Building a Learning Community: Crafting Rules for the Classroom

Materials and Technology

Student Interactives

Printouts

Websites

Preparation

 

MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

• Miss Nelson is Missing by Henry Allard and James Marshall (Houghton Mifflin, 1977)
  
  
• Pippi Goes to School by Astrid Lindgren (Viking Press, 1950)
  
  
• Please, May I Have a Pencil? A Child's Guide to Manners at School (Joshua Morris Publishing for Ideals, 1986)
  
  
• Mind Your Manners by Peggy Parish (Greenwillow Books, 1978)
  
  
• Wall chart or whiteboard
  
  
• Flip chart or overhead projector
  
  
• Bulletin board or other space for posting classroom rules
  
  
• Computers with Internet access and printing capability

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STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Writing & Publishing Prose

Printing Press

The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers.

 

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PRINTOUTS

• Definitions of Keywords
  
  
• Behavior Interview handout
  
  
• School Manners and Behavior Topics
  
  

• Utah State Office of Education: Character Education Resources

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WEBSITES

• Utah Education Network: Character Education
• U.S. Department of Education: Character Education

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PREPARATION

1.	Using the books and informational Web resources listed in the Resources section, find materials you feel are appropriate for your class to start off a discussion of classroom behavior and manners. (Suggested read-aloud: Miss Nelson is Missing by Henry Allard)
2.	Make a copy for display (on a flip chart or overhead transparency) of the Definitions of Keywords. Familiarize yourself with the list of School Manners and Behavior Topics, which you will be referring to when assigning interview topics.
3.	Make a copy for each student of the Behavior Interview handout. You may wish to modify the length and format of the handout to fit your needs.
4.	Decide whom the students will interview (teachers? other adults? other students?) and get approval from these interview subjects for their participation in the project. Arrange for a convenient location for the interviews, and agree upon a time frame for scheduling the interviews.
5.	Set aside a bulletin board area that is blank except for several scattered question marks and the heading "What's Missing From Our Classroom?"
6.	Schedule access to computers with Internet access and printing capabilities for Session 5, in which you will be publishing the classroom rules.
7.	Bookmark the ReadWriteThink Printing Press and make sure that it functions correctly on your school's computers. Familiarize yourself with the process of publishing a booklet using the Printing Press.

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