Fifth Grade

Fifth graders are taught in a middle school model to prepare them for the secondary school experience.

Subjects begin to be departmentalized to help students make an easier transition to secondary school. The class is broken into halves and thirds for various subjects to help differentiate both materials and instruction.

Fifth grade students are exposed to challenging literature with complex themes. Vocabulary, writing, and research are all emphasized, as are critical thinking and comprehension skills. Academic subjects are frequently integrated with the arts program, and for the first time, students have the opportunity to participate in both Band and Choir.

View our fifth grade curricular benchmarks below.

Children in costume, some holding swords, perform on a stage with a colorful backdrop.

Fifth Grade Curriculum

Literature

Practice comprehension strategies including inferring, summarizing, predicting, questioning, visualizing, determining importance, and making connections
Practice listening comprehension skills
Identify themes and author’s intent
Identify elements of fiction and nonfiction
Practice oral fluency
Respond to literature through writing
Independently select appropriate books to read
Set independent reading goals
Practice using new words and take regular vocabulary quizzes
Read and study adaptions of three Shakespeare plays

Language Arts

Use the writing process to generate, develop, and refine multiple pieces of writing
Practice narrative writing to deepen critical thinking and sense of self, informational writing to synthesize research, and research-based argumentative writing to foster constructive skills in debate
Introduce the concepts of a literary essay
Develop and refine strategies for writing across curriculum
Reinforce a goal-setting mindset that builds strong writing habits
Form sentences using a variety of structure
Understand rules for comma usage and conjunctions
Identify Latin and Greek roots in order to learn word meaning
Practice word relationships through analogies

Mathematics

Multiply multi-digit numbers
Find quotients involving multi-digit dividends
Use place value models to read, write, add, and subtract numbers to 10,000,000
Convert fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions
Use ratios
Convert fractions to percents
Add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions and decimals
Find the area of triangles
Represent and analyze data in a double bar graph
Compare experimental results and theoretical probability
Use the order of operations
Simplify and solve algebraic expressions
Graph linear equations
Use calculators and technology to solve problems
Practice bar model and other problem-solving strategies

Social Studies

Science

Explore human body systems and how body structures and systems work together to support life and functioning
Deepen their understanding of photosynthesis and how matter and energy move through living systems
Compare static and current electricity and investigate the transfer of electric charge
Build and compare series and parallel circuits and investigate relationships among current, resistance, and voltage
Investigate conductors and insulators and explain how electrical energy can be converted into motion, heat, and light
Define increasingly precise engineering problems and evaluate competing design solutions using scientific criteria and constraints
Analyze test data, combine successful features from multiple solutions, and revise designs to improve their effectiveness

French

Actively employ the vocabulary and language structures presented in prior terms
Utilize French to take care of classroom needs
Follow classroom commands and general instructions
Listen and read with the intent to understand
Acquire vocabulary and language structures needed to read and discuss a variety of French texts, including articles and mini-novels
Recognize and use interrogatives in oral and written comprehension questions
Review and employ the PQPA (part question, part answer) technique for writing complete sentences

Physical Education

Control and maneuver their bodies and equipment at an accelerated pace during activities such as soccer, basketball, field hockey, and lacrosse
Develop speed, agility, and endurance through sprinting, cross country, and track and field experiences, including the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter sprints and longer-distance running
Throw accurately to stationary and moving targets while on the move and apply passing skills during sport-specific activities
Develop more advanced jumping techniques, including the approach, takeoff, and landing for the high jump and running long jump
Build strength, flexibility, speed, endurance, and agility while setting individual fitness goals and recognizing personal growth
Collaborate with classmates to establish parameters, solve problems, and create and teach games to peers
Demonstrate positive participation, attentive listening, sportsmanship, and responsible decision-making throughout class

Studio Art

Apply primary, secondary, and tertiary color relationships and use color intentionally within compositions
Explore texture, relief sculpture, perspective, positive and negative space, and value in two- and three-dimensional artwork
Use principles such as symmetry, rhythm, scale, focus, and contrast to strengthen compositions
Apply multiple artistic techniques when developing original work
Analyze the characteristics and choices of other artists and use those observations to inform their own work
Experiment with new materials and processes while demonstrating perseverance and creative problem-solving
Consider audience, artistic value, and personal meaning when creating and reflecting on artwork

Woodshop

Understand and demonstrate safety guidelines in the woodshop
Prepare work station
Demonstrate proper use of marking tools to lay out lines
Showcase proper technique using a Japanese pull saw and coping saw
Use try square, gouge, mallet, sandpaper, block plane, sander grinder, surform, file, and scraper to complete projects
Analyze quality of each project and set goals for improvement
Share project with class and teachers

Music

Sing increasingly challenging repertoire individually, in small ensembles, and in two- and three-part choral arrangements with accurate pitch, tone, dynamics, expression, and harmony
Perform increasingly complex rounds and use translations of songs in other languages to inform musical expression
Perform increasingly challenging rhythmic patterns and full-length instrumental pieces using barred percussion and recorder in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8 meter
Read, perform, notate, and compose melodies in multiple meters while incorporating syncopation and increasingly complex musical symbols
Create and perform original compositions using melodic and rhythmic instruments
Analyze repertoire using the elements of music and consider how tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, texture, mood, and composer intent contribute to a piece

Drama

Demonstrate increased competency in fluency, enunciation, projection, cheating out, posture, expression, eye contact, and visualization during public speaking and performances
Use the tools of an actor to become a character and stay in character
Work cooperatively to solve problems both onstage and off
Model correct stage pictures to show focus
Translate Shakespearean texts and convey tone and emotion of the character for performance
Create an original costume out of found materials and recyclables
Practice appropriate backstage and onstage etiquette
Perform Shakespeare monologues and productions of Macbeth, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo and Juliet

Band

Chorus

Understand and demonstrate vocal production skills
Perform music written in two- and three-part harmony
Understand and demonstrate ensemble singing skills
Perform a varied repertoire from various time periods, cultures, and styles
Define and demonstrate the concepts of pitch, rhythm, and meter, using standard notation
Demonstrate sight-reading and ear-training skills

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