Fourth - Fifth Grade

Developmental Characteristics

Physical

  • May be careless about their clothes, room and body cleanliness

  • Girls may have sudden growth spurt and beginning signs of puberty

  • Enjoy physical activities that master specific skills

  • Enjoy competitive games

  • Possess a high activity level

  • Enjoy games that allow for comparison of skills

  • Enjoy games that allow for self-improvement

Social Emotional

  • Enjoy small, peer-dominated group discussions

  • Like to join organized groups

  • Are anxious to grow up

  • Are intensely loyal to their peer group

  • Form a close one-on-one friendship

  • Have a growing desire to assert individuality and independence

  • Can be daring and competitive

  • Can be critical of peers and adults

  • Are self-conscious of their abilities

Cognitive

  • Ask many questions and what thoughtful answers

  • Can often understand other points of view

  • Developing strong interests, hobbies, and collections

  • Enjoy daydreaming

  • Enjoy problem solving games and puzzles, etc.

  • Enjoy rule-based games

  • Are beginning to develop view about social/global issues

  • Beginning to enjoy humor by telling jokes and understanding sarcasm

Lessons

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Strengths Circle

Students sit in a circle and take turns sharing a personal strength, with each person first repeating all the strengths named before them and then adding their own — building a growing chain of affirmations around the room.

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Human Bingo

Students mingle around the room playing Human Bingo — approaching classmates to find someone who matches each square on their bingo grid, collecting their signature in that spot (one signature per person per card) — racing to be the first to fill their entire card and call "BINGO!"

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The I Wonder Ball

Students play "No, No, No…THIS Is What Happened" in a circle — each person creatively replacing the previous person's silly excuse with their own — then toss a numbered ball around the room, answering increasingly personal reflection questions (across three levels) based on whichever number their right thumb lands on when they catch it.

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What is it?

Students take turns drawing one puzzle piece at a time from a mystery bag, guessing what the full picture might be after each piece, and connecting pieces together as a group until someone figures out the image — then discuss how jumping to conclusions from limited information connects to real-life gossip and judgment.

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Common Ground

Students play Common Ground — moving around the room to group themselves by shared preferences (favorite season, music taste, cat vs. dog person) and briefly connecting with classmates who made the same choice — then play Moment of Memory, listening to six words read aloud and racing to write down as many as they can remember across multiple rounds.

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The Rubber Band Tower

Students play Would You Rather (moving to opposite sides of the room for each answer on relationship-themed questions), then work in small groups on the Cup Stacking Challenge — each person holds a rubber band string connected to a shared center band and the group uses it to lift and stack cups into a pile, tower, or pyramid without touching them directly.

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