We Don't Eat Our Classmates - Our Library Expectations


I like for my students to set our expectations for the year.  Every year I look for a book that will give this a new feel.  In the past I have used
  • Rulers of the Playground by Joseph Kuefler
  • The Snurtch by Sean Ferrell
  • Tea Party Rules by Ame Dyckman
  • Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
  • Alpha Oops by Alethea Kontis
This year's selection was We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins.


I was hooked on Ryan T. Higgins books when I met his Mother Bruce books.  He has a sense of humor that can be appreciated by children and adults alike.  This book is no exception.

We began class with a partner share about a time something unexpected happened in class.  I then read to the class.  We were only 4 pages in when the first jaw hit the floor and the first eyes bugged out of their heads.  I expected laughter but often got pin-drop silence.  "Could the book possibly have said THAT?"  Yep.  It did.  They were instantly sold.

Following our reading, I broke my 3rd graders into table groups to brainstorm.  They knew what they should NOT do.  Their task was to write about what they SHOULD do in the library.  Each student wrote several sticky notes of ideas.  The table then had to decide which 1 idea was the most important out of all of them.  When we all returned to the rug, the groups shared their opinions with the group.  We compiled our top 5 expectations for each class.  Some of the top shared expectations:








I especially like this one

I tried this activity in 2nd grade, but it was a little abstract for them and they got bogged down with writing their ideas down.  I ended up creating a thought bubble for them to complete.  Thoughts were a little closer to what I was aiming for than with the sticky note activity, but this was still a bit too abstract for this group.






My takeaways

I enjoyed having students debate the value of their ideas and together, present their most important one.  I would like to try this with my 4th and 5th-grade students as well.  I will compile their top expectations and post them in our library.

*Following up* The activity in 4th and 5th grade

I tweaked this activity for 4th and 5th-grade students, inspired by a conversation with my friend and librarian colleague, Sarah Bickel.  I broke down the expectations into three categories:
  • Rug time
  • Table time
  • Book checkout
Each group was assigned a category and they brainstormed expectations at their table.  Next, they chose the most important one (out of all of their ideas) to share with the class.  When we re-assembled, they shared this with the class.  I posted some of the most common themes on our bulletin board.

Common themes on our bulletin board

Student post-it notes



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