Elementary Student Characteristics

       As any teacher or parent can tell you, students at each grade level in elementary school have unique characteristics. Recognizing this, JA has organized the Elementary School Program as a series of six related themes, each building upon the other, from Ourselves to Our Nation. Students at each grade level learn about the U. S. economic system in a program geared specifically toward their capabilities and interests.

       Below are brief descriptions of the JA programs structured for each grade level, and the general characteristics of students for that grade level. Awareness of how children at each level think and interact helps JA consultants tailor their presentation styles to communicate effectively. (Note: these are general age-related characteristics. Be prepared for a wide variety of abilities and personalities in your classrooms!)

       OURSELVES introduces students to basic personal economic issues and the roles individuals play as workers, consumers, and family members, through characters in five picture books and hands-on activities such as scratch-off, stickers, flash cards, and drawing.

       Objectives: Students will recognize the role of self, define money, recognize coins, discover rewards other than money, recognize the value of work, learn about saving, and appreciate the importance of giving.

       At the Kindergarten level, children begin to combine simple ideas into more complex relationships. As a result, they need an environment rich in printed materials that stimulate the development of language and literacy skills. They also need a variety of direct experiences to develop cognitively, physically, emotionally, and socially.

This means:

• Kindergartners need things to play with and manipulate.
• In general, they're attention getters and crave praise, though some are overwhelmed by attention and revert to a safe place at the teacher's side.
• Keep learning fun; 5-year-olds get frustrated with serious talk and serious people.
• They'll pick up on what's important. If learning is forced, they will lose interest quickly.
• Most Kindergartners get along great with the opposite sex.

        OUR FAMILIES explores the role of families in the local economy, the jobs they have, and their economic needs and wants through activities involving a read-along book, stickers, flash card games, a map on the floor, and role-playing.

       Objectives: Students will recognize what a family is, how family members live and work together, understand the difference between a need and a want, and learn how family members depend on various businesses to provide their needs and wants. They will identify where people work at jobs and become familiar with tools and skills required on the job, demonstrate working, and paying for needs and wants.

       First-graders are active learners and demonstrate considerable verbal skills. They love games and rules, developing concepts and problem-solving skills from these experiences. Hands-on activity and experimentation are important.

This means:

• Even when sitting, first-graders don't stay still.
• The "wiggly sixes" have a hard time finishing what they start.
• They find it difficult to copy from the chalkboard, so teachers use many worksheets.
• Boys usually use their arms and legs better, while girls are better with small muscles such as eyes and hands.
• Stress in school is social as well as academic; time to interact is important.
• By the end of the year, students do not just love their teacher, but are passionately in love.

       OUR COMMUNITY demonstrates the responsibilities of and opportunities available to citizens in their economic community through role-playing, posters, worksheets & stickers, flash cards, play money, and a "decision tree."

       Objectives: Students will identify a variety of jobs, recognize how people live and work together in a community, compare unit and assembly line production methods, and learn that different strategies are used to produce different products. They will learn about government jobs and how taxes work. They will practice decision-making and learn that choices must be made carefully. They will recognize how money is used in a community.

       As seasoned veterans of two years of schooling, second-graders are increasingly able to reason, listen to others, and show social give-and-take. They can display flexibility, open-mindedness, and tolerance of unfamiliar ideas to a remarkable extent.

This means:

• As their faces show more individuality, the sizes and shapes of their bodies change and their personalities become more distinct.
• It's important to encourage them to accept their differences — by displaying their hand prints and family snapshots, writing 'self books" about favorite clothes, memories, trips, and the like.
• Second graders concentrate on a subject in class for 20 minutes at a time, but no longer.
• Repetition is great fun — they will return day after day to the same lesson and only move on to the next one after the last is mastered.

       OUR CITY introduces students to business operations, city planning, and economic development issues through posters, worksheets, floor maps, sample blueprints and menus, paper buildings to color and construct, and the popular Mystery Game.

       Objectives: Students identify jobs within a city, the construction industry, the restaurant business, the newspaper business, and the banking business. They discuss the importance of city planning and zones, and of the construction business to a city's economy. They explore what goes into starting a restaurant and learn the importance of the newspaper as a communication tool. They complete a simple banking transaction.

       Third graders combine great curiosity with increased social interest. They are able to learn about people who live elsewhere in the world, but their understanding of what they read is dependent upon relating ideas to their own experience.

This means:

• Things settle down in third grade; students like school but are very casual about it.
• Their desks reflect their individuality — each one intensely personal, full of the owner's special junk.
• On the playground and in the lunchroom, they are talkative and have much to say to those they admire. You may be struck by their ease of manner.
• Third graders need to inspect, to know, to organize, and to classify.
• Their abilities in math and reading range from first to fifth grade, and the teacher must weave values into everything from current events to fiction.

OUR REGION discusses the natural, human, and capital resources of regions and how these affect decisions businesses must make through workbook exercises, posters, a map of the US, group activities, and The Bottom Line game.

Objectives: Students define resources, classify resources as natural, human, and capital, and discover that resources are found in a region. They identify resources involved in producing goods and services and recognize economic interdependence in a region. They identify a variety of business income and expenses, learn how businesses track income and expenses, and recognize the importance of profits to a business.

       Fourth graders are somewhat self-conscious and prefer group activities to working alone. They also are beginning to understand abstractions as well as cause-and-effect relationships, but need real experiences in social settings.

This means:

• Fourth graders have become distinct individuals and want everyone to know it.
• Friends are definitely more important than teachers now.
• Suddenly, school becomes much more real: more memory work and attention to writing, style, and meaning.
• They are more absorbed and competitive, with a strong need to improve upon past accomplishments.
• Since the classroom has become a demanding, competitive place, cheating can begin to be a real problem.
• The division between boys and girls is strong. Girls walk in small packs, and boys reach their warmongering peak.

OUR NATION illustrates how businesses operate in the U.S. economy — including management, marketing, production, and sales presentation activities — through workbooks, stickers, group activities, role-playing, a video, and putting together pens.

Objectives: Students learn about the three common forms of business organizations (sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation) and identify examples of natural, human, and capital resources needed to start a business. They discuss qualities employers look for in employees and become familiar with the steps necessary to get a job. They compare unit and mass production methods and recognize the importance of productivity. They learn why businesses advertise and identify the different types of advertising. They demonstrate their knowledge of business operations by presenting business plans before an annual stockholders' meeting.

       Fifth graders may be experiencing bodily changes and rapid growth spurts, which cause periods of frustration and anger. They generally are interested in and enthusiastic about places and problems in the news and want to know what caused these problems, where they occurred, and the reasons for them.

This means:

• Fifth-graders appear to grow before your eyes, mentally as well as physically. Many are on the verge of abstract thought.
• Mental leaps and shifts in humor change their classroom behavior.
• School is considerably more demanding, and students will have homework in several subjects.
• The two key areas of the curriculum are fractions and writing. Both call for more memory and concentration, which the students find engaging.
• Their hammy natures make playacting and poetry recitations delightful.
• Honor and fair play are high this year. This stems from their budding social conscience, so teachers who play favorites are in for trouble.
• They are pulling away from parents and teachers, so friends are more important. Friendships are almost always with the same sex, but boy-girl flirtation has begun.