Teaching a multi-grade classroom can feel like a balancing act, but with the right strategies, it becomes an opportunity to nurture a collaborative and adaptable learning environment. Whether you're teaching a Grade 3 and 4 split or managing a classroom with broader age ranges, these practical strategies can help you balance instruction, build strong classroom routines, and effectively manage your time.

💡 Bonus Resource: Download my 5-Step Guide to Teach in a Multi-Grade Classroom at the end of this blog to get started today!

Routines are your classroom’s backbone, especially in a multi-grade setting. Set up consistent procedures for transitions, group work, and teacher-led instruction. Start at the beginning of the school year!  Don't be afraid to take the first few weeks of school to teach the routines that you want your students to follow.  We often get so caught up in teaching the content in the curriculum, that we forget to teach students how to learn the content.  This mistake can be detrimental to the multi-grade classroom.  Your students need to know what to do, when to do it, and what happens when they finish the task.  We must take time to teach these routines to our students. Routines reduce classroom chaos, helping students know what to expect and when. Use visual schedules, auditory cues, or timers to signal transitions between activities. For example, set a timer for 15 minutes of silent reading while you work with a smaller group. Visual schedules can help students stay on track, making your day smoother and less chaotic. Use your classroom bulletin boards for more that displaying student work or inspirational quotes.  Use them as anchor boards for their learning! 

👉 Pro Tip: Include students in creating classroom norms—this builds ownership and helps routines stick!  Click on the image to get my Guide for building routines in the  ELA classroom! 

Mix and match students based on skills, interests, or even random pairings. Flexible groups keep things dynamic and allow you to address specific learning needs while fostering peer collaboration. Flexible groups are a great way to differentiate within grades as well.  A Flexible spelling group allows you to move students in and out of spelling levels based on their mastery of spelling skills.  This means students are not always "stuck " in the same group.  It creates motivation for mastery, and students learn to work with any member of their classroom no matter what grade they are in.  Since groups are interchangeable, student lose focus on "grade-level" and become more focused on "mastery-level".  This idea works also for reading groups and math groups! 

Learning stations give students the freedom to explore and learn independently while allowing you to work with smaller groups. Set up stations for subjects like reading, math, and science, complete with hands-on activities or digital tools. This strategy is great for those days when you need to work with individual students for testing or extra help.  It allows you to pull students and reinsert them into the class as required without them missing instructional time or whole group learning. Learning stations can also be set up as "At your desk" activities where students take required paper or materials needed from the station to their desk or work area then return them to the station when completed.  This format works well when a quieter environment is needed. 

👉 Pro Tip: Use technology to enhance stations—apps like Epic! or Khan Academy are great for personalized learning. 

Older students can become role models and mentors for their younger peers. Activities like buddy reading or collaborative projects build confidence and strengthen classroom bonds. Opportunities for peer teaching and mentoring can be found in almost any multi-grade classroom where outcomes are similar.  This provides the older student to develop confidence and mastery in an area because they have to "teach" their understanding to another person.  Younger children learn faster from a peer who is "speaking their language" and showing them a different way of learning than the teacher may provide.  

👉 Pro Tip: Rotate mentorship roles so that every student experiences being a leader and a learner. 

Create dedicated blocks of time to focus on one grade while the other works independently. For example, while Grade 3 students complete a math activity or practice task at their desks, teach a math lesson to Grade 4. Rotate after 20-30 minutes to give each group personalized attention.  If students struggle with working independently, teach a whole class lesson using a common objective, but have students work on tasks at their level and rotate between teaching time and task time.  This works well in math, for example, with a common objective of learning about whole numbers.  Students learn about whole numbers together, then complete tasks in creating whole numbers for their grade level which allows the teacher to focus on individual students or small groups. 

👉 Pro Tip: Use timers or visual countdowns to signal transitions between instruction and independent work.

A consistent classroom management system is essential. A classroom management system is essential in a multigrade classroom because it provides the structure needed to balance diverse learning needs, maximize instructional time, and foster positive behavior. With students working at different grade levels, clear routines and expectations create consistency and independence, allowing seamless transitions between tasks and minimizing disruptions. Tools like reward systems, visual schedules, and behavior tracking apps encourage collaboration and accountability, while also reducing teacher stress. By integrating opportunities for peer mentorship and addressing varying learning styles, a management system not only enhances the learning environment but also builds a sense of community, ensuring all students can thrive.

Use visual behavior charts, point systems, or group rewards to encourage positive behavior. Set clear expectations and involve students in creating classroom rules.  This can be set up as a visual display in the classroom or using digital apps such as Class Dojo, SeeSaw, or Classcraft.  

👉 Pro Tip: Celebrate small wins as a class to reinforce positive habits and teamwork.

Leverage technology to enhance learning. Apps like Prodigy, IXL, ABCYA, and management platforms like Google Classroom, ClassDojo, and SeeSaw allow students to work at their own pace while you monitor progress. Interactive games and quizzes keep students engaged and help with formative assessment. A technology rotation can be included in any set of rotations in any subject area.  The key is to use the technology for learning not just as a reward or free time.  Teach students how to use the technology for learning so that they understand its value as they become lifelong learners.

👉 Pro Tip: Use tablets or laptops at learning stations to mix hands-on activities with tech-based tasks.  

Incorporate activities that cater to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. For example, use videos for visual learners, group discussions for auditory learners, and hands-on experiments for kinesthetic learners.  These do not need to be done all within the same lesson!  Use the subject matter and content to determine which learning styles can be incorporated.  Not all children learn using one style, and the style can change with the subject matter.  For example a visual learner can also be kinesthetic, so an lesson in spelling using magnetic letters is both visual and kinesthetic.  A social studies video is both visual and auditory. As long as you are making an effort to touch on the different learning styles throughout your teaching and within learning tasks, you will reach your learners and they will make progress. 

👉 Pro Tip: Offer choice boards where students select activities that align with their learning preferences.  Click on the image to check out my Combined Science units for grade 3/4 to see how to incorporate choice boards into your multigrade class! 

Take time to assess what’s working and adjust as needed. Use student feedback to fine-tune your strategies and identify areas for improvement.  As teachers we are always thinking about ways to improve, and just as we instill the importance of reflection in our students, we also need to make time to reflect on our teaching. Although teaching can be all-encompassing and sometimes draining, setting up our classroom community before we engage in actual teaching can make a huge difference in the day to day challenges. It doesn't have to take much time either!  I talk about this more in my Classroom Community Guide for teachers.  Click on the image to check it out. 

👉 Pro Tip: Keep a journal or digital tracker to note successful techniques and areas for growth.