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Fourth grade students at Brown Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District learned a lot about each other as well as an adult they see often at school but barely know.

Jan Hoskins, who works as a teacher clerk in the library, joined students in teacher Jeanne Nyberg’s room as they created a friendship web. While standing in a circle, Nyberg handed a ball of yarn to one student and told him or her to tell one thing about them that no one else knew. Then, the student wrapped a piece of yarn around one finger and tossed the ball to someone else, who followed the same procedure.

“It’s to easier learn their names when I’m with the same group of kids all the time,” Hoskins said. “I thought it was interesting that one of our students said she attended a different school every year until she came to Brown last year.”

The web was just one of many teambuilding activities Brown staff members and students engaged in as part of the school’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) plan. The basic philosophy of PBIS is to teach students how they are expected to behave, reinforce good behaviors and provide support for students as they learn to correct misdirected behaviors.

“What we are trying to do is have the kids see other staff members in a positive light,” Nyberg said. “We want the kids to learn respect for everybody, not just their classroom teachers.”

“My favorite sport is soccer,” said Renee Rhyne as she wrapped a finger and threw the ever-shrinking ball of yarn to a classmate, making another strand.

“I like to play video games when no one is watching,” Jordan Clarke admitted when it was his turn to add to the web.

Other team-building PBIS activities Brown students have done include a tower-building contest. Using straws and paper clips as building materials, students raced to build the tallest free-standing tower, which Nyberg estimated reached five feet tall.

In another activity, Jenna Jackson, fifth grade teacher, created community helper cards with a job title on them.

“Then I had the students arrange the cards in the order of importance. They were free to debate where the mom, the teacher, the loan officer, the mayor, etc. should all fit in a line. We decided that in a community, every person is important and has to fulfill their role since others depend on them, just like classmates in a classroom.”

Nyberg completed her room’s friendship web by admitting that she enjoys peanut butter, mayonnaise and dill pickle sandwiches, which earned her a collective “Ew!” from her students. (story courtesy of Hazelwood District Communications Dept.)

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