I recently started a series of posts talking about the normal developmental characteristics of children as discussed in my book Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14. In this post I’ll describe some of the characteristics of younger, on-age, and older sixth grade students. As always, please feel free to leave your comments, impressions, and thoughts on your children by clicking on the “Comments” link at the end of the post. Read on for age-by-age details.
Younger (ten year old) sixth grade patterns and behaviors
• Appreciate and look to the adults in their lives for support and validation
• Able to complete assignments, and produce beautiful final drafts; seek approval for same
• Like to push their physical limits, whether challenging themselves, racing each other or trying to beat the clock
• Compliant, seldom question assignments like older sixth graders
• Looking hard for explanation of facts, how things work, why things happen as they do; a good age for scientific exploration, small group discussion and class read alouds
• Very self-critical; sarcastic humor from adults can be very harmful
• Writing themes: moving away, divorce, death, disease, and other worries; world issues, poetry about feelings; may not share in groups, journal writing helpful
• Work extensively with word problems in mathematics utilzing surveys, graphing and other representations; love longer projects with rubrics
On-age (eleven year old) sixth grade patterns and behaviors
• Question adult authority overtly (bed-time, chores, who can be their friends; class assignments, grades, discipline) – opppositional behavior
• Friendship patterns become more exclusionary (who’s in, who’s out)
• Often choose to separate themselves by gender
• Boy-friend, girl-friend— verbal activity. Note passing, text messaging (“who’s going with whom”) harrassment and bullying, bystander behavior evident
• Academic work completion can often seem to lag or become uneven
• “I don’t know” and “Leave me alone” may be initial response to “Have you finished your homework?” Emotions becoming more mercurial
• Enjoy geography, mapping, memorization, world book of records, collections, trading, computer corresponding (parental guiance and monitoring strongly advised)
• Can be prolific writers, but dislike revising and correcting. Likewise, enjoy science experimentation, but have trouble with the discipline of daily recording, comparisons, charts and graphs. Need help organizing most of their school work.
Older (twelve year old) sixth grade patterns and behavior
• On the surface care more about peer opinion than adult feedback
• Still desperately seek adult boundaries even as they push away vigorously
• Will initiate their own activities and independent research without adult prompting
• Can begin to see both sides of an argument; formal debate a great tool
• Capble of self-awareness, insight and empathy; more reasonable and tolerant than some at eleven
• Love book series, current events, non-fiction, history reading
• Elementary mathematical applications into economics and statistics of interest
• Show readiness to work in longer blocks of time on single content assignments
Sixth grade is a swing year, sometime a first or second year in middle school, sometimes a last year in elementary school. It is often a year of rapid physical growth and changeable moods and friendships. In many schools children must adjust to seeing many new teachers in the course of a day, a welcome change for some, and overwhelming change for others.
The size of classrooms and schools makes a big difference for sixth graders, depending on their social needs and personalities and academic needs too. If sixth graders are in their last year of elementary school it can help a great deal if at the beginning of the year they are given special responsibilities within the school as a whole to tutor younger children, or work in the school library or carry out other service projects. If sixth grade is their first year in middle school it would be wonderful if they were given a full week of orientation activities (just like freshmen in college) with assigned 8th grade buddies and social and academic projects to work on to get them acquainted with their new school community and the expectations for the year ahead.
When I speak to parent groups, I often call age ten the “end of childhood”. There is always an audible gasp from the audience! (And this is a bit of hyperbole.) After all, and especially if this is a first child, there is a long way to go before this darling boy or girl leaves the nest, but the baby bird is beginning to lose those first feathers and is close to testing his or her wings in real ways. Fifth grade and age ten is the year to savor all the golden wonder and strength of youth. I also mention that fifth grade, in my opinion is the best grade of all to teach (this, a little tongue in cheek, because most all of my teaching career was at that grade level) because ten year olds tend to really love being around teachers, parents, uncles, aunts, coaches, directors, dance teachers— who are paying attention to them, serving as good role models and teaching them important skills.
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Hi there,
Can i take a one small photo from your site?
Thank you
Tania
Jeanne – If you have a lot of children moving from eleven to twelve in sixth grade you can be pleasantly surprised by their increased ability to cooperate on group assignments, be more engaged with writing and research projects and generally to be less oppositional and argumentative than they were at eleven. They are still VERY focused on their peer relationships, of course, but you can usually more easily direct this energy to academic pursuits. Tweleves really appreciate teachers who listen to their suggestions about classroom routines, room arrangements, etc. and thrive with class responsibilities like chairing discussions or leading a writing circle or being a tour guide in school or a reader in the Kindergarten.Peer editing, creating rubrics for scoring homework… such things make twelves feel and act in more mature ways. Adding a few of these ingredients in the second half of the year can help with some of the “bossy, big-shot” or even bully sixth grade twelve year behavior that can take over (especially in a K-6 school) if children are not given privileges and responsibilities they show readiness for.Service projects are a big hit at this age.
Formal project presentation, science fairs, debate teams, geography bees, jump rope teams, intramural competition,student government, book clubs, after-school activities are all of equal importance and, I believe, of equal enduring cognitive-strength building as any amount of homework. I counsel being especially sensitive to reasonable amounts of homework for twelves. It is very difficult for them at this age to balance all their genuine interests and the demands on their time. Help them enjoy what should be a joyful year with a sensible approach to school work requirements and watch them blossom!
A lot in this transition does depend on whether your sixth grade is in K-6 or in middle school. In middle school, many of the same principles apply, but some children have a much harder time finding adults who can help them make sense of how to juggle all the pulls on their time and interests in a way that will keep them happy and balanced rather than overwhelmed and frustrated at school. (See chapter beginning on page 143 in Yardsticks.) Feel free to ask more specifics. Chip
Do you have any insight or information related to the shift that occurs in a class of 11-12 year olds (6th grade) in the second part of the school year?