Literacy 

Reading

In Grade 5 Reading, students deepen their understanding of literature and informational texts by applying strategies aligned with the Science of Reading. They build strong background knowledge and vocabulary across diverse topics, develop comprehension skills through close reading, and learn to think critically about complex texts.

The program emphasizes active reading behaviors, such as rereading, questioning, and summarizing, while also strengthening fluency, morphological analysis (prefixes, suffixes, root words), and syntax awareness to help students navigate increasingly complex sentence structures. Vocabulary instruction is woven into every unit, with explicit teaching of academic and domain-specific words and strategies like using context clues and morphology to determine word meaning.

The Grade 5 Reading Units include:

Unit 1: Interpretation Book Clubs

Students learn how to read fiction deeply and thoughtfully, practicing skills such as inferring, interpreting themes, and analyzing text structure. They build habits of accountable talk in book clubs and learn how writing about reading sharpens their comprehension. By comparing different parts of a story, identifying recurring ideas, and thinking about an author’s message, students learn to read with an interpretive lens. This unit is transdisciplinary, connecting to Social Studies concepts of migration, helping students see how literature reflects human experiences.

Unit 2: Tackling Complexity – Moving Up the Levels of Nonfiction

In this unit, students learn how to approach complex nonfiction texts with a problem-solving mindset. They examine how nonfiction text structures (cause and effect, compare and contrast, etc.) influence understanding, and they develop strategies for tackling technical vocabulary, dense sentences, and challenging ideas. Students build independence by choosing nonfiction texts of interest and practicing note-taking, summarizing, and synthesizing information across sources. They also learn to monitor for meaning and use fix-up strategies (like rereading, asking questions, or using context) to comprehend difficult texts.

Unit 3: Argument and Advocacy – Researching Debatable Issues

This unit teaches students how to read texts with a critical lens, identifying arguments, counterarguments, and supporting evidence. Students learn to analyze perspective, evaluate claims, and synthesize information from multiple texts on the same topic. They build background knowledge on current and debatable issues (e.g., environmental challenges, social justice topics), and practice reading to understand multiple sides of an issue. By studying craft moves in opinion and persuasive texts, students learn to read like writers and think deeply about how an author’s choices influence readers.

Unit 4: Fantasy Books – The Magic of Themes

In this unit, students explore fantasy stories as rich opportunities for learning about universal themes, such as courage, friendship, and perseverance. They analyze archetypes, quest structures, and metaphorical meanings in fantasy texts, learning to connect fictional events to their own lives. Students also compare themes and author’s messages across different fantasy books, building their skills in inference, comparison, and text-to-self connections. As they explore challenging texts, students continue to build fluency, accuracy, and reading stamina through repeated reading and practice with grade-level complex texts.

Across all units, students practice word solving strategies, learn how text structure impacts meaning, and write about their reading to solidify understanding. This program builds the skills and habits of critical readers, ready to tackle the complexity of upper-grade and real-world texts.

Writing 

In Grade 5 Writing, students develop their craft as authors across narrative, informational, and argument genres. They learn to write with clarity, purpose, and voice, using strategies that support planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing—the complete writing process. Aligned with the Science of Writing, the program emphasizes explicit instruction in sentence construction, grammar, paragraphing, and word choice, as well as morphological awareness to strengthen vocabulary and spelling. Students also learn to write with an audience in mind, making intentional decisions about tone, text structure, and language to achieve their goals.

Throughout the year, students draw on mentor texts to study the craft moves of published authors, building a toolkit of strategies they can apply across genres. Oral rehearsal and collaborative writing help students clarify their ideas, while teacher modeling and guided practice ensure students understand how to apply writing strategies independently.

The Grade 5 Writing Units include:

Unit 1: Narrative Craft

Students begin the year by writing personal narratives and realistic fiction. They learn to generate ideas from everyday moments, plan and structure stories, and pace events to create tension. Writers also study author’s purpose and make intentional craft choices—such as adding dialogue, description, or internal thinking—to make their writing engaging and meaningful. These foundational narrative writing skills transfer to other genres, helping students learn to write with voice and purpose across all types of texts.

Unit 2: Research Reports

In this unit, students learn how to gather and organize information on a topic by researching multiple sources, including books, articles, and digital texts. They practice note-taking, summarizing, and synthesizing ideas across sources. As they write, students learn to structure informational texts logically, using headings, subheadings, transition words, and domain-specific vocabulary to help readers understand complex topics. They also learn to use text features and citations to support their writing and make it accessible to readers.

Unit 3: Research-Based Argument Essays

This unit helps students become critical thinkers and persuasive writers. They learn how to investigate debatable issues, consider multiple perspectives, and form their own positions. Writers practice crafting thesis statements, using reasoning and evidence to support their ideas, and organizing essays logically with clear introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions. They also learn to use transition words like for example, in addition, and on the other hand to clarify their reasoning and strengthen their arguments.

Unit 4: Shaping Texts – From Narrative to Fantasy

In this final unit, students apply their narrative skills to the fantasy genre, creating original worlds, magical characters, and imaginative plots. They study the unique features of fantasy, such as archetypes, quest structures, and themes of good versus evil, and learn how to incorporate these into their own stories. Writers focus on showing, not telling, using figurative language, and building tension to captivate readers. By the end of the unit, students will have produced fantasy stories that reflect strong narrative structure, vivid detail, and imaginative storytelling.

Throughout the year, students develop as independent writers, using feedback, self-assessment, and revision strategies to strengthen their work. They learn that writing is a powerful tool for expression, communication, and change, and that their voices matter.

Inquiry

Inquiry units are designed to offer students authentic experiences where they generate questions and tackle complex issues, as individuals and teams.  Social Studies based units are aligned to the American Education Reaches Out (AERO) standards, and they build understanding of concepts across the domains of the discipline - civics, economics, geography, and history.  Science phenomena-based units are aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), weaving together core disciplinary ideas, cross-cutting concepts and practices of the discipline.

In Grade 5 Inquiry, students will begin with a study of adaptability as they investigate the factors that influence locations of human populations and human migration.   They will continue to dig deeper into geography and economics, in an exploration of different trade markets as they consider whether global trade is helpful or hurtful to societies.  Students will also investigate activists, from the past and in the present day, to begin to understand how one person’s passion, ideas, advocacy, and actions can change the law, people’s perspectives and impact society and even the world.  Through scientific inquiry, students will dive deeply into the concept of systems, observing and analyzing systems in space, the atmosphere, and in ecosystems we observe in the environments around us.  

In all units, active questioning drives learning and concepts help us to organize our ideas.  Through concept-based inquiry, students develop transferable understanding around core ideas and practice the skills of the disciplines, including:

AERO Social Studies Practices

1. Develop Questions and Plan Inquiries

2. Evaluate the Credibility of the Sources and Relevance of the Information to the Inquiry

3. Construct Coherent, Reasoned Arguments and Explanations

4. Communicate Conclusions From an Inquiry

5. Take Informed Action for the Common Good

NGSS Science and Engineering Practices

1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems

2. Developing and Using Models

3. Planning and Carrying out Investigations

4. Analyzing and Interpreting Data

5. Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

6. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

7. Engaging in Argument from Evidence

8. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information