Welcome 1st Graders (Post IEP Mtgs)

Yesterday we had IEP meetings for two of our first graders. Their test scores are quite low. I am sure they are struggling quite a bit in the general classroom. Today we started lessons with these little ones. We started the Herman reading program. The introduction lesson was for letters H/M/A. The first day went very slowly and the alphabet will take much longer to learn than originally thought. In math the same holds true. Our goal is to be counting to 100, but this will take some time. Each day we will just do massive emphasis on the three letters, maybe different days focusing on one of those letters. We will rotate worksheets with hand-on activities.

After I reflected on the day, teaching beginning reading seems such a daunting task. My teacher seems more overwhelmed then I am because she has never had ones so low. I have had more experiences with preschool through 1st grade. Making centers seems kind of exciting because our three students get very happy with new activities. Learning the alphabet will take lots of patients and creativity.