (e.g., strangers) or harmful behavior (e.g., someone being mean) in their school community.

  Teaching Expectations: Explicitly teaching expectations reduces inappropriate behaviors because students have a better understanding of what behaviors are expected.  This learning plan will help teachers set up procedures and routines needed to create structure in the classroom and enhance the instructional setting.

  The Student Teacher Game: The Student /Teacher Game is a quick and easy competitive game to acknowledge students who follow expectations in the classroom. Instruction is enhanced because students "catch" their classmates engaging in expected behaviors and disruptions are minimized.

  Think-Pair-Share: Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students collaborate together to answer questions, solve problems and share solutions. This learning plan will enhance instruction by encouraging students to take ownership of their own learning and work together to solve problems.

  Transitions: Transitions are when students move from one activity or place to another. Routines need to be established to make these transitions smooth and efficient which will minimize lost instructional time.

  Vaping Prevention: This learning plan aims to provide educators with knowledge and strategies for the prevention of using e-cigarettes or vaping with the intent to empower students to "say no” to using these devices

  Voice Levels: Voice level can vary during class activities and instruction. Teachers can define voice level expectations and how to appropriately have discussions in the classroom. This learning plan will enhance instruction by clearly defining expectations for communication.

  
• 6-8

  Functional Thinking: Functional Thinking Learning Plans provide a behavior strategy for general educators. Functional thinking is a proactive approach grounded in behavior theory to help teachers determine what students are communicating with their behavior in the classroom. Understanding what students are communicating with their behavior, can support behavior responses that benefit students’ academic achievement. Functional Thinking Learning Plans are available for all grade-bands.

  Attendance Counts: School attendance is a predictor of graduation and student achievement. This learning plan includes a class discussion on why regular school attendance is important for learning and builds routines that can lead to lifelong habits.

  Respectful Assertiveness: Respectful assertiveness is communicating personal needs while taking the needs, opinions, and rights of others into consideration. Learning respectful assertiveness will provide students with the skills to communicate their needs in a variety of situations. The activities below are designed to help students practice this healthy form of communication.  

  Building a Positive Classroom Community: This learning plan aims to provide educators with strategies to create a positive classroom community. A positive classroom community enhances student learning by ensuring students feel valued and connected. Within this community, students are encouraged by supportive relationships with peers and adults. 

  Active Supervision: Active supervision is a best practice in which the teacher moves, scans, and interacts proactively with students. This learning plan will enhance instruction by providing prompt feedback on expected behaviors while building positive student/teacher relationships. 

  Ask 3 Before Me: Ask 3 Before Me is a strategy teachers can use when conducting small groups or during individualized instruction by having students ask up to 3 peers for help prior to asking the teacher. This learning plan will enhance instruction by encouraging students to take more ownership of their learning while minimizing the number of times the teacher is interrupted. 

  Attention Signals: Attention signals are used to quickly gain the attention of students and allows the teacher to provide directions or further instruction. This learning plan will enhance instruction by allowing the teacher to get the attention of students quickly saving valuable instructional time. 

  Beginning Class Greeting: Morning/Beginning of Class Greeting is when the teacher stands at the door and greets students as they enter the classroom. Greeting students at the door helps students feel welcome, connected to their teacher and builds positive relationships.

  Beginning Class with Do Now Activity: Beginning of class activities set students up for success with well-established classroom routines. A Do Now assignment begins the class with an instructional activity to maximize the opportunity for student learning and minimize inappropriate behaviors in the classroom.

  Behavior Specific Praise: In the Behavior Specific Praise strategy, the teacher gives a statement of praise to a student or group of students who are demonstrating expected classroom behaviors. This learning plan will enhance the academic instruction by reinforcing positive behaviors, minimizing disruptions and ensuring student success in context with teaching expected behaviors. 

  Box Breathing: Box Breathing is a strategy that can be used to teach students that sometimes a break is needed to improve focus and increase student performance. When given as an option, this learning plan will enhance instruction by giving teachers and students a chance to regroup and redirect their attention back to the task at hand. 

  Closing Routine with Exit Slip: An Exit Ticket is a closing assignment that helps the teacher assess what students learned for the day. This informal assessment checks for understanding, manages student behavior, and builds a classroom community. 

  Dialogue Circles: Dialogue circles are where all participants sit in a circle facing each other to participate in open and direct communication. This strategy provides a safe place in the classroom to build respect, collaboration and a positive community.

  I Wish My Teacher Knew: I Wish My Teacher Knew is a strategy that gives students the opportunity to tell the teacher something about themselves. This learning plan will enhance instruction by allowing teachers to build a meaningful connection with students and allow students to feel connected to the learning environment.

  Opportunities to Respond: An Opportunity to Respond is when the teacher asks a question that prompts or solicits a verbal, written, and/or gestural response. This learning plan will help teachers increase the number of opportunities for students to respond, elicit more academic feedback and increase on-task behaviors.

  Peer Encouragement Routine: Peer encouragement is important in building a positive and collaborative community in the classroom. This learning plan demonstrates instructing students how to address classmates to build positive relationships and a positive learning environment.

  Prescription Drug Safety: The purpose of this plan is to teach students how to use prescription medication safely and appropriately with adult supervision.

  Prompts and Pre-corrections: Prompts and pre-corrections are preventative strategies that teachers can utilize to reduce behavior problems by reminding them what behavior is expected. When used with effective praise, prompting and pre-correcting can also increase academic engagement.  

  See Something, Say Something: In this lesson, the phrase “see something, say something” applies to students observing and reporting suspicious activity (e.g., strangers) or harmful behavior (e.g., someone being mean) in their school community.

  Teaching Expectations: Explicitly teaching expectations reduces inappropriate behaviors because students have a better understanding of what behaviors are expected.  This learning plan will help teachers set up procedures and routines needed to create structure in the classroom and enhance the instructional setting.

  The Student Teacher Game: The Student /Teacher Game is a quick and easy competitive game to acknowledge students who follow expectations in the classroom. Instruction is enhanced because students "catch" their classmates engaging in expected behaviors and disruptions are minimized.

  Think-Pair-Share: Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students collaborate together to answer questions, solve problems and share solutions. This learning plan will enhance instruction by encouraging students to take ownership of their own learning and work together to solve problems.

  Transitions: Transitions are when students move from one activity or place to another. Routines need to be established to make these transitions smooth and efficient which will minimize lost instructional time.

  Vaping Prevention: This learning plan aims to provide educators with knowledge and strategies for the prevention of using e-cigarettes or vaping with the intent to empower students to "say no” to using these devices

  Voice Levels: Voice level can vary during class activities and instruction. Teachers can define voice level expectations and how to appropriately have discussions in the classroom. This learning plan will enhance instruction by clearly defining expectations for communication.

  
• 9-12

  Functional Thinking: Functional Thinking Learning Plans provide a behavior strategy for general educators. Functional thinking is a proactive approach grounded in behavior theory to help teachers determine what students are communicating with their behavior in the classroom. Understanding what students are communicating with their behavior, can support behavior responses that benefit students’ academic achievement. Functional Thinking Learning Plans are available for all grade-bands.

  Attendance Counts: School attendance is a predictor of graduation and student achievement. This learning plan includes a class discussion on why regular school attendance is important for learning and builds routines that can lead to lifelong habits.

  Respectful Assertiveness: Respectful assertiveness is communicating personal needs while taking the needs, opinions, and rights of others into consideration. Learning respectful assertiveness will provide students with the skills to communicate their needs in a variety of situations.

  Building a Positive Classroom Community: This learning plan aims to provide educators with strategies to create a positive classroom community. A positive classroom community enhances student learning by ensuring students feel valued and connected. Within this community, students are encouraged by supportive relationships with peers and adults. 

  Active Supervision: Active supervision is a best practice in which the teacher moves, scans, and interacts proactively with students. This learning plan will enhance instruction by providing prompt feedback on expected behaviors while building positive student/teacher relationships. 

  Ask 3 Before Me: Ask 3 Before Me is a strategy teachers can use when conducting small groups or during individualized instruction by having students ask up to 3 peers for help prior to asking the teacher. This learning plan will enhance instruction by encouraging students to take more ownership of their learning while minimizing the number of times the teacher is interrupted. 

  Attention Signals: Attention signals are used to quickly gain the attention of students and allows the teacher to provide directions or further instruction. This learning plan will enhance instruction by allowing the teacher to get the attention of students quickly saving valuable instructional time. 

  Beginning Class Greeting: Morning/Beginning of Class Greeting is when the teacher stands at the door and greets students as they enter the classroom. Greeting students at the door helps students feel welcome, connected to their teacher and builds positive relationships.

  Beginning Class with Do Now Activity: Beginning of class activities set students up for success with well-established classroom routines. A Do Now assignment begins the class with an instructional activity to maximize the opportunity for student learning and minimize inappropriate behaviors in the classroom.

  Behavior Specific Praise: In the Behavior Specific Praise strategy, the teacher gives a statement of praise to a student or group of students who are demonstrating expected classroom behaviors. This learning plan will enhance the academic instruction by reinforcing positive behaviors, minimizing disruptions and ensuring student success in context with teaching expected behaviors. 

  Box Breathing: Box Breathing is a strategy that can be used to teach students that sometimes a break is needed to improve focus and increase student performance. When given as an option, this learning plan will enhance instruction by giving teachers and students a chance to regroup and redirect their attention back to the task at hand. 

  Closing Routine with Exit Slip: An Exit Ticket is a closing assignment that helps the teacher assess what students learned for the day. This informal assessment checks for understanding, manages student behavior, and builds a classroom community. 

  Dialogue Circles: Dialogue circles are where all participants sit in a circle facing each other to participate in open and direct communication. This strategy provides a safe place in the classroom to build respect, collaboration and a positive community.

  I Wish My Teacher Knew: I Wish My Teacher Knew is a strategy that gives students the opportunity to tell the teacher something about themselves. This learning plan will enhance instruction by allowing teachers to build a meaningful connection with students and allow students to feel connected to the learning environment.

  Opportunities to Respond: An Opportunity to Respond is when the teacher asks a question that prompts or solicits a verbal, written, and/or gestural response. This learning plan will help teachers increase the number of opportunities for students to respond, elicit more academic feedback and increase on-task behaviors.

  Peer Encouragement Routine: Peer encouragement is important in building a positive and collaborative community in the classroom. This learning plan demonstrates instructing students how to address classmates to build positive relationships and a positive learning environment.

  Prescription Drug Safety: The purpose of this plan is to teach students how to use prescription medication safely and appropriately with adult supervision.

  Prompts and Pre-corrections: Prompts and pre-corrections are preventative strategies that teachers can utilize to reduce behavior problems by reminding them what behavior is expected. When used with effective praise, prompting and pre-correcting can also increase academic engagement.  

  See Something, Say Something: In this lesson, the phrase “see something, say something” applies to students observing and reporting suspicious activity (e.g., strangers) or harmful behavior (e.g., someone being mean) in their school community.

  Teaching Expectations: Explicitly teaching expectations reduces inappropriate behaviors because students have a better understanding of what behaviors are expected.  This learning plan will help teachers set up procedures and routines needed to create structure in the classroom and enhance the instructional setting.

  The Student Teacher Game: The Student /Teacher Game is a quick and easy competitive game to acknowledge students who follow expectations in the classroom. Instruction is enhanced because students "catch" their classmates engaging in expected behaviors and disruptions are minimized.

  Think-Pair-Share: Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students collaborate together to answer questions, solve problems and share solutions. This learning plan will enhance instruction by encouraging students to take ownership of their own learning and work together to solve problems.

  Transitions: Transitions are when students move from one activity or place to another. Routines need to be established to make these transitions smooth and efficient which will minimize lost instructional time.

  Vaping Prevention: This learning plan aims to provide educators with knowledge and strategies for the prevention of using e-cigarettes or vaping with the intent to empower students to "say no” to using these devices

  Voice Levels: Voice level can vary during class activities and instruction. Teachers can define voice level expectations and how to appropriately have discussions in the classroom. This learning plan will enhance instruction by clearly defining expectations for communication.