40 House Points Practices for SEL & Community Building

House Team Reveal

In Harry Potter, a magical sorting hat reveals to students their assigned House. Your school may not have any bona fide wizards, but there are many ways to create a magical “reveal” experience for your students. Try the ideas below to make a big impression with your House system rollout.

  1. Pop the Balloon. Prepare a slip of paper with each student’s selected House. If you’re feeling crafty, you can put it into a balloon before inflating. For an easier (still fun) reveal, simply tape the balloon over the slip of paper, face down, on each student’s chair. Then invite students to pop the balloon (sitting works!) to reveal their House.
  2. Envelope Ceremony. Create an exciting environment with music, drums, and a build-up speech from a teacher or administrator. Then invite students up one by one to unseal an envelope with their House enclosed!
  3. Unpack the Swag. If you are using House t-shirts, bracelets, or other swag, you can wrap the student’s House swag and give it to them directly in a reveal. This works well in a ceremony format – students can immediately start repping their new House!
  4. Induction Ceremony. Add to the experience with a full-blown induction ceremony! You can invite students up one-by-one, or in groups to: perform the House chant, take an oath, light a candle, receive their swag, and more! Have a Senior Leader for the House (a student or staff member) lead the induction.

When we go to our induction ceremony, we have kids crying because they're so happy, they just can't wait. They are losing sleep over which house they're going to be in. I mean it's insane.

  1. School Assembly. Go big by bringing your entire school together in the cafeteria or auditorium. This pairs well with an envelope ceremony. Be sure to bring the music, have teachers in their House colors, and be prepared for a whole lot of excitement!
  2. Mobile Cart Reveal Ceremony. Let the reveal ceremony come to each classroom! Establish a reveal committee – a few spirited administrators or teacher-leaders – who pack a mobile cart with all the essentials. Then, cover one grade per morning with a pop-up ceremony in each classroom.
  3. Make it Physical. Find fun ways to incorporate physical movement to make your reveal more special. One school had students go down the “magic slide”, and receive their new House at the bottom. Survey your playground and gym equipment for ways to make the experience more hands-on for students.
  4. New Student House Reveals. Don’t forget to have a system for inducting new students into their House! There’s no better way to make your new students feel immediately welcome in your school community. You can build this into your House Meetings (see below), include in morning announcements, or use any of the other techniques above.

Shared Identity & Community

  1. Inspiring House Names. House names are the cornerstone of bringing students and staff together! The best House names are ones that connect students to your school’s unique history and identity. For a deep dive into House naming, see this article.
  2. Pick House Colors. There’s nothing like a pep rally overflowing with your House colors! Your colors can be used for swag (t-shirts, bracelets), and within LiveSchool for your competition dashboard. Selecting colors is an easy win for student involvement – poll each House on their top color choices!
  3. Integrate Homerooms & Houses. Houses and Homerooms can be integrated together as sources of community for students. For instance, each House can be made up of one homeroom per grade.
  4. House Buddy System. A buddy system pairs an older student with a younger student for mentoring, tutoring, and peer support. Put a House twist on this system by picking buddies from within Houses. It’s an instant boost to your buddy system and your House system!
  5. House Leadership Committee. Making decisions as an entire House can be unruly. What better opportunity to give students a hands-on learning opportunity in leadership? Allow students in each House to select their “representatives” for important decisions.
  6. House History. Once you reach the second year of your House system, you’re ready to start incorporating house history! For instance, in your induction ceremony for new students, play a brief slideshow of past House photos and videos. Before long, you’ll have your own House folklore being passed from one generation to the next!