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Fifth Grade

5th grade is an extremely important time for students to cement the skills they have gained throughout the lower grades and lay a solid foundation for the years ahead. In short, this year is all about helping students practice, refine, and grow their skills. Students build on what they learned in 4th grade by analyzing material in deeper ways, and write structured, clear, and detailed pieces about a variety of subjects. They are encouraged and expected to be more independent in their learning. We establish and maintain a caring community environment.  We adhere to and teach priority standards as per Washington State and offer multiple methods of instruction. 

Learning Highlights

  • Students team with younger students for fun activities and friendship in our Reading Buddy Program.

  • Fifth graders who are ready for extension opportunities “walk” to math with our 6th graders.

Curriculum Overview

Literacy

ELA

  • 5 paragraph essays: 

    • Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting point of view with reasons and information.
    • Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

 

Reading/Novel Studies

  • First Trimester (September - November) : Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret, Realistic Fiction 

  • Second Trimester: (November - March): Kids at Work by Russell Freedman, Biography 

  • Third Trimester: (April - June): City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, Science Fiction 

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Math

  • Unit 1: Place Value, Adding and Subtracting Decimals, Multiplying Whole Numbers (September- November) 

  • Unit 2: Dividing by 1-digit divisors, Dividing by 2-digit divisors, Multiplying Decimals (December- January) 

  • Unit 3: Adding and Subtracting Decimals, Adding and Subtracting Mixed Numbers, and Multiplying and Dividing Fractions (January- April) 

  • Unit 4: Numerical Expressions, Patterns, and Relationships, Volume of Solids, Units of Measure, Data, Classifying Plane Figures, and Coordinate Geometry (May-June) 

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Social Studies

  • Unit 1: The Ancient Americas   

  • Unit 2: Explorations and Encounters 

  • Unit 3: Our Colonial Heritage 

  • Unit 4: The American Revolution 

  • Unit 5: The New Nation

  • Unit 6: Our Nation Grows 

  • Unit 7: War Divides the Nation 

  • Unit 8: Americas, Then and Now

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Science

  • Unit 1: Web of Life: Ecosystems and the Food Web

  • Unit 2: Watery Planet: Water Cycle and Earth’s Systems 

  • Unit 3: Spaceship Earth: Stars, Moon, Sun and Planets

  • Unit 4: Chemical Reactions: Chemical Magic and Properties of Matter 

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Religion

  • The seven sacraments

  • Textbook covers all the standards set by the Archdiocese

  • Prayers: four prayers to learn

  • Participating in mass as a class

  • Class discussions and activities

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Specialists

  • Music twice a week

  • PE twice a week

  • Art once a week

  • Library once a week

  • Social emotional learning with our school counselor