First graders grow enormously throughout the academic year. My students made incredible progress academically, as well as socially.

Become Independent Learners

It was amazing to see my student’s stamina grow as they became more confident, and in turn, more independent. In the beginning they often needed me or Jocelyn nearby to continue writing or persevere in their math work. In writer’s workshop students built their stamina to where they could write for 30 minutes independently. During Daily 5, students practiced sustained silent reading, and rotated through centers while teachers pulled small groups. By the end of the year students took ownership of their classroom and the learning that needed to be done. They became confident learners, ready for their next challenge.

Work Together Collaboratively

Students worked together throughout the day. All morning students worked in small groups during Daily 5, and then again during Response to Intervention. During the afternoon we often had math centers, science with partners, and of course whole group instruction. We also taught students “accountable talk,” a variety of academic conversational sentence starters (“I agree/disagree with___ because… or in my opinion…” The variety of group work helped our students practice share ideas and materials, compromise, and being respectful. These are all skills that are not only essential in the classroom, but in our every day lives as well.

Solve Problems Pro-actively

First grade students move from relying on a grown-up to solve their problem, to standing up for themselves. While we adults are of course there to help if needed, students were also taught to stand up for themselves and share their feelings.  Students learned the difference between tattling or “telling,” and when it is appropriate to get a teacher. We focused on teaching students to be assertive and express themselves when something was not right.

Grow as readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, and historians

The growth of our class academically is undeniable. Most students began the year reading at levels A-D, and are now reading H-J. It was wonderful to see how much students could learn each week through guided reading groups and explicit phonics instruction to help master specific skills. In math, students learned to count and understand number values, as well as addition, subtraction, and other key foundational skills. On the tens and ones math pre-assessment, students were asked to show 90 in tens, and every student drew 90 dots. The post-assessment showed all students drawing tens, and breezing through the test. Their growth in these new concepts was so glaring, as this was so new for many of them.