"David Goes to School" Booklet Project

Have you ever read "No, David!" by David Shannon? If you have, here is the beloved sequel by many of our elementary students: "David Goes to School." This book is filled with laughter as David enters school continually being told "No" by his teacher. He makes plenty of mistakes, exhibits inappropriate behavior, but, at the end of the day, still manages to earn a "Great Job, David!" from his teacher. In this lesson plan, students will not only get to read "David Goes to School", but also discuss what behaviors would earn them a "Great Job" from the teacher and create their own "Great Job" booklets. Ready to find out how?

Let's get started:

1. To begin, have students gather together at the meeting area or stay seated in their desks. Introduce the title of the book and ask students, “Has anyone ever said ‘No’ to you? Well, this book is about a little boy named David who hears the word ‘No’ many times during the school. Let’s read and find out why his teacher is always telling him ‘No’.”
2. Throughout the book, stop and ask student why the teacher says ‘No’ to David...“Is he breaking a school rule?”
3. At the end of the book, ask students why the teacher said ‘Great Job, David!”...“What was David doing right?” Have students list examples of behaviors at school that would earn a “Great Job” from the teacher. Write them on the board - leave enough space by each of them to draw an illustration.
4. Once you have a completed list on the board (guide your students to come up with your classroom rules), have them talk about what this looks like. Examples might include: “Eyes on Me”, “Quiet Hands”, “Listening”, “Hands and Feet to Self”, “Be Happy”, etc.
5. As students come up with what each one looks like, put the pre-made illustration by the written behavior on the board.
6. Once you have a complete illustrated and written list, explain to the students that they will be making their own “Great Job, ________!” booklist. There name will go on the outside and inside they can pick five examples of behaviors that would earn them a “Great Job” from the teacher. On each page they will write and/or use the typed up behaviors and draw and/or use the pre-made illustrations. Once you have a complete illustrated and written list, explain to the students that they will be making their own “Great Job, ________!” booklets. There name will go on the outside and inside they can pick five examples of behaviors that would earn them a “Great Job” from the teacher. On each page they will write and/or use the typed up behaviors and draw and/or use the pre-made illustrations.
   
   • NOTE: The teacher may need to quickly print more pre-made illustration if new behaviors come up. Also, teachers can modify and adapt this step according to the individual needs of their class - have students trace the rules, color in pre-made images, gluing text/images to the pages, writing the rules and drawing the images, etc.
     
7. After everyone has complete their booklet, go around the room and have students share what behaviors would earn them a “Great Job”.
   

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE BOOKLET:

"Great Job" Booklet Cover
"Great Job" Booklet Page Idea

To extend the lesson further, teachers could do the one or more of the following:

1. Throughout the first weeks of school, every time a student shows a desired behavior (such as having their eyes on the teacher during calendar time), then stamp or put a small star sticker on that page of their “Good Job” booklet. This is just meant as a positive reinforcement and can be faded out after the first few weeks.
2. Copy pages from the students’ booklets and create a classroom “Great Job” poster where students can be reminded of appropriate behaviors that they themselves came up with and drew examples of.