When you have the same teacher for two years, this question might come up.
In the case of academics, there are some subject areas that will review fourth grade concepts. Math is one that comes to mind. But other subjects, such as science and social studies, will be quite different.
There will be similarities in procedures as well. Reading this year will be similar to last year, with the only difference being high levels of books. Writing will also have the same procedures. The types of writing that fourth and fifth graders work on is almost identical, so students this year will be working on similar writing pieces. However, the writing strategies we work on this year will build upon and move beyond fourth grade strategies.
What about activities? You may have already noticed that we had Team Day this year, the same as last year. The events were the same, but the outcome was different. Students this year were able to work better as a team and complete more challenging tasks.
Our parties this year will be very similar to last year’s parties. We have several new students in our class this year that weren’t here last year to participate in our festivities. We also have some “old” students that didn’t make it to particular events last year, due to illnesses or other reasons.
Or you might file this under “traditions.” I personally like looking forward to special traditions yearly, and these traditions usually involve holidays. So far, I haven’t requested pizza on Thanksgiving; I look forward too much to that turkey and dressing! So it goes with our holiday events. We can all look forward to the fun we know will be coming. New students and a new year will add in differences that we can’t anticipate.
With the exciting newness of fifth grade and the expectation of familiar traditions, this will hopefully be an even better year than last year!
