✍️ Reports in the Middle Grades

Are you doing geography, animal, or shelter reports? Here are my thoughts and resources

Waldorf schools may be known for keeping the classic research report tradition alive.

And it’s true, I love the idea of giving students a topic and encouraging them to dive in and learn whatever they can about it.

Our fifth-grade auction project. Currently hanging on my bedroom wall.

But there are a lot of things to think about, and it’s not as easy as assigning a topic and letting them run with it. Because, sure, some kids can do really well with minimal guidance, but most students need clear structure and boundaries for their report to be a positive learning experience with an end result that they’re proud of. And too often, teachers are thinking about the go-getters when they envision the ideal report experience.

A third-grade shelter project

But the truth of it is that we need to create scaffolding and support for students to be successful with reports, especially in the lower grades.

Your strong students will hit the ground running regardless, and you can certainly give them more independence and flexibility, but most of your students need a solid structure to work within.

Montana, according to one of my strong students—an old man with Missoula for an eye. 🤣

Here are some of the questions we need to answer when assigning reports.

• What form should the reports take? (oral presentation, written report, artistic project)

• What resources can they use? (the internet?!)

• Do they do it at home or in class?

• How involved should the parents be?

I’m sure there are many more, but to start answering them, I’ll describe the process I used for my students’ fifth-grade state reports.