Little jobs

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Home : 2003 : September : 20

Little jobs
By Gail

Before school this year, I sent home a note to parents telling them about how the class will go. One of the things I told them was that children who can tie their shoes or zip their coat will be called experts and will be
asked to help others. Interesting how many kids can tie already
You need to take a lot of time teaching the children how to clean up, where to find what they need, what to do when they get stuck ("ask 3 then me"), other classroom behavior expectations. After you have taught them all of this, teach them again and give lots and lots of positive feedback all along the way. I spend at least

the first six weeks on these things and don't do any small group literacy work at all. We are reading and writing stories by the end of the year and the time I put in toward laying the ground work always pays off. Every year our kids score higher and higher.