It's time to do something about it...

Today I've been working in first form.
Not only I took a sore throat home but also something to reflect upon.
I gave them a colouring activity to solve.
It contained a number-colour code like this:

one=black
two=green
three=red
four=white
five=yellow
six=blue

Surprisingly, many children could read or "guess" the words.
But for some others it was like reading this for us,

jedan = crna
dva = zelena
tri = crvena          
četiri = bijela
pet = žuta
šest = plava
(unless you know Croatian)

So, what do these children need to solve the activity?
Most of the words presented are irregular or words that they cannot decode yet.
But colours and numbers are high frequency words. They appear all the time.
Consequently, they have to learn them by heart.
What shall we do?
Send a list of vocabulary to study at home?
I'm convinced that these children need to learn by doing/playing in small groups.
What about a Learn and Play Day?
In the same way good speakers participate of a tea party and good readers of a book club, "weak students" that make an effort could have a Learn and Play Day.
In a Learn and Play Day students could put hands-on work, have fun, and learn strategies they need to solve activities in the classroom.
Some ideas:
Preparing colours and numbers flashcards with the kids
We could ask students what they think about when they see colour yellow.
Maybe the sun, a banana, or the yellow submarine in the song they learnt in kinder.

yellow 





We could make a simple drawing of what they say for them to colour and use it as reference material for the classroom.
We could play memory games in the computer. I'm sure they are very good at that! And we could tell them that they can use the good memory they have to learn numbers and colours.
We could play with the shape of the words.
We could play with magnetic letters.
We could practice the copy, cover, write, and check technique.
We could prepare a vocabulary card to keep in the copybook.
Sing a song, role play, cut and paste, puzzle games, etc.

I would love to have a Learn and Play Day with students that need "extra help" or learn in a different way.
The only problen is that an intervention like this needs continuity and we know this is something very difficult to achieve at school. It should take place at least once a week.
I could have a Learn and Play Day with 1st and 2nd  and Vivi another one with 3rd and 4th.
Do you think we could give it a try?

A pending issue

Once I had a meeting with the mother of a weak student and she said "You are always prizing the good students. The best speaker goes to the tea party, the good reader goes to the library, the best student goes to the flag. I know that my son is never going to be the best speaker nor the best student, so how do you motivate my child? In which kind of special activity do you include him?" I do not remember exactly my words, but I do remember my thoughts at that moment. I was thinking ...You are right...
How do we help those concerning cases in their learning process?
We give them some extra patience, 5 minutes of exclusive time in the classroom, some special activities to do at home, a "come on, you can do it!" encouraging words, and many times we suggest parents to look for extra help somewhere else. Are we only pushing foward the good-and-well-behaved students? What about the weak-and-naughty ones?
I now that we do a lot for those kids, but I wonder if we do what they need.
There are things that cannot be solved at school, but does it mean that we cannot teach those kids?
Could we create a motivating enviroment at school for those kids? A place and time to give them the strategies they need to solve their difficuties? We made some promises... I offered my help...
I would like to start working with these children and base my reflections on that experience.