fourth grade

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fourth grade
By MWS

This is what I did last year for my fourth grade class. Before school started I sent a postcard to each child welcoming them and asking them to bring a bag to school with 5 items that would describe themselves. I also had
a bag with 5 items about myself. This was very successful and the kids loved it. I used the Shel Silverstein poem "The Sack" to go along with this activity. I spread the sharing out over a couple of days. I also had the kids write a bio-poem about themselves which I hung in the hallway for back to school night. I also started class meetings the first week. I used the book, Positive Discipline

in the Classroom as my guide. We discussed rules for the classroom at the meetings and came up with a list of 5 rules to follow which I then posted. The kids loved having classroom meetings. It helped them to learn important skills for dealing with problems and made them part of the solutions. I held meetings a minimum of 3times a week for the entire year. I went over all my procedures for the classroom the first week, so they were clear about my expectations. Fourth graders love to help and can do many jobs in the classroom. A good discipline plan that works for 4th graders is to have a traffic light hanging up. This is simply 3 large circles, green on bottom, yellow in middle,and red on top. Attach the circles together with glue and laminate them. Hang up the traffic light in a very visible place. Put each child's name on a clothespin and clip all pins to green light. Every child starts each day on green. If they are talking or acting up they must move their pin to yellow. Repeated behaviours mean they move to red. They have the opportunity over the day to move back to green if their behaviour improves. If they are on red at the end of the day they lose their break for the following day. A marble jar also works well. If all students are on green at the end of day they get a marble in jar. So many marbles gives a class treat. 4th graders love stickers and little treats. These are just a few ideas for your friend Hope they help.