Reading

Accelerated Reader (AR)

We have gotten our AR program up and running.  Students are to read books at their reading level.  (I gave them their levels based off their STAR tests scores.)  They will read their books and take quizzes based on the content of the books.  They will earn points that they will use to receive prizes and special rewards.  5th grader are required to earn 20 points that will also be calculated into their reading grade.  

Reading:  For reading this year, 5th grade will be completing 4-6 novel studies (time permitting, see list below), as well as using the Amplify textbook.  Students will be given vocabulary to learn every week and will be expected to reflect on the stories and use these reflections to aid their book reports.  The novels that will be read in 5th grade are:

  • Frindle by Andrew Clements

Vocabulary from Classical Roots:  Students will be using a workbook to aid them in breaking down words into their roots, suffixes, and prefixes to aid them in deciphering the meaning of unknown words.  Working on IXL to give additional support

Amplify:   A new Language Arts Program...5th grade will be attempting to work through this series...more information to come on specific units.

Unit 1:  Personal Narratives:  The Prince of Los Cocuyos... Thanksgiving celebrated for the first time by a Cuban American.

Unit 2:  Native Americans: Aztec, Maya, Inca

Unit 3: Poetry

Will Wilder and the Relic of Perilous Falls

Will Wilder is a mischievous, headstrong twelve-year-old with an otherworldly gift—he alone can see the nefarious creatures encroaching on Perilous Falls. For nearly a century, a sacred relic has protected his hometown from the raging waters surrounding it. But when Will “borrows” the relic for his own purposes, he accidentally unleashes an ancient evil.

 As boats sink and hideous creatures crawl from the rising waters, Will must set things right before it is too late. With the help of his sweet (if lethal) Great Aunt Lucille, the curator of a museum of powerful artifacts, Will proves that the actions of one twelve-year-old boy can change the world. 

List 1

List 2

List 3

Hatchet

Brian is on his way to Canada to visit his estranged father when the pilot of his small prop plane suffers a heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane in a lake--and finds himself stranded in the remote Canadian wilderness with only his clothing and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present before his departure. 

Hatchet vs My Side of the Mountain.docx

My Side of the Mountain

Every kid thinks about running away at one point or another; few get farther than the end of the block. Young Sam Gribley gets to the end of the block and keeps going--all the way to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. There he sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and a weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival.  

Twenty and Ten

This story is based during WWII France.  A Catholic Nun is in charge of 19 5th graders and 1 young sibling.  They are presented with the opportunity to hide 10 Jewish Children.

We will continue discussing the Works of Mercy through this Novel.

In addition, we will be discussing The Flight into Egypt after Jesus was born.


Vocabulary

Show and Tell Performance Task

Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims

This story follows Rush Revere (who dresses like Paul Revere to teach history to a 21st century History Class) and his Magical Horse Liberty through time to travel with the Pilgrims as they went through a number of obstacles to have religious freedom in America.  Tommy and Freedom get 1st hand experience in their history class.

"History is a mystery, until it is discovered."


Reading this novel, we will get a good foundation for when we learn about the Pilgrims in Social Studies.


Vocabulary List 1


Vocabulary List 2


Corporal Works of Mercy

Spiritual Works of Mercy


Out of the Dust

This story follows a young girl during the Great Depression in the Dust Bowl.  The book is written in prose with many memories filling up the 2 year period of time we will be reading.

During this book we will be learning about the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy that are shown so beautifully during this sad time period.

When we finish this book, students will have the opportunity to make their own memory books, written in the style of Billy Jo in Out of the Dust.

Vocab List 1


Vocab List 2

Frindle

Nicholas Allen has plenty of ideas. Who can forget the time he turned his third-grade classroom into a tropical island, or the times he fooled his teacher by chirping like a blackbird? But now Nick's in fifth grade, and it looks like his days as a troublemaker are over.

Everyone knows that Mrs. Granger, the language arts teacher, has X-ray vision, and nobody gets away with anything in her classroom. 

What ideas will he come up with this year?

List 1

deserve
promptly
apologize

reputation
pride
essential
oral

practically
concentration
preposition

List 2
serious
blurt
emphasize
abruptly
involve
fuss
authority
vandalism
disrespectful
opinion

List 3
awkward

preliminary

controversial

ruckus

remarkable

arbitrary

recommend

establish

urge

obviously

Possible Future Novels and Vocabulary Lists