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
Here Fishy, Fishy
Students will simulate a fishing village economy by using straws to "catch" goldfish crackers, experiencing the consequences of taking more than they need as resources deplete and villagers get eliminated. A debrief connects the game to real-world thinking about wants vs. needs and practicing self-control.
Harriet Tubman
Students will discuss the poem Harriet Tubman by Eloise Greenfield, learn about her courageous actions, and identify a current issue of injustice in their community or world that they would like to help change.
Hammer or Nail
Students will use abstract thinking to compare themselves to everyday objects by choosing between two options (e.g., "hammer or nail?") and explaining their reasoning to a partner. Through this pair-share activity, students will practice self-reflection and get to know their classmates better.
Greeting Cards
Students will explore different types of greeting cards and then design and write their own to build a class card collection, practicing empathy by thinking about how to acknowledge and respond to others' experiences through words and art.
Good Gossip
Students mingle around the room and repeatedly "partner up" with whoever is nearest, each time sharing a positive memory about a third group member — focusing on moments when that person showed good values or was an ally — then debrief together about what the stories revealed about the community.
Developing Empathy
Students complete an "Are You Empathetic?" self-check and discuss empathetic listening behaviors as a class, then pair up with character cards to role-play sharing a situation while their partner practices empathetic listening — maintaining eye contact, not interrupting, and asking follow-up questions — before switching roles and debriefing with specific feedback.
Cultural Norms
Students have quick conversations with multiple partners while secretly tallying dots on each other's sheets every time their partner exhibits a specific assigned behavior (like making eye contact or saying "like") — then, after the reveal that each dot represents "breaking" someone's cultural norm, they discuss what it felt like and write a private reflection on how to honor others' norms going forward.
Cross the Line
Students silently step across a line on the floor for each statement that rings true for them (e.g., "I feel safe at school," "my opinion matters"), observing who else crosses, then choose one statement that impacted them to write about privately before sharing with a partner.
Creative Coloring
Students each receive one color and must collaborate to create a single picture together, using only their assigned color with no trading allowed, then reflect on what they learned about teamwork.
Creating Agreements
Co-create community agreements and classroom norms between teacher and students.
Cliques in Schools
Students brainstorm and map clique nicknames at their school, discuss what distinguishes cliques from friendship groups, complete a Clique Survey reflecting on their own social circle, then practice reaching across group lines through a chosen activity — writing an anonymous letter to someone in another clique, becoming pen pals with a randomly drawn classmate, or contributing to an anonymous issue box.
Chalk Circles
Students physically move to large pre-drawn chalk circles representing broad interest areas, discuss their specific goals within their group, then use chalk to draw branching smaller circles capturing increasingly specific personal goals — culminating in an individual circle for their most personal goal, which they share aloud before writing a concrete action plan for how to achieve it.
CD Awards
Students draw a classmate's name, then decorate a microwaved CD medal with that person's name and a specific written acknowledgment of what they appreciate about them, before presenting their award aloud in a closing ceremony where each recipient takes a moment to receive the recognition.
By Myself Poem
Students will read Eloise Greenfield's poem "By Myself" and then create their own "I am" poems, building a list of words and phrases that describe who they are. Younger students can draw a picture instead of writing.
Brown Bag Theater
To develop short skits about the community values, and for participants to produce their own theater festival.
Brainstorming Contest
In small groups, students race to list as many possible uses as they can think of for an everyday object (like a paper clip or feather) in 3–5 minutes, with no idea too silly to write down, then share their lists aloud and compete for the most unique uses across two or three rounds.
Body Language Power
Students do a body self-audit, watch Amy Cuddy's TED Talk on body language, then role-play everyday scenarios in trios — acting out the same scene twice (once with disempowering posture, once with empowering posture) while a third student observes and gives feedback, rotating until each person has played every role.
All About Me
Each child creates their own small book titled "All About Me," using drawings and magazine pictures to share who they are, what they love, and what they hope for. The lesson builds literacy, creative thinking, and self-recognition all at once.
Activity Alphabet
Teams race to fill in a free-time activity for every letter of the alphabet, then share their lists with the group, vote on their top 3–5 favorites, and make a plan for when to actually do them.
Look How I Can Move
A joyful, music-based activity where students explore self-expression and cultural awareness by creating body movements in response to different multicultural music styles.