Full Day Observation of one Student
At the beginning of the time I spent in the classroom, the students were seated all around the classroom playing a math domino game. Together with a partner, the students select a set of dominos and count the dots to see who has a greater sum. The winner then collects the dominos and at the end they count them up to see who wins the game. As they are playing the teacher is floating around the room watching.
Suddenly the teacher rings a bell and says “1, 2, 3” and the class responds with “all eyes on me”. The teacher tells the students that the game is over and they should start cleaning up and return to their seats. When they go back to their seats, which are arranged in 3 groups of 7 or 8 seats, she has them take out their math journals and a pencil. Then she calls them one cluster at a time to the rug for whole group instruction. As they arrive at the rug I hear her tell her students, “Make a good choice for yourselves. Sit next to someone who will help you listen.”
At the rug the class is asked to open to a page in their journals and they are going to work on some of the problems as a class. The task is to look at dominos and fill our a parts and totals organizer with the dots from the domino. As a group the teacher asks them for some of the answers and they fill out the problems on a white board. As they answer the questions as a class they fill out the work in their journals as well. After finishing a few problems, the teacher prepares them for questions 6 and 7 which require a different kind of thinking and then has them go to their seats to finish the page individually.
As the students work at their desks, the teacher walks around to help before finally settling down in her rocking chair at the front of the room where students bring their finished work. She checks the answers and has the students fix any problems. The students who are finished begin to take out books for silent reading and those still working stay on task. A long line forms in front of the teacher while she corrects work and soon all of the student, save one, have seen her and are finished. At this point she calls the students to the rug to begin a new activity and tells the one little girl who is not finished to keep working until she finishes.
As the students come to the rug, the teacher says “By the time I count to 10 by 2s, everyone should be quiet. Count with me…2…4…6…8…10, now with primes…1…3…” She also asks the students to show her what a first grader who is listening looks like. When everyone is quiet, she asks them what they have been studying about weather, and the class talks about their weather books and weather observations. They also mention how they drew pictures of their favorite type of weather as well as read a story about a meteorologist.
The reason for the teacher’s review of what they learned about weather is because they are going to move to a discussion of wind and it’s relation to the weather. First she asks them to brainstorm what they know about wind, and she writes down their ideas on the board. While the class is discussing, most students are attentive, save for one girl who is moving about a lot and not really focusing. However, by the end of a few minutes the class has a great list of ways in which one can see weather and what no wind, some wind and strong wind would look like. The teacher than tells them that they are going to be going outside to measure the wind for the day by using a flag to see how strong the wind is blowing.
After showing the class the flag which the whole class will use they line up and get ready to go outside. Before they leave the classroom, though, the teacher must move one student from the back of the line to the front because, as the teacher said, “your behavior is telling me that you need to be closer to me”. Finally we all got outside and the teacher held up the flag and the students all wrote down their observations in their books. This happened at the end of my time with the class and as I was leaving I heard the teacher tell the students to remember what they saw so they could discuss it as a class.
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Grade 1/2 - Spelling and End of Day Activities
This observation took place towards the end of the day, and when I entered the classroom, the teacher was just finishing his review of the spelling words for this week, which meant that the students were just about to start creating their own lists.
Before the teacher handed out the pre-test lists, however, he needed to finish giving the class directions, but they were too noisy to hear him. His method of quieting the class was quite unique, for he told them “if you’re quiet touch your ear” and soon the class was quieted down. His directions were that they needed to make their spelling lists and finish their reading jobs. They were to do this until the end of day jobs needed to be done around 3:05pm, which gave them about 15 minutes to make their lists. He also told them that they could take as much time as they needed, but they could only have snack once they finished their spelling lists and their jobs. This meant that they were going to have to make good decisions about how to spend their time if they wanted to eat their snack. After telling this to the class, the teacher handed out the lists one at a time and told each child that he/she did a good job.
While the teacher was getting the students settled, I noticed one child sitting at his desk, crying and pounding his fist against the table. He was visibly upset about his spelling list and could not function. The teacher approached him, but as he came over he was constantly stopped by other students who were asking him questions. When he did reach the child he asked him what he could do instead of crying. The student calmed down and was able to explain that he was upset that he was working on the “blue” spelling list and not the “green” one (note: the green list is easier than the blue list). The teacher tried to explain to the student that he was working on the blue list since he could spell all the words on the green list and he wanted to stretch the student. However, this was not comforting to the student. In the end the teacher decided to compromise and allowed the student to choose five words from the green list for this week and he would choose five from the blue list for him.
After this talk, the teacher sat down at a table for a bit and answered questions that students had and checked their spelling lists. One thing that was noticeable was his tone of voice. He always sounded excited to be talking with the students and would joke around with them as well. I also noticed how well all of the students were working on the various tasks. There was not a lot of noise in the classroom and most of the students were on task. They were working hard to finish their jobs so they could have their snacks at the end of the day.
After about 10 minutes the teacher notices another boy who has his head down on the desk. The teacher tells the boy to get his book and show him what the problem is. When the boy comes back with his book he explains to the teacher that he copied the wrong words and was frustrated. The teacher could see this and again struck a compromise with the student. If the student copied down half of his spelling list the teacher would copy the rest for him so he would have enough time for his snack.
Aside from these two interactions, most of the questions and conversations that the teacher had with students was about what they should be doing and whether or not their jobs and spelling lists were done. There is a lot of movement in the room, but this does not seem to bother any of the students or the teacher and before 3:15pm all but 2 students were finished their jobs and spelling lists and were enjoying their snacks at their desks. This productive work allowed the teacher to spend time working with other students, drawing a face on one little girl’s spelling list and tying a few loose ends up before the end of the day. Additionally, since the students packed up when they finished, all of which was at their own pace, there was not a large rush of students to their cubbies and back to the room. This allowed for a nice, smooth transition from their work to the end of the day with minimal noise and distractions.
It was about 3:20pm when I finally left the classroom and most of the students were packed up and ready to go to their buses.
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When I entered the room the teacher had already begun the math lesson. She was teaching simple addition problems to her second graders and they were coming up to the white board to show multiple ways of writing the addition problems. The teacher was very energetic, which could be discerned from the tone of her voice, and when students wrote down answers that were not expected, she was quick to accept their responses and encourage others to try other ways as well. Doing so led me to truly believe that she was not looking for a single “right answer”. Additionally, when the suggestion from the kid was very wrong, she did not make the child feel stupid or silly.
As she was teaching I noticed the layout of the room. She had two rows of desks where they students faced each other in the rows. This meant that some people were facing the teacher and others had to turn around to see her, but she was teaching the lesson in the dead center of the classroom, so it was not difficult for all of the students to see her. In one corner of the room she had her desk and in the other corner she had a carpet area with a lot of books and games along the walls. It was very typical of a lot of the rooms at this school.
After the math discussion she called the students to the carpet to teach them a math card game. Before she taught them the game, however, she had the class brainstorm ways in which they should work together as partners. I thought this was a great idea and was quite surprised by some of the responses of the children. At one point someone suggested using indoor voices, which the teacher thought was a great idea, and a very important one at that. In order to demonstrate its importance, she had them talk in loud voices to their neighbors. After a short while she stopped them and asked if they could concentrate on what they were doing when it was so loud, which they said they could not. Then she had them demonstrate indoor voices with their neighbor, and again asked if they could concentrate, which they could. After this discussion she taught them a simple math addition game where they have to see if they can get two cards that add up to a number greater than their partner’s cards.
During the discussion and demonstration of the game, I noticed that a few students were not paying attention. Some were looking at the books and games instead of the teacher, and others were hanging all over the rocking chair that the teacher was sitting on. However, this did not seem to bother the teacher, whereas other teachers in the building would ask the students to sit still on the carpet away from all distractions (my co-teacher namely).
For the rest of the time the children played the card game and the teacher walked around assisting them. I left before anything out of the ordinary happened during the game, so I am not sure if there were complications during the game.
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During this observation I was able to see a social studies lesson taught in another third grade classroom. In the lesson, the teacher had the students create a classroom map of the world by assigning specific clusters certain continents or lines of latitude and longitude (i.e. the Prime Meridian and the Equator). They were responsible for approximating the shape of these and placing them on the map in the correct spots.
Most noticeable to me during this lesson was the behavior of the students. Most of the students were sitting or standing in non-traditional ways. What I mean by this is that I saw students lying across their desk with only their knees on their chairs, kids sitting on the tops of their chairs and standing up while she talked and asked questions. However, almost every student was on task during the assignment. The reason this was noticeable to me is due to the fact that my co-teacher requires that all students be sitting in their seats normally during all lessons. They are not to have their heads down or stand up at all, but this teacher did not have a problem with that, and her class was not disturbed by these actions either. There was also a lot of movement and chatter in the classroom during the lesson as well. Some students were rummaging around in their desks, kids were getting up and going to other parts of the room, chatting with their neighbors and other small things of a similar nature. Despite this background noise, the class remained engaged.
I also noticed that she called on her very gifted child a lot during the discussion, thus ensuring a correct answer. At one point she even stated verbally that they should ask Ethan because he would know.
Most striking about this teacher, though, is her tone of voice. It was similar to the second grade teacher I observed, in that she has a certain level of excitement that really hooks the listener. Whereas my co-teacher has a calm and soothing voice, which has its own benefits, her voice was loud and exciting, penetrating the classroom in a great way. She had students come to the board and point things out, had whole group responses and had the class do a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” if they agreed or disagreed.
After the discussion of what to do, she broke the class up and moved around the room assisting students who needed help. However, she also sat with me in the back of the room and observed, allowing the students to work independently and decide when they needed assistance from her. When she was ready to come back as a whole group and put the map together she used two different methods of gaining attention. First she tried a “give me 5” to see who noticed she was ready to talk, and she also turned the lights off to gain the attention of the rest of the class. Both strategies were effective and also not obtrusive.
The end of the lesson involved the class going up in small groups to construct the map, which went very well with no major catastrophes. The rest of the class watched intently and were asked to participate by agreeing or disagreeing to where things were placed, which held their attention and kept them a part of the action without actively doing something. In the end, the final class map looked great and the class was very pleased with their results.
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I entered the room when the teacher was preparing to transition the students from recess to social studies. As can be expected, the students were noisy after returning from lunch and recess and the teacher used a count down from 5 to calm them down. Surprisingly this was all it took. The teachers voice was deep and firm enough to penetrate the room and the students were ready for the lesson before she reached 0.
After the students were settled she handed out newspapers designed for fourth grade students by the state of Pennsylvania. She had them each take the top portion and hand the rest to a group member at their cluster, who then brought the rest to her. As she was explaining the lesson, which involved reading through the newspaper and answering some questions, she noticed some students lifting open their desks. This prompted her to say “I don’t want to talk to the inside of your desk,” which quickly and simply solved that problem.
Before I discuss the way the lesson panned out, I would like to draw attention to the setup of the room. Like most other classes, the desks were arranged in clusters. However, this setup was unique in that all students could easily see the teacher. She has two clusters in the front with groups of 5 (two rows of two facing each other and an end-cap seat facing the front), and these groups were close to her when she spoke. In the back she had three groups of four, but the front two desks faced each other whereas the back two desks faced forward, thus preventing the students in the very back from being too removed from the teacher when she was in the front of the room. I thought that this setup was ingenious because it really does solve the problem of having students in the very back. She could see that they were focused and the students did not have to strain to see or hear her.
I also noticed that she had a set of hanging chart paper in the back of the room that had laminated notes on it. This, as she explained to her class when she introduced the concept of taking notes, which they would begin later on, had all of the notes they would ever take. This system allowed the class to easily see the notes when she took them and the teacher did not have to write the notes as she went, thus making it easier for her to talk to the class and spend less time writing with her back facing them.
Now back to the lesson. During the lesson she introduced the newspaper that would be used for the duration of the school year. As a class they examined the various sections and the possible uses for it. Additionally she began a discussion of using a highlighter and her own study skills. Fourth grade is when students begin taking real notes and studying for tests, so her discussion of her own study habits was a great way to introduce one way of going about studying for a test from given materials. The rest of the discussion was focused on reading parts of the newspaper and talking about what they were learning about.
As the discussion ensued, I had a chance to see how the teacher led the discussion. I noticed that she called on one child many times, and I also know that this child is one of her gifted children because of previous observations of classes he has been in. I also noticed that she did not mind calling on students to read out lout even if they do not raise their hands. Additionally, when someone asked to go to the bathroom she asked them to wait until a time which she would designate for the bathroom.
I left the classroom at the end of the discussion when the Spanish teacher came for her lessons.
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As I walked into the room I noticed almost immediately that the students were working in small groups in almost complete silence. The reason the silence startled me was because they were working in their math journals in small groups without talking, whereas the third graders in my class find it difficult to work in their math journals independently without talking.
When the teacher saw me she stood up from the table she was at and offered me the seat, moving herself to her rocking chair which sat in front of the table. The set up of the room allowed for her to be seated exactly in the middle of all the students who were working at their clusters.
Before going into detail about the lesson and what I observed, I feel it is important to provide a view of the room and the materials I took notice of while I was seated in the room. The students were seated in four separate groups with approximately 5 or 6 students in each group. The groups were arranged in the corners of a square which left the center of the room open for a carpet and the teacher’s rocking chair. All of the walls were filled with posters, organizers and student work, including a “Hooked on Reading” station where the students fill out reading slips for the books they read. Finally, I noticed that there were many hanging mobiles strung from the ceiling, all of which dealt with a book that the students read.
The part of the math lesson I saw required the students to finish a journal page and then move on to another page and their math boxes. As the students finished they would bring their journal to the teacher and she would look at it for corrections. If something needed to be fixed she would discuss it with them, and when it was completely finished they would write their name on the board underneath the words “Page 75”. This meant that they had finished page 75 and had moved on to the next page. Occasionally she would walk up to the board and count the names to assess the progress of the class, and after seeing whose names were not on the board, she would go over to them to check on their individual progress.
While I was sitting at the table observing the interactions, I noticed a boy struggling with a math problem in his journal. His partner immediately says that she found a specific answer that differed from the one he had and proceeded to check her answer. When she was sure she had the right answer she told him and helped him through the problem.
A few moments later the teacher picked up a wooden block that was hallowed out and hit it with a mallet to get the attention of her students. It was almost impossible to hear the sound of the bell to my own ears, but the students in the class much have heard it for they immediately stopped everything they were doing to listen to what she had to say.
Something else that I noticed while I was watching the classroom interactions was just how patiently and respectfully the students waited for the teacher to finish working with or talking to another student before they approached her. When they were done they simply stood up and walked towards her, forming a line to wait for her if she was busy. This is quite unlike the students in the third grade who have a tendency to tap me on the shoulder or simply shout my name out when they want to get my attention. The students were also quite on task and spent almost the entire time talking about math rather than off-task topics.
Eventually the teacher warns the class that they only have five minutes left to complete their work, which she does by turning off the lights to get their attention, which is something I have seen done and done myself in the classroom. During the last five minutes she spends time working with students who are struggling or not quite finished, talking them through their problems and guiding them forward. When time is up she simply tells the class that they should put their journals aside and she will check any work tomorrow that has yet to be checked.
She then has the students transition into the second part of the lesson that will help them with their homework for the night. They are asked to open their math notebooks and take out a pencil to work on the math message. As they are doing this she is preparing the math message overhead for them to read. When everything is ready she has a student read the math message, which asks them to complete a page in their math journal without any help from their math resource book. The page asks them to write definitions for the triangles they see on their page, and as they work on the questions the teacher walks around the room watching the students work and helping where it is needed. Some students finish early and she has them go back and finish any work they have not completed in their journals thus far.
Some students needed help, which the teacher provided, while others either waited for help or turned to their neighbor for support. Overall the mood in the room was one of collaboration and a willingness to teach peers what was known, which really impressed me.
I left right as she was asking them to stop working so they could share some of the definitions they wrote for the triangles on the page.
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Around 1pm in the afternoon, directly after lunch, a group of 8 children can be found working in R.P.'s resource room near the gymnasium. As I entered, I noticed that there were three working tables, with three boys at one, two girls and a boy working at opposite ends of a table and two children working separately at a round table. The room was filled with materials and books to be used, as well as organizers and encouraging messages all along the walls. Aside from the main special education teacher, there were two other aides in the classroom working with the students on various assignments.
The three boys at the one table were working with R.P. on descriptive writing, and as R.P. explained to me at one point, they were known to have dysgraphia, thus making it hard for them to write much of anything down, especially finer details. In order to encourage them to write more, R.P. had created an exercise in which they would be required to explain in detail how things felt, smelled, tasted, etc. When told that they would need a napkin, one student proceeded to say “does this involve something messy? Why do we need a napkin?” After receiving the napkin they were given blindfolds, and one child explained that he was uncomfortable with the blindfold so R.P. allowed him to simply close his eyes.
Before beginning her work with the three boys at the table, R.P. made certain to walk around the room and check in on the other students. There was one boy working with an aide in the back of the room at a table where two girls were helping each other. One girl would work on an assignment in a book and the other would time her, afterwards they would switch roles. I noticed that as the one girl finished her work she made the comment that she finished the entire paper on her first try. Her voice was filled with excitement, but she immediately followed that statement with one in which she said “This is kinda bad though because I got everything on my first try.” What she meant was that if she finished it so easily then it must all be wrong. The girl she was working with as well as the aide at the end of the table both told her that it wasn’t bad and encouraged her to see the good in her work. At the third table a boy was working on a reading assignment independently while an aide assisted another girl with her work.
After walking around and checking in R.P. returned to the three boys. She began to pour peanuts into a cup and the boys said they heard a noise which sounded like beans. R.P. became excited and asked them to describe the sounds they were hearing and make predictions based on those sounds. She then handed them the cups, asked them to explore using their senses and then takes the cups away when they are finished. They then take off the blindfolds and are told to write down what they observed using their senses. One boy yells “I’m done!” relatively quickly and R.P. tells him he needs to “fill the card up” with observations.
As the boys wrote down their observations R.P. walked around the classroom again to check in on students. When she arrived at the round table, the boy who was working on his reading became frustrated and said he had to do the same task three times. He became visibly upset and R.P. tried to encourage him to try again and not worry about how many times he has to do it. She then returned to the three boys after checking in on the girls working together at the other table.
This pattern of working with the boys and then checking in on other students continues for the duration of my visit. For the most part the children in the room seem to know what they should be working on and the aides are there to help. However, R.P. makes certain to visit and speak with all of the students as well as redirect them from time to time, even if she is working with the three boys when she does so. She makes sure to encourage the children when they feel too challenged, telling one child that she is up to the challenge before her. She also encourages their own curiosity and discovery, such as the moment when one of the three boys bounced the peanut and saw that it bounced. At that point R.P. herself became excited and asked what they noticed and encouraged them to record that observation. When one boy bounced the peanut so hard that it split in half she also had them write that down on their paper.
I left the room shortly before the students themselves were scheduled to leave, though it appeared as if the routine of the resource room was continuing in the same manner.
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Full Day Observation of one Student
8:45am – I went out with the teacher to pick-up the class and George was reading a book in line, which he continued to read as the line walked up to the classroom. When we arrived at the class he unpacked and spent time reading the cartoon of the day on the door before coming inside the class. He also spent a great deal of time taking down his chair, almost becoming entangled in it. He finally settles into his desk and opens it to take out his homework book to write down the assignments, however he pauses and opens The BFG instead and begins reading for a bit before taking out the assignment book and copying the work. A student at his cluster tries to explain the “what” game, which the class is playing, but he ignores her and stands up to find Mr. C. so he can check off his homework. The teacher tells him to get his reading card and wait for him to come to the desk, which he does. He works quietly on his reading card, finishes, shows the teacher and then begins reading his book again. For the rest of the morning he keeps reading, ignoring the conversations at his cluster.
9: 12am – The teacher came over and told George that he was the messenger for the week so it was his job to ring the bell during transitions. George rings the bell and returns to his book at his desk. The teacher begins the lunch count then asks the class to stand for the pledge. George must be reminded twice before he stands. After the pledge he is asked to take the lunch count and attendance to the office.
9:18am – He returns after 3 minutes, looks at the cartoon, enters the room, joins the class on the rug and pulls his shirt over his knees. As the lesson for spelling goes on he is seen playing with his shirt and pulling it over his legs, chewing on his hand and beating his hands on his chest, but all the while he remains attentive and does participate after a few other students chime in.
9:22am – T. I. enters the room to work with George on his writing task. She taught him Kindergarten and he exclaims “It’s still pretty amazing that my Kindergarten teacher is at SRS now!”. T. allows him to eat his snack for a few minutes before working with him. He lines up his crackers one by one on his desk and begins to eat them as well as the crumbs which cover his desk. Soon T. has him begin writing and sharing his story with her. He is very engaged and talks a lot, though he also shows moments of wanting to work alone and tells T. that he is simply “thinking” when he does not talk for a while. When he finishes his story T. asks him to read it to her and then encourages him to read it to another student. He asks a girl at his cluster but she says “no thank you”, so he goes to Emily and she allows him to read her the story. When finished he asks if she has questions, and when she says no he walks away, though T. does prompt him with “what do we say?” and he thanks Emily before walking away again.
9:54am – The teacher asks George to ring the bell for share time and the class comes to the seat, though George does linger at his desk and draws a few more pictures for his story. During the share meeting George is again playing with this shirt and begins rocking as well, almost falling over at one point. He does however laugh at various points in the stories of the other students, which means he is paying attention to his surroundings.
10: 07am – Math begins and the teacher hands out a math worksheet to be completed as a class. While this is happening George puts his hand out towards a student at his cluster, apparently asking for part of his snack, though he does not say anything. This continues for most of the math lesson, and at times George does whisper “Alex, please”, though no progress is made and Alex refuses to share his snack with George. While George attempts to get some snack from Alex, the teacher is explaining the lesson and assignment. It would appear as if George is more focused on Alex at the time, but when the teacher stops talking and asks the class to begin working, George is able to complete the assignment as required. After finishing the sheet the class goes over the questions, and George begins playing with a hole in his shirt and also chews on his fingers; he does not participate in the discussion.
10:46am – After a short meeting on the rug for a math lesson the class returns to their seats to work on their journal. George begins immediately and is finished the first page in five minutes. He then asks to go to the bathroom before returning to work on the next page. Five minutes later, and after almost falling off of his chair to retrieve his pencil, George is finished the journal page and working on his word problem page from the day before. While working he plays with a piece of tape on his pencil which seems to distract him from his work every so often. When he finishes he sits quietly until the teacher comes over and has him fix two problems before allowing him to work on “thinkers”. George also begins to hum and play with his glasses while he works.
11:23am – The teacher tells the class they have time for a math game before lunch and invites them all to the rug. George struggles to get his desk closed and in the process knocks over his chair, which he picks up before sitting on the rug. The game is explained rather quickly and George joins his partner Mary at his desk. She asks if he knows how to play, and when he responds “I forget”, she explains the rules to him. They begin to play a game that is mostly based on luck, and as George continues to score lower than Mary he becomes visibly upset. Mary tries to calm him down, explaining that he is not far behind and they can always play again, but it is not until his luck changes that he is happy to play. This back and forth between being upset and excited continues for the rest of the game, all depending on what his score is in relation to Mary’s.
11:55am – George is asked to ring the bell for lunch. He gets in line for lunch and we all walk quietly to the cafeteria. George gets in line for lunch, returns to his assigned table and eats without speaking to anyone. He is finished in 10 minutes. He waits quietly until the aides allow them out side for recess.
12:20pm – Once outside George joins a group playing dodge ball. He isn’t talking much to the kids but seems completely engaged and participates fully. He sometimes appears to be lost in thought but always dodges away from the ball at the last moment. When he is tagged out he joins the group in trying to get the remaining players out. At one point he is hit in the face with the ball and begins to cry. A teacher goes over to check if he is okay, he says he does not need to see the nurse, and after a few encouraging remarks from the teacher he begins playing again.
12:55pm – The whistle is blown and George runs to line up for Gym. Once in Gym he joins the class on the floor to await instructions. They are told they will play a form of prison dodge ball and George’s behavior during Gym mimics that on the playground during lunch recess. He is helpful and listens to the teacher, participates fully but also seems lost in thought at times during the game and transitions between rounds.
1:50pm – The class returns for a spelling pretest and George is one of the students assigned to his seat for this time, whereas others are assigned to various places in the room. During the pretest George quickly writes down the letter and is then found tapping his pencil on the desk or chewing on it. At one point a student asks him to stop making so much noise, which he does, but he continues to chew on it. After a while he has two pencils in his mouth and taps both on the desk before being asked to stop again.
2:15pm – After writing the last spelling word he turns his test in and begins reading his book. Harry approaches him and gets him to say “what”, which means he must “pass it on” in 5 minutes. George does not want to play and responds in an angry, low voice “Stop it!” The teacher passes out a grid sheet for them to use for the next activity and George puts down his book. He follows the directions and completes the activity, finally moving into silent reading time.
2:25pm – During silent reading George sits quietly in his desk, moving very rarely and reads The BFG. He does this until reading is over.
3:00pm – It is time for jobs and George begins by putting up his chair first. He goes to get his bag, first stopping at the Cartoon of the Day. He comes in and the teacher says he has an errand for him, so he leaves. He returns at 3:10 and joins the class on the rug for the hangman game. He doesn’t have the chance to guess a letter before Neal gets is correct, though George does exclaim “I knew it!” when the correct answer is said.
3:19pm – the teacher reads a story to the class and George sits very still, chewing on his glasses and listening. When the story is over the teacher dismisses the children, they line up and leave the classroom.
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