5thgradeitis = less than 20 days of school

Wow. 20 more days left of school…technically 15 after 2 field trips,our field day, the highly anticipated “puberty talk” from the school nurse, and an end of the year party.

My students who were “Oh so sweet” at the start of the school year, are now starting to turn into what I would believe are….6th graders. I am talking attitude-wise, personality-wise—and truly I think they are getting way too comfortable with their “old” teacher.

Funny, some of the kids in my counterpart’s class were working on a project and they seem to believe they are suffering from “5thgradeitis.” Really?!?! I would hate to see them when they actually are seniors in high school!

So, what is a teacher to do? Well, as I have been working on my lesson plans for the next two-three weeks, I decided to come up with the following projects:

In science my fifth graders are going to teach a lesson to a third grade class. They are going to follow the third grade state standards and create activities (worksheets if they want, labs, etc.) to teach the younger grade their lesson.

As we have just finished studying immigration and Ellis Island in Social Studies, the students are going to choose one of three events in history, World War I, the Great Depression, or World War II and create a presentation to share with the class. I am hoping they will be really creative with these presentations, maybe create a newspaper, or dress up as famous character and tell their stories--something besides just a PowerPoint.

For Language Arts, I am planning to have the students go through the writing process and they will create a children’s book from start to finish. Thanks to Mr. Campbell for suggesting this idea—something he does with his eighth graders. His kids always come up with some awesome books, and I am confident my fifth graders will do the same.

Yes, these projects should take a while. But, I am hoping they will be engaged enough that some of this craziness and silliness will stop. If they were in middle school and high school they would have finals to prepare for.

So, lets just say I will be dealing with their “5thgradeitis” for 15 more days. Hopefully the internet will keep working. Or I might have a mutiny on my hands.