1 The students at Morgan Lane Elementary are very upset with some of the new rules.  Starting this year, they can no longer have rolling carts to carry their books, lunches, and personal items.  The school board became concerned about what some kids might be hiding in the backpacks and rolling carts. Also, last spring, one of the students was hurt when another student’s cart hit them in the hallway. Parents are a little upset, but they understand that for safety and security of the students and staff, this is a good idea. The new rule states that only clear see-through backpacks will be allowed. Even students’ lunches have to be able to be seen.

2 This is not making the students happy at all.  Mrs. Logan’s third graders have been talking about it all morning.  Most of them had already bought their carts and colored backpacks before the rule was adopted by the school board. So here on the first day of school, they are lugging around everything. The stores ran out of the clear see-through backpacks quickly.  Some parents just couldn’t afford to purchase additional items at such a late date when they had already bought others before.

3 Needless to say all of this chatter in class, has made it rough for Mrs. Logan to teach on the first day.

4 She has decided to stop her lesson and have a class discussion.  She is using a chart to show good reasons for the changes and to show students concerns about the changes. It also shows possible alternatives or solutions for problems that are being brought up by the students.

Here is what the chart looks like so far.