Teaching First Grade
Proven and Effective Tips on Teaching First Grade
Teaching first grade can be rewarding and frightening, at the same time. It is the first “real” year of school for the youngsters, even though most now go through pre-K and kindergarten before the first grade. And it's one of the first chances you get as a professional, to inspire young lives and inform young minds.
In the morning, in small group settings, you can begin by working on phonics and introductory reading, depending on where you are in the school year. You can use projects to help the children learn new words and learn how to pronounce words as they read them.
During the next part of the day, you can integrate the pledge of allegiance, if your school district is “OK” with the pledge, or if you are home-schooling. Join the children in a patriotic song like God Bless America or America the Beautiful – again, if this is acceptable in your school system.
Morning recess is a good time for the youngsters to get rid of some energy, and you can recover for a bit - unless you have recess duty. If there are children who are ill or having problems with any courses, this can be a time for them to relax or study indoors. For as long as you may have been teaching, first grade can in some ways be the easiest, and in some ways the most difficult.
You can bring the children in from their recess and head for the computer lab. This is one class you probably didn't have when you were growing up, unless you're fairly young yourself. Young children usually grasp computers fairly easily, unless they aren't exposed to the computer at home.
After the computer class, perhaps your students can work on reading stories (again, depending on how far into the school year you are), or on more extended phonics papers. It might help you to make the phonics as enjoyable as you can – you might bring in an animal that you know you'll be covering that day, and it will serve as a live science class, too.
Lunch is next on the schedule, and this will give the kids a chance to relax and unwind with their friends so that they can focus on classes again in the afternoon. Hopefully you can grab a quick break as well, eat something and ready yourself for the afternoon.
An interesting next segment is to let your students read their favorite poems, and if they have brought in any artwork, they can show that off as well. You can use this as a segue way into your regular art class, and give the students some fun and creative time. Teaching first grade affords many opportunities to help your students discover their creative sides.
Math.... it has to come sometime, and this schedule bookends math with classes the children generally enjoy more. Be patient with your young mathematicians, since this is all pretty new to them.
Science can be next. Bring out the animal you brought in for a phonics booster, and let the children touch and feel the animal (I'd recommend very tame rabbits or hamsters, gerbils, etc), and show them the parts of the animal. Involve them I the class as much as you can.
You can end the class day with geography or history, and then wait for the closing bell. Teaching first grade is a hectic job, but most first-grade teachers wouldn't trade it for anything.