FIFTH GRADE CURRICULUM FOCUS

SPELLING: Students will be given a list of 20 rule words each week. The program follows the Harcourt Brace Program. They will also have the opportunity to be on an alternate list each week. Pretests will be on Wednesdays. Tests will be on the following Tuesday. A contract will be given out each week, requiring students to complete activities with their words on a weekly basis totaling 20 points. All contracts are due on the day of the test. Class time will be given to your child to work on the contract. The contracts will be completed at school and will be taken for a grade. READING: Students will be using both the Harcourt Brace basal reader, Time for Kids, book room materials, newspaper articles, and/or novels throughout the year. Graphic Novels and Choose Your Own Adventure Books will be introduced. Students will also participate in the Guided Reading Program. Developing Setting, Plot, characters, and drawing connections to what students read will be our strong area of focus. Students will continue working on vocabulary building skills, word decoding, and comprehension. Various genres will be covered throughout the course of the year. Students will be using weekly issues of Time for Kids to reinforce non-fiction reading skills. LANGUAGE ARTS: Students will focus on grammar throughout the spelling program, as well as during their writing time. This will be accomplished by using various resources provided by the district in combination with grammar mini-lessons that focus on areas of need within their writing. They will be producing pieces of writing in conjunction with their area of focus in reading. The major goal will be to create several pieces of writing using the writing curriculum and the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing. The traits are listed below: Ideas, Organization, Sentence Fluency, Conventions, Word Choice, and Voice MATH: Our math series, Everyday Math has a hands-on approach to learning. The curriculum will introduce a variety of strategies through games. Our Fifth Graders will be working in the following areas as the year progresses: Practice & extend their number sense, measure sense, and estimation skills. Review and extend their arithmetic, calculator, and thinking skills. We will work with fractions, decimals, percents, large whole numbers, and negative numbers. Algebra using variables in place of numbers. Refine understanding of geometry. Working with 2 & 3 dimensional figures. Continued practice with probability and statistics explorations with numerical data. Otter Creek: Mastering Math Facts Program With this new series and learning through many games, we want our children to become better at using mathematics and enjoy the learning as it takes place! ACCELERATED MATH: Students placed in the program are expected to master skills at the 6th grade level. These students will be learning 6th grade math curriculum through the Everyday Math Program. Mr. Schuh and Mrs. Scurr will be the accelerated math teachers.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Our social studies curriculum in fifth grade focuses on the general area of U.S. history. Some of the topics we will be covering are listed below. We do have a newly adopted Social Studies Textbook series that we will be using this year. We will also be having some exciting in house assemblies that tie into our Social Studies Curriculum. 20th Century/Decades Civil War Explorers Westward Movement Industrial Revolution Colonization

SCIENCE: Our science program takes a hands-on approach to learning using the following district provided kits for each unit. Quarter 1 = Weather Quarter 2 = Electricity and Magnetism/stars and constellations Quarter 3= Digestion Quarter 4 = Small Life We also have Scott Foresman science textbooks and a resource kit which will be an invaluable resource as we move through the curriculum this year. Students will participate in the Sheep eyeball dissection, and Science Olympics in addition to the Science curriculum. Students will also have the opportunity to visit Robert Crown Center for the Life Begins Program. Dates and times for the trips will be forthcoming. Classroom Management Each child brought home a letter to be read, reviewed, and signed by student and parent last week. To review 1st warning-natural redirection from the teacher 2nd-verbal warning from the teacher 3rd- consequence deemed appropriate by classroom teacher 4th-student is written up on a behavior referral slip and must go to the office to confer with Mr. Bednar and Mr. Martin Positive Incentive System: We use Bucks to reward and reinforce positive behavior and choices that model good character. Each individual teacher has a system for managing Bucks. District 204 Grading Scale: 91-100 A 81-90 B 71-80 C 65-70 D 64 and below F Honor Roll: High Honor Roll-At least 8 As and no more than 2 Bs Honor Roll-At least 5 As and no more than 5 Bs Specials/Encore Schedule: Available on teacher blog