additions

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additions
By Julianne

I would add a couple of thoughts to the good advice above:

It helps to have your students actively involved in drawing up the rules. In lower grades it's easy to lead the students to "make up" the rules you had in mind
all along. But giving them input into the process creates ownership and a feeling of community.
Second, along with making few rules, make them broad enough to cover a variety of behaviors. An example would be having a rule that requires students to keep their hands to themselves. If a child decides to bite another child, hey, he's still kept his hands to himself, hasn't he??? Instead,

a rule that requires him to respect the personal space of others would cover biting as well as spitwads, hair pulling, tackle football...you get the idea.

Finally, remember that our country's rules are constantly being evaluated and revised. Don't be afraid to call your group together to revise or revisit rules that aren't working.