School Programs to Help 5th Graders Getting D's & F's
Many parents and teachers get concerned when they see that some students just aren't learning the way they should be learning. Students entering fifth grade, are in a very important transition period, as they are going to be leaving the elementary school setting and moving on to middle school and high school settings. Therefore, when students are getting Ds and Fs at this level, it is important to do everything possible to help them achieve better grades.
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Types of Afterschool Programs
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Afterschool programs help students by giving them extra time to work on homework, and also by giving them some extra instruction in areas that they might not be doing very well in. This is a great way to help students achieve. Afterschool programs come in several types. For students who are in fifth grade and getting Ds and Fs, a good way to help them is to put them in an afterschool program not designed as a detention or punishment type program. It should be a fun program that encourages learning in different ways. This is because students at this level will be even more discouraged by being punished for not getting good enough grades. Do fun activities that revolve around the general classroom activities, and make the learning seem even more interesting by including hands-on elements and artistic elements. This can help get the students back on the right track.
Transition Programs
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Students who begin to get Ds and Fs in fifth grade most likely aren't going to get better on their own. This is a huge transition period in their lives, and how they do in school during this year is going to impact and reflect upon how they do in school for the rest of their time. Many students might be struggling because of this transition, so create programs that specifically target areas of concern with these students. For students coping with moving from single classrooms to changing between several classrooms in a middle school setting, create a homeroom-type class with one teacher, in which the student can study and work on late assignments. Transition programs should include elements of both elementary school, such as the homeroom, and middle school, such as spending some of the day moving from one class to another. This will help students transition more smoothly and pull their grades up.
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Tutoring
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For fifth grade students getting Ds and Fs, tutoring can often be a big factor in improvement, because some students simply fall through the cracks. If a concept taught in one of a student's classes is not grasped in time, every concept after that will be harder to understand. So, working one-on-one with tutors to help students pick up those lost concepts can help them get a handle on everything that comes after. Have a team meeting to target students who are missing key concepts, and match them with tutors who can help them figure out those concepts.
Low Income Programs
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In many areas, students who are getting the worst grades are also students who are the poorest. For fifth grade students getting Ds and Fs, the same rings true. Therefore, low income programs do wonders to bring grades up. Develop an afterschool or weekend enrichment program for low-income students. Create a curriculum in which students study the same things they are studying in school, but in different ways---such as going to the zoo to study animals or playing a sports game to study mathematics (adding up baseball stats or other stats or sports scores). Enrichment programs targeted at low-income families can help failing students bring their grades up.
Warnings
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Many schools currently take a harsh stance on failing and pull failing students out of extra urricular activities like music, art and sports. Pulling students out of activities that they enjoy because of their grades is a difficult line to walk, and can end up causing much more harm than good. As students lose interest in school, they might turn to other things like drugs and alcohol or kids who are bad influences. Therefore, when students aren't getting good grades, instead of kicking them out of the things they enjoy about school, instead use the things they enjoy to bring in lessons from their coursework and help them achieve better grades. This is a great way to integrate what they already like to do and what they are not doing well.
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