CMA Secrets to Effective Classroom Management

Understanding Age Appropriate Teaching and Teaching Multi-Age Groups: Scenario (con't)

When you arrive, Miss Nancy is greeting students at the door, and Miss Gina has a worksheet ready for the younger children.

“Go see Miss Gina!” Miss Nancy says when students arrive who are usually in Miss Gina’s class.

Miss Gina gets these younger ones, six in all, to color and fill in a word puzzle at the table about the Samarian woman and Jesus.”

When kids from her own class arrive, Miss Nancy addresses the third and fourth graders differently. To third graders, she says, “You can color and do the word puzzle, or if you don’t want to do that, sit at the other table and talk quietly among yourselves.” To each of the three fourth graders she asks, “Would you like to be a group leader today? We really need older kids like you to lead the younger ones.”

Each fourth grader gladly says yes. Miss Nancy gives each a dollar store medal that hangs on a ribbon. On each side of the ribbon she has written “Group Leader” in marker pen.

Miss Gina takes the first group leader and introduces her to two of the younger children.

“This is Kaleigh. She’s going to be your group leader. That’s sort of like a baby sitter or mother’s helper. If you can’t understand something, she’ll help explain it or help you do it.”

The children look slightly suspicious, but after Kaleigh admires their coloring and enthusiastically hints at puzzle answers, they settle in.

Miss Gina then takes Noah to two younger children. She introduces him the same way.

“I want Abby instead of him,” Jammod says, spotting a third grader he knows. “She lives on my street.”

“Group leaders have to be in fourth grade. But Noah is really nice, too. You’ll like him,” Miss Gina says.

The two women have decided to use Miss Nancy’s music CDs even though Miss Gina plays guitar as her repertoire only includes simple songs for young children. The CDs have a hiphop beat. The older children are familiar with the songs and the movements they made up together earlier in the year. The little kids try to follow their group leaders. Even though they’re not very successful, the group leaders praise them and the children enjoy it.

Miss Gina usually teaches her students on a rug. The twelve students are told to sit with their group leader between their protégés while Miss Nancy teaches. Two first graders become fidgety as Miss Nancy gives some history on Samaria dating back 500 years B.C. Kaleigh is in charge of one, and Noah is in charge of the other. Kaleigh whispers in her assigned child’s ear, “That is way, way before Jesus was born.” Noah nudges his protégé and says, “Shhhh!”

Miss Gina kneels behind them and says to the younger child, “Having a group leader means we’re special today. If you don’t want to be special you’ll have to go sit at the table by yourself.”