Curriculum – Fifth Grade

Religion

Our Fifth Grade religious education focuses on the ministry of Jesus as revealed through the Holy Scripture, the study of the seven sacraments and the liturgical year. We will concentrate on being witnesses to God’s love through prayer, liturgy and service. The Fifth Grade will be responsible for preparing at least two liturgies. As a class we will participate in community service projects to show we care about our community and live the gospel.

Language Arts

Our Fifth Grade Language Arts program integrates language, vocabulary, literature, reading, spelling and writing. There are five different, themed anthologies and a speller. Additionally, we will have book reports and core literature to enrich and expand our reading comprehension skills. Details concerning books report assignments and core literature books will be in writing when we begin the book or project. Our writing skills connects with our reading skills and will focus on creating multiple paragraph narrative and expository compositions, writing responses to literature, writing persuasive letters, writing research reports about key concepts we are learning across the curriculum. Details concerning expectations for written reports will be in writing. To support students in their writing endeavors we will practice proofreading, revising and editing our work as well as using complex sentence structures.

Mathematics

Our Fifth Grade Mathematics program focuses on increasing students’ facility with the four basic arithmetic operations applied to positive and negative integers, fractions and decimals. We will understand how fractions relate to decimals. Students will be estimating, rounding and computing from thousandths to millions. Students will use algebra to solve equations with at least one unknown variable. We will also graph ordered pairs on a four-graph quadrant. We will also study geometry; understanding the relationships between the areas of shapes of rectangle, triangles and parallelograms. We will learn about angles, rays and lines. We will use mathematical reasoning to solve problems.

Social Studies

Our Fifth Grade Social Studies program traces on the development of the United States through 1850. We will participate in activities around the yearlong theme of U.S. History and U.S. Geography. Students will learn about Pre-Columbian settlements, trade routes and describe early explorations of America, describe the cooperation and among the American Indians and between the American Indians and the new settlers. Students will learn and be able to explain the political, religious, social and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era. We will also study the causes, course and effects of the American Revolution. We will trace the colonization, immigration and settlements of the American people from 1789 to the mid 1800’s. Students will learn the locations of the 50 states and name their capitals. Social Studies offer a great opportunity for us to learn about the different cultures that help make our nation great. We will use literature, projects, in-class activities and field trips to supplement, extend and enrich our learning.

Science

Our Fifth Grade Science program is multi-faceted. Students will learn about Physical Science (matter and the elements), Life Science (plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, etc.), Earth Science (solar system, water and energy). Students will also learn about investigation and experimentation (the scientific method) developing their own scientific questions and planning and conducting investigations based on evidence and thoughtful reasoning.) We will study Open Oceans as part of our Marine Activities and Resources Education and also plan to attend YMCA Point Bonita Outdoor Education Program again this year.