5th Grade
Language Arts in Grade 5In fifth grade, language is seen as a transdisciplinary element of the curriculum rather that only a separate discipline. By learning language as well as learning about languages and through language, we nurture an appreciation of the richness of language and the love of literature. Fifth grade builds on the skills and understanding developed from fourth grade, towards greater mastery.
In fifth grade, students continue to develop confidence in group and class discussions where respect and cooperation are emphasized. Students are expected to pose and post questions regarding their studies. They are expected to provide evidence of their reasoning verbally and when answering questions and add appropriate elaboration and detail when sharing ideas. Students are expected to share advice, opinions and information.
Students will have an increasing awareness of the power of oral language, how it helps them to construct meaning and connect with others. They will use speech responsibly to inform, entertain, and influence others. They will interact confidently in a variety of situations. They will adapt speaking and listening activities to the context, purpose, and audience.
Students enjoy a range of reading material from the wide choice of print in the class library, including fiction, poetry, biography, non-fiction texts, multimedia resources and the internet. They will read a wide range of texts with understanding and accuracy. They will appreciate structural and stylistic differences between fiction and non-fiction. They will locate and use a range of reference materials to find informations and guide research. They are expected to read for sustained periods every day for enjoyment and information.
Students in fifth grade will write fluently and effectively in a range of styles. They will show an awareness of audience. They will use relevant and supporting details and effective vocabulary. They will vary sentence structure and length. They will use an appropriate writing process independently and confidently. They will develop their own voice and style.
Writing is intrinsically linked with reading in fifth grade. A range of fiction and non-fiction genre is developed in fourth grade including narrative, recounts, reports, expository writing (including persuasive and discussion writing), procedures, poetry, note taking, and reading responses. Students learn how to structure their writing effectively and identify and apply the characteristics of different genre to their work.
Sentence structure, including grammar and punctuation, are taught in meaningful contexts primarily through the student’s own writing. Students are taught to create more complex sentences and to use a variety of sentence structures, They learn about direct and reported speech. They should understand the basic language conventions, including agreement between nouns and verbs, and consistency of tense and subject. Students revise and extend their work on verbs, nouns, and pronouns.
Spelling and vocabulary development are integral parts of the fifth grade curriculum. Spelling and vocabulary is taught regularly and children are encouraged to always have a go at new vocabulary. They inquire into rules and patterns and are expected to apply these to their writing. Students collect words from their own writing and new vocabulary from the units of inquiry and other areas of the curriculum. Students are expected to use dictionaries and thesauruses as a regular independent tool for learning. Students take spelling tests and peer editing spelling tests. Spelling is highly differentiated to the student’s level. Spelling practice, primarily using the “Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check” strategy, is a homework requirement.
Math in Grade 5
In fifth grade, students gain an understanding of important mathematical concepts and skills through and inquiry-based curriculum. There is a strong ethos of questioning, and students are expected to pose questions and take part in mathematical discussion, explaining their thinking and speculating about topics covered.
Learning is collaborative and active. Students are expected to try out and demonstrate their ideas in small and large groups. Students develop their skills of questioning, investigating, discussing, and justifying. Instruction is built on what the students know and can demonstrate. Students are expected to help cultivate a learning culture where mistakes or challenges are viewed as an opportunity to improve and learn something new.
In fifth grade, conceptual understanding in many areas of mathematics is the primary emphasis, regardless of the particular computational skills the students employs to arrive at their answer. It is insufficient to merely learn written methods of calculation without making connections between these and their meaning. Students continue to use manipulatives and are involved in practical activities in order to make math meaningful. Students demonstrate their understanding by applying their learning to relevant and “real life” applications at a more challenging level.
Students in fifth grade are expected to become aware of a variety of strategies for possible multiple solutions to the problem and investigations they are working on. Students are expected to be able to describe and explain the processes involved in finding solutions. In fifth grade, students are encouraged to use a variety of resources including, calculators, computers, internet resources as well as textbooks to answer their mathematical inquiries. Students are continually encouraged to reflect on their learning, orally and in writing through reflections.
In fifth grade, students develop their understanding in all key mathematical content areas:place value, multiplication and division, fractions and decimals, data handling and statistics, geometry (including types of angles, area, and perimeter), measures (customary and metric), time (including elapsed time), probability, addition, and subtraction.
In the number work, students’ awareness of place value extends to not only exploring numbers to the millions but also those less than 0. By representing and comparing decimals, students begin to generate equivalent forms of decimals. They deepen their understanding of fractions to include locating them on number lines and understanding them as divisions of whole numbers. Students generate equivalent fractions, compare two fractional quantities in problem solving situations, using a variety of methods including common denominators. Students use models to relate decimals to fractions.
Students investigate the properties of prime and composite numbers. They find prime factors of whole numbers and common factors of a set of whole numbers. The students will make generalizations based on observed patterns and relationships. They will estimate to determine reasonable results. They will describe relationships mathematically represented in real life situations.
Students will generate geometric definitions using critical attributes including parallel, perpendicular, and congruent parts of geometric shapes and solids. They will be able to sketch the results of translations, rotations, and reflections. Students will recognize the connection between ordered pairs of numbers and locations of points on a plane. They will apply measurement concepts in various situations.
Students will describe and predict the results of probability experiments. They will understand the difference between theoretical and experimental probability. They will solve problems by collecting, organizing, displaying, and interpreting sets of information.
Students take part in activities that involve problem solving , reasoning, number patterns, estimations, data collecting, and using mental strategies for computation. They create and play games to show their understanding and/or help increase accuracy and speed in their number work.
Science in Grade 5
Science and technology in fifth grade aims to stimulate and challenge students’ ideas. The science and technology curriculum is included in the units of inquiry and as separate science units .
Students are expected to work cooperatively and collaboratively when investigating and experimenting. Through experimentation and problem solving students develop an understanding of the key scientific concepts which form the fourth grade science curriculum. They explain their ideas, questions and concerns and are challenged to use observation and experimentation to help modify or abandon commonly held misconceptions.
Students formulate their own questions which drive the inquiry. They are given the flexibility and opportunity to explore a science interest when it arises. They make predictions and suggest hypotheses. Through discussion and dialogue students propose explanations and conclusions. They understand that science involves accepting a degree of uncertainty or ambiguity and that new questions always arise.
Students take part in hands-on activities to ensure that students experience science and technology process skills in a tangible fashion. They conduct scientific research through the use of reference books and internet resources. They also take part in scientific research through observation and planning as well as by collecting, recording, organizing, and interpreting data and presenting their research findings. Students produce models, posters, and reports. They are encouraged to find applications for, and take action on, what they have learned.
In their unit of inquiry about ecosystems, students will explore concepts including behavior, the relationship between producer and consumer and food chains and food webs.
Students investigate adaptation and how this affects the survival of members of species. They identify traits that are inherited from parent to offspring and give example of learned characteristics that result from the influence of the environment.
Fifth grade students explore how energy exists in different forms and is changed, used and stores in different ways. They investigate the related concepts of forces, sustainability, alternative energy sources, electricity, global warming, and fossil fuels/renewable energy.
Students learn about the ways humans have adapted to a variety of climatic and geographic conditions. They learn about the location, shape, structure, and variations of geographical features and their impact on human life.
The fifth grade students continue to develop their understanding of water and its properties.
Social Studies in Grade 5
In fifth grade social studies is seen as a transdisciplinary element of the curriculum rather than just a separate discipline. The vast majority of the social studies curriculum is taught through our units of inquiry where in-depth coverage is valued over the “survey” approach to topics and knowledge. Local, multicultural, international, and global dimensions are examined in the fifth grade social studies curriculum.
Students are expected to access multiple primary and secondary resources, including fiction and non-fiction texts, atlases, almanacs, encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauruses, internet resources, magazines, newspapers, audio-visual media, people, artifacts, field trips and any reference materials that the students bring into the classroom. Students become more aware of the multiple perspectives involved in the topics studied.
Students work independently and collaboratively whether in pairs, small or large groups. In their learning, transdisciplinary skills are taught, practiced and applied through the inquiry driven curriculum. Focus is placed on macro skills including decision-making, problem solving, reflective learning, communicating, critical and creative thinking, and researching in the process of students constructing meaning.
Student initiative is valued and students are encouraged, for example, to visit when other classes, interview school personnel, community members, and local experts. Key questions drive inquiry in social studies, and students have the opportunity to take part in a variety of tasks which cater to different learning styles. They are expected to reflect on their learning at the end of units.