After more than 30 years of teaching, Pat Barrett Dragan indeed knows everything needed to teach the first year of school. And she can teach you, too, with this step-by-step guide to creating a smoothly functioning, literacy-rich primary classroom. Dragan has virtually opened her file drawers and rounded up every detail to get you off to a good start with the three Rs and more. Even veteran teachers or teachers changing grade levels will find loads of helpful information-forms, checklists, activities, copyright-free poems, and reproducibles-all forming a substantive resource bible to keep handy for reference. Most important, Dragan highlights the best teaching and learning strategies culled from years of teaching and studying with the experts. Read Dragan and learn how to: Bond with your new class and create a happy and cohesive classroom community. Help your children develop organizational skills and self control. Inveigle, wangle, and keep children's attention to help them learn. Teach them to have confidence they can read--on the first day of school. Ensure that they learn to read and write well, whatever your reading program. Draw on their innate curiosity to develop their math and problem-solving skills. Use children's photos and artwork to help them practice reading and writing. Integrate children's literature and the arts into all curriculum areas. Work with English language learners and children having little help at home. As Dragan demonstrates, perhaps the most effective strategy for successful teaching is to infuse the school day with joyful learning throughout that magical first year.

You're teaching first grade this year. What do you need to know? Margaret Berry Wilson gives you practical information about daily routines, furniture, and much more. She starts with a concise review of first graders' common developmental characteristics and then shows how to adjust your classroom and your teaching to fit these common characteristics. The result: Students can learn, and you can teach, with minimum frustration and maximum ease and joy. In a warm, conversational style punctuated with anecdotes and examples from her own classrooms, Margaret shares practical know-how on topics like this: Arranging a circle, desks, and tables Choosing and storing supplies Scheduling a child-centered day and teaching daily routines Planning special projects and field trips that maximize learning and build community Understanding the special concerns of first graders' parents and finding the best ways to communicate

The funny follow-up to Kindergarten, Here I Come! Now includes a sheet of stickers! First grade—it's the big time! After all, it's a real honest to goodness grade. In verses that are both funny and full of heart, D.J. Steinberg celebrates big and small moments, ones that all young "scholars" will relate to—baby teeth that won't fall out, choosing the perfect library book, celebrating Pajama Day, and wrangling with the mysteries of spelling. From the first day of school to the last, this engaging anthology is essential reading for all soon-to-be first graders.

Give your child a smart start with the revised and updated What Your First Grader Needs to Know What will your child be expected to learn in the first grade? How can you help him or her at home? How can teachers foster active, successful learning in the classroom? This book answers these all-important questions and more, offering the specific shared knowledge that hundreds of parents and teachers across the nation have agreed upon for American first graders. Featuring a new Introduction, filled with opportunities for reading aloud and fostering discussion, this first-grade volume of the acclaimed Core Knowledge Series presents the sort of knowledge and skills that should be at the core of a challenging first-grade education. Inside you’ll discover • Favorite poems—old and new, such as “The Owl and the Pussycat,” “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,” and “Thirty Days Hath September” • Beloved stories—from many times and lands, including a selection of Aesop’s fables, “Hansel and Gretel,” “All Stories Are Anansi’s,” “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” and more • Familiar sayings and phrases—such as “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and “Practice makes perfect” • World and American history and geography—take a trip down the Nile with King Tut and learn about the early days of our country, including the story of Jamestown, the Pilgrims, and the American Revolution • Visual arts—fun activities plus reproductions of masterworks by Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Georgia O’Keeffe, and others • Music—engaging introductions to great composers and music, including classical music, opera, and jazz, as well as a selection of favorite children’s songs • Math—a variety of activities to help your child learn to count, add and subtract, solve problems, recognize geometrical shapes and patterns, and learn about telling time • Science—interesting discussions of living things and their habitats, the human body, the states of matter, electricity, our solar system, and what’s inside the earth, plus stories of famous scientists such as Thomas Edison and Louis Pasteur

A mentor teacher shares insights, strategies and lessons for teaching reading, writing and math--and laying the foundation for learning success.

Engage your child in active learning with First Grade Essentials. This workbook covers these skills: -vocabulary -consonant and vowel sounds -addition -subtraction -counting money -telling time Packed with fun practice pages, this workbook helps first graders develop skills for success in today’s classroom. Help your child learn how to apply classroom learning to everyday life with First Grade Essentials. This workbook encourages children to have fun while learning key skills in these areas: -basic skills -reading -math Filled with grade-appropriate activities and practice, First Grade Essentials offers opportunities for active learning and supports the skills children need to think critically and communicate effectively. By focusing on important school skills, the Essentials series for prekindergarten to second grades helps build a strong foundation for your child’s success, this year and the next. Each practice page features a “One Step Further” activity to help your child apply the skill to real-world experiences. The books also include fun puzzles and mazes in a bonus “Games and Activities” section. Essentials is a complete resource to help your child develop twenty-first century skills!

After the first day of first grade, Henry's not sure how he feels about it. The teacher isn't like his kindergarten teacher, and the fifth-graders hog the monkey bars. But as Henry tells his mother about a new friend who likes soccer and about how he'll learn to read books, he begins to realize that maybe first grade won't be so bad after all.