Fifth Grade Student Skills
HOW PARENTS CAN HELP
- Encourage reading by having a variety of newspapers, magazines and books at home.
- Share and discuss books and stories at home to motivate your child to read.
- Provide experiences by attending plays and educational events.
- Provide opportunities for your child to communicate through writing.
- Discuss news at home.
- Plan a shopping trip to the grocery store. Work together on your list of items needed. While you shop, have your child record the actual cost of each item. When you return home, have your child
- figure out how close the estimate came to the actual cost.
- Check out science experiment books from the library and help your child do experiments.
- Use a U.S. map to locate well known places. Plan an imaginary trip that includes visiting at least four places. Figure the mileage, time frame and possible costs.
- Visit a historical site in our area. Discuss what the area might have looked like a hundred years ago.
Language Arts
The fifth grade student will:
Listening, Viewing and Speaking
- demonstrate effective listening skills interpret oral literary selections for details, main ideas,
- themes, settings, actions and figurative language
- demonstrate effective speaking skills
- speak clearly using correct grammar
- use sentence variety in speech
- present ideas orally with peers
- present a report, speech or other oral presentation using visual aids
- interpret persuasive messages conveyed through mass media
Structural Analysis and Vocabulary
- interpret the meaning of words
- recognize a synonym or antonym for an indicated word
- identify the root word and determine the effect of affixes on the meaning of words
- apply knowledge of word origin to determine the meaning of words
- recognize the meaning of words from content areas
Reading and Literature
- use text features to predict content (table of contents, headings, illustrations, key words)
- identify a purpose for reading (information, entertainment)
- recognize details in literary and informational texts
- determine the sequence of events
- identify the main idea
- recognize cause and effect relationships in literary and informational texts
- compare or contrast similarities and differences
- draw conclusions and predict logical outcomes in texts
- recognize major literary genres (fiction, poetry, folklore, myth, drama, biography, historical
fiction, etc.) - analyze characterization in a literary selection
- interpret the plot and problem resolution in a literary selection
- identify a theme of a literary selection
- identify the author's purpose
- differentiate between fact, fiction and opinion in texts justify an inference using specific information from the text
- relate attitudes, values and events of a time period to literary and informational texts
- identify personal reading preferences and read independently
- use a variety of strategies to monitor reading (rereading, self correcting, asking questions,
- summarizing, checking other sources) Study and Reference
- use an index to find needed information
- use a variety of reference materials (dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia) to gather information
- write notes, comments and observations that reflect comprehension from a variety of media
- organize information (outline, timeline, graphic organizer)
Writing
- clarify the purpose for writing
- brainstorm and organize ideas for writing
- write a focused narrative, expository or persuasive draft focusing on a central idea or topic
- use an organizational pattern appropriate for purpose and audience
- use support to develop ideas in writing (specific detail, precise word choice, examples)
- use devices to develop relationships among ideas in writing (transitional devices, paragraphs that
- show change in time, idea or place; cause and effect relationships)
- use varied sentence structure in writing
- revise a piece of writing by adding, deleting and rearranging ideas and details edit writing for
- capitalization, punctuation, usage and spelling
- edit writing for fragments, run on sentences or sentence clarity
- produce and share final writing products, including stories, letters to persuade or make a request,
- informational reports and evaluations
Grammar/Mechanics/Spelling
- use correct grammar
- use correct mechanics of language in writing
- use correct spelling in writing
Mathematics
The fifth grade student will:
Number Sense
- read and write the numeral and word form for a whole number
- express numbers to millions in expanded form using powers of ten, with or without exponential notation
- compare and order whole numbers using language, symbols (>, <, =), concrete materials, number lines or drawings
- find sums, differences, products and quotients of whole numbers
- apply addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers to real world problem situations
- understand and use appropriate notation to represent decimals and percents
- add, subtract, multiply and divide decimals
- solve real world problems involving money
- identify the correct set of factors and multiples for a number
- read, write, compare and order fractions and mixed numbers
- locate whole numbers, fractions, mixed numbers and decimals on the same number line
- add, subtract and multiply fractions
- solve real world problems involving fractions and decimals
- solve multi step, real world problems requiring the use of more than one operation for its solution
- use estimation in problem solving
- use ratios to solve problems
- demonstrate an understanding of the properties of addition and multiplication
Measurement
- analyze a measurement task to determine appropriate units, tools and accuracy needed
- use real world settings including schedules, calendars or charts to solve problems involving time
- solve real world problems involving temperature changes within the same scale (Fahrenheit or Celsius)
- describe the estimation strategy used to determine a reasonable estimate of a quantity
- solve real world problems involving length using U.S. customary or metric units of measure
- solve problems involving weight/mass and capacity/volume using U.S. customary or metric units of measure
- estimate and calculate the perimeter and area of a regular or irregular polygon
Geometry
- recognize and use appropriate geometric vocabulary to describe properties and attributes of two and three dimensional figures (obtuse and acute angles, radius, equilateral, scalene and isosceles
triangles) - classify angle measures as acute, obtuse, right or straight
- recognize and describe symmetry, congruency and reflections in geometric figures
- recognize and describe the effect of a flip, slide or turn on a geometric figure
- solve mathematical and real world problems involving the measurement of angles
Algebraic Thinking
- describe, extend, create, predict and generalize numerical and geometric patterns to solve problems
- describe and apply a rule for a mathematical relationship of a pattern
- represent and interpret a problem situation using diagrams and symbolic expressions
- identify, locate and plot ordered pairs of numbers on a graph
Data Analysis and Probability
- interpret and compare information from different types of graphs
- make generalizations and predict trends using statistical data
- complete a circle graph using common fractions
- identify the mean, median, mode and range from a set of data
- identify all possible combinations of a given set of items and display them in an organized way
- calculate the probability of a particular event occurring from a set of all possible outcomes
Problem Solving
- formulate problems from real world and mathematical situations
- apply strategies to solve a variety of word problems
- use estimation strategies to determine the most reasonable answer to a mathematical or real world problem
Science
The fifth grade student will:
The Nature of Matter Chemistry
- understand the physical and chemical properties of matter and explain its changes
- distinguish between mixture and solution
- recognize that matter is made of smaller pieces in different amounts
- recognize that matter is conserved during heating and cooling
Energy
- recognize that some materials conduct heat better than others
- describe how convection, radiation and conduction transfer heat energy
- distinguish between stored energy and energy in motion
Force and Motion Physics
- recognize the effect of inertia, gravity, friction and mass upon an object
- recognize that waves travel in different speeds through different materials
- recognize the relationship between force and distance as it relates to simple machines
Processes that Shape the Earth Earth Science
- describe how the surface of the earth is shaped by both slow and rapid, cataclysmic events
- identify parts of a volcano and the volcanic process
- identify characteristics and causes of earthquakes
- describe the formation and destructive power of hurricanes
- define terms related to the study of oceans
Earth and Space Astronomy
- describe the arrangement of the planets and the asteroid belt in our solar system
- compare and contrast the planets in terms of size, characteristics and composition
Processes of Life Biology
- identify characteristics of cells
- recognize the functions of major plant structures
- understand how human body systems interact
- recognize the photosynthesis process
- demonstrate a knowledge of genetics
Ecology
- understand characteristics of marine organisms and their habitats
- describe how changes in the environment affect organisms
- identify ways people can reuse, recycle and reduce the use of resources
The Nature of Science
- utilize the scientific method to complete tasks related to the study of science
- recognize areas in which science, inventions and technology have improved human lives (transportation, communication, nutrition, sanitation, health care, entertainment)
Social Studies
The fifth grade student will:
Focusing Skills and Knowledge
- examine history using a variety of sources
- compare and contrast primary and secondary accounts of selected historical events
- apply information gathered from a variety of geographical tools to interpret and to draw conclusions from data about physical patterns in the United States (maps, globes, charts, graphs, keys, symbols)
- identify regions in the U.S. according to physical and human criteria
History
- examine the exploration of North America
- understand life during the Colonial Period of United States history
- examine events surrounding the Revolutionary War
- recognize the events and individuals leading to the writing of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and the principle ideas expressed in these documents
- examine geographic, economic and technological features of the growth and change that occurred in America from 1801 to 1861 including immigration as well as westward expansion
- examine industrialization and urbanization after 1880
- examine events surrounding the Civil War, World War I and World War II
- describe the economic, political and social transformations which have taken place in the U.S. since World War II
Government and Citizenship
- describe personal, political and economic rights of individuals
- explain the structure, function and primary responsibilities of the legislative and judicial branches of the U.S. government
- explain the basic role of government in schools, the community, state and nation
- recognize the rights and responsibilities of individuals
Economics
- explain the basic concept of credit
- recognize the rights of consumers
- apply the concept of earning income and budgeting
- recognize different ways in which money can increase in value through savings and/or investments
- recognize the services that banks and other financial institutions provide to customers
- describe the role that money plays in a market economy