Upper Elementary Students and their World

1. Upper Elementary Students and their World by Jane, Catherine, Laura, Lani, Myranda & Jackie

2. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development • Level One: Preconventional • Stage One: Obedience and Punishment • Focused on direct consequences of their actions on themselves • Egocentric, not aware that other’s points of view are different than their own • Stage Two: Self-Interest Driven •  What’s in it for me? • Right behavior will result in what’s best for me • Concern for others involves both people receiving something from each other Jane's slides 2-4

3. Level Two: Conventional • Judge morality of actions by comparing them to society’s views and expectations • Typical of adolescents and adults • Elementary School Students • Transitioning from stage one to stage two of the preconventional stages and then to conventional as they reach adolescence • Most moral decisions based on self interest • Provide students opportunities to move beyond self interest

4. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development • Concrete Operational (Ages 7-11) • Moving beyond egocentricism: recognizing others have a different viewpoint • Can think logically about objects and events • Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size • Conservation is the realization that objects or sets of objects stay the same even when they are changed about or made to look different.  • Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9) • Transition to Formal Operational Stage around age 11, where students think abstractly and hypothetically

6. Tribesby Jeanne Gibbs Purpose: building a learning community Why? • promotes human growth and learning • helps develop resiliency • fosters collaborative, pro-social skills Specifics: • inclusion, influence, community • heterogeneous groups that remain together for an extended period • a democratic system...choice and control • 4 agreements

7. Activity: Cooperation Squares  Objectives: • encourage cooperation • build awareness of how own behaviors help or hinder the group • build inclusion and influence Rules of the Game • no talking • may only give pieces...no taking or requesting • if your tribe finishes, silently think about the reflection questions

8. Questions to Ponder What did you learn about non-verbal cooperation? What social skills did you need to make this activity successful? Why is giving a social skill? Good community building activities... have a win-win outcome include everyone highlight contributions of individuals are fun!   Reflecting on the Activity  

9. Building a Safe Classroom Environment

10. Should we teach values and character? We already are - let's do it intentionally and choose what values we want to pass on. 

11. Developing feelings of self-worth and security by providing opportunities for each child to build on his or her successes. Teaching children to have caring, empathetic, and compassionate attitudes towards others.

12. Behaviors: • comforting • sharing • working cooperatively • displaying empathy • being kind and respectful • Benefits: • caring classroom community • children are more likely to offer assistance to other children • children more likely to connect with other students and teacher • End result: • increase child's school success • create lifelong learners • create contributing members of society

13. How do we develop these behaviors if we live in a culture that largely promotes self-preservation and the enhancement of individuality? • Strategies: • teaching it directly • books, movies, other media • peer tutoring • peer buddies (for new students) • adult role modeling of ideal behaviors • service work (in school and in the community)  •  infusing the target behaviors into the curriculum • discuss actions of kindness and caring versus those that did not (above) • have students write about the kindest thing anyone ever did for them • students research various charitable organizations • instead of having a class holiday party the students could organize and host a party for residents from a local nursing home

14. Students need to be aware of their feelings! Children need to move beyond identifying emotions such as "happy", "mad", and "sad". After reading a story or part of a book discuss the characters emotional reaction to the events. "How did the character's body language or voice let you know what the character was feeling?"

15. Classroom as a community! Normal Instead Student responsible for cleaning up their own desk area Student responsible for one task that affects the whole classroom Each student having their own pencil box and supplies The supplies are classroom property - not belonging to any one person

16. Student feels safe  Student takes risks Student engages in  authentic learning

17. Promoting Personal Responsibility

18. How teachers can help promote responsibility: • regular homework • classroom jobs • goal setting • organization assistance • expecting more self control Upper elementary students are expected to take on more responsibility.  This is an important skill for the rest of their lives--and it starts now.

19. Regular Homework • Why? • Develops time management skills • Students should learn to set aside the right amount of time each night for homework/playing/other responsibilities. • Promotes responsibility • Parents shouldn't make excuses for their students • Extends classroom learning

20. Classroom Jobs Types of jobs: procedural, organizational, cleanup, etc. Ex: supply monitors, recyclers, paper handlers, librarian, reporter, secret admirer  Why: Classroom job teach students to be responsible for their learning environment and follow through with jobs they hold.

21. Goal Setting • Short-term vs. long-term goals • set both • Talk to kids about their progress toward goals • Write the goal and why it's important • Set an example • Children are accountable for reaching their goal

22. Helping Students Get Organized • Encourage use of planners • Implement research techniques to organize ideas • Show them how to set up their binders • Keep a model notebook/planner • Use class time to teach organization • This skill will help students for the rest of their lives.

23. Student Accountability Upper elementary students become expected of more self-control and are held increasingly accountable for their behavior.  

24. Impact on Curriculum Reading for Content Knowledge- • The focus on learning to read is now replaced with reading to lean content.  • Science books, social studies books and health books are being introduced. • Students are now beginning picture in their minds what they are reading without the assistance of illustrations.

25. Students now have to think about who they are writing to. academic or non-academic letter, poem or essay narrative, persuasive, compare and contrast Cinquain, couplet, haiku, name poem and more. Writing for an Audience

26. MathSymbols and Abstract Concepts • Multiplication tables • Division facts • Multiple digt addition and subtraction • Fractions • Perimeter • Area Being able to express multiple step problems clearly is KEY

27. State 3rd Grade- Math and Reading 4th Grade- Math, Reading and Writing 5th Grade- Math, Reading and Science Classroom Rubrics Self Assessments Portfolios Reflections  Assessments

28. How did we do? Reading • 3rd Grade 83% (down from 84% in 07-08) • 4th Grade 84% (up from 83% in 07-08) • 5th Grade 76% (up from 75% in 07-08) Math • 3rd Grade 77% (no change from 07-08) • 4th Grade 77% (no change from 07-08) • 5th Grade 77% (no change from 07-08) Writing   4th Grade 44% (up from 43% in 07-08)  Science   5th Grade 75% (no change from 07-08) http://www.movingtoportland.net/schools_test.htm