Start Strong: Building a Collaborative Classroom from Day One

Teams on day one, students helping write the class expectations, and the CPM resources that make your first weeks easier.

October 19, 20262 min read

Teacher Tips 2026–27 · Tip 1 of 8

Welcome to a new school year! Having students work together in teams on the very first day is one of the best ways to set expectations for collaborative learning and to start building connections between students. Those personal connections are the foundation of engagement as you all begin learning together.

Connect students with each other and with the math

As you plan your first days, think about how students will connect with each other and with the material. All of the opening activities, including the Team Roles and the Study Team and Teaching Strategies in the first few lessons, are designed to get students talking, about themselves as well as the math.

Lesson Launches and icebreakers help students break down the barriers to communicating and working together, as a team and as a class.

Build classroom expectations together

Use time in the opening week to set up classroom and team expectations, and involve students in writing them. Creating a list of class expectations works well as a Think-Ink-Pair-Share or a class Share Around.

Your goal is to have students on task all of the time (okay, most of the time), but a few moments of off-task conversation are to be expected. And don’t forget to share your expectations with students’ families, too.

Resources to lean on

Teacher Materials. Find extra support on a wide range of topics in the Resources section of the digital platform or the Teacher tab of the eBook.
Course Planning Timeline. See the suggested number of days for each chapter so you can plan your year. It’s in the Course Overview in the Resources section of the digital platform, and in Course Preparation on the Teacher tab of the eBook.