One of the most common questions I receive is:
All of the advanced lessons and strategies out there seem aimed at upper-elementary! What can we do for our kindergarten and primary students?
As a rule, I avoid giving advice about things I have no experience with (I even wrote an article about that topic). And, yes, I have no experience working with students at this age.
Sorry!
But, let me point you to one person who does have great lessons for the youngest of students.
Read Joelle’s Site
My go-to person for kindergarten and first grade is Joelle Trayers at Not Just Childs Play. Her site has been around for as long as mine and is bursting with evidence that young students can do incredible thinking.
Three examples:
- Writing from the perspective of an abstract idea
- Coming up with new uses for objects – Joelle did a Byrdseed.TV video on this topic!
- My long-time favorite, discussing the civil rights of a snowman
These are actual examples! No one can give the classic cop-out, “Oh, first graders can’t do that,” because, well, there are photos of first graders doing it! We aren’t looking at theoretical ideas from someone who has never taught these grades.
Plus, these lessons are based on the same techniques that I’d use with much older students: big ideas, multiple perspectives, divergent thinking, etc. In fact, I used Joelle’s lessons back when I taught sixth grade! Now, my students’ ideas about a snowman’s rights were (on the whole) more sophisticated than Joelle’s kindergarteners. Their handwriting was (mostly) better. They wrote (usually) longer responses. But the core techniques will work across ages.
Look Inward
Now, here’s the thing. Lessons like these are happening right now in your district. But the teachers who run them are easy to miss. They aren’t loud. They might eat lunch alone in their classroom. If you don’t actively look for these lessons, you’ll miss them completely.
So search your campus or campuses. Find specific lessons from your own teachers to highlight. Find the person who is best at upgrading math for 1st graders. Find someone who does amazing poetry with kindergarteners. Who is working on fantastic science demonstrations that young students can run? Put them on the stage. Empower your best people to share their work. I call this growing your own leaders and it’s how my district did things. There’s no way Byrdseed would exist if my bosses hadn’t spotted my work and encouraged me to demonstrate to my colleagues.
And this works because it’s as specific as possible. Teachers get to see real lessons and actual student work. Want to make it even better? Get teachers inside their colleague’s classrooms to watch those lessons in action. That’s how I learned everything I know!
So, somewhere in your district, there are amazing lessons for primary students just waiting to be uncovered and shared. Your job is to find them!