Curriculum & Programming for the Primary Grades

What are Primary Grade Children like Physically? Physical development Slow and steady growth Increasing growth and increasing bodily control Variations in physical appearance Motor development Growing confidence in physical skills Running and chasing games Organized sports Minimal differences between boys’ and girls’ motor skills Maturity through puberty Refinement of fine motor skills

What are primary grade children like socially and emotionally? Industry vs. Inferiority (Erikson) Driven to initiate activities Learning to be competent and productive Motivation Mastery-oriented attributions Learned helplessness Emotionally Learn to express emotions in healthy ways

Activities to support positive social-emotional development of children Use literature to discuss emotions Encourage children to express their emotions, even the negative ones Write about feelings Provide opportunities for play Provide for cultural differences

What are primary grade children like cognitively? Concrete operational thinking (Piaget) Change is a result of maturation and experience Less egocentric Think more logically (rule-based thinking) Use mental images and symbols Perform operations such as Reversibility One-to-one correspondence Classification Class inclusion

Classroom Management for Young children

What is Classroom Management? Discipline: Teachers’ strategies that create and maintain an orderly and productive learning environment Teachers’ responses to student misbehavior

Planning for Transition Times Classroom management problems most common during transitions The whole class is ready for the next activity (going outside, finishing a craft, …) except one child Children are confused about what to do or what they need Strategies to avoid problems Special songs or ringing a bell as a 5-minute warning Everyone joins in the clean-up song Don’t insist on perfection when children line up - they aren’t very good at it Find fun ways to move in a line If there is an aide or volunteer parent, have him/her take up at the rear of the line and help stragglers get ready

Developmental View of Student Characteristics Stage 1: K - grade 2 Compliant and eager to please teachers Short attention span and restless Require close supervision Break rules because of forgetfulness Need rules and procedures to be explicitly taught, practiced and reinforced Stage 2: Grades 3 - 6 Increasingly independent, but still want approval and affection from teachers Understand need for rules and enjoy participating in making rules Know how far they can push Need rules to be reviewed, and consistently and impartially enforced

Piaget’s Stages of Moral Development Premoral stage Heteronomous stage Autonomous stage

Piaget’s Stages of Moral Development The Premoral Stage Ages: up to 4 years Children show no concern for or understanding of social rules and conventions Implications for teaching and classroom management?

Piaget’s Stages of Moral Development The Heternomous Stage Ages: 4 to 7 years Children view rules as moral absolutes Children rely on others to determine what’s right or wrong Ethical value of an action determined by its consequences Punishment is punishment for its own sake Believe in immanent justice Implications for teaching and classroom management?

Piaget’s Stages of Moral Development The Autonomous Stage Ages: age 7 + transitioning into this stage No longer view rules as moral absolutes Ethical value of an action determined by the intentions Punishment should be restitution No longer believe in immanent justice Implications for teaching and classroom management?

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Preconventional Level Avoidance of Punishment Adherence to rules and conventions because they are told to do so by an authority figure Reward Seeking Adherence to rules and conventions only if it leads to personal advantage. Conventional Level “Good boy” / “Good Girl” Orientation Adherence to rules and conventions to win approval and be seen as a virtuous person. Law and Order Orientation Adherence to rules and conventions out of sense of duty and sense of obligation to maintain the social order Implications for teaching and classroom management?

Cognitive Approaches to Classroom Management Characterized by each student understanding the need for a productive learning environment and taking personal responsibility for doing so Metacognition Self-regulation Self-determination Deeper level of understanding because students construct own understanding of rules and procedures, as well as the basis for the rules Moral development Cognitive approaches foster:

Interventions for Misbehavior: A Cognitive Approach Verbal-nonverbal congruence Nonverbal communication (e.g., body language, proximity, eye contact and tone of voice) should be consistent with what you say Communication should focus on the behavior and help students understand the effects of their actions on others Active listening Problem ownership Logical consequences Are the consequences conceptually related to the misbehavior? If so, they help the learner see the link between their actions and the consequences

A Cognitive Approach to Calling Out in Class Verbal-nonverbal congruence Communication should focus on the behavior and help students understand the effects of their actions on others Active listening Problem ownership Logical consequences

Interventions for Misbehavior: A Behaviorist Approach A classroom management system that emphasizes carefully stated rules and specifically described reinforcers and punishments Assertive discipline Praising desired behavior Ignoring inappropriate behavior Using indirect cues Using desists (verbal or nonverbal communication a teacher makes to a student to stop a behavior) Applying consequences Intervention continuum

Intervention Continuum for Talking In Class: A Behaviorist Approach Praising desired behavior Ignoring inappropriate behavior Using indirect cues Using desists (verbal or nonverbal communication a teacher makes to a student to stop a behavior) Applying consequences