Ideas for differentiated instruction in a first grade classroom

[Anonymous]

My child goes to a very small private school -- just one class per grade level.

I am looking for some practical ideas and suggestions for how a teacher in first grade could provide different levels of instruction in language arts and math, especially, so that kids who are already reading and writing well could be challenged to do more, and yet those who need more instruction on basic reading and writing could also get what they need -- and also the classroom teacher could stay sane and not terribly frazzled.

In schools I once worked at, this differentiation was accomplished by regrouping children -- there were at least 3 or 4 first grades, and they all did reading at the same time, so it was easy to match the very advanced readers by taking 2 or 3 from each class and putting them in one reading group.

In a school that is this small, however, that is not an option. So I am wondering if anyone here is a teacher or parent of a child in a small school, and might have a suggestion or two as to ways this type of instruction can be handled? (Beyond just sending the highest readers/advanced math skills kids up to the next grade level for instruction.)

Any books, websites or anything else that could give ideas woudl be most welcome. The school is very open to ideas -- I want to have some good ones to suggest.

[Anonymous]

We have been in a similar situation (could it be that it is the same school? ), and we started with the book "Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom." It has a number of ideas.

[Anonymous]

To the OP. Just make sure the school really is open to suggestions since I think (as a teacher), some teachers might be kind of offended if parents came in and told us what to do. Anyway, my best advice would be for the teachers to spend a day or two observing and also meeting w/ some 1st grade teachers in public school since I am sure they have lots of experience meeting a wide range of needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have been in a similar situation (could it be that it is the same school? ), and we started with the book "Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom." It has a number of ideas.

Thanks for this reference. It looks great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the OP. Just make sure the school really is open to suggestions since I think (as a teacher), some teachers might be kind of offended if parents came in and told us what to do. Anyway, my best advice would be for the teachers to spend a day or two observing and also meeting w/ some 1st grade teachers in public school since I am sure they have lots of experience meeting a wide range of needs.

I have to agree with PP. As a teacher, too, I can't imagine that a parent would come into my classroom trying to offer suggestions that might enhance my teaching style. I'd personally feel attacked considering that a parent (who is not trained in my field) is evaluating my performance.

Here are my questions/concerns:
- Exactly HOW is the school open to suggestions? Do you discuss this with the head administrator/director first? Or do you go directly to the teacher?
- Doesn't the school conduct observations? And aren't the teachers required to either attend professional development courses or to spend time collaborating with other colleagues?
- Aren't similar strategies used across the board? Differentiation is not a new idea. It's been around for quite some time and can be used across all grade levels and content areas - with the purpose of allowing students to work within their interest area and at their readiness level, while using their learning style. What's great for teachers is that they can modify the content, process or product. However, it is not an easy system to grasp for new teachers b/c management is often an issue when you're juggling so many tasks at once. So if this teacher is new - or IF the teacher has management problems - this would not work at all and could turn out to be a disaster.

I am concerned that if parents are allowed to freely offer teaching suggestions to educators the school is poorly run. Even in a cooperative-type atmosphere, teachers are still responsible for their content and are not taking advice from parents who work in the classroom. There seem to be boundary issues here.

I admire your desire to help and understand that children are not receiving the best instruction, but I worry about the way it will be handled.