Fifth Grade Curriculum

Critical reading is at the core of our fifth grade reading curriculum. Captivated by a self-chosen novel, students meet with the teacher to set personal reading goals, practice new comprehension strategies, develop vocabulary, and polish reading fluency skills to promote engaging oral readers. On a daily basis, students practice higher-level reading skills by analyzing the literary theme, investigating character conflict, and discovering how authors create dynamic character relationships. 

Fifth graders learn strategies for synthesizing information across multiple texts, evaluating sources for credibility, examining multiple points of view, and supporting their positions with textual evidence. By the end of fifth grade, our students are confident, strategic readers who can “dig deep” into literature, supporting their personal interpretations of a text using quoted evidence, both verbally and in writing

Fifth graders refine their understanding of place value, decimals, and fractions while mastering multi-digit multiplication and division. They perform all four operations with fractions and decimals and apply these skills to real-world problems. Students explore volume, analyze patterns, graph on coordinate planes, and classify geometric shapes. They solve complex, multi-step word problems, including measurement conversions and data interpretation.

Fifth grade students use every phase of the writing process and continue to build their knowledge of writing conventions. As they learn different techniques and write for different purposes, their writing takes on a unique style and voice. They discover how to evaluate writing through a robust writing curriculum that targets the major forms of writing: narrative, expository, informational, realistic fiction, persuasive, and poetic.

The fifth grade STEM program allows students to practice and gain expertise in the essential skills of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication. Through the Next Generation Science Standards, with a focus on the phenomenon of experiments, students create connections to the world around them. Through interactions with technology and engineering, students are immersed in the STEM experience and engineering design process while developing a deep understanding of scientific content.

The study of people, time, and places is infused throughout our curriculum, as are the core values that promote civic competence. Learners study the American Revolution, the formation of the U.S. government, Westward Expansion, and the Civil War era. Through class discussions and projects, learners use collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication to demonstrate their understanding of events, people, and places.

The MITT (Meaningful, Innovative, and Transformative Transliteracy) curriculum is comprised of interwoven strands that explore transliteracy. Using a design thinking framework, students learn to access, use, produce, and share information. They develop as curious and independent learners who are aware of their rights and responsibilities as a digital citizen. In Fifth Grade, students are empowered as they become creative and independent users of the LAUNCH design thinking framework.

Fifth Grade Art class will learn to use the elements of art and principles of design in their artwork. They will use this knowledge to create artwork such as Op-Art, environmental-based art, ceramics, and printmaking. Students will use their iPads to create digital art, as well as to manipulate their original art digitally. We will study modern and contemporary art and compare and contrast them to artists throughout history. During each unit, time is also spent reflecting on our own and others’ art through discussions, gallery walks and talks, sketchbook writing, and drawing prompts, as well as student artist statements. Students will learn new techniques through guided lessons but will be encouraged to incorporate their own ideas into their artwork.

Fifth Grade will continue to reinforce and refine what was learned in previous grades. However, at this level, previously learned concepts will be put into practical context through speaking and writing. Students learn about Mexican culture, people, music, and geography. They also continue to practice basic conversation and vocabulary through cooperative activities, independent research, reading, writing, and interactive games. Fifth Grade concepts included are numbers to 1,000. ordinal numbers, telling time to the minute, describing body parts, sports, careers, classroom objects, weather conversations, adjectives, pastimes, and clothing. The students will also continue to review basic grammar concepts such as noun gender, articles, the formation of questions, and negation. The Fifth Grade students begin to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense and begin to form basic phrases. The identification of Spanish grammar and sentence structure also becomes a focus at this level.

Students are introduced to competitive sports such as volleyball, soccer, basketball, kickball, batball, football, floor hockey, lacrosse, and team handball. Small group games are played to maximize participation, and a variety of large group field games such as speedball, trackball, capture the flag, and ultimate ball develops teamwork. Good sportsmanship and fair play are emphasized at all times. The students also participate in collaborative games designed to fine-tune cooperation, critical thinking, and leadership skills.

In Fifth Grade, students will learn the fundamental principles of sound production on their chosen band instrument, which could be flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone, or percussion.  These principles include embouchure, air production, posture, hand placement, and fingering positions.  Along with these principles, students will learn note names, notation counting, and pitch production.  All of these skills will then be put into playing different styles of instrumental music and performing as an ensemble.

Orchestra students explore and learn the basics of stringed instruments. They choose violin, viola, cello or string bass, and learn basic techniques of posture, sound production, timbre, note-reading, and making music with an ensemble. Students who have played before serve as mentors to the new students.

Music fosters the creativity skills needed to solve problems and help students see other subjects in a new light. It allows students to explore their creativity, teamwork, self-worth, problem­ solving skills, and cultural awareness. Chorus students will learn to use their vocal instruments to create a correct and pleasing singing sound.  In addition to learning proper vocal production and technique, students will also learn music reading skills, sight-singing skills, and performance skills.  Chorus also offers opportunities for students to develop team building and leadership skills. This is a performance-based class.  

Our immersive broadcasting class offers students a unique opportunity to dive deep into the world of media and communication. In this hands-on program, learners will explore various aspects of broadcasting, from scriptwriting and audio production to video editing and on-air presentation. Students will engage in real-world projects that allow them to create their own news segments, podcasts, and live broadcasts, fostering collaboration and creativity. With access to professional-grade equipment and industry-standard software, participants will gain valuable skills that prepare them for future careers in journalism, media production, and beyond. Our immersive broadcasting class not only enhances technical abilities but also encourages critical thinking and storytelling skills, making it an ideal choice for aspiring broadcasters and media enthusiasts alike.

In this interactive simulation game, players step into various roles of world leaders as they work to solve 22 real-life crises. Each country and organization must decide how they will contribute to the global cause of world peace.