Tried & True: A Kingdom With No Rules

We all know that one of the most important things to do on the first day of school is set the classroom rules. For the upper elementary grades, I am a big believer in allowing students to create the classroom rules. This helps them "buy in"-- think about it! If someone handed you a giant list of rules to follow, and you had no say in any of them, would you be as willing to follow? This is the activity I use on the first day of school for rule setting:

• We read the story A Kingdom with No Rules, No Laws, and No King by Norman Styles. You can grab a copy by clicking HERE or by googling the title! It's free!
• We discuss the moral of the story. The kids should understand that for the classroom to run smoothly, there MUST be rules!
• I get a giant piece of chart paper out, and ask the kid's to think-pair-share some rules they think our class should have. I list all of their suggestions-- some might be a little repetitive.
• I tell the students that this is a LONGGGGGG list of rules, and that we should try and combine them so we just have five. You can ask for students help to combine the rules.
• By the end, you should have a list of about five classroom rules. I copy these rules onto poster paper and have all of the kids sign the bottom. Laminate your rules list, and hang it up for the year!