HomepageISTEEdSurge
Skip to content
ascd logo

Log in to Witsby: ASCD’s Next-Generation Professional Learning and Credentialing Platform
Join ASCD
October 1, 2012
Vol. 70
No. 2

Chaos in Kindergarten?

Here's how teachers can help early elementary students who are seriously disruptive in class.

premium resources logo

Premium Resource

Let's consider two children any kindergarten teacher will recognize:
Alejandro is a bundle of energy as he enters the classroom. After a quick "Hi" to his teacher, he tosses his things into his cubby and joins a group of friends who've discovered the new magnets. Hearing the teacher's signal for circle time, Alejandro says to his buddies, "Put them back in the box. We gotta go!" In a moment, he's on his sit-upon, singing the Good Morning Song.Emma enters the classroom, ignoring the teacher's friendly greeting. As she jams her belongings into her overstuffed cubby, she steps over her lunch box, which has tumbled to the floor. Just after Emma joins the children in the writing center, a child in the group calls for help because Emma is grabbing her things. Ignoring the teacher's redirection to come to another area, Emma slaps at a girl and pushes a basket of markers to the floor. "It's going to be another one of those days," the teacher sighs.
We all know these two children. Alejandro is typical of many kindergarten students. He demonstrates self-regulation, plays well with others, contributes to the classroom community, and follows rules. On the other hand, children like Emma struggle through the day, leaving behind them a trail of chaos and bad feelings.
Although most kindergartners are more like Alejandro, the Emmas aren't a tiny minority. Ten percent of kindergartners show behavior problems or disrupt their class. This number triples for at-risk children. And children with self-control problems rarely succeed academically.
It's not only the Emmas who suffer. With all a teacher has to accomplish during the kindergarten year, having students who lack the skills to "do school" is a real challenge. Other students are also hampered by the frequent drama. But once teachers stop thinking of disruptive children as naughty and instead think of them as lacking social and emotional skills, we can see the situation as no more challenging than teaching the basics of reading and mathematics.
Just as educators have identified key language and literacy skills—like phonological awareness—that underlie children's ability to learn to read, researchers have identified key social and emotional skills that underlie children's ability to succeed in school. And just as we've learned how to strengthen students' foundational skills in cognitive domains, we can help students like Emma build the interpersonal skills they need to move successfully through the school day.
Teaching social and emotional skills—taking students from where they are to where they need to be—is similar to teaching skills in any domain. To become increasingly competent, children need to feel both capable of and excited about learning. They need a supportive environment, multiple activities, and sufficient practice to internalize skills like how to develop relationships and how to resist the urge to grab something they want. Let's consider how teachers can help early elementary students develop four key skills: building adult-child relationships, belonging to a group, regulating themselves, and adapting "home" behaviors to fit classroom expectations.

Relationships with Teachers

Jacob has no use for adults at school. He runs away from the playground monitor, frequently reminds the music teacher "you're not the boss of me," and pulls away when his classroom teacher tries to give him an affectionate pat.
Students tend to behave well for teachers they like and who like them. Unfortunately, children like Jacob have a knack for behaving in very unlikeable ways. They make it difficult for adults to like them, which exacerbates their defiance over time. And a history of unpleasant interactions with adults gets in the way of a child's ability to see adults as valuable resources to support learning. The teacher's task, then, is twofold: to build relationships with kids who pull away and to help these children see teachers as valuable resources.
The way we build mutually affectionate, respectful relationships with kids isn't much different from the way we'd build relationships with a new friend or coworker. Intentionally weave opportunities to build personal connections into the school day. Invite your Jacob to help you carry the crate of balls back from the playground, using those minutes together to talk about last weekend's activities. As your class walks to the library, walk beside him and ask about favorite books, or whether he has any pets at home, or where the sticker on his shirt came from. Send a message to the student that you truly enjoy these chats—and his company. This is one of the most effective ways to improve a student's cooperation.
Once you develop a mutually caring relationship with a young child, you'll find she has a vested interest in living up to your expectations. So when she behaves inappropriately, you'll be in a position to help her reflect on what happened and work alongside her to plan alternative ways to handle the situation next time. Before responding punitively, think about the kind of response you'd appreciate from your supervisor if you made an error at work. Say things like, "It's OK. We all make mistakes. Let's talk about what went wrong." End with a message of trust: "I know you can learn how to do this."

Belonging

Madison does well when she can work side by side with one other child in the classroom. However, whenever she's assigned to a work station with three or four other children, she hoards materials, gets into spats, and causes enough ruckus that the teacher sends her away from the area to work by herself.
Children enter the classroom community at different levels of social competence. Some can easily navigate working in groups; others are still mastering working in pairs. Set up areas in the classroom where students can work alone, in pairs, or in small groups. Allow your Madison to work at a smaller table. Help her learn large-group skills by inviting her to join you at a table with a big group from time to time, so you can model and facilitate successful interactions.
Sherry has a different belonging issue: When the class works together to clean up the classroom, Sherry inevitably responds to the teacher's request to throw away a stray paper towel or wash out the paint cups with, "Why do I have to do that? I didn't use it." Working cooperatively for the good of the classroom community is foreign to her.
When we facilitate children's attachment to trusted adults, we help them become more amenable to adult guidance. And when we help children identify themselves as belonging to the classroom family, we create in them a desire to work and play cooperatively with others in the community and to conform to classroom expectations.
Most young children are naturally drawn to exclusive clubs. Build on this attraction. Work together to create a name for your class and a community symbol, such as a class flag, that you hang on the wall. Write a class pledge that students will recite each day, such as, "The Sunshine Bears are kind. The Sunshine Bears are helpful. The Sunshine Bears stay safe." As your Sherry begins to identify herself as a member of the classroom community, she'll be more likely to look out for others and work cooperatively—and wash out paint cups she didn't use.

Self-regulation

Demarco is a tangle of energy with his hands on everyone and everything. He rocks his chair back and forth, often tipping it over to the delight of the other children. He pokes his neighbors during group time, disrupting everyone's learning.
Most young children are not programmed to stay still for extended periods of time. Pushing against a child's nature to be in motion invites disruptive behavior. Unfortunately, teachers often instinctively react to their Demarcos by making them lose outdoor time or sitting them down to "think about" their behavior. Research indicates that the reverse might be a better strategy; getting kids active leads to improved concentration and learning.
Get all students out of their seats for frequent "brain breaks" before doing concentrated cognitive tasks. Have kids march around the room to upbeat music, do a quick round of freeze dancing, or play Simon Says. Add extra physical tasks for your Demarco. Have him fetch the storybook from your desk, erase the whiteboard, or pick up all the carpet squares. Look for "heavy work" like helping to move a table or carrying a box of books.
Demarco also acts before he thinks. If somebody bumps him, he strikes out; if he sees something he wants, he takes it. He gets angry and uses profanity.
Impulsive children like Demarco seem to thrive in a physically well-ordered environment, with clearly labeled boxes, baskets, and shelves and lots of white space on the walls. Rituals and predictable routines, along with a daily schedule posted at students' eye level, help impulsive kids organize their days without feeling anxious. Use masking tape or adhesive dots to assign an impulsive student a specific place in line or in the circle at group time.
Transitions can be particularly challenging for impulsive kids. Help them stay organized and out of trouble by giving them specific tasks, like pushing in all the chairs or wiping down the tables. When you see a student bouncing around the room, get down to her level and ask, "What's your plan?" A plan can be as simple as "I'm getting a drink." One quick question and response is often enough to get an impulsive student back on track.
When a student's impulsive action has resulted in damage, help him or her do an instant replay. Together, reconstruct how the problem began and walk through what did happen and what might have happened if the student had made a different choice. Many children benefit from physically reenacting an event, this time making a better behavior choice.

Adaptability

"I feel like I spend half of my time reminding children of the rules," Ms. Benson complained. Pointing to a group in the corner, she added, "Especially those three. How many times do I have to repeat myself?"
It's frustrating when children fail to adapt their "home" behaviors to meet classroom expectations. Sooner or later, most students conform to expectations. But for others, adaptation is much more difficult. We can help these children by letting all students participate in creating classroom guidelines, helping them understand what those guidelines look like in practice, and enforcing guidelines consistently.
For kindergartners, it's best to begin with three or so guiding principles of behavior, or "big rules." Big rules should be overarching ideas that reflect a life compass. They should be rules that apply not only to young children, but also to everyone. Three big rules you might start with are "We take care of ourselves. We take care of one another. We take care of our world."
Introduce these rules to students one at a time over a series of days. Write, "We take care of ourselves" on a piece of chart paper and invite children to give examples of what that looks like. You might ask, "How can we keep ourselves safe?" or "How might we help ourselves learn new things?" Record students' ideas on the chart and add to the list during the school year.
Students will suggest things like washing hands, brushing teeth, or paying attention. These examples might be called little rules. When redirecting children, use a little rule/big rule format: "Adrian, give the paper back to Marcella. Remember, we take care of each other" or "Let's all pick up papers from the playground. We need to take care of our world."
Be careful about giving children three warnings ("You have until the count of three …"). We might think giving a grace period is kind, but for some children it leads to a misunderstanding. Most children will hear "This is your first warning: Stop splashing water on the floor" as "Stop splashing water on the floor."
However, if you consistently give three warnings before you act, a few children will think, "I can keep splashing until she gives her final warning." It's not that they're defiant. Rather, they understand your real rule—that you'll allow the action to go on for a while longer. Help students understand your rules by always saying what you mean and meaning what you say.

Why Take Time?

Some may argue that with all that teachers have to teach, we have no time to spend on these strategies. In reality, when we don't invest time to teach students social and emotional skills, we opt to be interrupted month after month with defiance, bickering, and worse. We can spend our time reacting to disruptive behaviors, or we can invest our time in helping students gain social and emotional competencies so they can manage their own behavior. The choice is ours.
End Notes

1 West, J., Denton, K., & Reaney, L. M. (2001). The kindergarten year: Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, kindergarten class of 1998–1999 (NCES 2001-023). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. As cited in Raver, C. C., & Knitze, J. (2002). Ready to enter: What research tells policymakers about strategies to promote social and emotional school readiness among three- and four-year-olds. New York: National Center for Children in Poverty.

2 Ratey, J. J. (2008). Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. New York: Hachette.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.
Discover ASCD's Professional Learning Services
From our issue
Product cover image 113033.jpg
Students Who Challenge Us
Go To Publication