First Grade at Clymore Elementary School

Hello Friends,

I am Alisa George, first grade lead teacher at Stuart Hall Lower School. 

I had an exciting day visiting Clymore Elementary School in Fort Defiance.  I shared time with Jenna Rinker, a first grade teacher there.  There were many things I witnessed that I enjoyed and related to, and there were some things that made me proud to be a member of such a dedicated team of professionals who put the child first at Stuart Hall. 

We began the day with children trickling in at 7:50.  The stream continued until 8:25 when the last few children entered the classroom.  This class had 20 students.  The children had well-established routines that were engaging and meaningful.  Many students were reading books, playing on one computer, or chatting and reading with friends.  There were two teachers in the classroom and both were completing morning duties.  The children needed little supervision. 

The first part of the entire groups academic day began with a period of time they called "The Daily Five and CAFE time".  First the teacher began by reading to the whole group and focusing on a comprehension skill while she read.  

Three children left the classroom for Title 1 reading instruction.

Then, the remaining children were divided into three groups.  One group was independently reading books of their choosing, while a reading specialist listened to individual readers and made notes in a binder.  The notes referred to fluency, prosody, and expression of the reader.  She also asked comprehension questions as each child read to her.  She was only able to work with  2 or three students at a time. I assume she chose different students each day so she could here all of the children read to her by the end of the week.     

Another group was with an instructional aid working on several writing activities.  The children were looking for corrections to be made to a simple photocopied paragraph with 4 spelling errors.  There was very little interaction or instruction given in this area.  Then, once the page was completed, the children got a writing journal out of a basket and worked on adding to or editing previous writing works. There was no instruction given and some of the children had very week writing skills.  Few of the children used capitalization or punctuation in their journal writing.  (We encourage our first graders and kindergarteners to think about these elements when writing, though not ALL of our children have mastered these concepts.)  I felt that there was not much emphasis on writing during this activity period.  

The final group was with the lead teacher having a teacher-lead reading group.  They were reading a trade book focusing on the comprehension skill of making inferences. The children actually read for about 10 minutes and were not required to read with the group, but were allowed to participate - or not.  I was a little perplexed by this.  They did not finish the book and the children do not have homework, so I left wondering if the book would be finished or not.  I was later told that the books the children choose when being observed (the first group I talked about here) are stories that were read or introduced in the reading group time and the children would pick from this bag/box of books that included all the books that had been read over the year in their reading group time.  She made it clear that they did monthly running records to assess reading level and they chose books that were on an instructional level based upon the reading scale they currently used (Reading A-Z).   The school did not use a basal reading program and all classes used a shared library of multiple copies of trade books.  She had 4 different leveled reading groups - same as we have in first grade at STU.    

Each group worked at a "station" for 20 minutes.  Then they switched to one of the others for the next 20 minutes and then switched again until they visited all three stations. 

The framework for their teaching was using the Daily 5 and the CAFE techniques. 
The Daily 5 refers to the 5 choices that students can make. 


1. Read to Self - Students will get their book bags (full of good-fit books of their choice) or choose from the classroom library, find a comfortable spot in the classroom, and will read to themselves.

2. Read to Someone - Students will pair up with a partner. They will both get their book bags, find a comfortable spot in the classroom, and will take turns reading to each other.  

3. Work on Writing - Students will get their journal and write about different topics (some of their choice and some of the teachers.)  

4. Listen to Reading - Students will sit at a listening center and hear a book read to them while they follow along.  I didn't see this - and the teacher said that the students did not do this anymore at this point of the year.  I did observe someone reading a story to the students three times that day.

5. Word Work - Students will use different means to create words or work on spelling skills and patterns.

CAFE refers to reading skills.
The C stands for Comprehensions - I understand what I read.  A stands for Accuracy - I can read the words. F is for Fluency - I can read accurately, with expression and understand what I read.  Then E is for Expand Vocabulary - I know, find, and use interesting words. This framework was the impetus for their instruction.  I did like this framework, and the visual posters hung in the classroom included other clues for ensuring these skills were successfully mastered.  Clues like "Check for understanding" or "Back up and reread"  helped students ensure their comprehension.  I'm certain much time was spent teaching this framework prior to the children getting to the independent state they were at during this part of the year.   

I learned that the teacher, reading specialist, and instructional aid switched which group they worked with each week in order to give all of the students a chance to have the teacher lead instruction in each area (independent reading, writing, and reading group instruction) over a period of time.  When the lead teacher was observing and making notes, she would write notes to the other teachers about things she wanted them to focus on while they were listening to readers.  While the lead teacher was with the group working on writing skills, she would begin new writing projects or ensure completion of previously started projects.  I thought the time was a great way to incorporate important literacy skills into a fast paced morning.  The children did not have an opportunity to work in self-guided centers like they do here at STU.

I was a little wowed by the amount of time many students were disengaged during the 90 minute time period, but the concept was very appealing.  

Throughout the morning some students were pulled out for independent practice of skills whenever there was a snippet of time.  

The next big part of the day was their math time.  It began with calendar - much like we have in first grade at STU.  However, she had a smart board program for her calendar activities which I really liked.  To keep children engaged, she had them complete a worksheet with calendar skills while one student lead calendar.  The bottom of the page had boxes similar to our "Math Boxes" that are used with the Everyday Math program we use.  She had to make them up each week to fit what she was teaching.  I was very surprised to find out that they did not use a math program.  Jenna told me that they had reviewed many programs last year and had found one that everyone agreed upon, and then the county told them that there was no money in the budget to adopt a new math program, so the teachers were told to use whatever they wanted to teach math skills.  They, of course, had to follow the curriculum guidelines set forth in the Virginia SOL's as their guide.  But, none-the-less, there was no textbook series or math program being used.  

The math lesson for that day was learning to divide sets of objects into fractional parts.  The children completed a work sheet and then were given another sheet to glue pom-poms onto the page.  The pom-poms were three each of three different colors.  Then the children were to fill in a blank that said I used_______ parts of ______ that were ______.  The children had to write 3 parts of 9 that were red, and then write the fraction in a box at the end of the line.  I went around helping children and most did not have a clue what they were supposed to do, but they seemed to be able to complete the task with a little additional instruction.  Children who finished quickly were encouraged to complete math games with each other.  

The children in the first grade when to lunch at 11:00 followed by 1/2 hour of recess. 

After lunch, an adult came to the classroom to read to the children, and then they went to specials.  

Upon returning to the classroom, the children were read to again to introduce the unit of the day.  Since it was Earth Day, the teacher read The Lorax.  She then had the children complete a writing activity to tell what the Lorax could do to help make the world a better place.  Most children wrote very little and there was not enough time for all students to complete the assignment, because it was time for Power Ups.  

Power Ups is a time where all the children in first grade are grouped by math strengths and weaknesses and sent to a different first grade classroom for extra math help.  Some of the children, of course, stayed in the same classroom.  Then the teacher in that classroom focused on a weak skill to help ensure mastery of a specific math skill.  The children in my classroom were working on recognizing if the teacher was counting up or down when saying numbers.  The children had to go around a circle a give the next consecutive number as they counted down from 35.  Many of the students struggled with this skill.  Then children were instructed to play math games that had been previously introduced.  Most of the games were working on counting back two or reinforcing one-to-one correspondence.  One group of about 6 students were sitting out of teacher sight playing with colored tiles and not working on math skills at all.  Again - this really got to me.  The classroom teacher did have an aid working with her, but she was getting other groups started on the games while the lead teacher was working with individual students to practice or assess their math skills.  

The day was basically finished after the children returned to their own classes.  I didn't stay to witness dismissal, but I don't think I missed much.  

So overall, I learned a lot from observing.  I liked many things I saw and learned some new concepts I would like to incorporate into my own routines.  The day also helped to reinforce my teaching skills as I saw and heard many of the same phrases and routines I use in my own classroom.  The teacher was young and energetic, but kept a well run classroom.  The children were fully aware of the many routine changes and flowed easily from one activity to the next.  There was very little teacher control, which seems strange to me, but seemed to work for her.  The only thing I asked myself at the end of the day was, "What will these children go home and tell their parents they learned today?"  I was sad to say I would not have had much to contribute to the dinner table that evening if I were a first grader, but the children did have very strong reading skills and the were very happy.  I didn't see any of the community building and attention to caring about others that is such a part of our core here at STU.  It just didn't feel as warm and loving as it does in our fine little school.  I saw only one child get a hug, because she gave the teacher a birthday gift.  I wasn't even introduced to the children and they were only mildly curious about who I was as I sat and observed for 6 hours that day.  I loved coming back to my loving little first graders who were very happy to be back to school.  It's good to be home.
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