Instructional Strategies for 4th and 5th Grade Students

Hi friends!
Let's get into these strategies for our 4th and 5th grade students. As a millennial, I appreciate and respect the strategies of back in the day, but I also value new and modern approaches as well. Working with upper elementary students is always fun and watching them operate with autonomy is inspiring. They are definitely not the kinders that walked into our classrooms five years ago. Take a look at the strategies listed below and feel free to add any additional that are helpful in the comments below. And as always....Thanks for stopping by! ~Kelley

1. Integrate Social-Emotional Learning (Support whole-child development)
Teach students to:
- Manage emotions by modeling, validating feelings, and using charts/emojis to identify feelings
- Set goals- Smart, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely
- Demonstrate empathy- Demonstrate, and use of text
- Solve conflicts and problem respectfully- Role Play
- Collaborate

2. Explicit Instruction- Model new skills/concepts before independent work
- Guided practice
- Gradual release
- Think-alouds
- Scaffold learning

3. Differentiated Instruction
- Learning stations, i.e. Teacher led stations, technology stations,  hands-on stations, independent practice stations **Rotating**
- Flexible grouping
- Choice boards
- Tiered assignments

4. Inquiry-Based Learning- We want them curious!
   Encourage students to ask questions, investigate, and seek answers.
- Investigation centers
- STEM Challenges
- Research projects- Keeping age and stage in mind
- "How can we solve this problem using evidence?"

5. Active Learning- We want them engaged! 
- Hands-on activities
- Interactive notebooks
- Movement breaks
- Classroom discussions
- Turn and Talks

6. Incorporate Reading and Writing Across Subjects- Improves comprehension/literacy in ALL content areas
- Maintain a science journal (FUN!)
- Social studies response writing
- Reading informational texts (nonfiction)

7. Use Formative Assessment Frequently- Check for understanding throughout instruction
- Exit tickets
- Quick polls 
- Thumbs up/Thumbs down
- Whiteboard responses
- Student conferences

8. Connect Learning to Real-World Experiences
- Community projects
- Career Connectivity
- Real-life writing tasks: Thank you notes to community helpers, Movie/book reviews, Letters to family members
But why? Students are more motivated when learning feels relatable 

9. Cooperative Learning
- Think-Pair-Share
- Small-group problem solving
- Peer to peer tutoring
- Puzzle activities
But why? Increases engagement and participation. Develops communication skills and encourages perspective-taking.

10. Teach Metacognitive Skills
- Goal-setting activities
- Learning reflections
- Exit tickets
- Reflection questions, "What did I learn today?" "What strategy helped me succeed?"

Resources
Biegun (n.d.). 10 exit ticket strategies that increase student engagement and improve formative assessment. Visionary Teaching. https://visionaryteaching.com/exit-tickets/

CASEL (2023). What is the CASEL framework? Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. HTTPS://casel.org

Ferlazzo,L. (2023). What does successful differentiated instruction look like in the classroom. Educationweek.https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-what-does-successful-differentiated-instruction-look-like-in-the-classroom/2023/11

Gholam, A. (2019). Inquiry-based learning: Student teachers' challenges and perceptions. Journal of Inquiry & Action in Education, 10(2). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1241559.pdf

National Center on Improving Literacy. (2021) Evidence-based literacy practices for upper elementary students. https://improvingliteracy.org/