Grade 5 Curriculum
Curriculum Overview
Religion
Curricular Goals
Students in 5th Grade will:
- Introduce the Creed and the teachings of the Catholic Faith
- Define the Creed as a list of the basic truths of the Catholic Church
- Comprehend the Holy Trinity: God the Father of All, the Son the Redeemer, the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier
- Identify and discuss major doctrines and dogmas related to the Blessed Virgin Mary (Annunciation, Visitation, Assumption)
- Recognize the belief that God knows and loves each of us personally and has a plan for our lives
- Understand the application of the Ten Commandments to daily life
- Memorize and recite the Apostle's Creed and the Ten Commandments
- Participate in parish and community service projects
Text and Materials
- Faith and Life: CREDO: I Believe (Ignatius Press)
- The New American Bible (Fireside Catholic Publishing)
Reading
Curricular Goals
Students in 5th Grade will:
- Focus on reading comprehension skills necessary to understand parts of informational and narrative texts.
- Recognize multiple types of poetry, respond in writing to poetry, read poetry fluently and with expression, and define and identify figurative language in poetry
- Develop an understanding of the characteristics of oral tradition: folktales, tall tales, fables, and fairy tales
- Improve word-attack skills and vocabulary development
Text and Materials
- Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry
- HMH (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Into Reading
English
Curricular Goals
Students in 5th Grade will:
- Emphasize parts-of-speech: conventions of standard English grammar and usage
- Review sentence structure and types
- Refine the writing process and solidify certain writing genres: persuasive, explanatory essay, research paper, poetry, and prayer
- Reinforce punctuation and capitalization through practice
- Investigate new vocabulary and emphasize spelling, pronunciation, and meaning
- Develop an understanding of sentence structure including subjects, predicates, adjectives, and adverbs.
Text and Materials
- Easy Grammar: Grade 5 (Wanda Phillips)
- Spelling Connections (Zaner-Bloser)
Mathematics
Curricular Goals
Students in 5th Grade will:
- Find the sum, difference, product, and quotient of two numbers expressed as decimals through thousandths
- Create and solve single-step and multi-step practical problems involving decimals
- Find the sum, difference, product, and quotient of two or more fractions and mixed numbers and express answers in simplest form
- Evaluate exponents
- Evaluate whole number numerical expressions, using the order of operations
- Find perimeter, area, and volume in standard units of measure
- Identify, classify, and measure lines, angles, and triangles
Text and Materials
- Sadlier Math
- Freckle
Science
Curricular Goals
Students in 5th Grade will:
- Study the essential science process skills and the scientific method
- Classifiy living things and study their interactions
- Examine the adaptations of animals
- Identify the systems of the human body and how they work together
- Discuss motion and energy using Newton's Three Laws
- Explore our solar system and beyond
Text and Materials
- Science (McGraw-Hill)
- A World In Motion Project (AWIM) Resource
- Guest speaker discusses her research on black holes
- NASA
- Discovery Education
- BrainPop
Social Studies
Curricular Goals
Students in 5th Grade will:
- Reinforce the geography of the United States
- Understand the tools and concepts of geography (maps, compasses, globes)
- Identify the American Indians, including their land cultural regions
- Analyze the routes of Exploration to the New World and why European explorers came to the New World
- Recognize the early English settlements and 13 colonies
- Explore slavery in the Americas
- Understand the tensions between the colonies and Great Britain
- Explain and discuss the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution
- Participate in colonial Day activities
- Celebrate the United States Constitution
Text and Materials
- Social Studies Alive! America's Past (Teachers' Curriculum Institute)
Specials
Students in 5th Grade are enrolled in the following special classes.
- Art
- Computers
- Music Class or Band
- Physical Education
- Spanish
Events and Experiences
Field Trips
- Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” play at Meadowbrook Theater
Enrichment and Competitions
- Battle of the Books
- Geography Bee
- Green Team
- Chess Club
- JETTOY Competition
- Spelling Bee
Featured Projects
- A World in Motion (AWIM) Jet Toy
- Native American Project
- Service Projects for St. Christine Food Pantry: Halloween treat bags, Christmas snowmen, Easter baskets
- Colonial Day speaker and activities
- Storytelling Day