What we ask of a 4th grader will not resonate with a high school junior. A high schooler is capable of understanding the concept of “leading without a title” while a 7-year-old is still learning when to raise their hand. The best classroom leadership activities recognize where students are, not where we want them to be.
That’s why there is iLead Elementary, iLead Middle School and iLead High School. Each version is based on the philosophy that everything rises and falls on leadership, and leadership starts with leading yourself. Here is a glimpse of what the different grade levels learn through activities that can be done in your classroom this week:
Elementary: Identity, Kindness, Following Through
At the elementary level, leadership is less about influencing others and more about building self-awareness and reliability. These foundational skills will come to support students in all aspects of life (including leading others).
The Kindness Tally is a class chart where students use tally marks to track the kind acts they notice or perform each day. That makes an abstract thing like kindness a lot more tangible and is a great way to create a culture of kindness in your classroom.
My Strengths Mirror is a class activity in which students write and decorate three words that describe their character strengths on a cut-out mirror. That’s one way to celebrate and recognize identities in your classroom.
The Promise Keeper Chart is a daily pledge for students to keep a small promise (return a pencil or clean up the classroom) and to track their progress. Like many elementary activities, the Promise Keeper Chart is about practicing a behavior until it’s a habit.
Silent Line Leader, as the name implies, allows students to lead without talking. A rotating student leads the class to a destination using only nonverbal cues.
Character that sticks is forged with repetition and warmth, not lectures. Keep your language simple and celebrate follow-through loudly.
Middle School: Integrity, Peer Influence, Conflict Resolution
At the middle school level, kids are wrestling with questions of integrity while struggling in a social environment that suddenly matters a lot. Peer influence isn’t a distraction from leadership at this age, it is the leadership curriculum if you use it well.
The Integrity Check-In is a weekly activity where students anonymously answer the question ‘Did you do the right thing this week even when no one was watching?’ and the class talks about the overall results without naming names.
Conflict Court is where two students present a conflict (real or made-up) to a rotating panel of peers. The panel’s job is to find a fair resolution rather than declare a winner.
The Influence Map is an activity where students identify who has the biggest influence on them and then name one area where they want to be the influence instead of just receiving it.
Stand Up, Speak Up Role-Play helps students rehearse what to say when they see someone being excluded or treated poorly, so they have practiced courage before they need it.
This is a crucial phase in which students feel that pull between fitting in and standing up. Give them the words and the practice now.
High School: Vision, Service, Leading Without a Title
Leadership in high school is about developing a vision and developing the skills to make that vision a reality. That is why so many of these activities are about influence (leadership without a title).
The Vision Board Pitch allows students to create a one-page vision for a change they would like to bring into the school or community and then present it within 2 minutes to the class.
Service Sprint is a small group service-learning activity where teams design and execute a service project with a class period and modest resources, then report on what they did and what they would do differently.
Lead the Lesson is when a student (or group of students) teaches a section of the class. This activity teaches high school students that leadership is influence, not position, and that influence takes preparation.
The No-Title Challenge asks students to name a specific time in the past month in which they influenced an outcome without a formal title and what made that influence work.
High schoolers are close to real-world challenges that will shape their leadership. Give them practice now in vision, service, and quiet influence.
One Program, Multiple Levels
What links these activities is the idea that leadership development is a progression, not a single lesson. A kindergartner keeping a small promise and a senior pitching a vision are practicing the same skill, self-leadership, at very different levels.
iLead Elementary, iLead Middle School and iLead High School are all research-based peer-to-peer leadership activities that reach students at their level and help them develop leadership skills they will use long after they leave your classroom.
If you are looking for a classroom leadership curriculum, not just activities but an entire program that meets students at their grade-level, then consider Growing Leaders’ research-based iLead programs, where students learn leadership in the classroom from their peers. Check growingleaders.com to see how these classroom leadership activities can work in your classroom!
