Reading
Your child will:
- utilize a variety of strategies to enhance reading comprehension and vocabulary growth
- read to acquire, remember and apply information
- summarize materials orally and in writing
- compare three or more sources of information about the same topic
- use a variety of media to access and express information
- extend understanding by making inferences from printed materials
- analyze and critique materials using an evaluation criteria
- use information to support opinions and ideas
- read and discuss a variety of materials
- relate new and more complex ideas to prior knowledge and experience
- investigate issues and interests
Writing
Using the writing process, your child will:
- consider audience and purpose of the writing
- clearly focus on main idea throughout
- organize ideas into paragraphs
- begin to organize paragraphs into a logical order
- elaborate ideas with supporting details
- begin to use relevant dialogue
- made effective word choices
- grab attention with lead and bring closure with ending
- consistently vary length and complexity of sentences
- demonstrate consistent voice
- use grammar, punctuation and capitalization correctly
- use standard spelling in published pieces
- complete a research project
Speaking and listening
Your child will:
- contribute to group discussions
- present compositions and reports
- be an active listener
Mathematics
Your child will:
- show academic progress
- display effort
- understand and apply unit concepts from current quarter
- demonstrate problem solving strategies
- explain mathematical reasoning
Science
Your child will learn about science by asking questions about the world, designing and conducting experiments and recording and reflecting on findings. Your fifth grader will:
- discover the key processes of weathering, erosion, and deposition
- learn about the layers of the earth and explore how plate movements form mountains and volcanos
- collect and graph temperature to discover how heat energy transfers
- compare light and heat output to understand the concept of energy efficiency
- investigate the progressive decomposition of several organisms
- analyze experiment results and draw conclusions
- plan, illustrate, and build simple machines
Social studies
Focus: World Geography – East Asia, Africa and Latin America
Your child will:
- understand and apply the themes of geography (location, physical features and man-made features, human and environmental interaction) to the continents studied
- consider major historical events and people of the areas studied
- demonstrate an understanding of the way individuals, groups, societies and cultures address human needs and concerns
- explain how components of culture can further global understanding or cause misunderstandings
- further develop map/globe skills and research skills
Fitness education
Your child will:
- understand and apply the components of health related fitness to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle
- develop and maintain appropriate levels of skill related fitness
- develop understandings so that they can adopt healthy and physically active lifestyles
- develop positive attitudes about physical activity so that they engage in healthy and physically active lifestyles
Music
Your child will:
- sing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
- play, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
- read and notate music
- listen, analyze, describe and evaluate music
Art
Your child will:
- identify, describe and effectively use Elements of Art in their projects
- demonstrate a basic understanding of the Design Principles
- know a variety of artists, art styles and art movements throughout history
- know that art is created by all cultures
- create art that expresses their feelings and communicates their personal ideas
- demonstrate their understanding of skills and techniques necessary to produce specific projects
- know specific art vocabulary and demonstrate their understanding of it
Classroom guidance
Students participate in classroom guidance activities facilitated by a school counselor. Each school provides a developmental guidance curriculum that encompasses dealing with feelings, peer relationship, decision making, protective behaviors, careers, and transitioning to the middle school. Skills taught will assist each child in his/her academic, emotional and social development. This, in turn, will help ensure success in school, at home and in the community.
Social-emotional learning
- Growth mindset & goal-setting – Students learn how to develop a growth mindset and apply research-based goal-setting strategies to their social and academic lives. This unit’s content helps create classrooms that are connected and encouraging by helping students set and achieve collective and personal goals and learn from challenges and mistakes.
- Emotion management – Students learn how to build their emotion vocabularies, practice identifying their own and others’ emotions and recognize the importance of labeling and processing their emotions. This unit’s content helps students understand and explore how past experiences as well as unique perspectives influence how they feel and respond to situations.
- Empathy & kindness – Students learn how to recognize kindness and act kindly toward others, and how to develop empathy by learning strategies to take others’ perspectives. This unit’s content helps students understand others’ points of view.
- Problem-solving – Students learn how to process strong emotions, describe a problem, identify the wants and needs of others, think of and explore the outcomes of potential solutions, and pick the best solution. This unit’s content helps students ask, listen and empathize with all parties involved during problem-solving