Stop the Squealing!!

It seems like every year my students go from perfect little angels at the start of the year to perfect little angels who sometimes frequently  tattle. Luckily, by second grade with the interventions of our fabulous kinder and first grade teachers, it's not as bad as it could be. But kids by nature feel they need to inform the grown-ups that some sort of injustice has occurred. We all know that they do this to point out the fact that THEY are following the rules (well, minus the whole tattling thing), but it inevitably becomes an issue and I was always looking for the best way to handle it with each class.

A few years back, I can't remember how long, I found the book Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal! It's a darling story about a classroom of pigs who seem to torture their poor, patient teacher with squeals (tattles) until finally something big happens. The kids see what a big deal truly is and vow to only tell their teacher if it's something important.

My kids love this book because it's funny and they can relate! I like to use my most dramatic reading voice, especially when reading aloud all of the argumentative dialogue as the little piggies fight over silly (but relevant) things.

After we're done, the kids help me put together an anchor chart detailing whether an incident would be a squeal or if it's really a big deal and a teacher needs to be notified. This opens up a lot of really great dialogue between my students and me as to when they should come find a teacher for help. We use the term "kid-size problems" a lot, and when my kiddos come to me throughout the year, I always ask them first, "Is this a squeal, or a kid-size problem?"

Then, my kids work on a Squeal or Big Deal sorting activity. They cut out all the different scenarios and put them under the correct headings. We go over them all together and discuss as we go. I like to have my kids take two different color crayons -- one for the squeal column and one for the big deal column -- to color each scenario as we reflect together. That way, if a student glued a situation to the wrong side, at least it's color coordinated.

As a final component to our Squealing unit, we make Piggy Promises! My kids craft a little pig face and then write a reflection vowing to only squeal if it's a big deal! Then they write about all the different situations in which a teacher would need to help. It's a lot of fun and the kids love putting together their little pigs!

My little guy is turned the wrong way, but I'm so exhausted, I can't figure out how to fix it!

If you're interested in this unit, it's available in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop! Click on the image below to take you to my shop. Have a great week!!

Piggy Promises -- The Glitter Clip