Fifth Grade Curriculum
As 5th grade teachers, our mission is to encourage students to have a life-long love of learning and teach them the academic and social skills needed to lead a productive life. We use the Enon PRIDE model to establish classroom norms. Fifth graders practice their oral communication skills by doing the daily announcements and are given a wide variety of responsibilities to build citizenship. The students are well prepared for middle school with knowledge and life skills.
Math
The fifth-grade standards place emphasis on number sense with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. This focus includes concepts of prime and composite numbers, identifying even and odd numbers, and solving problems using order of operations for positive whole numbers. Students will develop proficiency in the use of fractions and decimals to solve problems. Students will collect, display, and analyze data in a variety of ways and solve probability problems, using a sample space or tree diagram. Students also will solve problems involving volume, area, and perimeter. Students will be introduced to variable expressions and open sentences and will model one-step linear equations with one variable, using addition and subtraction. Students will investigate and recognize the distributive property. Students review patterns with the daily use of the Calendar Math program. This also helps to reinforce and connect the relationship between fractions and decimals. All of these skills assist in the development of the algebraic concepts needed for success in the middle grades. Occasionally, the students will be assigned math projects which will give them an opportunity to demonstrate the skills and concepts they have been studying.
Language Arts
In fifth grade, reading and writing skills continue to support an increased emphasis on content-area learning and utilization of the resources of the media center, especially to locate and read primary sources of information. The student will read texts in all subjects and will acquire information to answer questions, generate hypotheses, make inferences, support opinions, confirm predictions, compare and contrast relationships, and formulate conclusions. Fifth grade classrooms use the Time for Kids instructional magazine to help build non-fiction comprehension and make real world connections. The students will continue to develop an appreciation for literature by reading a variety of fiction and nonfiction selections. Fifth grade students maintain a reading log in order to keep reading an important part of their academics. Students use a wide variety of sources including reading books and novel studies to study and understand parts and types of text. Writing is an integral part of this process and includes instruction on grammar skills and word study.
Science
The fifth-grade standards emphasize the importance of selecting appropriate instruments for measuring and recording observations. The organization, analysis, and application of data continue to be an important focus of classroom inquiry. Science skills from preceding grades, including questioning, using and validating evidence, and systematic experimentation, are reinforced at this level. Students are introduced to more detailed concepts of sound and light and the tools used for studying them. Key concepts of matter, including those about atoms, molecules, elements, and compounds, are studied, and the properties of matter are defined in greater detail. The cellular makeup of organisms and the distinguishing characteristics of groups of organisms are stressed. Students learn about the characteristics of the oceans and the Earth’s changing surface.
Social Studies
The World Studies curriculum serves as a bridge between the study of the ancients in second and third grades and the world history courses in high school. The course introduces students to regions of the world that are increasingly important to our country. The content is international in scope, with an emphasis on geography and history along with economic development, political systems and current world issues from selected countries. The World Studies curriculum is designed to be a hands-on, participatory experience focusing on critical thinking while building geographic, communication, and research skills. Students will study different regions of the world and apply concepts of geography, civics, and economics to their everyday life.
