Fifth Grade Curriculum

Language Arts

Reading: Students are exposed to a variety of genres. Reading instruction focuses on the elements of literature (setting, character, plot, and theme), reading comprehension, identification of literary devices, critical thinking skills, and oral expression and listening skills. Students respond to literature in writing and discussion.

Writing: The fifth grade writing program spans across the curriculum, with a focus on multi-paragraph essays. Students write in a variety of genres including persuasive, narrative, poetry, and expository informational. Throughout the writing process students work on drafting, writing, revising, editing, and publishing.

Students continue to develop their vocabulary through the use of Wordly Wise, word analysis, and reading.

Math

• Middle School Mathematics Pathways and Placement

In the fifth grade standards-based math program, concepts are developed in a logical order and increase in depth and complexity. Computational and procedural skills, conceptual understanding, and problem solving are interconnected and included throughout the program.

Units of study include number sense, algebra and functions, measurement and geometry, statistics, data analysis and probability, and mathematical reasoning.

Harcourt Math is the basis for our curriculum. Students are assessed through formative and summative assessments.

Science

Under the units of Systems of Living Things, Weather and Space, and Matter and Energy, fifth grade students study all three major science disciplines: life, earth, and physical science. Emphasis is on the scientific process, hands-on experiments, and the use of technology.

Social Studies

As mandated by the state framework, we study American history from early human migration to Westward Movement. We begin the year with a basic geography unit and map work. We move on to the study of Native American cultures and the Explorers of the New World, which leads to the settlement of the original thirteen colonies and the American Revolution. Then comes the Westward Movement, and, time permitting, the Civil War. Throughout the social studies curriculum, ties are made to literature, art, culture and science.

Students learn research skills when they write individual or group reports during guided lessons and independent projects. Fifth grade students will write a research report. The basic text is Social Studies Alive. To supplement the text, literature is selected to illustrate life during the four main historical periods: Native Americans, Explorers, Colonial America, and the Revolution.

Class Meetings

All fifth grade students participate in regularly scheduled class meetings in their Houses. Discussions topics are based upon principles of CodeRED: responsibility, empathy and differences.

Art

The fifth grade art program focuses on the Elements of Design: line, texture, shape, form, value, color, and space. Students spend class time learning these elements and applying what they have learned through a series of studio problems. Embedded in this program are a series of workshop projects taught on block days. These projects are process oriented, involving new and/or more advanced techniques and media.

Band

Fifth grade students will meet two periods per week for music instruction in a concert band setting. Students will be taught the basics of rehearsal technique, how to read music as well as instruction on techniques to play and perform on their individual instrument. Students may choose from one of the following instruments: flute, clarinet, alto Saxophone, trumpet, trombone, or percussion and achieve a basic level of fluency. All instruction is sequential and we work with an instrumental method book called The Standard of Excellence, Book 1. Instruments may be rented and/or purchased through local music stores. Students are expected to practice their instrument at home and rehearse in class inpreparation for two concerts during the school year: a winter concert that takes place at the end of January and a spring concert that takes place in early June.

Physical Education

Physical Education is taught by a credentialed physical education teacher. Students meet twice a week and follow the same master schedule of activities as other grades. Students a required to wear the Kent M.S. uniform shirt and athletic, lace-up shoes, to class.

Expectations: Our philosophy and goal in Physical Education is to make students more aware of how mind, body and spirit work together as one entity. Therefore, this will teach the importance of life long fitness/sports skills, as well as health principles that will enable students to make informed choices when it comes to their health and self-image. In order to accomplish this, we expect all students to complete all assignments and to behave in a respectful and cooperative manner with consideration of others. Remember, “Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have.”

Activities: Soccer; Speedball; Pickleball; Volleyball; Cooperative Games; Team Handball; Frisbee Skills; Indoor Soccer; Table Tennis; Physical Fitness/Fitness Assessment; Tumbling Skills and Gymnastics; Track and Field; Dance: (Ballroom, Line, Square, Aerobic); Basketball; Floor Hockey Skills; Softball Skills/Over-the-Line.

Technology

This enrichment rotation is an introduction to keyboarding with an emphasis on touch typing and the proper and safe use of computers. Students learn how to log in to the school server using their unique user name and password, type simple documents, save to and retrieve from their own online Back Packs on their own desktops, end a session safely, & log out to protect their personal work.

Kentfield School District’s teacher librarians align the K-8 library program with California state standards. A teacher librarian possesses both a California teaching credential and a California teacher librarian services credential. Our library programen compasses information and technology literacy as well as literature appreciation.

The following information is excerpted from the Model School Library Standards for California Public Schools1 adopted by California State Board of Education in September 2010.

More than 60 research studies throughout the nation, from Alaska to North Carolina to California, have shown that students in schools with good school libraries learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized tests than their peers in schools without libraries.

School libraries have evolved from simply providing print materials to offering rich selections of print, media,and digital resources; from teaching students how to search a card catalog to teaching students strategies for searching a variety of print, media, and digital resources; from teaching basic reading literacy to teaching information literacy (the ability to access, evaluate, use, and integrate information andideas effectively). However, the skills learned from print transcend their use in books alone.

School Library Standards for Students

School Library Standards for Students incorporate information literacy skills. Students learn to access, evaluate, use, and integrate information and ideas found in print, media, and digital resources, enabling them to function in a knowledge-based economy and technologically oriented society.

The standards are organized around four concepts followed by overarching standards that continue across all grade levels. Each grade or grade span has detailed standards. Students should achieve these standards by the end of each grade level or grade span. In addition, students should have mastered the standards for previous grades and continue to use the skills and knowledge as they advance in school. The classroom teacher and teacher librarian should assess student progress to determine whether students have acquired the prerequisite knowledge and skills and whether there is a need to review or re-teach standards from earlier grades.

These are not stand-alone standards taught in isolation; they are meant to be taught collaboratively by the classroom teacher and the teacher librarian in the context of the curriculum.

Organization of the Standards

1. Students access information

The student will access information by applying knowledge of the organization of libraries, print materials, digital media, and other sources.

1.1 Recognize the need for information.

1.2 Formulate appropriate questions.

1.3 Identify and locate a variety of resources online and in other formats by using effective search strategies.

1.4 Retrieve information in a timely, safe, and responsible manner.

2. Students evaluate information

The student will evaluate and analyze information to determine what is appropriate to address the scope of inquiry.

2.1 Determine the relevance of the information.

2.2 Assess the comprehensiveness, currency, credibility, authority, and accuracy of resources.

2.3 Consider the need for additional information.

3. Students use information

The student will organize, synthesize,create, and communicate information.

3.1 Demonstrate ethical, legal, and safe use of information in print, media, and onliner esources.

3.2 Draw conclusions and make informed decisions.

3.3 Use information and technology creatively to answer a question, solve a problem, or enrich understanding.

4. Students integrate information literacy skills into all areas oflearning

The student will independently pursue information to become a lifelong learner.

4.1 Readwidely and use various media for information, personal interest, and life long learning.

4.2 Seek, produce, and share information.

4.3 Appreciate and respond to creative expressions of information.

*Model School Library Standards for California Public Schools: Kindergarten through Grade Twelve. Ed. Faye Ong. California State Board of Education. Sacramento: California Department ofEducation, 2011. Web. 20 Sept. 2011.