George Lucas Educational Foundation

3-5 Upper Elementary

Explore and share tips, strategies, and resources for helping students develop in elementary school grades 3-5.

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  • Managing Classroom Volunteers in Your Elementary Classroom

    These tips make it easier for teachers to host classroom volunteers without adding to their own workload.
    Thomas Courtney
    181
  • How a School Made Play Central to Learning

    At a primary school in the UK, both students and teachers have become more engaged and curious as a result of a shift to a fully play-based approach—and learning has become more joyful for everyone.
  • A Framework for Building Older Students’ Literacy Skills

    Encouraging middle school students to read books of all genres and reading levels can reignite their interest in reading.
  • The Sensory Room: Helping Students With Autism Focus and Learn

    Imagine a safe space where students with autism can go to calm their bodies and then get back to the business of learning.
    1M
  • Creating Opportunities for Unstructured Play

    When schools make space for free play in a natural environment, students are left to their own devices to build, create, and problem-solve—and the benefits continue once they are back in the classroom.
    1.8k
  • 13 Formative Assessments That Inspire Creativity

    Sometimes mixing in formative assessments that go a step beyond exit slips and low-stakes quizzes can inject some fun—and creativity—into learning.
    3.5k
  • How Puppets Can Help Kids Express Emotions

    Using simple strategies acted out by puppets, students learn social and emotional skills that help them calm themselves, identify their feelings, and connect with others.
    2.3k
  • Using Stories Beyond Word Problems to Teach Math

    Stories can help students recall key math concepts and make the subject more relevant to them.
    401
  • Classroom Management Built on Boundaries

    Guiding upper elementary students with boundaries rather than rules can make for a more harmonious classroom.
    989
  • Making Students Feel Safe

    A trauma-informed approach ensures that students feel safe, supported, and nurtured—to improve their chances of academic success. 
    129.4k
  • Illustration concept showing reading comprehension

    Is it Time to Drop ‘Finding the Main Idea’ and Teach Reading in a New Way?

    Some schools are changing the way they teach reading—based on research that shows background knowledge is more critical to comprehension than general skills like ‘finding the main idea.’
    54.2k
  • The Joy of Pickleball in Elementary School

    Pickleball is an inclusive sport that focuses on strategy and team building and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. This makes it perfect for elementary schools!
    3.4k
  • 4 Ways Classroom Design Impacts Executive Functioning

    Effective classroom design can help elementary students develop skills like organization and task initiation.
    9.6k
  • An illustration concept of a group of students communicating through one technology platform

    8 Strategies to Improve Participation in Your Virtual Classroom

    Educators share their best synchronous and asynchronous strategies to boost student participation during online learning.
    49.6k
  • A Daily Support System for Students

    Students who need extra social and emotional support have a quick check-in with an adult at the start and end of each day.
    89.8k

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George Lucas Educational Foundation

Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.
Edutopia® and Lucas Education Research™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of the George Lucas Educational Foundation in the U.S. and other countries.