Freedom Writers is a film that has inspired many English teachers.  Based on Erin Gruwell's best seller, the film follows the life of an English teacher, Ms. Gruwell, who chooses to teach in an urban school. She entered her classroom to find many of the students reluctant to read, write, or even show up for class.  Yet through her trials, Gruwell soared. Through the process of building solid classroom community and through writing, Gruwell taught her students to how to find their voice.

Community Building Ideas from Erin Gruwell
Click on the headings to see the actual document.

Student Contract
Though this contract was designed for the Freedom Writers diaries, it can be used and modified for any type of writing assignment. It lends itself well to being used for writing assignments that are deeply personal. With this contract all students will explicitly see how they are expected to act through the writing process. This contract is signed by all students, thus creating a bond and a mutual understanding of the expectations.

Permission Slip for Parents
This link is not specifically for students; however, it is a good format or idea script of how to involve parents in the writing process.
Teacher Tips for Building Community
These basic tips come from the students in Ms. Gruwell's class. The student's show that the foundation of a classroom is respect. Students desire to have a community in the class - a place where learning is engaging and creative.

TRUST*RESPECT*COMMUNITY

Classroom communities are built on the basis of respect and trust.

If these two essential qualities are not part of the classroom environment then it is very possible that students will be reluctant to share themselves and implement themselves into the construction of the class.

Trust and respect need to be explicitly taught, modeled, and presented to students so that they are aware of the environment you are creating. In order to be explicit, students should be praised when they have been respectful and called out when their respect for other students or the teacher is lacking.  This will help to develop a sense of community awareness that will bring students to a new place in their learning.