Fifth Grade

The Fifth Grade Curriculum Introduction

In the 5th grade children sample all kinds of reading material: short novels, stories, poetry, plays, essays, biographies, great speeches and documents from American History. They learn how details of a text and the writer’s use of language affect meaning. Expository writing becomes more frequent: book reports, essays that explain a process, descriptive essays. They write reports that address a specific audience, define a main idea, provider an introduction and conclusion, use organize paragraphs, illustrate points with good examples, and document sources in a simple bibliography.

In Grammar, the 5th graders will know the following parts of speech and how they are used: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions and interjections. They will learn to use a colon before a list, and commas with an apostrophe. They will learn to use correct subject-verb agreement. The students will participate productively in group discussions and use Standard English when reporting in class.

In Math, the 5th grade students practice how to read and write numbers up to a billion, find the greatest common factor, and least common multiple of given numbers, express simple ratios. They will study percentages, fractions, decimals and per cent equivalents. Students will also solve multiple step word problems and equations with more than one operation, understand probability as a measure of likelihood that an event will happen and solve problems that involve collecting, interpreting and graphing data.

Science for the 5th grade student is a combination of training and conducting investigations. They look closely at the evidence they gather and use it to form conclusions. They incorporate math work with science using fractions, decimals, percentages and graphs. They report in writing their findings. The science topics enable the students to use their reading, writing, spelling and English grammar skills.
In history the children continue their study of the United States of America. They cover the period from the Civil War to present day. As always the students acquire geographic knowledge and skills as they study historical events.

Fifth grade students learn art from observation of the greatest artists’ techniques. They relate these artists to History and Geography as well as Art. The children express their own creativity in free art and classroom projects.

By the end of the fifth grade, the students have developed a personal code of character and conduct. They take responsibility for their actions. Belief in God is anchored with their sense of right and wrong. Their faith promotes hard work, honesty, individual responsibility, and discipline. They have a foundation in the moral virtues of kindness, decency, and forgiveness and community service. Above all they know that God loves them and that He is there for them every day of their lives. By His grace, virtue will continue to develop after the student has graduated from Cross and Crown School.

» Download the 5th Grade class curriculum.