I was able to observe Jen F. teach a lesson on questioning at Barron a few weeks ago. Jen did a great job teaching her focus lesson. She talked about and modeled types of questions using the terms "thin" questions and "thick" questions to differentiate between the questions that are just surface questions versus questions that require deeper level thinking. Her students practiced the strategy by turning and talking to each other and then sharing as a class. The lesson was very well put together and gave the kids nice direction, modeling and practice. The students were used this class structure and did a great job in all aspects of it. After the lesson they got right down to reading on their own. Tomasen conferenced with some of the students and it was interesting to hear their thoughts. Very nice thinking going on in Room 16!
I had the opportunity to observe Kathy in her third grade classroom this morning. When I entered the room they were reviewing some key ideas about connections. Kathy transitioned easily to an activity on questioning. Her class has clearly learned some routines around reading. They were eager to take a turn at the “Thought Bubble”. As Kathy paged through the wordless picture book she had chosen, children took turns asking questions with the thought bubble. They were encouraged to use the posted thinking stems. The rest of the class took part by noticing if the questions were answered in the book. Factual (thin) questions were answered, but as the book went on questions developed around what they did not understand and what confused them. It wasn’t until the children had practiced a bit that Kathy introduced the terms “thin” and “thick” questions. Kathy used part of another book to further model her thinking and questioning. The children were focused and catching on to the idea. Finally after all her modeling she released them to try out a book on their own. They used a leveled reader with a theme similar to Kathy’s model book. They used sticky notes to question as they read. Thinking stems which were posted on anchor charts were helpful to the students. Kathy circulated around the room giving encouragement. As a next step Kathy had prepared a chart on which the children would be sorting their questions as to “thick” and “thin”. I did not observe this part, but it looked like it was going to go well based on how hard the kids were working and on how clearly Kathy had introduced and reinforced the skill.
I have had the opportunity to observe two very amazing teachers in my building so far. One was a fifth grade teacher, Heather Aldrich, and one was a Special Education Teacher, Angela Welch. In both cases the part where it was just a teacher talking to students was very limited. Much of the whole group lessons invloved teacher and student interaction. The students were acting as models for the other students and provided examples for every question that the teachers put to the group. In both cases, there was a distinct release to independent work. The students were all confident about what they needed to do. It was especially amazing in Mrs. Aldrich's room of 28 students to see them enthusiastically doing their independent reading. They all got right to work and you could have heard a pin drop in the room with the silence. Also in Heather Aldrich's room I am able to view one of the most struggling students on my case load appropriately take part in LTT. This student used to be pulled out for reading from the first through third grade. His self-etseem suffered and he put little to no effort into the pull out class. His Reading NECAP score was Below Proficient for the first two years. With the introduction of LTT last year, the student was able to remain in the classroom for Reading. His efforts in learning reading comprehension improved significantly. I am excited to say that he received a Proficient score on his NECAP in Reading this year!!!
I recently had the opportunity to observe our reading specialist, Jenny Marshall, conduct a lesson on how to choose a "Just Right Book" in Gigi's fifth grade classroom. She began the lesson by sharing with the students books that she has read or is currently reading. It was a great way to introduce the concept. Modeling HER reasons for her choices made all the difference since kids learn by example. I think that sometimes we lose sight of the fact that kids don't know how to choose a "Just Right Book", a process that we take for granted. Jenny listed different criteria such as using schema, making connections and noting individual interests. Is the book visually appealing, print too small or too large? She also noted that the right book may vary according to the reader's stamina at the time. Students took turns and talked about choosing a "Just Right Book" and then read independently for 25 minutes. After about 15 minutes Jenny pulled a small group of readers together and discussed their reasons for choosing a book. She pointed out the fact that one of the reasons we don't love reading is because we're not picking the right book.I was impressed by the way she guided the students through the process of choosing. Using these techniques will hopefully create happy readers.
Today, I had the opportunity to observe another first grade teacher in my building, Karen Stone. She is an amazing teacher and collegue and I feel like to be working next to her each day. I observed her teaching a lesson on questioning. She had already introduced this strategy with her class. She started by reviewing the strategy and the idea behind readers asking question before, during and after reading. I was VERY impressed with her kids knowledge of the reading strategies and the language they used. One student stated, "in my schema..." and another said, "well, I inferr..." They asked before questions, and then she read them the story. As they read, she stoppped and recorded their questions on post-its. When they finished the story, she has prepared a chart for them. A pair picked a question that was put in the middle of the chart. Then, they had to think of possible answers to the questions. I walked around to visit with the groups. Karen has a young class but I was really impressed with how long her students sat. I was also impressed with the questions they came up with. This was such a creative lesson because not only did it intigrate Questioning but she made the children think about their questions and how it related to the story. I am going to try this lesson with my class using another book next week. This was a great opportunity for me to see another teacher in action. I only wish I had more opportunities like this to observe other teachers.
I observed a third grade teacher at Barron teaching a strategy lesson on inferring. I missed the intro to the lesson, but noticed a bunch of "trash" on the floor when I arrived. The class was gathered around the trash and the teacher was asking the students what they could infer about her new neighbors from the different pieces of trash that was in the garbage bag. The teacher held up various items such as a Rachel Ray magazine, finger painting artwork, and empty pre-cut lettuce bag. From these and other items, the students made inferences about who lived in the house. The inferred that children must live there, that there is a mom and a dad and that the family tries to be healthy. Part way through the lesson, the teacher explained to students that when we make inferences we need to back them up with evidence and often our schema plays a role in this process. She then began asking the students to also state the evidence they had for their inferences. The students did a really nice job with this piece and it was interesting to see how each student's schema impacted the inferences that he or she made. From there, the students went back to their table groups. Each group got a picture and as a group they made inferences about the picture and gave evidence for their thinking. I was impressed with this added piece to the lesson, because it allowed students to practice the strategy taught in the lesson on their own with other students in the class. This gradual release of responsibility is extremely important! The students did a really nice job making inferences. While they were working with their groups, Sara went around and conferenced with the groups. To wrap up the lesson, Sara had each group share their pictures and their inferences to the class. I really enjoyed Sara's lesson and how she made it her own. The students were involved and active participants throughout and were able to demonstrate the strategy being taught on their own. What a great, concrete way to introduce inferring to students!
I had the opportunity to observe a first grade teacher, Leslie Carignan, do a lesson on inferring with her students. I was excited to see this lesson because I am also working on inferring with my students. I was interested in seeing what first graders would be capable of doing with such a hard concept. Leslie had introduced the concept of inferring a few weeks back, so the children were very comfortable with using the language. (“I infer… because…” “I used the text clues or picture clues for evidence.”) Leslie used a magnifying glass to remind students that they need to be detectives in order to infer and need to find clues to back up their thinking. They also sang a song about inferring that helped them to remember what to do when they infer. She showed a bulletin board that students were working on of a boy with all of the reading strategies put in his head. This helped students remember that many reading strategies are used while you infer. Leslie finished her lesson using a poem with words covered up. The students had to use the clues in the poem to infer what animal the poem was telling them about. Before the students read on their own, Leslie showed a few pictures from a wordless picture book. The students had to use clues from the picture to figure out what the close up was. During their independent reading time the students had to make an inference from the cover (picture clues) of the book they were reading. They had reading journals where they recorded their inference and had to start the sentence with I infer….. because….. I sat in with Leslie for part of her conference and also talked with a few students about their inference. The students were extremely focused and were able to make some great inferences. Leslie used a lot of little “tricks” to engage her students (songs, magnifying glass, pencil pointer with brain to remind them that reading is thinking). This helped the students to remember the concept and to be familiar with the language being used. I was very impressed with the amount of knowledge they had about each of the strategies and with the language they were using so easily with one another.
I had the opportunity to observe two wonderful teachers outside the district at Kensington Elementary School. The two teachers are 5th grade teachers, and myself and my colleagues observed many things, but the main goal was to see how the Reader's and Writer's workshop format really works. Each teacher did a focus lesson in both subjects, the kids worked on this focus independently for a while, and then were asked to come back on talk about what they worked on. In reading the focus was for students to confer with another student and discuss each other's reading responses to a book they are reading. I was amazed at how well the students worked together and stayed on task. They were able to give each other relevant criticism politely. Their reading responses were also impressive because each student had to discuss what they were thinking while they were reading and which comprehension strategy they were using at the time. This could not be done without a good understanding of the strategies and they did it well. In writing the students were working on a poetry unit. Their poetry was amazing and it was all accomplished through modeling and exposure different types of poetry. The kids were enthusiastic about everything, and I really saw how important it is to wrap-up a lesson with a group share to get ideas from others or know that others are having the same struggles as you are. It was a great experience.
I also went to Kensington to observe a Reader's and Writer's workshop in progress. I was so impressed. I sat there in awe as I observed the independence of these students. I was amazed that they were only fifth graders. Both teacher's were finishing up a unit on poetry. They started off with a focus lesson. I watched a mini-lesson on inferring. The students were all engaged and excited to participate. After both teachers completed their mini-lessons, the students went off and worked independently. They were working on finishing up their poetry books. As I walked around the room, a few students offered to share their poetry with me. One child's poem actually brought tears to my eyes! The student's knew exactly was expected of them and stayed right on task. I floated back and forth between the two fifth grade classrooms and was impressed by both of them. The students had such a strong work ethic.
This visit had a positive impact on me. I know that it took the 5th grade teachers a great deal of time and dedication to train the students to think independently but the outcome was fantastic. I hope that I too will be able to run my classroom as they did theirs!!!
I visited Sue Wilk's classroom and observed a lesson on making inferences. She is several steps ahead of me in this process of integrating the readers workshop, so it was nice to actually see it in action. The children had already had a few lessons on the strategy of inferencing - this lesson involved some guided practice, followed by independent practice with the strategy. Sue began by setting expectations for the lesson - the students brought pencils and writing surfaces to the carpet and they were given a piece of paper on which to record their thinking. The paper had three sections, one for the actual text from the story, one for the inference, and one for the schema which led to the inference. I love this format for making the students' thinking visible! Before beginning the read-aloud, Sue did a warm up with the students, having them make quick inferences based on a small amount of information. The children were very comfortable making inferences and explaining where their thinking had come from. She then began the read-aloud, a story by Eve Bunting which was perfect because it had a very small amount of text on each page - large print, which made it easy for children to copy the text they wanted to use. After each page she paused, in case children were copying the text to make an inference. There was no sharing until the story was finished, then students were given a couple of minutes to complete the paper and explain their thinking. Several students shared their inferences - I was very impressed with how much Sue expects of the students and how they rise to the occasion - "thin" or easy answers were not accepted and she pushed the students to think more deeply. Finally, students were tasked to write an inference in their reading journals during independent reading time, as Sue circulated and conferenced with several children.
I was so impressed with so many parts of this lesson, but I think I was most impressed with the level of expectation for the students - that I something that I want to bring back to my own classroom. She really knows her students and knows when they are not thinking as deeply as they might - and they don't shut down when pushed, they rise to the challenge. I also enjoyed seeing the organization of her workshop. The students clearly understand the expectations during this time and all of the students were focused on their reading. It is nice to actually see it in action. It makes me feel like I can get there, even though I am in the beginning stages right now. Sue's classroom is definitely a model I'd like to work toward!
I had the opportunity to observe Suzi St. Laurent’s third class during a lesson on inferring. It was obvious that the students were comfortable with this topic and had already completed multiple sessions of practice. During the lesson Suzi gathered the students on the rug while she read a story to them. Each child was responsible for making and writing down an inference, along with the text that inspired it and the schema that helped them to make the inference. The form she used was easy for the students to complete, and each one of them was able to find a passage in the text that they could use. At the end of the book she gave them a few minutes to complete their work before a few students shared what they had written. I was impressed!
At that point the group moved on to independent work. Each student has his/her own book bag to choose material from, and the class spread out about the room to read quietly while Suzi conferred with a few students individually. While the students were reading they were instructed to find passages from their own texts to use and complete the same form, writing down the inferences they made and the schema that helped them. All of the students were aware of the expectations and stayed on task well.
I feel lucky to have observed this lesson. Suzi shared the form she used with me, which I have subsequently “tweeked” for use with my younger students. It was also a great chance for me to observe the reading, thinking and behavioral abilities of the third graders, so that I have a better idea of what my present second graders will be exposed to next year. I think it is important that we continue to share these experiences with each other so that the students hear the same language as they advance through the grades. This lesson also helped me to understand how to gradually release some of the responsibility to my first and second graders as they become more able to handle it.
I was able to observe Jen F. teach a lesson on questioning at Barron a few weeks ago. Jen did a great job teaching her focus lesson. She talked about and modeled types of questions using the terms "thin" questions and "thick" questions to differentiate between the questions that are just surface questions versus questions that require deeper level thinking. Her students practiced the strategy by turning and talking to each other and then sharing as a class. The lesson was very well put together and gave the kids nice direction, modeling and practice. The students were used this class structure and did a great job in all aspects of it. After the lesson they got right down to reading on their own. Tomasen conferenced with some of the students and it was interesting to hear their thoughts. Very nice thinking going on in Room 16!
ReplyDeleteI had the opportunity to observe Kathy in her third grade classroom this morning. When I entered the room they were reviewing some key ideas about connections. Kathy transitioned easily to an activity on questioning. Her class has clearly learned some routines around reading. They were eager to take a turn at the “Thought Bubble”. As Kathy paged through the wordless picture book she had chosen, children took turns asking questions with the thought bubble. They were encouraged to use the posted thinking stems. The rest of the class took part by noticing if the questions were answered in the book. Factual (thin) questions were answered, but as the book went on questions developed around what they did not understand and what confused them. It wasn’t until the children had practiced a bit that Kathy introduced the terms “thin” and “thick” questions. Kathy used part of another book to further model her thinking and questioning. The children were focused and catching on to the idea. Finally after all her modeling she released them to try out a book on their own. They used a leveled reader with a theme similar to Kathy’s model book. They used sticky notes to question as they read. Thinking stems which were posted on anchor charts were helpful to the students. Kathy circulated around the room giving encouragement. As a next step Kathy had prepared a chart on which the children would be sorting their questions as to “thick” and “thin”. I did not observe this part, but it looked like it was going to go well based on how hard the kids were working and on how clearly Kathy had introduced and reinforced the skill.
ReplyDeleteI have had the opportunity to observe two very amazing teachers in my building so far. One was a fifth grade teacher, Heather Aldrich, and one was a Special Education Teacher, Angela Welch.
ReplyDeleteIn both cases the part where it was just a teacher talking to students was very limited. Much of the whole group lessons invloved teacher and student interaction. The students were acting as models for the other students and provided examples for every question that the teachers put to the group.
In both cases, there was a distinct release to independent work. The students were all confident about what they needed to do. It was especially amazing in Mrs. Aldrich's room of 28 students to see them enthusiastically doing their independent reading. They all got right to work and you could have heard a pin drop in the room with the silence.
Also in Heather Aldrich's room I am able to view one of the most struggling students on my case load appropriately take part in LTT. This student used to be pulled out for reading from the first through third grade. His self-etseem suffered and he put little to no effort into the pull out class. His Reading NECAP score was Below Proficient for the first two years.
With the introduction of LTT last year, the student was able to remain in the classroom for Reading. His efforts in learning reading comprehension improved significantly. I am excited to say that he received a Proficient score on his NECAP in Reading this year!!!
I recently had the opportunity to observe our reading specialist, Jenny Marshall, conduct a lesson on how to choose a "Just Right Book" in Gigi's fifth grade classroom. She began the lesson by sharing with the students books that she has read or is currently reading. It was a great way to introduce the concept. Modeling HER reasons for her choices made all the difference since kids learn by example. I think that sometimes we lose sight of the fact that kids don't know how to choose a "Just Right Book", a process that we take for granted. Jenny listed different criteria such as using schema, making connections and noting individual interests. Is the book visually appealing, print too small or too large? She also noted that the right book may vary according to the reader's stamina at the time. Students took turns and talked about choosing a "Just Right Book" and then read independently for 25 minutes. After about 15 minutes Jenny pulled a small group of readers together and discussed their reasons for choosing a book. She pointed out the fact that one of the reasons we don't love reading is because we're not picking the right book.I was impressed by the way she guided the students through the process of choosing. Using these techniques will hopefully create happy readers.
ReplyDeleteToday, I had the opportunity to observe another first grade teacher in my building, Karen Stone. She is an amazing teacher and collegue and I feel like to be working next to her each day. I observed her teaching a lesson on questioning. She had already introduced this strategy with her class. She started by reviewing the strategy and the idea behind readers asking question before, during and after reading. I was VERY impressed with her kids knowledge of the reading strategies and the language they used. One student stated, "in my schema..." and another said, "well, I inferr..." They asked before questions, and then she read them the story. As they read, she stoppped and recorded their questions on post-its. When they finished the story, she has prepared a chart for them. A pair picked a question that was put in the middle of the chart. Then, they had to think of possible answers to the questions. I walked around to visit with the groups. Karen has a young class but I was really impressed with how long her students sat. I was also impressed with the questions they came up with. This was such a creative lesson because not only did it intigrate Questioning but she made the children think about their questions and how it related to the story. I am going to try this lesson with my class using another book next week. This was a great opportunity for me to see another teacher in action. I only wish I had more opportunities like this to observe other teachers.
ReplyDeleteI observed a third grade teacher at Barron teaching a strategy lesson on inferring. I missed the intro to the lesson, but noticed a bunch of "trash" on the floor when I arrived. The class was gathered around the trash and the teacher was asking the students what they could infer about her new neighbors from the different pieces of trash that was in the garbage bag. The teacher held up various items such as a Rachel Ray magazine, finger painting artwork, and empty pre-cut lettuce bag. From these and other items, the students made inferences about who lived in the house. The inferred that children must live there, that there is a mom and a dad and that the family tries to be healthy. Part way through the lesson, the teacher explained to students that when we make inferences we need to back them up with evidence and often our schema plays a role in this process. She then began asking the students to also state the evidence they had for their inferences. The students did a really nice job with this piece and it was interesting to see how each student's schema impacted the inferences that he or she made. From there, the students went back to their table groups. Each group got a picture and as a group they made inferences about the picture and gave evidence for their thinking. I was impressed with this added piece to the lesson, because it allowed students to practice the strategy taught in the lesson on their own with other students in the class. This gradual release of responsibility is extremely important! The students did a really nice job making inferences. While they were working with their groups, Sara went around and conferenced with the groups. To wrap up the lesson, Sara had each group share their pictures and their inferences to the class. I really enjoyed Sara's lesson and how she made it her own. The students were involved and active participants throughout and were able to demonstrate the strategy being taught on their own. What a great, concrete way to introduce inferring to students!
ReplyDeleteI had the opportunity to observe a first grade teacher, Leslie Carignan, do a lesson on inferring with her students. I was excited to see this lesson because I am also working on inferring with my students. I was interested in seeing what first graders would be capable of doing with such a hard concept. Leslie had introduced the concept of inferring a few weeks back, so the children were very comfortable with using the language. (“I infer… because…” “I used the text clues or picture clues for evidence.”) Leslie used a magnifying glass to remind students that they need to be detectives in order to infer and need to find clues to back up their thinking. They also sang a song about inferring that helped them to remember what to do when they infer. She showed a bulletin board that students were working on of a boy with all of the reading strategies put in his head. This helped students remember that many reading strategies are used while you infer. Leslie finished her lesson using a poem with words covered up. The students had to use the clues in the poem to infer what animal the poem was telling them about. Before the students read on their own, Leslie showed a few pictures from a wordless picture book. The students had to use clues from the picture to figure out what the close up was. During their independent reading time the students had to make an inference from the cover (picture clues) of the book they were reading. They had reading journals where they recorded their inference and had to start the sentence with I infer….. because….. I sat in with Leslie for part of her conference and also talked with a few students about their inference. The students were extremely focused and were able to make some great inferences. Leslie used a lot of little “tricks” to engage her students (songs, magnifying glass, pencil pointer with brain to remind them that reading is thinking). This helped the students to remember the concept and to be familiar with the language being used. I was very impressed with the amount of knowledge they had about each of the strategies and with the language they were using so easily with one another.
ReplyDeleteI had the opportunity to observe two wonderful teachers outside the district at Kensington Elementary School. The two teachers are 5th grade teachers, and myself and my colleagues observed many things, but the main goal was to see how the Reader's and Writer's workshop format really works.
ReplyDeleteEach teacher did a focus lesson in both subjects, the kids worked on this focus independently for a while, and then were asked to come back on talk about what they worked on.
In reading the focus was for students to confer with another student and discuss each other's reading responses to a book they are reading. I was amazed at how well the students worked together and stayed on task. They were able to give each other relevant criticism politely. Their reading responses were also impressive because each student had to discuss what they were thinking while they were reading and which comprehension strategy they were using at the time. This could not be done without a good understanding of the strategies and they did it well.
In writing the students were working on a poetry unit. Their poetry was amazing and it was all accomplished through modeling and exposure different types of poetry. The kids were enthusiastic about everything, and I really saw how important it is to wrap-up a lesson with a group share to get ideas from others or know that others are having the same struggles as you are. It was a great experience.
I also went to Kensington to observe a Reader's and Writer's workshop in progress. I was so impressed. I sat there in awe as I observed the independence of these students. I was amazed that they were only fifth graders. Both teacher's were finishing up a unit on poetry. They started off with a focus lesson. I watched a mini-lesson on inferring. The students were all engaged and excited to participate. After both teachers completed their mini-lessons, the students went off and worked independently. They were working on finishing up their poetry books. As I walked around the room, a few students offered to share their poetry with me. One child's poem actually brought tears to my eyes!
ReplyDeleteThe student's knew exactly was expected of them and stayed right on task. I floated back and forth between the two fifth grade classrooms and was impressed by both of them. The students had such a strong work ethic.
This visit had a positive impact on me. I know that it took the 5th grade teachers a great deal of time and dedication to train the students to think independently but the outcome was fantastic.
I hope that I too will be able to run my classroom as they did theirs!!!
I visited Sue Wilk's classroom and observed a lesson on making inferences. She is several steps ahead of me in this process of integrating the readers workshop, so it was nice to actually see it in action. The children had already had a few lessons on the strategy of inferencing - this lesson involved some guided practice, followed by independent practice with the strategy. Sue began by setting expectations for the lesson - the students brought pencils and writing surfaces to the carpet and they were given a piece of paper on which to record their thinking. The paper had three sections, one for the actual text from the story, one for the inference, and one for the schema which led to the inference. I love this format for making the students' thinking visible! Before beginning the read-aloud, Sue did a warm up with the students, having them make quick inferences based on a small amount of information. The children were very comfortable making inferences and explaining where their thinking had come from. She then began the read-aloud, a story by Eve Bunting which was perfect because it had a very small amount of text on each page - large print, which made it easy for children to copy the text they wanted to use. After each page she paused, in case children were copying the text to make an inference. There was no sharing until the story was finished, then students were given a couple of minutes to complete the paper and explain their thinking. Several students shared their inferences - I was very impressed with how much Sue expects of the students and how they rise to the occasion - "thin" or easy answers were not accepted and she pushed the students to think more deeply. Finally, students were tasked to write an inference in their reading journals during independent reading time, as Sue circulated and conferenced with several children.
ReplyDeleteI was so impressed with so many parts of this lesson, but I think I was most impressed with the level of expectation for the students - that I something that I want to bring back to my own classroom. She really knows her students and knows when they are not thinking as deeply as they might - and they don't shut down when pushed, they rise to the challenge. I also enjoyed seeing the organization of her workshop. The students clearly understand the expectations during this time and all of the students were focused on their reading. It is nice to actually see it in action. It makes me feel like I can get there, even though I am in the beginning stages right now. Sue's classroom is definitely a model I'd like to work toward!
I had the opportunity to observe Suzi St. Laurent’s third class during a lesson on inferring. It was obvious that the students were comfortable with this topic and had already completed multiple sessions of practice. During the lesson Suzi gathered the students on the rug while she read a story to them. Each child was responsible for making and writing down an inference, along with the text that inspired it and the schema that helped them to make the inference. The form she used was easy for the students to complete, and each one of them was able to find a passage in the text that they could use. At the end of the book she gave them a few minutes to complete their work before a few students shared what they had written. I was impressed!
ReplyDeleteAt that point the group moved on to independent work. Each student has his/her own book bag to choose material from, and the class spread out about the room to read quietly while Suzi conferred with a few students individually. While the students were reading they were instructed to find passages from their own texts to use and complete the same form, writing down the inferences they made and the schema that helped them. All of the students were aware of the expectations and stayed on task well.
I feel lucky to have observed this lesson. Suzi shared the form she used with me, which I have subsequently “tweeked” for use with my younger students. It was also a great chance for me to observe the reading, thinking and behavioral abilities of the third graders, so that I have a better idea of what my present second graders will be exposed to next year. I think it is important that we continue to share these experiences with each other so that the students hear the same language as they advance through the grades. This lesson also helped me to understand how to gradually release some of the responsibility to my first and second graders as they become more able to handle it.