My name is Lauren Sheehan and I am beginning my second year teaching fifth grade at Montevallo Elementary School. Over the past year I learned a lot about myself and my students. The fifth-grade age is a wonderful age to teach. These students transform so much from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

I have a few tips on what you can do over the summer to help prepare for fifth grade. The first suggestion I have is to build your reading stamina. This can easily be done by finding a good chapter book of your choice and reading it a few minutes a day. I suggest starting out at 10 minutes and then adding three minutes a day until you can sit and read silently for at least 40 minutes without interruption. By practicing this, you will build your vocabulary and increase your reading comprehension.

The next suggestion I have for you is very important. You need to practice and know your multiplication facts fluently from zero to nine. Fifth-grade math is all built on knowing your multiplication facts. It is imperative that you know these without hesitation and if you do I promise that math will be so much easier for you this year. To practice these you can make a fun game out of it using flash cards with the family, or you can just practice them by yourself. If you do not have flash cards or do not have the money to buy them, they can easily be made using scrap paper. Put the problem on one side and the answer on the other.

The last suggestion that I have is to practice your organizational skills. Fifth grade is very fast-paced and we move from one subject to the other with no break. If you are organized it will make that transition much easier. You can practice this by keeping your room clean. Give items in your room a certain place and make sure that those items stay in that place when they are not being used. Then, when school starts do the same thing with your class work and your desk.

I hope that these tips will help fifth-graders over the next year, and I truly believe if students practice these three things, their fifth grade years will be less stressful.