Each day we have a class meeting during the half hour between lunch and recess. We start the meeting with a circle question where we pass a “talking item” and each have a turn to answer the question of the day. The questions might ask “What’s your favorite….” or “Would you rather….”  Today’s question was “Do you have an unusual talent?” It’s been fun to listen to everyone’s responses and it lets us get to know one another better.  Our class meetings end with a read aloud. Tomorrow we will finish our first chapter book, Third Grade Angels by Jerry Spinelli.

The middle portion of our class meeting focuses on a Positive Trait. Our first positive trait was Cooperation.  It is defined as “Working Together for Success”.  We use a reflection paper with each Positive Trait. On our Cooperation page we drew a picture of someone we cooperated well with and wrote what we did.  We listed three tips to help us cooperate in school.  We cooperated with a partner to draw an American flag. Also, we cooperated with a partner (and then the whole group) to see how many words we could make using the letters in COOPERATION.

This week’s positive trait was “Integrity: Doing the right thing, when when no one is watching.” Our reflection page had spots where we drew a comic book style reflection with a speech bubble or thought bubble to show how we could show integrity in certain situations (example: The teacher heard talking at your table and reprimanded your neighbor.  You were the one actually talking.  What could you do?) We also drew a picture and wrote about a time when we showed integrity. Here we are with our finished Integrity reflection pages.  Next week’s positive trait is “Empathy: Understanding and feeling other’s feelings (Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.)” Look for these reflection pages when they come home each week to continue discussions on these important life skills and positive traits.