Fifth Grade Curriculum Overview
Reading
Fifth
graders enjoy a variety of literary pieces as well as informational and
practical texts. They begin to pay more attention to detail,
organization, and logic of what they read and the ways authors support
ideas with evidence. They compare pieces they have read and defend their
reading preferences. They detect the implied motives of characters as
revealed in dialogue and action. They identify literary archetypes such
as “heroes” and “villains.” They use appropriate reading strategies and
word attack skills according to purpose of the text.
Writing
Fifth
graders use written language to formulate hypotheses, evaluate
information and ideas, present and support arguments, and influence the
thinking of others. They make written presentations to inform or
persuade, selecting vocabulary for impact. They include concrete images
in poetry and in prose. They can complete routine forms they encounter
as students and consumers and write social correspondence such as
informal letters and invitations. They revise their writing for meaning
and clarify and pay particular attention to organization and coherence
among the paragraphs of the longer pieces they produce.
Mathematics
The
mathematics curriculum is organized into five strands: (1) number and
operations; (2) measurement; (3) geometry; (4) data analysis and
probability; and, (5) algebra. Problem-solving strategies are embedded
into each of the 5 strands.
Grade five is a pivotal year. It is a
culmination and synthesis of what has come before in grades K through 4
and a transition to the greater independence and responsibilities
students need to exhibit in middle grades.
Social Studies
Fifth
graders build on concepts developed in fourth grade; however, they
extend the focus to geographic regions of the United States, Canada, and
Latin America. Students learn about people in the Western Hemisphere
and their physical environments. Social, economic, and political
institutions will be compared among societies.
Science
The focus for fifth grade students is on using evidence, models, and reasoning to form scientific explorations.
Science Concepts: interdependence of plants and animals, forces and motion in technological designs, understanding of landforms
Art/Music
Arts
Education includes four separate and distinct disciplines; dance,
music, theatre arts, and visual arts—each with its own body of knowledge
and skills, The intent of the National Standards for Arts Education,
along with the standard courses of study in each area, is that a
comprehensive understanding of one or more of the arts is accomplished
by each student throughout the K-12 Program.
Health/PE
The
Healthful Living Education program promotes behaviors that contribute
to a healthful life-style and improved quality of life for all students.
The Healthful Living Education portions of the NC Standard Course of
Study support and reinforce the goals and objectives of its two major
components—health education and physical education.