Grade 5 Team

Course description

5th grade math is based on the Minnesota Standards for Mathematics in the areas of number and operation, algebra, geometry and measurement, and data analysis. Skills in multiplication and division are reinforced. The addition and subtraction of fractions and decimals is covered in depth with like and unlike denominators. A more thorough understanding of variables in equations is required. Surface area and volume is introduced. Finally, students learn to interpret data through mean, median, and range.

Proficiency learning targets for grade 5 mathematics

Arithmetic and basic algebraic solving

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• Divide multi-digit numbers (5.1.1.1)
• Use division strategies to convert benchmark fractions to decimals (5.1.2.3)
• Use multiplication and division to find equivalent decimals and fractions (5.1.2.4)
• Add and subtract fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals (5.1.3.1 / 5.1.3.1)
• Solve problems using the order of operations (5.2.2.1)
• Evaluate expressions and equations involving variables (5.2.3.3)
• Use formulas to find area of triangle, parallelograms, and figures that can be decomposed (5.3.2.1)
• Use formulas to find the volume and surface area of rectangular prisms (5.3.2.4)
• Use arithmetic to find the mean and range of a data set (5.4.1.1)

Number and place value sense

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• Read and write decimals using place value; millions to millionths (5.1.2.1)
• Use place value knowledge to find 0.1, 0.01, or 0.001 more or less than a number (5.1.2.2)
• Use place value knowledge to order fractions and decimals (5.1.2.3)
• Round numbers to the nearest 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001
• Use visuals and models to add and subtract fractions and decimals (5.1.3.2)

Real-world thinking

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• Solve real-world and mathematical problems requiring addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (5.1.1.4)
• Consider how a quotient or remainder should be interpreted based on the situation (5.1.1.2)
• Estimate solutions to check for reasonableness of the result (5.1.1.3)
• Solve real-world problems involving the addition or subtraction of decimals and fractions
• Represent a real-world situation with an inequality and variable (5.2.3.2)

Geometry and measurement

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• Describe and classify 3D figures: cubes, prisms, and pyramids (5.3.1.1)
• Classify 3D figures using terminology: faces, edges, and vertices (5.3.1.1)
• Recognize and draw a net for a 3D figure (5.3.1.2)
• Use formulas to find area, volume, and surface area (5.3.2)

Data analysis

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• Find the mean, median, and range of a data set (5.4.1.1)
• Use a spreadsheet to find the mean, median, and range of a data set (5.4.1.1)
• Create double bar graphs and line graphs (5.4.1.2)
• Use a spreadsheet to create double bar graphs and line graphs (5.4.1.2)
• Analyze and answer questions based on information from a double bar graph and line graph (5.4.1.2)

Resources

• Chromebooks – we access Google Classroom every day; your Chromebook must be charged daily
• IXL – Minnesota standards practice
• Whiteboards, notebooks, and MN standards practice worksheets
• Calculators
• 3D manipulatives

Course description

The overall emphasis in this course will be on developing effective writing, grammar, reading, speaking, and listening skills, with an emphasis on composing proper sentences, paragraph structure, and organized essays. In addition to culturally responsive literature using the READO model and nonfiction selections, students will also read the novels Shiloh and Hatchet, as well as self-selected texts. Students will complete a research project to learn research skills, note-taking, and presenting to an audience.

Proficiency learning targets for grade 5 ELA

Writing proficiency targets

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• I can write an essay including an introduction, body, and conclusion. (5.6.2.2)
• I can use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing. (5.6.5.5)
• I can organize formal academic writing. (5.6.5.5)
• I can produce clear and coherent writing: sentences, paragraphs, and essays. (5.6.4.4)
• I can organize and develop content using a formal writing process. (5.6.5.5)
• I can generate effective research questions. (5.6.7.7)
• I can develop an outline according to evidence gathered. (5.6.5.5)
• I can write routinely over an extended period of time. (5.6.10.10)

Reading–literature proficiency targets

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• I can read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and make logical inferences from it; cite textual evidence when writing and speaking. (5.1.1.1)
• I can analyze the structure of text including how specific sentences and larger portions of the text relate to the whole, including paragraphs, scenes, and stanzas. (5.1.5.5 / 5.2.5.5)
• I can assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of text. (5.1.6.6 / 5.2.6.6)
• I can analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of time. (5.1.3.3 / 5.2.3.3)
• I can determine central ideas and themes of text and analyze their development and summarize the key supporting details and ideas. (5.2.1.1)
• I can delineate and evaluate the arguments and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning and the relevance and sufficiency of evidence. (5.1.8.8 / 5.2.8.8)
• I can determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. (5.1.4.4)

Speaking and listening proficiency targets

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• I can participate in a variety of discussions on substantive topics. (5.8.1.1)
• I can prepare for discussions by gathering evidence and perspectives. (5.8.3.3)
• I can distinguish among, understand, and use different types of print, digital, and multimedia. (5.8.7.7)

Language proficiency targets

As evidenced based on classroom assessments, the student is able to:

• I can correctly use grammar in speaking and writing. (5.10.1.1)
• I can correctly use punctuation, capitalization, and spelling in writing. (5.10.2.2)
• I can use context clues and word structure to determine the meaning of words. (5.10.4.4)

Materials used

Novels

• READO materials
• Hatchet
• Shiloh

Nonfiction passages

• Scholastic Storyworks

MCA prep

• IXL

Writing projects

• Best Part of Me
• Sell a Spooky House
• Perfect Winter Day Essay
• Research Project

Course description

Fifth-grade students will study the importance of communication, accurate records, evidence and repeatability in science. Students will review how to use scientific tools appropriately. The bulk our our year is spent studying the field of Physical Science. This will include the area of states of matter (solid, liquid, gas), physical and chemical properties, elements, energy, speed, and motion.

During our Earth and Space Science unit, we will discuss how day, night, shadows, and seasons are a result of Earth’s movement and we will discuss the brightness and placement of stars.

While studying Life Science, we will explore food webs and how plants create their own energy but animals need to eat in order to gain energy.

April will be spent reviewing 3rd and 4th grade Science topics to prepare for the 5th grade MCA, which is taken at the end of April or beginning of May.

Proficiency learning targets

Physical Science

Students will be able to:

• Develop and refine a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen. (5P.3.1.1.1)

• Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy, related to speed, that occur when objects interact. (5P.1.1.1.1)
• Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances. (5P.1.2.1.2)
• Evaluate methods and tools to identify materials based on their properties (5P.1.2.1.3)
• Analyze and interpret data to show that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents. (5P.2.1.1.1)
• Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved (5P.2.2.1.1)
• Construct an explanation based on evidence relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object (5P.3.2.1.1)
• Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another. (5P.3.2.2.1)

Earth and Space Science

Students will be able to:

• Use data to describe patterns in the daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky (5E.2.2.1.2)
• Use evidence to support an argument that the apparent brightness of the Sun and stars is due to their relative distances from Earth (5E.4.1.1.1)

Life Science

Students will be able to:

• Plan and conduct an investigation to obtain evidence that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. (5P.3.1.1.2 and 5L.1.2.1.4)
• Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, and motion and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the Sun (5L.1.2.1.4)
• Create an electronic visualization of the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. (5L.3.1.1.3)

Resources used

• 2005 Macmillan McGraw-Hill Science Textbook 
• IXL
• Note-taking from SmartNotes and Google Slides
• Webquests
• DiscoveryEd
• National Geographic
• Gimkit 
• Blooket

Course description

In Social 5, students explore the history of North America in the period before 1800. They learn about complex societies that existed on the continent before 1500, and subsequent interactions between Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during the period of colonization and settlement. Students examine regional economies and learn that profit motivates entrepreneurs (such as early American fur traders). They trace the development of self-governance in the British colonies and identify major conflicts that led to the American Revolution. In addition, they analyze the debates surrounding the creation of a new government and learn the basic principles of democracy set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Proficiency targets

Based on classroom assessments, the student will be able to:

Civic skills (5.1.1.1)

• Describe how a citizen successfully participates in a democratic society.
• Explain how civic engagement is important to a democratic society and the general welfare.
• Identify a problem in society, analyze it, and create an action plan.

Rights and responsibilities (5.1.3.5)

• Identify and explain the rights listed in the first 10 amendments.
• Give examples of how the rights are used in daily life.

Government and political process (5.1.4.7)

• Identify the three branches of the United States government, and explain their primary functions.
• Explain how each branch serves to check and balance the powers of the government.

Economic choices (5.2.1.1)

• Explain the difference between short- and long-term economic goals.
• Apply a decision-making process to identify an alternative choice that could have been made in a historical event.

Geography – TODALSS (5.3.1.1)

• Use TODALSS to interpret and analyze maps of various kinds.
• Use TODALSS to create various kinds of maps.

Physical and human characteristics (5.3.1.3)

• Identify the human and physical characteristics of the colonial regions, and explain how these characteristics impacted the region.

Historical skills (5.4.1.2)

• Pose questions about a topic in history.
• Use evidence from multiple sources to draw conclusions about a historical event.
• Explain a historical event from multiple perspectives.

First Americans (5.4.4.15)

• Describe the key characteristics of the major early American civilizations and regions.
• Understand how these civilizations developed and what happened to them.

European colonization (5.4.4.16)

• Explain why Europeans colonized America.
• Describe the impact colonization had on the natives, colonists, and Africans.
• Identify the similarities and differences between the Spanish, French, and English colonies.
• Explain why the slave trade developed in America.
• Explain how African communities developed their own culture.

13 original colonies and American Revolution (5.4.4.17)

• Explain what events led to the American Revolutionary War.
• Describe the development of self-government in the colonies.
• Identify the main events of the Revolutionary War and their importance.
• Compare and contrast how the war impacted various groups involved in the war.
• Explain the purpose of the founding documents.
• Describe the successes and failures of the government under the Articles of Confederation.
• Describe the major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention.
• Identify the principles of the United States government that make it successful.

Resources

Texts

• Build Our Nation – Houghton Mifflin
• We the People – Center for Civic Education