What 4th Graders Need

Do you work with 4th graders? If so, I’d love to know what you think of “The Leap into 4th Grade,” my article in the new issue of Educational Leadership.

The theme of the issue is “The Transition Years,” and I wrote about strategies for establishing routines and building community in 4th grade classrooms. Check it out for ideas on these topics and more:

Teaching and practicing routines
Using interactive modeling
Minimizing competition
Teaching recess

The suggestions in the article are based on my experience teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students, and drawn from my book What Every 4th Grade Teacher Needs to Know About Setting Up and Running a Classroom. Did you know that the What Every Teacher Needs series now includes books for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade teachers? (The kindergarten and 5th grade volumes should be out by the end of 2011.)

I wrote the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade Every Teacher books; my friend and colleague Margaret Berry Wilson wrote the books for kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades. The premise of the series is that each age and grade we teach is a bit different. When we know some general characteristics of children at the ages we teach, we can use those as starting points for setting up effective learning environments for our students.

I’d love to hear your questions and comments!

April 21, 2011, Responsive Classroom Blog, Original Link: https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/blog/what-4th-graders-need

Mike Anderson is an education consultant who leads great learning throughout the United States and beyond. He is an award winning teacher and the author of many books. You can follow him on Twitter at @balancedteacher.

Author

Mike Anderson

A public school teacher for 15 years, Mike has also had many other roles in education: preschool aid, high school and age-group swim coach, camp counselor, graduate class instructor, and Responsive Classroom presenter and developer. He now works as a consultant providing professional learning for teachers throughout the US and beyond.

As a classroom teacher, Mike was awarded a national Milken Educator Award and was a finalist for NH Teacher of the Year. In 2020, he was awarded the Outstanding Educational Leader Award by NHASCD for his work as a consultant. A best-selling author, Mike has written many books about great teaching and learning. His latest book is Hugging Porcupines: Month-by-Month Strategies to Support Our Most Challenging Students.

When not working, Mike can be found hanging with his family, tending his perennial gardens, sorting baseball cards and searching for new running routes around his home in Durham, NH.

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