FREE Tattling vs. Reporting Activity
Can’t get your class to stop tattling? If you’re like me, you’ve probably tried EVERYTHING to get students to understand the difference between tattling vs. reporting. And yet you spend a good chunk of your teaching time having to play referee over mostly trivial issues. “Oh, Aaron is making a silly face and Trisha is drawing a heart on her hand.” Sure, let’s just take a break from our math lesson to address this… said no teacher ever! Little kids just LOVE to tell you everything and that is very endearing. But when everything involves those pesky little tattles too, well that can prove to be overwhelming if you don’t clearly show your students the difference between tattling vs. reporting.
This freebie will help guide your discussion and have students complete activities to drive this message home. Best of all it is super easy to prep!
What You’ll Need
- tattling vs. reporting student printables (posters, reading comprehension, puzzle activity)
- scissors
- crayons or markers
- optional: cardstock, laminator, velcro or magnet dots
Mini-lesson on Tattling vs. Reporting
Start by introducing students to the Tattling and Reporting posters. These posters clearly outline the difference between both concepts. While going over each, this is a great time to allow students to give examples, ask questions and collect as much prior knowledge about the subject as possible. Display these posters in a easily accessible area so that students can refer back to them as they continue exploring this subject matter.
Student Activity
After you have discussed the posters, give each student the Tattling vs. Reporting reading comprehension page. Now they can show what they have learned by identifying which imaginary scenarios are either an example of a tattle, or an issue that should be reported to an adult. This can be a little challenging for some students, so we suggest going over each scenario as a class, and coming up with the “right” answer together. This is not something we grade, but rather explore as a classroom community.
Tattling and Reporting Puzzle Center
Now is a perfect time to let children decide on their own which situations should be categorized as tattling or reporting by setting up a fun puzzle center to complete independently or in groups. For younger children who are just learning to read, you may want to show each picture and read the caption to them before starting the center. This way, they know what each picture represents when sorting the scenarios on the puzzle mats. We like to print the mats and puzzle pieces on card stock and laminate them so they can be reused time after time. Additionally, you can add Velcro dots to the puzzle mat and pieces.
If you are doing this as a whole group, place the mats on your dry erase board and adhere magnet dots to the back of the puzzle pieces. This way students can come up to the board and place their puzzle piece on the correct mat.
Wrapping It All Up
When all children have gotten a chance to work in the center, we like to go over which situation belonged in each category. We must keep in mind, that for a child, being called a name one time can be very upsetting and hurtful. They may categorize that as something worth reporting. Explain that using their own words to ask the other child to not call them names needs to be their first line of action. If it continues, and feels like a type of bullying behavior, then they should seek the help of a trusted adult. For example, teacher, playground supervisor, or parent. When a situation involves themselves or someone else getting hurt or being put in direct danger then reporting is important.
Are you ready to tackle this important issue head on? If so, just click on the button below to download your copy of our Tattling vs. Reporting activity. Enjoy!
Looking for more ways to build a strong classroom community? Check out some of our classroom management favorites! Available in our shop and TPT.
