English in Grades 5-6: Gaps, Grammar and Getting Ready for Middle School
In grades 5-6 English moves from single words to texts: children read longer passages, learn the present and the past, write sentences and speak more. This is where gaps from earlier years begin to show. The way to close them before middle school is to find the missing skill, go back to it, and practice a little daily instead of chasing the class material.
By TutorNest · Updated 5 October 2026
What do children learn in English in grades 5-6?
What is taught varies by school, but the direction is similar in most places. In grades 5-6 children usually read passages of a few paragraphs and answer questions, widen their vocabulary, learn to talk about the present and the past, write sentences and a short paragraph, and speak more in class.
Skill
What it looks like
How to help at home
Reading
Reads a passage of a few paragraphs and finds answers in it
A short passage twice a week, and one question: what was it about
Vocabulary
Works out a new word from context and remembers it
A word notebook: the word, an example sentence, review a few days later
Present and past
Tells he plays from he played and uses both
Say in English what you do every day and what you did yesterday
A teacher every week, practice every day
TutorNest joins a weekly one-to-one English lesson to about ten minutes of practice at home each day.
Writes a few connected sentences, with a capital letter and a period
Three sentences about their day, twice a week
Speaking
Answers in a full sentence and asks a question back
Five minutes of English conversation about something they love
How do gaps in English show up in grades 5-6?
A gap at this age rarely looks like a child who knows no English. It usually hides behind reasonable grades, because the child has learned to guess, memorize and lean on friends. The signs are in the small details.
Reads slowly and guesses words from the first letter.
Reads a passage to the end and cannot say what it was about.
Spells words the way they would sound in Hebrew, or avoids writing.
Mixes up present and past, or drops am, is and are.
English homework takes far longer than other subjects.
Says they hate English, or stays silent in class.
Why do gaps appear in these years in particular?
In grades 3-4 a good memory is enough: few words, short sentences, plenty of pictures. In grades 5-6 the texts get longer and it is no longer possible to remember everything by heart. A child whose reading is not secure is suddenly asked to read in order to learn, and all the effort goes into decoding.
This does not mean a child is weak at languages. In most cases one or two links from the early years are missing, and everything rests on them. Once they are filled in, the rest moves faster than parents expect.
How do we close a gap before middle school?
Closing a gap starts with finding out what is missing, not with more practice of the same material. You need to know exactly what it is: letter sounds, fluent reading, vocabulary or sentence structure. Extra homework at class level does not help a child who is missing the foundation.
Check reading: have your child read aloud ten short words they do not know. If they guess, start from the sounds.
Check understanding: a short, easy passage and one question about it. If reading is fine and understanding is not, vocabulary is missing.
Choose one skill to work on at a time, not everything at once.
Practice ten to fifteen minutes a day, at a level where your child succeeds most of the time.
Check again after a few weeks and move to the next skill.
Going back to third or fourth grade material does not have to be embarrassing. Explain that you are strengthening the base so the rest gets easier, as in sports or music. Children this age understand that well when they are told the truth.
How do we teach present and past without memorizing tables?
Children learn tenses best when they are tied to their own lives. The simple present is what happens every day: I play soccer on Mondays. The simple past is what happened and is over: I played soccer yesterday. The time words, every day against yesterday, are the clue that helps a child choose.
Verbs that do not take ed in the past, such as went, saw, ate and had, are learned like vocabulary: a few each week, inside a sentence and not in a list. Most of them are very common verbs, so a child meets them again and again.
At dinner, ask one fixed question in English: What did you do today. Your child answers with two sentences in the past, and you answer in turn. Do not correct mid-sentence. If they say I goed, reply naturally: You went to the park, nice.
What should be secure before the move to middle school?
In middle school the texts are longer and the pace is faster, and teachers usually assume the foundations are already there. A child who arrives with these foundations feels confident even when the material is new.
Fluent reading of a short passage, without stopping at every word.
Everyday vocabulary wide enough to follow a simple text without a dictionary.
Steady use of the present and the past in simple sentences.
Writing a short paragraph of four or five sentences.
Willingness to speak and to make mistakes.
How does TutorNest handle this?
TutorNest starts with a short starting-point check, and practice adapts to each skill separately. A sixth grader can strengthen basic reading while moving ahead in grammar. There is one weekly 45-minute one-to-one lesson with the same teacher, and about ten minutes of daily practice in an app, built from what the teacher is working on. Parents and the teacher both see how each skill is going.
Questions parents ask
How long does it take to close a gap in English?+
It depends on the size of the gap and how regular the practice is, and there is no single right number. In common experience, working on the right skill a little every day shows a change in reading and confidence within a few weeks, and closing the gap fully takes months.
The English grades are good. Could there still be a gap?+
Yes. A child with a good memory can do well on tests of material covered in class and still struggle with a new text. Ask them to read aloud a passage they have not seen and tell you what it is about.
Should we wait for middle school and see how it goes?+
Usually it is better not to. The pace picks up in middle school, and a gap left alone tends to grow. In grades 5-6 there is still time to fill it in calmly.
My child understands English from games and videos. Is that enough?+
It is a real advantage in listening and vocabulary. Reading, writing and grammar usually do not arrive on their own, so it is worth checking them separately.