Fifth Grade

Welcome to fifth grade!

During this final year of elementary school, time is spent preparing fifth-grade students for success at the middle school level both academically and personally. Personally, fifth-grade students are expected to take more responsibility for their learning. A portion of this responsibility involves students recording, completing, and returning homework assignments independently. Academically, students continue to build on the foundation laid in all subject areas from the previous grade levels.

A brief outline of fifth grade content includes:

Reading

Students use a full range of strategies to comprehend a variety of material. In addition, students are able to summarize both fiction and non-fiction text, determine author’s purpose, and compare and contrast various texts.

Writing

Students participate in the writing process with an emphasis in communicating ideas in a clear and organized manner, for a variety of audiences. Another aspect of fifth grade writing includes using conventional grammar and mechanics.

Math

Math at the fifth grade level includes a range of concepts in the areas of operations in base ten, operations in algebraic thinking, fractions, measurement and data, and geometry taught using the Bridges Mathematics program. Equally as important as the concepts being taught is the approach to learning mathematics. In order for the mathematics to be relevant and applicable in future grades, it is important that students justify their solutions, and not just find an answer.

Science

Students, through a combination of the Full Option Science System program (FOSS), engage in studies of: Mixtures and Solutions and Systems of Living Things/Body Systems (including human growth and development), and Weather on Earth.

Social Studies

The fifth-grade curriculum covers early United States History, which includes: Native Americans; Exploration; Colonization; The American Revolution; The United States Constitution/United States Government; Features of the United States; Geographic Tools; Current Events.