Welcome 5th Grade Families!
We have many wonderful learning activities planned for this school year. We have highlighted our curriculum for the year below.
Literacy
Our students have been making terrific strides with our literacy curriculum! Our students experienced growth as readers, and an increased understanding when applying skills and comprehension strategies. We are very excited to continue our Benchmark series and new Word Study program! Benchmark Advance (Grades K-5), is known for its research-proven literacy solutions. Benchmark Advance supports all of the daily components of high-quality reading instruction, aligned with the Common Core State Standards, with an emphasis on comprehension. This program includes read-alouds, shared reading mini-lessons, small group guided reading, and independent reading to encourage the transfer of skills and strategies. It now also has a writing component with spelling, grammar, cursive, and other intervention supplements.
Some of our students will be a part of the Read 180 curriculum instead of Benchmark Advance. Please see Mrs. Knor for details. Mrs. Babinski will service our children with reading resource needs.
Our Being a Writer and Making Meaning programs be used a supplement to our enriching Benchmark Advance series.
Science
We're so excited to use the Mystery Science curriculum this year!
This year science will start with the concept of states of matter. We conducted experiments to show how solids, liquids, and gases interact with other, and many other investigations!
We will then begin our unit exploring the sun and the solar system. Students will conduct investigations to experience the importance of our sun and how the sun transfers energy vital for survival. We will then incorporate two products that students will create based off of the Defined STEM units.
Later we will explore Earth’s ecosystems and other systems such as hydrosphere and atmosphere to see how life interacts with the changing environments. We will continue our previous understandings of the life cycle and create a product from the Defined STEM unit: Wildlife Biologist. We will also compare types of water around the world and how the water cycle works.
Math
We are very excited to continue using the Everyday Mathematics 4 math series! In 5th grade, Everyday Math 4 content focuses on procedures, concepts, and applications in developing fluency with fractions, whole number and decimal operations and volume. It emphasizes problem solving, use of multiple representations, reasoning, mathematical modeling, tool use, and communication. Each grade level builds on and extends concept understanding so that children approach each new challenge from a firmly established location.
Social Studies
In our Building America unit, we will focus on the origins of America, beginning with the 13 colonies. Students will learn what life was like in the New World, and the many struggles faced by the colonies including the American Revolution and the development of the Constitution & modern government. Students will also participate in an epic journey known as the Westward movement, and focus on the expansion of our country. We will explore some major historical events in American history and compare it to how it affects our world today.
We will later work on understanding the United States geography and how it impacts our everyday life. We will also investigate how our economy is run (i.e. checks and balances, interest, and credit). There will be a project that focuses on advertising skills.
We look forward to a wonderful and exciting year with our students!