Course Overview

Here is an overview of the skills and focus of 5th grade language arts. Most of this will be addressed at school but it is is strongly encouraged for students to be reading 20 or more minutes a day , as it will increase reading comprehension, spelling, and vocabulary skills.

Language Arts

The fifth grade Language Arts curriculum has been designed to align with Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards in both reading and writing. Language Arts classes concentrate on the reading and writing of different genres, including:

  • Expressive-Reading a wide variety of texts; including short stories, novels, and poetry, students will identify, analyze and apply knowledge of the structures and elements of literature. Students will also demonstrate their knowledge by composing a variety of expressive writing; including stories, narratives, poems, and dramatic pieces.
  • Expository-Through reading informational text, students will identify main ideas, distinguish fact from opinion, and determine the author’s main purpose. Students will also write expository texts that describe, explain, inform, and summarize. This type of writing supports a thesis and may include a research report.
  • Functional-Students will interpret details and locate specific information from letters, menus, schedules, pamphlets, recipes, etc. Students are also responsible for writing a variety of functional texts which include: friendly letters, formal letters, invitations, rubrics, and addressing an envelope.
  • Persuasive-Reading persuasive texts, students will determine an author’s position, and identify the intended effect of persuasive vocabulary and persuasive strategies. Students will also use this knowledge to write text that attempts to persuade the reader.

Throughout the year, students will consistently use strategies to improve reading fluency and comprehension. Some of these strategies include:

  • Vocabulary-Acquiring and using new vocabulary in relevant contexts
  • Predicting- Making guesses about what will happen based on prior knowledge and confirming those predictions from text
  • Questioning-Generating and asking “who, what, when, where, why and how” questions to clarify texts
  • Connecting- Relating text to personal experience or knowledge and to other texts
  • Summarizing- Organizing and collecting details in order to increase understanding

Students will also consistently use the writing process in order to compose a variety of texts. This writing process include

  • Prewriting-Generating ideas, determining purpose and audience, and organizing details to plan the writing
  • Drafting- Incorporating the prewriting activities in order to put the ideas down on paper in an organized manner which is appropriate for the purpose
  • Revising-Evaluating and refining the rough draft for clarity and effectiveness, including adding or rearranging details and evaluating for use of the Six Traits
  • Editing-Proofreading and correcting the rough draft for conventional errors with the use of resources such as dictionaries, spelling/grammar checkers, etc.
  • Publishing-Formatting and presenting the final product for the intended audience

Another important aspect of writing which is focused on throughout the year is the Six Traits of Writing. These traits include:

  • Ideas and Content-Writing should be clear, focusing on a main idea and supported with relevant details, and well-suited for the audience and purpose
  • Organization-The writing has a structure that fits the genre, includes a beginning, middle, and end, follows a logical sequence, and includes a variety of transitions
  • Voice-The writing should be unique, convey a sense of originality and sincerity, and include language which is appropriate for the purpose and audience
  • Word Choice-The writing should include a variety of specific and accurate words that effectively convey the intended message, use descriptive words and phrases, and include both figurative and literal language
  • Sentence Fluency-The writing should a variety of sentence structures and lengths and should flow rhythmically
  • Conventions- Writing should be free of mechanical errors including grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and paragraphing