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Hi, This email is in response to your post on Nov. 19. Based on your description of this child, I do have a couple of recommendations. If you are working with young students who are aggressive, you might want to read the following book: The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene http://www.amazon.com/dp/00607... Dr. Greene's career has been devoted to working with difficult, emotionally volatile children and their parents. This book is widely available. Dr. Greene suggests several strategies that work with difficult students. Another book that might be helpful, especially if you are a pre-service or beginning teacher is Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4 - 14 by Chip Wood. http://www.amazon.com/Yardstic... While this is not about behavior problems, the author gives short thumbnail sketches of developmental stages. It helps to know that some aggression in young children may be within a normal range. Young children are just learning the format and boundaries of school. They enter not knowing about the rules and in the beginning are just learning what school is and testing the boundaries. Depending on their background, they may be more or less used to a structured environment. The best remedy is consistent and kind follow-through on the part of teachers. I hope this is helpful. Please write back if you have more questions. Thanks, Ruth

A lesson objective is a central concept you are teaching in a given lesson. It defines the lesson and answers the question, "Why are we doing this lesson?" It is not identical to a standard. A lesson objective might be a sentence stated from a student's viewpoint that starts "We can..." or "I can..." A lesson objective is written in kid-friendly language. Every school district is different but in our district teachers write their lesson objectives daily for all core instruction and post them in their classrooms. Ideally teachers refer to a lesson objective at the beginning, middle, and end of a lesson. Content objectives are the skill(s) taught in a lesson.

Your school, district, and state all have content they want mastered, or at least introduced, at each grade level. Those are your big objectives for the year. Each lesson should have an objective of working towards those state mandated content goals. There are loads of lesson plan formats, each with slightly different boxes to fill in. Whatever format you use, you must know why you are teaching that lesson. It isn't just to fill in a period of time. If a parent asked you why you taught a particular lesson what would you tell that parent? If you can answer the parent you can fill in the boxes.

I think it important to point out that just because a kid has sloppy work, or is lazy, or unfocused does not mean they are not smart, and they could be gifted. Capitalizing and punctuating sentences correctly is far from higher order thinking.

It can be difficult when parents and a child's teacher having such differing perspectives about that child's school performance and ability. The good news is you all want what is best for this child. Take a deep breath, exhale, and focus on this student's strengths. All students have relative strengths, both academically and socially. You'll want to build on strengths while you teach/remediate this student's weaknesses. The dynamic between teacher and student can be tricky. We're not going to like all students but what's important is that we treat all students in an equitable, impartial way.

I would go over the student's file to see what had gone on in the past years. Can you contact the "wonderful" teacher and ask about your student? He may be talented, but lazy, messy, and immature. You might collect and send home some of his writing and correcting as homework, so the parents can see his initial work output. If you are not documenting and keeping a complete portfolio on this student yet, I would start right now. Final report card time could be tense. If this boy has been at this school ask the principal for any input on dealings with parents and previous academics.

This question requires a complex, long answer. You can write to me at ruth.manna@verizon.net and I'll help you with specific suggestions. I'll need to know the reading and math programs you use, grade you teach, and who will be doing the interventions. Will you or a paraprofessional be the interventionist?

Students need to read and learn about China before being asked to write. Most elementary students know very little about China. Here's a lesson with book: http://teachershare.scholastic... Here's a book list: http://www.scholastic.com/teac...

Here is a fun site that has poetry and dragon tales---two great ways for 2nd graders to turn out some fine writing. http://www.lair2000.net/Chines...

I am in Palm Bay, Fl. I did not look into the local college theaters. We have a Technical university and a community college nearby. The nearby museums are focused on art and science.

Where is your school located? If you tell me, I'll have specific suggestions for you. Do you have museums or local colleges or universities? Colleges/universities may offer free or inexpensive ticket prices to their theater productions.

It sounds like you at least have local theaters, bring in actors, makeup artists, etc. to your classroom to speak, demo, etc. Also Google online field trips. There are a lot of entries, you will have to narrow down the field to your interests.

Contact your principal or immediate supervisor. You need the services and skills of a speech and language pathologist. Try to arrange for an informal consult with an SLP and follow up by having the SLP visit your classroom and observe this student.

Sometimes moving a student down a level helps build confidence. However, in some students it undermines their confidence and makes them feel "stupid". By now you know this student and can use your professional judgement to decide whether or not a move down a level will bolster his self-esteem.

I'm so glad you're finding lots of printables you can use. I like Printables too and always find something relevant. You make a very good suggestion. I will pass your idea on to the technical staff. Keep monitoring Printables for future developments. :)

Do you teach in a private preschool? Have you spoken with your administrator about this student? Have you talked with his parents? In many preschools, parents drop off children at their classroom door. This is an ideal time to touch base with a parent to set up an appointment. You may need an interpreter at the conference. It seems this student might benefit from a behavior modification plan at school and likely also at home. His parents may be relieved to know that you want to help. They may be seeking suggestions for how to handle their active child. Let me know what happens. I'm interested.

Start with M, S, T, and P. Those sounds are distinct enough for them to hear.

Our teachers use the Lively Letters program: http://readingwithtlc.com/live... There is no one way to teach the alphabet. One way is to teach a few consonants and a first so that you can make simple C-V-C words.

My best friend who teaches K and has won many awards suggests this... We start by teaching one letter a day as an intro to the whole alphabet. We recognize one as the beginning in each persons name. We read many many alphabet books. It takes 26 days to do that and then we focus on one letter a week: smrtbnhvcapgflidzxowyeju we identify it in the beginning and then we start blending sounds using the vowels taught and simultaneously teach word families as the vowel is taught.

Book Clubs are a great way to get inexpensive and complimentary books. You can also try garage/tag sales. In my town we have a swap shop at the town dump and I've gotten books there. You could make a wish list of books, and maybe parents will give you books from your wish list. The PTO may have funds for books. Ask friends and relatives for books their children have outgrown. A school committee member recently gave one of our schools 5 boxes of books his children had enjoyed. They were well-loved books so we decided to give them to students to take home, but we could have added them to a classroom library. For seating arrangements, there are so many different ways to arrange a classroom. Two arrangements I like are a big U shape so everyone can see the board and front of the room. I put an area rug in the open center which makes a great place for Morning Meetings and mini-lessons. I also like students sitting in pairs, both facing forward. Everyone has a partner to work with, help with directions, etc. I look to have most of the furniture, like bookcases and cabinets around the perimeter of the classroom, to leave plenty of room for movement. Also I want to be able to see what's happening at all times so I like to have bookcases against the wall. If you write back with more specific questions, I'll help you.

Here’s a link to sign up for being alerted to warehouse sales: http://www.scholastic.com/book... Obviously book clubs is a key way to get started on building up your classroom library if you have a group that can buy personal books and get you some points to use on your library. Always look at the Teacher Store to see what specials they are running. http://shop.scholastic.com/tea...

Hi there, First of all you have a wonderful age group to teach. Lucky you! How many students will you have? You can usually position all of your students to face the board, but some rooms are a challenge if you have a large class. Don't forget you can have a rug area for instruction, so you don't need to have your students sitting at their desks. Scholastic.com has an entire area for new teachers...http://www.scholastic.com/teac.... This would be an excellent place to start. There is also a mentor for 2nd grade, Michelle, who has covered some of your concern in her blogs this September. You can find her ideas at http://blogs.scholastic.com/cl... What tools, resources do you have in your room now, computers, interactive white board, games from previous teacher? Don't try to do everything at once. You and your students need to build slowly into a working community. Ruth Manna will be adding a lot more to what I have written, and I'll continue to add more also. Have a great year!

What interests your students? Are there topics relating to health that might be relevant? I don't know your students but teen pregnancy, diet and exercise, Anorexia, depression, and STDs seem relevant. Bullying and its consequences are relevant. Maybe your students would help you come up with topics to study.

Oh sorry about that. I teach high schoolers. Grades 9-12. And they come to my classroom.

You want to make sure you have control of the classes before you plan to do fun activities. Students need rules and you'll need to follow through consistently. You'll need a list of about 5 rules. Maybe students can help you write rules so everyone is safe, comfortable, and respected.

How old are your students? Knowing their ages would help me. Do you go into classrooms or do students come to you? Ask the classroom teachers for their support. You might consider adding activities to your program to make it more engaging and hands-on. If you teach about nutrition maybe students could make a healthful snack like raw veggies and hummus or salsa.

Fifth graders probably want to get up and move, especially at the end of the day. They are young to be in a departmentalized setting and are likely transitioning from self-contained classrooms. It may take them a while to adapt. Meanwhile plan experiments and activities that will allow them to get up and move. Maybe offer them a group reward like a nature walk or science scavenger hunt if you have a good week. Group rewards will work at this age and there's social pressure to conform. Other ideas: Rearrange your classroom and move desks around. Change your seating plan and try to separate students who are causing problems so they don't have eye contact with one another. Try rewards and look for improvement in about 3 weeks. If you need more help, just write back.

Hi, Here is a relatively inexpensive ($55) wireless headset with microphone. http://www.amazon.com/Plantron... I wonder if a wireless headset would last longer.

Write a list of questions that require more thought. You'll want a broad selection of higher level thinking questions that will appeal to a range of students. Questions like, "What other book that you've read does this book remind you of? How are these 2 books alike? How are they different?" Or, "What questions do you have for the main character? Write a letter or list of questions for this character."Or, "Was the ending of this book satisfying? Was the problem completely resolved? Explain using evidence from the book." Third graders are able to write about theme. The theme of a book will likely relate to something in a student's real life, or another book or maybe TV show or film the student has read/seen. Once you have a list of about 24 questions, copy the questions and ask students to glue them into their reading journals. What will make your reading journals effective and engaging are the questions you write. Maybe students can add thinking questions to the question bank. Another idea: I asked my fifth graders to write me a one page letter each week about what they were reading. I answered them with a one page letter. This took a lot of time but I wrote a few letters each evening so it was do-able. It was wonderful for their writing and we really got to know one another. I'd write about books I was reading and comment on the books they were reading. It helped that I had read many of the books they were reading.

Can you replace the tables with desks? If all the students were sitting at desks, and the desks were facing the front of the room that might help. Do you have rules? Are they posted? Have you tried a reward system? Get The First Days of School by Harry Wong and Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov and read them this weekend. They are full of ideas. Whatever changes you decide to make, you want to make them NOW because the tone and climate that is established in a classroom at the beginning of the year tends to persist over time. You'll want to be consistent with the way you follow-through with classroom management and student behavior. With regard to students being bored and disengaged, think about what you'd like to do if you were a student in this class. Students like opportunities to get up and move, some like competition, games, and contests and others like music and art. Try to vary assignments and activities and ways for students to show you what they know. Do you have a Smartboard or overhead? Computers? Use them. If you need more ideas, write back.