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
Will Wilder and the Relic of Perilous Falls by Raymond Arroyo
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims by Rush Limbaugh
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Twenty and Ten by Claire Huchet Bishop
Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain Comparison
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
relic
pious
superstition
virtues
intercession
reliquary
guttural
disparage
prophecy
catatonic
impaled
craggy
flippant
claptrap
petulantly
List 2
sacristy
sanctuary
niches
quaint
ample
undulated
nonchalantly
specters
carped
putrid
taut
filigree
dais
opulence
inferno
List 3
contritely
vestibule
emphatically
grotto
stalactite
negligent
decrepit
vigilant
pensive
vocation
discernment
fanatics
tenuously
demonologist
sarcophagus
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.
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
ration cards
refugee
dogged
crestfallen
census
slogan
vehemently
frantic
reproach
fortnight
placidly
ruthlessly
thrash
imprudent
venture
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
patriot
knickers
reluctantly
flabbergasted
tranquility
Puritans
pilgrims
adversity
conviction
frivolity
provisions
shoals
mutiny
allegiance
distinguished
Vocabulary List 2
detention
gratitude
alibi
pelts
hospitality
bounteous
luxury
implications
literally
incentive
plague
idle
overwhelmed
gibberish
friars
Corporal Works of Mercy
To feed the hungry.
To give water to the thirsty.
To clothe the naked.
To shelter the homeless.
To visit the sick.
To visit the imprisoned, or ransom the captive.
To bury the dead.
Spiritual Works of Mercy
To instruct the ignorant.
To counsel the doubtful.
To admonish the sinners.
To bear patiently those who wrong us.
To forgive offenses.
To comfort the afflicted.
To pray for the living and the dead.
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
riled
spindly
scowl
maggoty
kerosene
sorghum
antiseptic
chafed
octaves
sod
Vocab List 2
aghast
stupor
resplendent
wince
chaos
loitering
rogue
gaunt
succulent
enticed
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