Helpful Tips

Characteristic of Fifth Grade Children

Children are individuals who grow and develop at their own rate. Children in the same grade may be expected to differ widely from others in their group. These are, however, general characteristics and needs which apply to most of the children at a certain age.

Fifth Grade Children will probably be:

1. Ten or eleven years old.

2. Relatively more free from disease than at any other growing period.

3. Normally slow and steady in growth in height and weight.

4. Interested in factual material.

5. Increasingly aware of and concerne about other person's ideas and beliefs.

6. Extremely interest in and loyal to gangs, clubs, etc.

7. Able to assume responsibility for person needs in dress and grooming.

8. Showing better command of time.

9. Able to concentrate for longer periods

They will probably have:

1. Tendency toward poor posture.

2. Increasing interest in organized games and team play.

3. Well-developed sense of humor.

4. An interest in collecting.

5. Increased strength and resistance to fatigue.

6. Urge to earn money for special wants and needs.

7. Increasing tendency to separate work from play.

8. Greater satisfaction in ability to achieve.

9. Beginning interest in the opposite sex.

10. Desire to participate in some community activity.

11. Desire for pets.

Fifth Grade children need:

1. About ten and one-half hours sleep.

2. Opportunity for strenuous physical activity.

3. To be included in family and school planning.

4. Guidance in spending money wisely.

5. To be liked by their friends (belonging).

6. Recognition and approval for their efforts.

7. Sympathy and security of home and school.

8. Opportunity to make more of their own decisions.

Parents can help by:

1. Praising child for good work and behavior.

2.. Listeing to and talking to the child.

3. Respecting child's increasing maturity.

4. Providing opportunities to increase independence.

5. Accepting their friends and providing for wider social contacts.

6. Sharing in and helping the child pursue special interests.

7. Setting example as to habits of tidiness, posture, health, etc.

8. Providing for regular examinations by the doctor and dentist.

Ten Tips to Build Reading Success

1. Read aloud, read aloud, read aloud! In addition to building fluency, it encourages children to pronounce unknown words and try to decipher their meaning from context clues. In silent reading, a child is more likely to skip over an unknown word.

2. Take it apart, piece by piece. When discussing a text, break it down by element to increase comprehension: What is the setting? Who is writing this? Is this fiction or fact? What is the math idea of this story? Can we draw any conclusions from this? What are our predicitons?

3. Reinforce vocabulary with a reverse look-up activity. Make a list of five definitions. Invite students to look in a book for the words that match those definitions. Provide page numbers if needed.

4. Use the five-finger method to help students select books. Open a book and ask the child to read aloud, raising a finger each time the reader comes to an unknown word. If five fingers are up before the reader gets to the end of a page, the book is too difficult for independent reading.

5. Create a concept circle. Write a topic word in the center ( whale) and four or five sections around it (ocean, mammals, food, habits). Ask students to write a word in each section that is related to the topic word.

6. Pair a nonfiction book with a fiction book on the same subject. Discuss and compare how the books are the same. Then discuss and contrast how they are different.

7. Explore the Five W's with flashcards. Give each student six cards labeled with the words: who, what, when, why, where and how. Explain what the words mean. Ask student to identify the six elements on each card based on a book they have read.

8. Encourage pre-reading discussions. Before reading, invite students to make predictions regarding what the book is about based on the title, cover or illustrations. List responses and after reading, review how close they came to predicting correctly.

9. Use a fill-in exercise to practice summarization. Ask students to complete this template for a one-sentence summary. (Title) begins with (event) continues with (event), and ends with (event).

10. Make lists. After reading, invite students to help you make a list of all the characters in the story. Then ask them to select one character they would like to have as a friend, and ask them to explain why.