Upper Elementary Students and their World

by Jane, Catherine, Laura, Lani, Myranda & Jackie

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral DevelopmentLevel 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 ownStage 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 

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

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive DevelopmentConcrete 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

 

Tribes by 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

 

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

  Reflecting on the

Activity  

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!

Building a Safe

Classroom Environment

 

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

Should we teach values and character?

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.

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

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

How do we develop these behaviors if we live in a culture that largely promotes self-preservation and the enhancement of individuality?

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?"

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

Student feels safe   

 Student takes risks  

 Student engages in authentic learning

Promoting Personal Responsibility

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.

Regular Homework

Why?

• Develops time management skillso Students should learn to

set aside the right amount of time each night for homework/playing/other responsibilities.

• Promotes responsibility o Parents shouldn't make

excuses for their students• Extends classroom learning

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.

Goal Setting

• Short-term vs. long-term goalso 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

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.

Student Accountability

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

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.

Writing for an Audience

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.

 

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

Assessments

State3rd Grade- Math and Reading 4th Grade- Math, Reading and Writing 5th Grade- Math, Reading and Science

ClassroomRubrics Self Assessments Portfolios Reflections

 

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)

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