5th grade

Welcome to 5th Grade!

The Aves Compartidas curriculum for 5th grade focuses on wetland migratory birds shared between Guanajuato, Mexico and Oregon, USA. The curriculum of 5th grade builds on the teachings of 3rd and 4th grade, digging deeper into the concepts of avian adaptations, communication, threats of migration, and ways in which humans can play a role in conservation of our feathered friends. 

Each week, we explore together an important feature of wetland birds such as differential bill adaptations based on diet. After thorough discussion, inquiry, and amazement, learners are able to apply their new understanding to a bird species specific to them. Through individual investigation of a unique wetland species, each student has the opportunity to build a relationship and understanding of a bird local to their home and establish a sense of compassion and care for the natural environment. This establishes not only a connection to our home here in the Willamette River watershed but also to the Laja River watershed in Guanajuato, Mexico with which we share these special migratory birds. 

Each week a new aspect unique to their species such as the physical adaptions, the habitat, the diet, and the song of their bird is added to a poster. At the completion of the five weeks of in-classroom instruction, learners have the opportunity to show their posters to their classmates to share their hard work and the amazing things they have learned about their specific migratory bird. 

In each classroom lesson learners are asked to use their senses to make observations about the wetland bird species we are learning about. They are encouraged to share personal experiences and familial stories to make connections to the curriculum with which we are engaging to make it more memorable and the learning more long lasting. We hope for our teachings in the classroom to translate into an attitude of environmental stewardship outside of the classroom. At the culmination of these five in-classroom lessons, students have the opportunity to participate in a field trip to Mount Pisgah Arboretum, where they put their observation skills to the test with binoculars and field guides and a chance to form a positive memory engaging with the natural world. 

5th Grade Curriculum by Week