Curriculum Overview

Elementary School Curriculum: Fifth Grade

Fine Arts

Students continue to explore a variety of visual art media, technique and processes. They recognize and describe the visual characteristics of works of art in nature and in events. Students focus on 19th and 20th century artists and American Artists as the subject for their research. They give a written and oral presentation detailing the biography of their master artist, as well as a painting depicting his or her unique style.

  • Pop Art - American Artists including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein
  • Collage - Abstract Designs
  • Architectural Design - Fantastic Homes
  • Pastels - Shading Techniques
  • Ethnic Art - cultural diversity

Language Arts
The goals of the fifth grade reading program are to develop comprehension skills, vocabulary skills, and analytical skills while promoting a deeper appreciation for literature. Assigned reading comes from the Houghton Mifflin reading program, as well as from supplementary novels and articles. Students learn to use context clues and practice dictionary skills to build their vocabulary. Comprehension development focuses on factual recall, main ideas or themes, sequencing and critical thinking. Topics of characterization, genre and story elements as well as elements of non-fiction comprehension (following directions, organizing information, graphs and charts) are introduced. Focusing on information gathering, note-taking techniques and test-taking strategies, students develop reference, study and work habit skills. Students learn to write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences, including informative reports, short essays with thesis statements, book reviews, autobiographical accounts, and journal writing. To this end, students work on organizing thoughts and information for writing, developing drafts, analyzing, revising, and editing work. These writing skills transfer to the book reports which the students are required to write. The book report focuses on many types of genre as well as on the basic elements of a story, such as setting, character, plot's rising action, climax, conclusion, in their analysis of the story. Fifth graders also are able to evaluate archetypal patterns and symbols that are found in myths and tradition through the novels that are read together. They often learn about the history and culture of a country before reading the novel. Other means of reporting on a book are by using Quadramas (4 Tri-amas), plays, and puppet shows. As they refine their grammar skills and master such concepts as prepositional phrases, appositives, and irregular verbs, fifth graders improve their ability to communicate effectively in writing. Houghton Mifflin English, Level 6, supports our curriculum in this subject. Fifth graders:

  • Develop reference and study skills
  • Develop outlining skills
  • Use word origins, such as derived roots and affixes from Greek and Latin to determine the meaning of unknown words; use this knowledge to analyze the meaning of complex words
  • Discern main ideas and concepts presented in texts, identifying evidence that supports those ideas
  • Identify the conflict of the plot and how it is resolved
  • Create multiple-paragraph narrative and expository compositions and draw inferences, conclusions, or generalizations about text
  • Identify and analyze the characteristics of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction
  • Practice the use of appropriate conventions of written language, which include grammar, punctuation, language usage, capitalization, sentence structure, and paragraphing.
  • Evaluate the meaning of patterns and symbols that are found in myth and traditions by using literature from different eras and cultures
  • Produce a complex book report, focusing on genre and story elements
  • Write research reports about important ideas, issues, or events by using specific guidelines
  • Read assigned novels, focusing on the history and culture involved in the story

Music
The fifth grade general music class is an intermediate level of musical studying. Notation and rhythmic rudiments are reviewed and increase in difficulty throughout the year. Playing techniques for recorders and Orff or other instruments are reviewed and tested. Recorder or other instrumental duets are incorporated into musical compositions, rehearsed and performed in class and used at the Holiday and Folk Festival performances. Student choreography is encouraged for all compositions and implemented into the final performance. The basics of singing are reviewed, rehearsed, and implemented in challenging music geared for this age level. Two part music interpretation is implemented by the student using a working musical vocabulary and sung in two part sections. Rhythmic raps and song writing are geared to integrate fifth grade curriculum in Science, Math and English.

  • Intermediate Basics of notation and rhythm
  • Recorder- Technique, songs in 4/4, 3/4 and 2/2,
  • Song Writing- Integration of curriculum in solo/group projects
  • Musical Score Analysis in 4/4,/3/4, and 2/2
  • Singing- Basic Techniques, integration of instrumental accompaniments
  • Listening Lessons- geared to build inner ear and musical interpretation
  • Instrumental techniques, music is in 4/4, 2/2, 3/3
  • Composers- Romantic and Classical Periods
  • Movement- using the body to create movement

Physical Education
This course is design to allow the students participation in vigorous activity. The students will develop an increased awareness of physical fitness and wellness. Introduction to nutrient, hygiene and growth and development will be an essential part of the course.

  • Growth and Development / Hygiene (classroom)
  • Physical fitness related to health.
  • Posture awareness.
  • Cardio-vascular fitness/endurance.
  • Written tests on rules
  • Team activities.

Science
Students analyze, interpret, evaluate and comprehend the world around them in the fifth grade science program. They work with the scientific method and develop scientific reasoning skills, conducting investigations and experiments to help them think critically. Subject areas covered include types of matter, as well as elements and their combinations in the area of physical science; plant and animal structures in life science; and water, energy and the solar system in earth science. Students use Houghton Mifflin's Discovery Works to support the science curriculum, and supplement it with Prentice Hall's Science Explorer program in undertaking an in-depth of a particular subject. Fifth graders use our science lab to conduct investigations and experiments relating to various topics of study. Students produce an inventor/invention project, which is an inter-disciplinary study combined with writing a biographical report in addition to applying standard scientific evaluation. It culminates in an oral presentation with students portraying the inventor. Field trips, such as visiting the Science Center to view the IMAX film on the ISS (International Space Station) enhance this unit. The highlight of the year for fifth graders is a five-day culmination study trip to the Desert Sun Science Center (Astrocamp). In science, fifth graders learn to:

  • Classify objects such as rocks and plants based on appropriate criteria
  • Ask meaningful questions and conduct careful investigations
  • Plan and conduct a simple investigation based on student-developed questions
  • Write a report of an investigation that includes tests conducted and data collected
  • Record data using appropriate graphical representation
  • Study structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials in plants and animals
  • Learn that the solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the sun in predictable paths
  • Investigate stars, galaxies, and the universe
  • Identify the effects of the Earth's rotation and revolution; explain the cause of seasons
  • Explain how rockets travel in space
  • Recognize the uses of satellites, space stations, and the Space Shuttle

Math
Fifth graders have mastered the basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with integers. Using the sixth grade text Scott Foresman -Addison Wesley Mathematics, students review basic mathematical concepts and continue with decimals and fractions. They use various methods such as word problems, math tiles, chess, mystery math to promote their critical thinking, problem solving, and logic skills. Fifth graders are also introduced to metric measurements, geometry, and skills in determining perimeter, area, and volume. Students are exp,osed to challenging mathematical concepts, as some of the material in the California Mathematics standards for this grade level is quite complex, such as prime factoring, graphing coordinates, negative and positive integers. Students work on the computer for various undertakings, such as the graphing unit, where they learn to use the database program (Excel) to graph such data as their hours of homework, sleep, and their nutritional intake. Fifth graders learn to:

  • Compute with very large and very small numbers (positive integers), decimals, and fractions
  • Understand the relationship between decimals, fractions, and percents
  • Perform calculations and solve problems involving addition, subtraction, simple multiplication and division of fractions and decimals
  • Use variable in simple expressions; compute the value of the expressions for specific values of the variable and translate the results
  • Identify, describe and classify the properties of, and the relationships between, plane and solid geometric figures
  • Display, analyze, compare and interpret different data sets, including data sets of different sizes
  • Make decisions about how to approach problems
  • Use strategies, skills, and concepts in finding solutions


Social Studies
Fifth graders study the development of the nation up to the American Revolution with an emphasis on the cause and effect patterns on the population: who was already here, when and where others arrived, and why people came. We cover the Native American Indian, the colonies, and the Revolutionary War. We also trace the colonization, immigration and settlement patterns of the American people from 1789 to the mid 1800's with emphasis on the defining role of economic incentives and the effects of the physical and political geography and transportation systems. The curriculum is covered thematically, such as civil rights or causes of conflict, and we attempt to show students that patterns in history can be reflected on today. The text used is Silver Burdett Ginn's Our Country. It is supplemented by additional materials, both fiction and non-fiction, which elucidate historical events and bring them to life for fifth grade students. We have lively classroom discussions as well as re-enactments or films that will better help the student to visualize the complex historical interactions between human beings. For example, we might do an historical activator about the Middle passage in which material is presented as a play that various members of the class perform. We take field trips to Colonial Chesterfield in Oak Glen where events from the American Revolution as well as battles from that time period are reenacted. Another trip is to the Skirball Center, which has a program on immigration that helps students develop a respect for the uniqueness of every individual and pride in their own heritage. Fifth graders:

  • Describe the cooperation and conflict that existed among the Indians, other Indian nations, and the settlers
  • Understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era
  • Understand the course and consequences of the American Revolution
  • Relate the narrative of the people and events associated with the development of the U.S. Constitution
  • Trace colonization, immigration, and settlement patterns of the American people from 1789 to mid-1800's

Spanish
Fifth graders do a lot more of reading, and emphasis is put into speaking more quickly, thus training the ear for understanding the language when native speakers speak. A textbook is used regularly in class. Games, short plays and work with partners are used for a more effective learning.

  • Spanish conversation
  • Pronouns and contractions
  • Speaking and writing about themselves and their friends
  • Learning to speak faster