Class Activities

Part A – In-Class Activities Fifth grade is a great year to teach because a teacher can do many different types of in-class activities. Two in-class activities that would work extremely well for this grade level are cooperative learning groups and question and answer sessions. These work well with this grade level because the students are learning to be more responsible and showing maturity. Cooperative learning groups can be used for almost any subject and with learning the subject being studied, the students learn to work together to accomplish tasks that are necessary to complete the project. This type of in-class activity allows a teacher to see and assess both individual and group participation. Two behaviors that would be expected with this activity would be respect of others ideas and responsibility in completion of the task assigned to the individual student. These behaviors have to be performed to assure that the project is completed on appropriately and on schedule. Respect of others’ ideas is very important in making sure that each student feels that they are contributing to the project. This also helps the group perform their individual tasks more efficiently. This is a life-long lesson and if learned in the classroom will benefit them in the future. Responsibility is a huge behavior that is mandatory in a group project activity. Each student will be given their individual task to complete on their own and if it is not completed then the whole group suffers because of it. Either the grade will be dropped down or another student in the group will feel like it is their responsibility to complete and then the group will not function properly. Question and answer sessions is another in-class activity that is great to use in fifth grade. This is an opportunity for the teacher to see immediate feedback on a lesson that has just been finished. This type of activity will let the teacher know if the lesson was understood or if more needs to be