Fifth Grade Curriculum

Advisory

Course Description

Students in fifth grade advisory will learn the processes and procedures of the Developmental Designs program to achieve a sense of community, encourage leadership, and meet their social and emotional needs. The fifth grade advisory helps students transition to the middle school and then helps them continue to grow as valued members of the middle school community. Fifth graders are involved in a cross-curricular theme of problem solving, which drives the discussions, lessons, and activities of advisory.

Learning Objectives

• Introduction to the Circle of Power and Respect (CPR)
• Understanding and using the problem solving process, individually, in our school community, in the greater Michiana community, in our region, our nation, and our world
• Demonstrating personal responsibility in all areas of the school day
• Participation in group activities
• Use of “random acts of kindness”
• Understanding of empathy
• Understanding of service learning and participation in two service learning days
• Use of student planners for time management and homework
• Understanding of fifth grade procedures including locks and lockers, class locations, health and nutrition, and middle school expectations
• Participation in the process of developing the middle school Social Contract

Instructional Methods

• Small group discussion
• Snack sale and dress down day
• Service Learning project--food drive; Kiva.com
• Camp Eberhart activities: team building; survival; climbing wall; edible plants; lake communities; canoeing; group dynamics; low ropes
• Problem-solving activities
• Team building activities
• Responding to videos
• Role play
• Circle of Power and Respect (CPR)
• Interactive games and activities
• Small and large group activities, including projecting how each activity should look, sound, and feel as well as reflection time following the activity
• Grade-level discussion

Art

Course Description  

The fifth grade art curriculum continues to reinforce prior art learning experiences and supports the transition between lower school and middle school art class. Students are expected to be independent, organized, and involved in the handling of their supplies, work areas, and in the area of individual self-control. There is a stimulating atmosphere of varied visual subject matter intended to inspire their imaginations and creative spirits. National Art Education Association elements of art and design principles and element foundations are formally introduced and students begin to explore creating art with an analytic and thought provoking approach. Students are urged to be creative, plan their ideas, engage their imagination, and develop perceptual awareness. Student sketchbooks become essential as resources for student art learning. Critical thinking skills are utilized as students develop an understanding of expression through art while exploring two-dimensional and three-dimensional artwork through drawings, painting, mixed media, ceramics, and art appreciation as class time allows. There is a continued emphasis on art appreciation, skill development, self-expression, innovation, the development of aesthetic sensitivity, perseverance, and good work habits. Art terminology, design elements, and compositional design are practiced and applied as integral parts of every lesson. The 5th grade art program is enriched periodically by visiting artist workshops, all school curricular theme projects, service-learning experiences, and art museum/event field trips.

Learning Objectives

• Students will
  • learn to produce and apply formal art education elements and principles to her/his personal art works. (Art Production)
  • reflect, assimilate, and critique self-work as well as evaluate master artists and others for the purpose of skill improvement and advancement. (Art Critique)
  • learn to appreciate, assess, and articulate the language of art aesthetics in a variety of contexts and applications. (Art Aesthetics).
  • explore, examine, and develop an understanding of master artists and their time periods and cultures. (Art History)

• Direct whole group instruction
• Individualized instruction 
• Interactive instruction 
• Hands-on demonstration 
• Constructive suggestions and feedback
• Modeling of proper tool and material use and technique
• Group and individual idea brainstorming
• Visual image research: using books, computer images, videos
• Group discussion including: compare and contrast, storytelling, expressing opinions, Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS)

Field Trips/Special Projects/Exhibits/Displays

• 5th graders city-wide participate in the Perspectives program museum visits to the South Bend Museum of Art and Snite Museum of Art on the camps of the University of Notre Dame 
• Students have the opportunity to volunteer to participate on the scenic arts team for the spring 5/6 play. 
• Periodic field trips, visiting artist demonstrations, and/or guest speakers/performers in the arts as student interest and curriculum dictates 
• Opportunities to enter artwork in local, regional, and national competitions are available to students as interest and curriculum dictates 
• Student artwork is displayed throughout the school community as well as on the school's Artsonia online art gallery and in the spring PS-8 exhibit, The Arts Event

Chorus

Course Description 

In fifth grade, students have the opportunity to be in a combined chorus. They will prepare for their concerts in the fall and the spring, as well as a possible performance in ISSMA vocal competition. While preparing for these performance opportunities, student will work on the fundamentals of singing in a group, as well as music literacy.

Learning Objectives

• Understand music literacy
• Follow along while a conductor is leading
• Blend with multiple voices
• Thoughtfully reflect on one’s performance
• Perform a piece of music incorporating stylistic elements
• Sing in three part music
• Sing a harmony line
• Understand how to read a choral score

Instructional Methods

• Direct whole group instruction in a classroom setting
• Cooperative learning groups by voice part
• Individualized instruction
• Modeling of proper techniques by instructor

Field Trips/Special Projects

• Performance opportunities- Fall Concert, Spring Concert, and Middle School Final Assembly

Athletics

Course Description 

Students in fifth grade participate in an interscholastic athletic program that competes against other schools. Classes do not follow a traditional physical education program as students select seasonal sports in which they participate. The coaches stress proper technique and develop sport specific strategies. The non-competitive option allows students the same sport specific instruction without the commitment of after school competitions. Classes/teams practice four times a week. 

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate mastery for the following manipulative skills: throwing, catching, kicking, and striking
• Understand and demonstrate proper and safe equipment usage
• Continued demonstration of teamwork and sportsmanship during competitive activities
• Demonstrate mastery and understanding of sport specific strategies
• Demonstrate mastery and understanding of sport specific skills for the following sports: soccer, cross country, volleyball, basketball and ice hockey. Tennis and golf (as selected by student per season).
• Non-inner school activities include flag football, ultimate frisbee, 16-inch softball, cardio fitness and disc golf.

Instructional Methods

• Direct whole group instruction in P.E. setting
• Drills and exercises designed for game simulation (tactical understanding)
• Drills and exercises designed for repetition and skill development
• Individualized instruction
• Whole-part-whole technique
• Demonstration of proper techniques by instructor and students

Field Trips/Special Projects

• Middle School Olympic Day (Miami/Iroquois teams)

Band

Course Description 

This course is continued instruction on flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, trombone, baritone, tuba, and percussion instruments (orchestra bells, xylophone, snare drum, bass drum, and other percussion accessory instruments). Students receive instruction on tone production, articulation, phrasing, music reading skills, basic music theory, and instrument care. Performances will be highlighted throughout the year.

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate the correct posture to be used when playing the instrument
• Respect the abilities and efforts of others
• Exhibit personal pride, integrity, responsibility, commitment, dependability, a strong work ethic
• Explain and demonstrate, with the band, the pyramid balance concept
• Perform music for the public with the band
• Hold the instrument, sticks, or mallets correctly with correct hand position
• Perform clean articulations on the instrument to include: tongue and slur combinations, accents, staccato, legato and forte-piano
• Produce a characteristic, controlled sound on the instrument
• Form a correct embouchure or stick grip for the instrument

Instructional Methods

• Direct whole group rehearsal

Field Trips/Special Projects

• Public Concerts
• Guest Speakers and performances

Drama/Theatre Movement/Acting and Puppetry

Course Description 

The students will be learning movement for actors. The movement/acting exercises will help them interpret the world around them and communicate their ideas and feelings to the audience. The basic acting tools are reinforced and the elements of drama are introduced. They apply these elements to a myth or story and write the dialogue for their own puppet play. Then they will design and construct their own puppet and rehearse and perform their puppet plays. They experience theatre from the written word to production and performance.

Learning Objectives

• Channel anxiety
• Continue to develop the acting tools of imagination, concentration, observation, listening, body, voice, mind, and trust
• Use appropriate audience behavior
• Manipulate a puppet
• Maintain concentration
• Use imagination to improvise action and dialogue
• Use movement to communicate

Instructional Methods

• Experiential – observations, role-playing, storytelling, games, acting/movement exercises to improve skills
• Direct – lecture, drill and practice, demonstrations
• Independent study – homework
• Indirect – problem solving, reading for meaning, reflective discussion, concept formation

Field Trips/Special Projects

• Performing at the semester Cabaret with the sixth grade class
• Opportunities for collaboration with any grade and subject

Language Arts

Course Description 

The primary goal of the fifth grade curriculum is to help students improve their communication skills through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Fifth grade learning centers around a theme of “Problem Solving.” Fifth grade English involves a balanced exploration of literature, composition, word study (spelling and vocabulary), and the conventions of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Learning Objectives

Reading

• Identify and read a variety of literature that corresponds to students’ Lexile measurement and appropriate reading level.
• Accurately paraphrase or explicitly quote from a text to support inferences and claims.
• Summarize a text by using a self-created plotline as a resource.
• Determine the theme of a text by focusing on the main conflict and how it is solved.
• Compare and contrast common themes in a variety of literary genres.
• Compare and contrast stories in the same genre and analyze how the theme is developed in a variety of ways.
• Determine the author’s point of view and how it influences the text and its events.
• Analyze how multimedia presentation enhance or change the meaning of a test.
•  Identify how the central idea is supported by details.
• In conjunction with Social Studies, use knowledge of nonfiction text features in print and digital sources to locate information and determine the validity of the information.
• Analyze how an author uses reasons and evidence in nonfiction text to support claims and determine if the reasons and evidence are substantial.

Writing

• Write persuasive/argument compositions which state a claim and use paraphrasing and evidence to support the claim.
• Demonstrate mastery of the paragraph structure by crafting an inviting lead, details, and powerful conclusion related to the introduction.
• In conjunction with social studies, write informative multi-paragraph compositions that are organized logically and supply information from various sources.
• Include graphics, captions, and labels in informative research writing.
• Write narrative compositions that develop the story elements.
• Use narrative techniques - dialogue, imagery, figurative language, internal thoughts - to describe events in conjunction with character emotions.
• Write responses to prompts that show an increase in writing stamina and fluency.
• Write book reviews that evaluate a work of literature for content, theme, and symbolism.

Vocabulary

• Incorporate content-relevant vocabulary into written responses.
• Use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
• Use print materials and digital materials to determine the meaning of unknown words.
• Identify and analyze word relationships in analogies.
• Determine how words and phrases are used to implicitly or explicitly give readers information about characters or events.
• Identify and study academic or content specific words related to a particular topic
• Apply Greek/Latin affixes and root words to determine the meaning of words. 

Grammar Usage and Mechanics

• Write with sentence variety which includes simple, compound, and complex sentences with correlative, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
• Demonstrate mastery in capitalization, spelling of everyday words and correct spelling of homophones.
• Apply correct usage of apostrophes and quotation marks in writing.
• Understand the role of the eight parts of speech in sentence construction.
• Use creative punctuation- dashes, hyphens, ellipses, and parentheses.
• Demonstrate the correct use of the basic comma in items in a series, equal adjectives, compound and complex sentences, and dialogue.

Instructional Methods

Music

Course Description 

This non-performing music class meets four times a week, for one quarter of the year and is designed to be a music appreciation course that teaches students about the “ingredients” of music such as melody, harmony, notation, texture, style, rhythm and form. Students will explore the basics of music as well as sing, perform on classroom instruments, and listen to various examples of music from around the world. Students will also gain an understanding of music’s relationship with world history and culture.

Learning Objectives

• Understand and recognize musical terms and symbols
• Describe, analyze and create music
• Study and perform music from a variety of genres and diverse cultural, social, and historical perspectives both independently and with others
• Understand the historical significance of music in many cultures

Instructional Methods

• Direct whole group instruction in a classroom setting
• Classroom performances
• Self evaluations
• Use of technology as a tool for learning
• Improvisation
• Guided reading and writing
• Independent work
• Interactive activities
• Discussion

Field Trips/Special Projects

Social Studies

Course Description 

Students in fifth grade social studies examine the history of Latin America and Africa. From here, students then examine real world problems that exist on these continents and help to find solutions to these problems.

Learning Objectives

• Learn and understand the five themes of geography and how they impact us
• Examine global issues and propose solutions to those issues
• Learn and strengthen note-taking skills

          Latin America

• Learn the geography of Latin America and discover how its landforms and waterways affect Latin America
• Learn how Latin American nations are struggling to improve their economies and the welfare of their people
• Learn how Latin American caudillos and foreign involvement contributed to the region’s troubled past
• Learn how fighting for independence shaped and changed Latin America
• Learn how European conquest changed the course of history in Latin America
• Learn about ancient civilizations of Latin America and their impact on history
• Learn how depending on a one-resource economy has been a problem in the region
• Learn the important natural resources of Latin America
• Learn what factors influence climate in Latin America and how climate and vegetation influence the people

          Africa

• Learn about Africa’s four regions and its major landforms
• Discover ways in which Africa is facing current environmental challenges
• Learn about major social issues and how they affect Africans today
• Learn what economic issues face Africa today
• Examine the different challenges faced by African nations on their paths to independence
• Learn how European conquests changed the course of history in Africa
• Learn how trade influenced African history
• Learn how early Africans adapted to their surroundings and thrived
• Learn what African countries are doing to improve their economic health
• Learn how Africans make use of agriculture, natural resources, and energy
• Discover what factors influence Africa’s climate, vegetation zones, and how climate affects people’s health

Spanish

Course Description 

Fifth grade Spanish students focus on speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Students expand upon vocabulary topics and grammatical structures studied in lower school and are introduced to the conjugation of regular present tense verbs. Fifth grade students also engage in an in-depth cultural and geographical study of the world's many Spanish-speaking countries through the completion of an individual research project and multimedia presentation in Spanish.

Learning Objectives

          Students will:

• Review how to greet peers and adults and introduce themselves and others.
• Review the letters of the alphabet in Spanish.
• Study maps of North, Central, and South America and be able to discuss and describe the location of various geographical features in Spanish.
• Practice correct Spanish pronunciation, focusing on the vowel sounds a, e, i, o, u as well as the consonants j, ll, h, b, and v.
• Be able to identify and locate the following Spanish-speaking countries on a map.
• Be able to name and identify food vocabulary in Spanish. They will also study the national dishes of many Spanish-speaking countries.
• Be able to describe Spanish-speaking countries´ flags after reviewing Spanish color vocabulary.
• Be introduced to numbers above 100.
• Be able to discuss likes and dislikes as well as ask peers about their likes and dislikes in Spanish.
• Be able to talk about common activities they enjoy doing on a regular basis.
• Be able to describe themselves and classmates.
• Be able to talk about the order of their classes, using the ordinal numbers 1st - 10th.
• Be able to talk about their daily school schedule.
• Be able to identify and correctly use Spanish subject pronouns.
• Be able to correctly conjugate any regular -ar, -er, or -ir verb in the present tense.

Strings

Course Description: Beginning Strings

This course is designed for students interested in beginning level instruction on violin and cello. Students receive instruction on tone production, basic music reading skills, and instrument care. Performances will be highlighted through out the year.

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate the correct posture to be used when playing the instrument
• Respect the abilities and efforts of others
• Exhibit personal pride, integrity, responsibility, commitment, dependability, a strong work ethic
• Perform music for the public with the Beginning Strings class
• Hold the instrument correctly with the correct left hand position
• Perform clean articulations on the instrument using detaché bowings
• Produce a characteristic, controlled sound on the instrument
• Form a correct bow grip for the instrument

Instructional Methods

• Direct whole group rehearsal
• Sound clips
• Individual instruction
• Small groups
• Modeling of proper techniques by instructor

Field Trips/Special Projects

• Public concerts
• Guest speakers and performances
   

Course Description: 4th-8th String Ensemble

This course is continued instruction on violin, viola, cello and bass. Students will receive instruction on tone production, articulation, phrasing, music reading skills, basic music theory, and instrument care. The third quarter is devoted to chamber ensembles. Students play individually on a part in order to strengthen ensemble skills, improve intonation, and gain confidence. Performances will be highlighted throughout the year.