Welcome to Fifth Grade

Welcome to the 5th grade! This is an exciting year of discovery, questioning and learning.

As the core teacher, I am in charge of teaching Language Arts, Social Studies, Math and Religion.

Language Arts consists of three sections:

*1. Literature- as a class we read four novels over the course of the year, focusing on literary elements such as plot, characters, setting, themes, cause and affect, vocabulary, historical significance and the use of figurative language.
Individually, the students complete eight book reports throughout the year based on different genres. for example, historical fiction, biography, non-fiction, fantasy, fables/folktales and mysteries.

*2. Wrtiting- there are a variety of methods used in the 5th grade writing curriculum.
-Write Traits- The 6 Traits Writing program is used to help shape and guide students writing through its 6 principles: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency and Conventions.

-Creative Writing- Once a week the class will have writer?s workshop to allow students to write creatively or finish an assigned topic. Through mini lessons, the writing process (brainstorming, mind/story mapping, writing a rough draft, proof reading, peer editing and publishing) is emphasized.

-Research paper-Time is spent in class teaching how to write a research paper- taking notes, skimming, writing in an informative (expository) way and citing documents for bibliographies.

*3. Grammar-Spelling, vocabulary and grammar are addressed daily with D.O.L. and through weekely spelling tests. Time is also spent on reviewing basic grammar skills such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions and sentence structure.

Social Studies

The 5th grade Social Studies curriculum focuses on early American history. Topics that are covered include:
? Geography- parts of maps. Latitude/longitude, reading maps, routes/roads, calculating distances, finding different places in the world.
? Explorers- Reasons why people began exploring, who they were, what they found, why they were important to American history
? Colonies:
South- Jamestown, Plantations, Slaves, farming, wealthy
North- Pilgrims/Puritans, Witch trials, strict way of life, trade
Middle- William Penn, Quakers, Diversity, farming and trade
? American Revolution- French and Indian War, Taxes/Acts (Sugar, Stamp, Townshend, Declaratory, Intolerable), Events (Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre), People (Jefferson, Henry, Franklin, Washington, Revere, etc.), the Sons of liberty, women in the American Revolution, and the War itself- important battles, weapons and ways of fighting
? Forming a New Nation- the Articles of Confederation, Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution
? The Louisiana Purchase- Lewis and Clark, Pike and the idea of manifest destiny
? The War of 1812- National Anthem- Ft. McHenry
? Civil War- causes and outcome
? Timeline Projects (Technology/Social Studies activity)

Throughout the Social Studies curriculum, it is emphasized that things happen for a reason and one event does not take place on its own; it is the cause of something that came before it. Connecting and seeing these patterns is the focus of the Social Studies curriculum.

Math

The fifth grade math curriculum focuses on understanding and working with fractions and decimals. Students will learn how to add, subtract, divide and multiply fractions and decimals. They will also learn about data and graphing, measurement, integers and depending on time, will begin work on algebra; expressions and equations. This course of study will help students develop proficiency in conceptual understanding, computational skills and problem-solving ability.

Religion

The fifth grade religion curriculum focuses on the sacraments as special gifts from God which nourish and strengthen us. We have three other components to the religion curriculum, which are service projects, family life and Safe Environment. The fifth grade service project is to volunteer at the Alameda County food bank. We go twice during the year to help them sort and box food they receive. A representative comes into our classroom to talk about why and who we are helping by volunteering. We also spend other times during the year talking about why it is important to help others and what are other ways we can do this in our lives. This is a great way for the students to be of service and see how they are helping others.
Family Life emphasizes what it means to belong to a family community within the context of the Catholic faith.
The Safe Environment for Children program is designed to help children, teachers and parents alike create a safe environment for all children.



Other curriculum subjects will be taught by different specialty teachers. Science will be taught by Ms. King. Music will be taught by Mrs. Miller and band will be taught by Mrs. Fox. Spanish will be taught by Mrs. Goodner. Art will be taught by Mr. Fortune. P.E. will be taught by Mrs. Haines.

Check out our links to find more information about the 5th Grade!