Teacher Resource Project - Classroom Rules and Procedures by Daniela Mata

"Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners" by Laurie Keller

dnmata1 — 2025-06-29 18:15:06 UTC

Do Unto Otters is a fun read for students to learn about kindness and treating others the way you want to be treated. Mr. Rabbit has some new neighbors, the otters. He worries if they will get along until he hears the saying, "do unto otters as you would have otters do unto you". Mr. Rabbit lists out all the ways he would like the otters to behave like saying please and thank you, not mocking him, and including everyone when they play.

Discussion Questions:

Which otter manners do you think are the most important in our classroom, and why?
How would you want someone to treat you if you were new in the class?
Can you think of a time when you showed good manners—or when someone showed good manners to you?

"What If Everybody Did That?" by Ellen Javernick

dnmata1 — 2025-06-29 18:32:13 UTC

"What If Everybody Did That?" by Ellen Javernick follows a young boy around his community. This boy does things like litter, runs around a grocery store, and feeds animals at the zoo, all things that we should not do to keep order instead of chaos. After each event someone reminds the young boy "what if everybody did that?", signifying that if all people behaved how he is behaving, there would be complete chaos! This book reminds students that they play a big role in the order and routines of the classroom. And if everyone misbehaved or did not turn in their homework, it would be chaos!

Discussion Questions:

Can one small action really make a big difference? Why or why not?
What’s something positive you wish everyone would do? What would the world look like if that happened?
Have you ever done something small—like littering or interrupting—that seemed okay at the time? What would happen if everyone did the same?

Resource #1: Edutopia Video

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 22:27:00 UTC

This video can be shown to teachers and students in order to review important classroom rules and procedures. Teachers can show this to students and pause and discuss when an important procedure is mentioned.

Resource #2: Cult of Pedagogy Blog Post

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 22:31:58 UTC

This blog post can be used with teachers and students alike. It is filled with important reminds for teachers as to why having clear and simple rules for students is key to a successful school year. For students, provide the reccommended list of rules:

Listen and follow directions.

Raise your hand before speaking or leaving your seat.
Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
Respect your classmates and your teacher.

Resource #3: Book

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 22:35:47 UTC

"David Goes to School" by David Shannon is a great tool for explaining the importance of rules to young students. Providing students with examples of unnacceptable behaviors can help them understand what is expected of them.

Resource #4: Classroom Morning Routines

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 22:39:53 UTC

This video is very helpful for teachers to establish a good morning routine that can be easily followed by students. Morning routines allow students to start their day on the right foot.

Resource #5: Edutopia Article

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 22:42:44 UTC

Classroom transitons can become pure chaos if left unchecked. This article gives teachers and students steps in creating positive and organized transitions in their classrooms.

Lesson Plan #1: Scholastic News

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 22:48:26 UTC

This lesson plan is to be paired with the book "Interrupting Chicken" by David Ezra Stein. Students get involved in the rule making process by creating their own rules for the classroom. Additionally, students work on a hands-on activity where they become a rule rooster!

Activity #2: Classroom Behavior Contract

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 22:52:20 UTC

Teachers have the class help create a list of classroom rules to then have written on a poster and hung upwithin the classroom. Students then sign the poster and agree to follow the established rules of the classroom, that they helped create.

Activity #3: Introduce Back to School Procedures with Fun Task Cards

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 22:56:39 UTC

Students are provided rules and procedures on task cards that have grammatical erros. Their task is to edit and rewrite the errors and gain an understanding of the rules, while payin gattention to grammar.

Narrative Summary

dnmata1 — 2025-07-06 23:10:35 UTC

What is your topic, and why did you choose it?

I chose classroom rules and procedures as my topic because I believe a successful classroom needs to have these established as soon as possible. Without rules and procedures, students will understandably so, take advantage of the freedom and chaos will occur. Additionally, establishing rules and procedures allows your students to know what you expect from them always.

Why is this topic important to teach?

This topic is important to teach because it allows your classroom to run smoothly when all students know what is expected of them. Rules and procedures are not just key for a succesful classroom, but serve to teach students the importance of following rules and procedures in their everyday lives. This topic is especially important to teach to new and young students, because they have almost no prior knowledge of rules and procedures of a classroom.

How would you teach this topic in your future classroom?

To teach this topic in my future classroom I would utilize the books, lesson plans, and activites that I have provided here. Most importantly, I would allow my students to participate in the creation of our classroom rules and procedures. This provides students with a say in how they want their class to be ran, and therefore motivates them to follow the rules they created.

What are 3 questions or concerns you have about teaching this topic?
1. With students of different backgrounds or cultures where some rules or procedures may not be able to be done, how can we as educators provide different variations of these ruels or procedures?
2. How can we as teachers motivate our students to follow rules and procedures outside of our classroom?
3. What are the incentives or consequences that will accompany following or not following the rules and procedures?