Question For Teachers...What are the developmental characteristics of first graders?

Question

What are first graders able to do coginitively, socially, and physically? What level are they at?

This is for my class. I am doing a lesson plan.

Answer 1

First graders are"sponges" first and foremost! That said, be aware of what you teach and say to them. They will remember!. However, their learning styles will vary. Most are visual learners. Some can be auditory and visual learners. They are at the readiness stage for reading--phonics and sight vocab. Sentences to be read should be short and repetitive and have accompanying pictures to be comprehended. At this age they are not abstract learners. Math must be visual, tactile and use of all the senses is a plus .
Socially the 6 - 7 year old is learning to work and play side by side with his/her peers. Parallel play is diminishing. They want to be needed and both girls and boys will tend to be overzealous about helping everyone. They also are sensitive to their teacher's needs. They want to please!
Physically this age group can vary. Most are good only at gross motor skills until mid year. Fine motor continues to develop in handwriting, artistically etc.
Check out these websites for more understanding.

(Watch the Power Point presentation)
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Gesell+child+development&sp=1&fr2=sp-top&prssweb=Search&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&x=w

http://www.gesellinstitute.org/

. I taught grades 1 and 2 for over 30 years. I attended the Gesell Institute workshop one summer. Get the book The Six Year old and The Seven Year Old by Louise Ames of the Gesell Institute. They are a great help!

http://www.kidsource.com/books/fs/f.your.six.year.old.html

http://www.kidsource.com/books/your.seven.year.old.html

Good luck with these prescious little ones! :)