Our Focus

Welcome!  As we embark on a new school year, we would like you to become more familiar with the Language Arts units of study your fifth grader will experience this year. The focus of the first nine weeks is to teach students to become independent readers who engage with the text. At the beginning of the unit you will help students understand that just as they have physical growth spurts, they will work towards reading growth spurts this year. In this unit students will be encouraged to thoughtfully read novels for deeper meaning and students will focus on writing about reading from the start. The focus of the Narrative Writing Unit will be developing a community of young writers. Students will work hard to generate writing ideas based on personal experiences. Students will lean heavily on what they know about how stories go to write personal narratives. They will develop their ideas using sensory details. Also, children practice their skills of editing and revising while thinking about an audience for their writing.

Instructional Approach 

This first unit will focus on setting up Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop, establishing behaviors and routines to help our classroom run successfully, and assessing students in order to gain knowledge on how to guide their learning. Students will learn how to be more effective readers by selecting a “just right book”, building stamina, and monitoring comprehension. Students will work in book clubs to deepen their reading thinking by analyzing text with their clubs. Students will be introduced to a variety of reading and writing strategies. The children will generate writing topics and organize their ideas.