FIFTH GRADE CURRICULUM

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading/Literature

• Strategies used by good readers: purpose for reading, prior knowledge SQ3R, phonics, structural analysis, KWL
• Strategies for reading fictional text: rereading, predicting, sequencing, cause/effect, drawing conclusions, generalizing, story mapping, paraphrasing, summarizing
• Story elements: topic, main idea, point of view, character, plot, setting, problem, solution
• Literary techniques: dialogue, introductions, conclusions
• Types of literature: fictional, poetry, mystery, science fiction, historical, and realistic
• Strategies for reading informational text: fact vs. opinion, outlining, taking notes, graphic organizer, and glossary usage
• Types of informational text: textbooks, letters, diaries, directions, procedures, magazines, biographies, and newspaper
• Vocabulary workshop
• Mountain Language
• Grammar: quotation marks, commas, apostrophes, colons/semicolons capitalization of proper nouns and in titles, compound sentences, subject/verb agreement, simple and complete subjects and predicates, nouns/pronouns, verbs, conjunctions, adverbs, adjectives
• Reference skills: alphabetical order, multiple meanings, parts of speech in a dictionary, glossary, thesaurus
• Language patterns: dialect, cultural influences on English, contexts and purposes, regional variations, connotations, origins of words.

Writing

• Prewriting and drafting strategies: brainstorming, webbing, theme expansion, choosing and narrowing, audience and purpose, clustering and patterning
• Revising strategies: fluency, voice, audience, purpose, organization, word choice, sentence construction, paragraphs/indenting, titles, staying on topic
• Editing and publishing strategies: correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar and usage
• Types of writing: personal narrative, friendly letter, story, descriptive paragraph, persuasive, how to, and directions
• Research skills: dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, almanacs, encyclopedia, periodicals, newspapers, and internet search.

Penmanship

• Legible cursive writing

Speaking and Listening

• Directions: follows four step and generates three step directions
• Listening: takes turns, raises hand, focuses on speaker, avoids interrupting, asks appropriate questions, asks for clarification
• Expressing ideas orally: clarity, volume, eye contact, staying on topic, sequencing thoughts, standard English, correct grammar, personal voice, pauses and gestures, visual aids
• Types of speaking opportunities: poems, role-playing, skits and plays, presentation of personal writing, informal interviewing, choral reading, persuasive speech, short presentations with visuals, book talks
• Group participation: plans and works collaboratively, stays on task, performs assigned role, and displays problem-solving strategies

Accelerated Reader - individualized

SOCIAL STUDIES

• Geography: location, place, region, human-environment, interaction, movements.
• Time Travelers– 1860 – 1920 C.E.
• Slavery/underground railroad
• Civil War
• Zulu Wars
• South America
• Asia
• Homesteading
• Industrial Revolution
• Women’s rights
• Labor Unions
• Immigration
• Civil Rights

Economics/Civics

• Classroom City: Developing and operating a business, establishing a city government and currency system, elections, core Democratic values

Public Discourse

• Defending a position on public policy
• Writing persuasive essays and letters

SCIENCE
Skill development: observation, classification, measurement, inference, prediction, investigation, sequence/order, interpretation, communication, controlling variables, formulating models

Life Science

• Experimenting with Plants
• Microscopy
• Ecosystems
• Respiratory system

Physical Science

• Compounds
• Magnets and Motors
• Floating and Sinking

Health

• Tobacco/Alcohol Awareness
• Food Chemistry
• Scientific Method
• Science Fair Project
  Click here for Science Fair Information

Resources

• Textbooks, applied math units, simulations, daily problem-solving sessions, basic facts mastery, mental math strategies and computers, Accelerated Math, computer
• Number Sense
  Place value, number systems multiplication, division, fractions, decimals

Measurement

• Customary and metric systems, conversions

Geometry

• Shape, size, symmetry, congruence, and similarity in two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects

Statistics

• Sorting, representing, analyzing and interpreting data

Patterns and Functions

• Patterns, make generalizations, relationships

Logic

• Make generalizations, justify them, logical arguments

Probability

• Estimation and prediction