Fifth Grade

Click here for the supply list for students entering grade 5

Grade 5 students focus on developing study skills, time management skills, independence and responsibility over the course of the year, so they may be successful students in later grades. Parents can expect students to use agendas daily for homework and long term assignments. Long term assignments are given with rubrics to help students be more reflective and self-monitoring. The team also has access to iPads for every student. Students learn presentation skills, oral speaking, and teamwork through group projects and book clubs. During the fifth grade year, students can anticipate field trips to the David Humphrey’s House, Eli Whitney Museum, and British Arts Center. Plans may be made to add additional field trips during the year.

In reading, students work diligently to develop higher level metacognitive skills, thinking more deeply about characters, plots, and themes of texts. During writer’s workshop, students explore and practice strategies for writing personal narratives, essays, and persuasive non-fiction. The main focus of our writing during the year is on expository, or essay writing, with a heavy focus on organization and adding specificity. The year ends with a poetry unit that connects both reading and writing.

In math, students work on place value, fractions, and decimals, primarily. Students learn to explain, defend, and model their work while investigating alternative methods and strategies to complete math equations and word problems in all areas of study.

Students switch for Science and Social Studies every other day. Each student’s homeroom teacher will teach one subject and the partner teacher will teach the other subject. This provides students an opportunity to have multiple teachers in preparation for 6th grade and middle school. Science units include: light and sound, earth, moon and sun, and the five senses. The social studies units include: geography, exploration, colonization, the American Revolution, and US government. Throughout the year, students have whole grade assemblies where social studies teachers incorporate larger activities and events.