Making Connections: Learning is most likely to take place when students have developed respectful and caring relationships with one another.

Emotional Literacy: When working together in a classroom, students need to be able to recognize their own feelings and tell others about them.

Caring and Effective Communication: Good communication is at the heart of a classroom community dedicated to working together.

Cultural Competence and Social Responsibility: These lessons give students opportunities to explore individual and cultural diversity in ways that preserve the integrity of each person, and that encourages them to be more accepting of one another's strengths, needs, and idiosyncrasies.

Conflict Management and Decision Making: These lessons introduce students to a variety of cooperative and collaborative problem-solving techniques that help them to develop a "toolbox" of strategies and skills for resolving conflicts positively, constructively, and nonviolently.