Re: To Teach Fifth Grade or Younger?

Sacha Luria

Posted on 4/27/11

(16) Comments

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I'm curious to hear more about the Cornell notes. Is this the
only homework you give each night? Do the students write a
summary every single night? Could you tell us more about what you
do.

Thank you! Sacha

Sat, 31-Dec-2011
> If anyone with experience could
>> give me any information on your fifth grade experience I
>> would greatly appreciate it! Thank you so much!
>
> I love teaching 5th through 8th. In CA, that means having both
> a multiple with supplemental authorizations and a single
> subject credential, which I have. I don't care for the lower
> grade (primary), because the kids are too dependent for my
> taste. In fifth, you will encounter some attitude, but if you
> teach with a constant sense of humor that will quickly
> evaporate. We play many curriculum related games, act a little
> silly at times, and enjoy the day.
>
> Your biggest challenge, depending where you are, is that you
> will need to be extremely familiar with the standards from the
> lower grades so you can quickly identify knowledge gaps. If
> you make a map for yourself showing what is taught when in
> which grade, you can identify skills that were not learned
> earlier and patch those for the low kids. For the kids who
> need enrichment, make the same kind of map but spiral up the
> grade levels. For example, we just finished an Algebra I unit
> for my high performers.
>
> You will need to develop the teacher "freeze and stare" along
> with an arched eyebrow. This is useful for those kids who tend
> to call out answers while you are teaching, and is much more
> effective than other methods since the kids who do this tend to
> be very intelligent and highly involved in your instruction (so
> much so that to them your lesson is directed to them alone).
> Stopping mid sentence and being quiet controls the class very
> effectively, particularly if you then say, "I am waiting on you
> to listen" in a soft voice. Keeping calm at all times is also
> necessary.
>
> I have a minor in theater, so I use props and body movements to
> bring home an idea. That may or may not suit your temperament.
> Kids at that age, however, love it.
>
> I use Cornell notes for all subjects, and the kids maintain
> spirals for each subject. For homework, they summarize a
> lesson we covered in a short form essay of three paragraphs
> (even for math). I rotate the subjects they write about. We
> also use a timer in class for writing, and by the end of the
> year they can produce a well-executed five paragraph expository
> essay in 30 minutes. My feedback from our feeder middle school
> is that the kids do extremely well because they know how to
> listen, take notes, and summarize. The parents also like it,
> because they read the homework summaries and know what the
> child is studying.
>
> I prefer U.S. History to California history, so I like fifth
> grade better than fourth. I also love chemistry and life
> science, which is part of our curriculum. Make sure you love
> the curriculum of the level you are teaching. You will be
> doing four or five daily preps, depending upon whether or not
> you are required to teach PE (we are). We are also required to
> complete ALL of the textbook material in math, language arts,
> and science by the time we do state testing in April. That
> means we have to come up with a month of instruction using
> materials we have to provide that are then approved by the
> District Office.
>
> That "gap" month is often a surprise to new teachers. I did
> not have to face that when I taught middle school (7th), but at
> 5th there are many more CA standards than we have time to teach
> earlier in the year (nutrition, health education, family life,
> art, music, and dance are a few). Fourth doesn't face the same
> gap, since science and social studies are not tested in fourth.
> That means that curriculum can be spread out to fill the "gap".
>
> The hardest part for me is the amount of reporting that the
> district requires from fifth. We are seen as the culmination
> point of elementary, so we are expected to identify any
> students who require RSP or SDC services who were not
> identified in lower grades. That means you have to learn to
> recognize things like ADD, ADHD, Autism, ODD, and similar
> conditions. There is a lot of paperwork involved, as well as
> multiple parent meetings. Fourth doesn't have that same hurdle
> here. We also have many ELL students from various countries
> who enter the U.S. with older students. We are expected to
> handle CELDT level 1 students, and bring them up to CELDT level
> 3 performance in a year. That often means teaching English as
> a second language and knowing how to use SDAIE techniques for
> instruction. You are expected to spend at least 30 minutes a
> day doing individualized ELD instruction with those students
> who have not been reclassed to English Proficient status. The
> rest of the students in your room have to be engaged in a
> silent activity during that time, so be prepared when you plan
> your day. We also have to identify students who are not grade
> level proficient in math and reading, and do everything we can
> to bring them up to speed. That means working with them in
> small groups, while again having the rest of the class working
> on some curriculum-related quiet activity. It also means
> having assessments at hand to administer to determine their
> proficiency gains. I am expected to have fluency passages that
> range from K-4 to assess Reading and math assessments for the
> core math standards from K-4. That can get expensive, unless
> you have learned how to write grant proposals. Meanwhile, the
> parents of the high kids expect you to have enrichment
> materials available in all subject areas for challenge work.
> Having the resources to fulfill all of the expectations and the
> time to do the reporting means that teaching fifth takes a lot
> of your personal time. It tends not to work well for teachers
> with young families of their own.
>
> I hope this information helps you decide. Let us know what you
> pick.

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