Class Mission Statement

1. SHARE EXAMPLE MISSION STATEMENTS: Share various mission statements with students from companies that they are familiar with (e.g., social media companies, such as Facebook or Instagram; big box retailers, such as Target), discussing why companies have mission statements.

2. SCHOOL AND DISTRICT MISSION STATEMENTS:  Begin with your school’s and district’s mission statements. Identify the key words or phrases in the mission statements. Scaffolding may be necessary if there are words that are unfamiliar to students. Provide an opportunity for them to work with the words and identify the meaning in context. A Frayer model or an online app, such as Quizlet, may be used.

3. PASS OUT HANDOUTS:  Distribute the following Student Handouts: Analyzing AVID’s Mission Statement, Analyzing a Mission Statement, and Key Words and Defense.

4. INDIVIDUALS COMPLETE HANDOUT:  Students individually complete Student Handout Analyzing AVID’s Mission Statement.

5. SELECT MISSION STATEMENTS:  Then, have the students select one of the mission statements that you presented at the beginning of class to fill out Student Handout Analyzing a Mission Statement.

6. REFLECT ON STATEMENTS: Reflect on all of the mission statements presented thus far. Allow time for students to complete Student Handout Key Words and Defense. This will allow them to determine if any words from their study of mission statements could be used in their class mission statement.

7. BRAINSTORM:  Depending on students’ exposure to vocabulary, either brainstorm as a class various words or phrases that could be used in the class mission statement or present students with a pre-set list of words. Sample words to include in a class mission statement include the following:

   1. 1. • Perseveres, resilient, motivates, engaged, empathetic, growth mindset, resourceful, organized, leader, trusting, communicative, collaborative 

8. GROUP WORK:  Assign groups of three to four students to one word. Each group will complete a Frayer model for their word. Upon completion of the rough draft that the teacher will check, students will create a poster-sized Frayer model that will surround their ultimate mission statement poster.

   1. 1. • This will familiarize students with the words used. 

9. IDENTIFY WORDS:  In groups, students should identify which words resonate with them and reflect their beliefs of what a classroom community should look like, feel like, and sound like. The classroom teacher can determine a target number for words used in each poster, as having students try to incorporate all of them could be tedious.

10. GROUP MISSION STATEMENTS:  Students should then be tasked with creating group mission statement posters or one-pagers. Students can create their class mission statement on poster board or using an online app, such as Pic Collage.

11. POST CLASS MISSION STATEMENT:  Post the class mission statement posters for students to view. Students can vote on the class mission statement that reflects their beliefs the most. Once the mission statement is chosen, students can all sign it!

To adapt to the Primary Classroom:

• Identify a select number of words or phrases to be used in the class mission statement, and as a whole group, create a Frayer model for each word. Students can then work in small groups to create a structure in which the mission statement will be read, such as using drawings to represent the mission statement.

To increase rigor:

• To increase technology, have students search the web for corporate mission statements and logos, analyzing how the logo is representative of the mission. Then, have students use a drawing app, such as Show Me or Brushes, to design their own logo in support of the class mission statement.