reading and first grade

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Home : 2002 : January : 15

reading and first grade
By Cathy-Dee

Before some of you jump on the ECS and Grade 1 teachers at your school, find out all you can about what they actually do in class and also the policies of retention, etc., The colouring, centers, etc, that you might think
are simply play, etc., may actually be important learning times for those students. Until you have taught in a specific grade it is hard to say whether or not it is being taught well or not.
Retaining children is not always that simple. When I look at my grade 1 children I have to factor in a number of issues
- size of the child - if the child is extremely tall or big for his/her

age we sometimes do not retain them in first grade. Reasons behind this are to do with self-esteem and also with the possibility of bullying in the next school year.

- whether the child will have a sibling coming up into that grade.

- whether the parents are supportive or not.

- the age of the child (this plays an important factor). If I have children who are already 7 before December I have to get permission to retain them. Part of this reasoning is that they do not want older children retained as if they are retained by grade 6 you will have a 14 or 15 year old in a room of 12 years olds. Makes for possible unpleasant occurances.

- some schools and/or principals do not allow retention at any grade level.

- if the student was weak in one area or more than one area. If I have a student who is doing fine in all areas but weak in one, I may send him or her up to the next grade.

- This might have been an arrangement within the school - that the child be placed into the next grade level with support and then they moved.

- Or worst case, the teacher didn't do her job and sent the child on anyway. This does happen, thankfully rarely, but it does happen.

So there are numerous reasons why this child may have been put up into second grade with such low skills. And it is frustrating. I have 8 this year in my grade 1 class who are extremely low and very little support for them. I know I won't be allowed to retain 8 students plus the other grade 1 class has 2 or 3 as well. Our area has a lot of children who come from home situations that are not condusive to learning.
So I will do what I can to bring them along, group work, reading, resource (if possible) and then decide who will go on even if they are weak. It is never an easy decision and when this happens I can only hope that their second grade teacher is able to bring them along.

Since this child has probably not been repeated - have them do a lot of review work for the next 30 days until you can have them referred. Go to your grade 1 teacher and see what they have for a phonics workbook, printing books, etc., Have this new child do what he can with your class in science and social studies, see how his math skills are and then have him practice his sounds, reading, etc., as often as possible. And perhaps this will be the grade he will need to repeat.

And hopefully you will get his files soon so that you can learn what has happened and what help if any he has had.