5th Grade Curriculum
Science: Each of these topics is covered in a hands-on unit1. Landforms
2. Levers and Pulleys
3. Ecology
4. Ecosystems
Writing: We will focus on incorporating the Six Traits of Writing (listed below) into Persuasive, Narrative, and Expository Essays. A review of the Six Traits will occur during first quarter. Expository Essays will be emphasized second quarter. Finally, during the third quarter we will work more extensively on Persuasive Essays, which will be followed by our study of Narrative Essays during the fourth quarter.
The Six Traits are:
1. Voice
2. Organization
3. Conventions
4. Ideas and Content
5. Sentence Fluency
6. Word Choice
Reading: Our reading series is divided into six themes:
1. Nature`s Fury
2. Give it All You`ve Got
3. Voices of the Revolution
4. Person to Person
5. One Land, Many Trails
6. Animal Encounters
Each theme has a variety of week-long sets of activities that center around a short story. Each week-long exploration includes spelling, grammar, and individual and group reading that are all topically related. This reading series also emphasizes reading strategies that will help to cultivate better reading habits.
Social Studies: Our Social Studies curriculum is divided into the following multi-week units:
1. (Brief Overview) The Revolutionary War and Our New Nation
2. The Civil War
3. A Changing Nation (the decades surrounding the turn of the century)
4. The Early Twentieth Century
5. Modern America (World War II through the 1950s and 60s)
6. Linking to Today (1970s through what`s in store for our nation today and tomorrow)
Math: We use Everyday Mathematics for our math curriculum. This unique approach to math emphasizes using math in real and more concrete ways and, rather than spending weeks mastering a concept and then not returning to it for the rest of the year, focuses on touching more briefly on concepts for a day or two at a time and then revisiting them often in related ways throughout the year.
Our curriculum is divided into the following units:
1. Number Theory (factors, prime/composite numbers, squaring numbers)
2. Estimation and Computation (estimation, adding and multiplying decimals)
3. Geometry Explorations and the American Tour (angles and geometry)
4. Division (division facts, dividing decimals, remainders)
5. Fractions, Decimals and Percents (fractions, decimals and percents and converting one to the other)
6. Using Data; Addition and Subtraction of Fractions (simple statistics, charts and graphs, adding and subtracting fractions)
7. Exponents and Negative Numbers (exponents, order of operations, negative numbers)
8. Fractions and Ratios (adding, multiplying, and dividing mixed numbers and fractions)
9. Coordinates, Area, Volume and Capacity (coordinate graphs, volume, and area)
10. Algebra Concepts and Skills (graphs, algebra, circumference and area of a circle)
11. Volume (geometric solids, finding volume)
12. Probability, Ratios, and Rates (ratios, working with data)
