5 academic skills for primary students

Carol Higho
Carol Higho
A young girl working at a desk, there are others working in the background

In an ever-changing jobs market, the skills we all need to use have developed beyond numeracy and literacy C and part of our jobs as teachers is to give students the skills theyll need in their future careers.

Primary students preparing to go to secondary school (and then university) will need academic skills too. While there are lots of courses offering to teach these skills to older learners, we can give our younger learners a head start in the classroom.

A breakdown of academic skills

There are a number of important academic skills that can be carried into many different areas of students lives. These include:

  • time management
  • prioritization
  • cooperative learning and delegation
  • research
  • analysis.

Each skill will help students manage their workloads and work effectively and efficiently, whether working in an office, studying for a degree, or being self-employed.

Activities to develop an awareness of academic skills

Here are a few ideas for use with students of all ages, to develop students awareness and understanding of these skills.

Time management

For much of the school day, children are told where to be and what to do. However, knowing how to tell the time is not the same as managing time.

Some students underestimate how long an activity will take and then feel cheated or behind when their work takes longer (especially fast finishers). Others overestimate the time needed, feel overwhelmed, and want to give up before getting started.

Helping each student understand what each activity involves will help them to plan and manage their time. It will also encourage them to recognize everyone has differing abilities and works at a different pace.

Give each student sticky notes representing 10 minute blocks of time (6 pieces if your classes are in 1 hour segments).

Explain an activity:

  • You will read a story, and they will need to listen for key information and make notes.
  • After that, they will work in groups to make a Venn diagram.

Next, have the students think about how much time each part of the lesson will take using sticky notes. If they think making the diagram will take 20 minutes, they should put two sticky notes on top of each other.

Have students share what they think the time allocation should be, taking into account how long your lesson is. Did any run out of time or have time left over?

After the activity, ask students how accurate their predictions were and if there was any time wasting.

Let students practice using this type of task analysis throughout the week for different activities, so they begin to see which activities they work quickly through and which they find more time-consuming. This will help students plan and manage their time better.

Also, involve the parents by sharing what has been done in class. Get students to manage the time allocation:

  • from waking up to getting to school (getting washed and dressed, having breakfast, the journey to school),
  • from arriving home to going to bed (homework, evening meal, any cores, time for watching TV or playing games, getting ready for bed).

How does their time management change at weekends/in the holidays?

Prioritization

Prioritization is another big part of time management. Task analysis helps students recognize what they must do and how they must do it in order to get a good grade. It also helps them understand the things they will most enjoy about an activity.

To teach prioritization, it should become a regular part of the class. At the start of each week list (approximately five) class objectives to be achieved:

  • Ask each student to number these objectives - 1 being their top priority, 5 being their lowest. Make a note of which students prioritize the same tasks in the same order to help with grouping.
  • Next, ask them if any of the objectives will need planning or preparation (for example; growing cress for a science experiment) C and if so, should that be started earlier in the week?
  • At the end of each day, review how the students are doing in reaching the objectives and if they need to reprioritize.
  • As the week progresses, add additional items that are not priorities. For example, clean out your school locker/sharpen all the pencils, as well as other new real priorities: revise for the quiz on Friday. This will give students an understanding of how priorities can change.

Collaborative learning and delegation

Delegation and collaborative working are both essential academic and life skills. Thankfully they are already quite familiar topics for students. Students often delegate roles and characters in their everyday play C You be Spiderman, Ill chase you, etc.

Its helpful to encourage this behavior in the classroom too. It can help students (of all ages) to recognize what they can achieve through cooperation and delegation because of their different skills.

Explain that a group project (e.g. a group play) will require students to share information and to work together. Make it clear there are rules to follow:

  • Everyone must take part in the performance.
  • The play must be at least one minute long.
  • The group needs to write a script and create some props.
  • As a team, all are accountable/responsible to each other (as well as to you).
  • The activity will only be classed as a pass/success if everyone takes part.

There is a finite goal C the play will be performed at the end of next week to the Year 2 classes.

Suggest that the group meets and plans together (reading corner, at lunchtime, etc.). As they prepare, ask for updates on who is doing which tasks and why. Also encourage the group to determine whether something could be done differently/better by sharing the jobs.

Listen in to see how objections are handled (recognize some of this discussion may be in the students first language).

At the end of the project ask each student to list what they enjoyed the most and what they found most challenging. Ask them what skills they would like to develop for the next project.

Research and analysis

This can sound daunting for Primary students, but laying the foundations for academic research is easier than you might think.

Big questions are a gateway to developing research and analysis skills. Two examples are, 'Why are plants and animals important in our world?' Or 'What can you do to help people in need?'.

Providing students with a way to remember the important steps in any kind of research makes this type of activity less daunting.

'Hands On is a five point guide that can be demonstrated by drawing a hand with five fingers:

  • Hypothesis
  • Research
  • Gather data
  • Create a report
  • Present evidence
  • Research and analysis (written on the palm).

Following the five point guide students must:

  • give their thoughts and ideas on possible answers (create a hypothesis)
  • use books, the world around them and the internet to find information (research)
  • learn how to recognize what is fact and what is opinion (gather data)
  • review the data and summarize the main points (create a report)
  • use examples from their research to support their argument (present evidence).

Any research needs to be methodical; using the five points above helps students build a clear structure that can become more detailed and complex as they advance through school.

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    Howard Gardners Model of Multiple Intelligences

    prompts us to ask: How is this child intelligent? He identified eight different types of intelligence which guide the way students learn:

    • Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart)
    • Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Maths Smart)
    • Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart)
    • Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)
    • Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart)
    • Naturalistic-Environmentalist Intelligence (Nature Smart)
    • Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart)
    • Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self-Smart)
    • (He later went on to identify Existential Intelligence C Life Smart, and Pedagogical Intelligence -Teacher Smart)

    Lesson 1: Outline the students learning goals

    Explain to the students that they are going to learn about Howard Gardners Model of Multiple Intelligences and that you want them to achieve learning goals on completion of the project. Write the goals on a poster and discuss them with your students. Take a digital photo of the poster to use during the assessment.

    Student learning goals C you will be able to:

    • Identify different intelligences and what they mean. Name eight different intelligences you have
    • Communicate ideas clearly through a project to demonstrate your talents and interests
    • Use your success skills more effectively.

    Tip: Video parts of lesson 1, especially discussion of the learning goals, to use as part-assessment and reflection on completion of the project.

    What do you know about the Multiple Intelligences? How are you smart?

    • Ask children what they know about multiple intelligences. Teach key language and vocabulary as necessary, depending on level.
    • Ask, What does it mean be intelligent? (They will probably say, good grades, be good at maths, English, reading, writing, computers...)
    • Tell them being intelligent or smart (get the younger children to repeat the word smart several times) isnt only about getting good grades. Ask them to think of more ways to be smart.
    • Elicit the eight ways to be smart according to Gardner. (You may need to mime). E.g. mime playing the piano or clap a rhythm to elicit Music Smart.
    • Discuss what the different intelligences mean. (E.g. Word Smart (Linguistic Intelligence): you like reading, writing or speaking, you are probably good at languages)
    • Teach career vocabulary associated with the different intelligences. (E.g. Word Smart: journalist, teacher, lawyer, editor, TV announcer, web editor.)

    Lesson 2: Find out your smarts quiz

    Tell students they are going to do a quiz to discover how they are smart. Model each stage of the activity and do the quiz with them to find out about your own strengths. Give each student a piece of paper.

    • Take your paper and show the students how to fold it into eight sections, then unfold it and draw lines along the folds to make a grid.
    • Write the different smarts in each section. (Use small handwriting to leave room to illustrate each smart with a picture).
    • Give a picture dictation to illustrate each smart. Here are some examples:

    Word Smart:?Draw a dictionary and children reading, writing and speaking.

    Logic/Number Smart: Draw sums on a computer, a scientist with test tube.

    Music Smart: Draw children singing and playing musical instruments.

    Body Smart: Draw children playing a sport, dancing or cooking.

    Nature Smart:?Draw trees, animals, insects, child watering a plant.

    Spatial/Picture Smart: Draw children drawing, painting or taking photos and a pilot in a plane.

    People Smart:?Draw a child helping or leading a group or a group of children holding hands.

    Self-Smart: Draw children keeping a journal, researching on a computer, or meditating.

    Encourage students to order their smarts from 1-8. For example, if you love music, write number 1 in the Music Smart section and continue to 8 in order of preference. (You may wish to model this first and order your smarts from 1-8 and then encourage the children to order their smarts.)

    After the quiz

    • Encourage students to compare and discuss their results. Collect the papers and make notes about each students results. This will help you reach all your students when planning activities.
    • Explain that we have all the intelligences in different degrees and that all of the intelligences are equal (no intelligence is better than another). Also point out that it is important to know our strengths in order to help in all subjects. (E.g. a music smart student who finds maths challenging may want to sing multiplication tables). Remind students that we usually use several intelligences to do something and we can explore and develop all our smarts.

    Tip: Video lesson 2 to use as part of assessment.

    Lesson 3: Beginning the project

    Encourage the students to create a project for enjoyment. Explain that you want them to collaborate in groups that share the same smarts and interests and using their creativity you want them come up with an interesting topic to explore. (Remind students to concentrate on developing their success skills when they are working with others and mention that you will also be monitoring this as part of the assessment).

    Organize the students into groups of no more than five students in each. Give students time to brainstorm in their groups and come up with the best topic for the project, using their critical thinking skills. (E.g. Picture Smart students may decide to create a project about a famous artist, such as Salvador Dali).

    You may wish to give each student a ?(Know, Want-to-know, and Learned) to complete during the project process, asking questions such as: What do you know? What do you want to know? What have you learned?

    Lesson 4: Planning the project

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    Remind all the groups to keep the following questions in mind:

    • What are you going to do/make? (Presentation, PowerPoint, website, video, posters.)
    • How will you research it? (Internet, tech tools, library.)
    • How will you delegate responsibilities?
    • How will you check that your audience has understood the message of your project? What questions will you ask?

    Decide on how many lessons are needed to prepare the project and how much will be done in school or at home, depending on the age groups and timing.

    Encourage the students to share their work with the rest of the class (or in assembly.)

    Tip: Video the different groups sharing their work.

    Can assessment also be fun and engaging?

    Yes, it can; here are some tips and suggestions.

    • Show the videos you have recorded and ask the students to compare and contrast their knowledge in Lesson 1 and how it developed over the lessons. Encourage them to observe and comment on their success skills.
    • Display the photo of the Student Learning Goals poster from Lesson 1. Get the students to self-assess and decide whether they have achieved the goals that were set in Lesson 1. (You may wish to give the students three small pieces of colored paper: red to represent I understand quite well, orange to represent I understand well and green to represent I understand very well). Ask: Can you identify the different intelligences and say what they mean? Encourage the students to hold up a colored piece of paper according to their understanding. (Make a mental note of all red pieces of paper to be ready to give extra help to those students). Check understanding by getting several students to answer the question.
    • Get the children to reflect on the learning experience. What have they learned about the different intelligences? How can they develop weaker points using their strengths to help them? Can they use all eight intelligences inside and outside school? Did they manage to get along well with their classmates? Did they communicate the message of their project so that the audience understood?
    • Give individual feedback to each student. E.g. congratulate them on their attitude and effort or identify areas for improvement: You managed to use vocabulary and language effectively when you shared your project, we understood your message perfectly. Or You need to work on being more collaborative. You werent on task during the project. How do you think you can improve that?
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    ?

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    Reading time: 3 minutes

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    1.?Cinderella?(Level 1)

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    2.?Lady and the Tramp?(Level 3)

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    How to use this reader in class:

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    Looking for more romantic Readers for young learners? How about?The Little Mermaid?(Level 2) or?Aladdin?(Level 5)? Theres something for everyone?in our catalog.

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    How to use this Reader in class:

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    4.?Pride and Prejudice?(Level 5)

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    How to use this Reader in class:

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    Heres an example:

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    or

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    If you enjoyed this post here are some more practical posts to get your students engaged in reading, 'How to bring Shakespeare to life in the classroom'?and 'How to motivate reluctant readers'.