Writing

Writing Strategies:

In fifth grade, note taking becomes an essential academic skill. Under the Common Core Standards, fifth graders are expected to use books, periodicals, websites, and other digital sources (like a library database) to do short research projects using several sources to investigate a topic from different angles — both on their own and as part of group work with peers. Your child should keep track of all the sources he/she uses — noting what she learned, the name of the source, and the page number or url, so they can find it again and create a source list or bibliography later. A big step in your child’s research process this year: taking the time to review, categorize, and summarize or paraphrase the information they have learned. What did they find out about the animal’s habitat from each source? What themes were present in the author’s novels? (Yes, these research and summary skills apply when the source materials are fiction, too.) These practices of considering and sorting evidence into categories and summarizing the information will help your fifth grader with the planning, writing, and revising stages of their writing project. Click her for more information: Writing Strategies