5th Grade Curriculum

EL Literacy

Quarter 1: Module 1: Stories of Human Rights

What are human rights, and how do real people and fictional characters respond when those rights are threatened? In this module, students develop their ability to read and understand complex text as they consider this question.

In Unit 1, students build their close reading skills by reading the novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan. They read about human rights and apply this learning as one lens through which to interpret the characters and themes in the novel—a complex coming-of-age story set in Mexico and rural California during the early 1930s. Through close reading, interpretation, and analysis of fiction and nonfiction texts, students begin to build their understanding of human rights. Throughout the unit, students closely read selected articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) related to events in Esperanza Rising where human rights are threatened.

In Unit 2, students finish reading Esperanza Rising, focusing on characters’ reactions and responses to events when their human rights are threatened. They write a two-voice poem with a partner, as well as a four-paragraph literary essay comparing the response of two characters to a selected event from the novel, describing how each character responds to the event.

In Unit 3, students continue to revisit the themes of the UDHR and Esperanza Rising as they plan, write, and ultimately perform monologues based on events from Esperanza Rising where human rights are threatened. In groups, students write a Directors’ Note to describe their selected event from Esperanza Rising, explain which specific articles of the UDHR relate to the event, and explain how people today are impacted by this issue. Students revise, rehearse, and ultimately perform their group’s monologues for the class and/or school or community members.

Taken from EL Grade 5: Module 1: Overview

Quarter 2: Module 2: Biodiversity in the Rainforest

In this module, students read to build knowledge about the rainforest and analyze author’s craft in narrative writing to build proficiency in writing first person narratives about the rainforest.

In Unit 1, they build background knowledge on biodiversity in the rainforest and rainforest deforestation to understand why scientists, like Meg Lowman, study the rainforest. Students closely read excerpts of The Most Beautiful Roof in the World by Kathryn Lasky and other texts to identify text structure and practice summarizing the text. Having read texts about deforestation, students research using several print and digital sources to identify ways they can help the rainforest and the challenges associated with being an ethical consumer. They then participate in a collaborative discussion at the end of the unit.

In Unit 2, students explore how authors of narrative texts about the rainforest help the reader to understand what it is like in the rainforest by analyzing author’s use of figurative, concrete, and sensory language.

With a deeper understanding of author’s craft, in Unit 3 students write first person narratives, building out a scenario from The Most Beautiful Roof in the World using concrete and sensory language to describe the rainforest as though they were actually there. For their performance task, students work in pairs to create an ebook containing a front cover, contents page, introduction, and narratives, with pictures selected or created to contribute to the narratives.

Taken from EL Grade 5: Module 2: Overview

Quarter 3: Module 3: Athlete Leaders of Social Change

In this module, students consider the factors that contribute to the success of professional athletes as leaders of social change. They read about a number of professional athletes who have been leaders of social change, beginning with Jackie Robinson.

In Unit 1, students build background knowledge about Jackie Robinson through reading Promises to Keep, written by Jackie’s daughter, Sharon. Students determine the main ideas and identify key details, using these to summarize chapters of the book. They also think about the relationship between people and events in the text as they gather factors that led to Jackie Robinson’s success in leading social change.

In Unit 2, students continue their study of Jackie Robinson, building on their understanding of factors that led to his success by developing an opinion on which factor(s) were most important in his success. In the first half of the unit, students examine different texts and videos, describing each author’s opinion on the factor that led to Jackie’s success and comparing these points of view. In the second half of the unit, students draw from the factors gathered throughout Units 1 and 2 to state their own opinion. First, they participate in a text-based discussion. They then draw from the discussion to write an opinion essay on which factor they think was most important in Jackie Robinson’s success in leading social change.

In Unit 3, students read about other athletes who were also leaders of social change, beginning with Jim Abbott. They research and write essays to compare and contrast the factors that contributed to the success of the athletes they study with those of Jackie Robinson. Once students have read about a few athletes, they then consider the common factors that contribute to being an effective leader of social change and work in pairs to create a multimedia presentation highlighting three of those factors. For the performance task, students work in groups to create a poster highlighting a personal quality that effective leaders of change need to have for a display titled “Be an Effective Leader of Change.”

Taken from EL Grade 5: Module 3: Overview

Quarter 4: Module 4: The Impact of Natural Disasters

In this module, students read literary and informational texts to understand the impact of natural disasters on places and people.

In Unit 1, students work in expert groups to research a natural disaster, focusing on answering the question: “How do natural disasters affect the people and places that experience them?” As they research, they think about how authors use reasons and evidence to support particular points. Students then use their research to write and record a public service announcement (PSA) explaining how to stay safe during a natural disaster.

In Unit 2, students read and analyze literary texts about the aftermath of natural disasters, including poems, songs, and Eight Days: A Story of Haiti by Edwidge Danticat, a story about a boy trapped under his house for eight days after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. In the first half of the unit, students analyze the way illustrations in texts and visuals in videos contribute to the meaning, tone, and beauty of the text. In the second half of the unit, they analyze how the narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.

In Unit 3, students take action to help others prepare for a natural disaster. They research supplies to include in an emergency preparedness kit and write opinion essays on the most important items to include. For the performance task, students present to a live audience about preparing for a natural disaster. They present their PSAs; unpack an emergency preparedness kit, giving the rationale for the items included; and distribute an informational leaflet.

Taken from EL Grade 5: Module 4: Overview

Math

1st Quarter

Unit 1: Creating Classroom Community Through Data & Graphing
-NC.5.MD.2: Represent and interpret data in line graphs
-NC.5.G.1: Understand the coordinate plane -NC.5.OA.3: Analyze patterns and relationships

Unit 2: Using Models to Explore Properties of Multiplication & Division
-NC.5.MD.4 & NC.5.MD.5: Understand concepts of volume
-NC.5.NBT.5: Perform multiplication with multi-digit whole numbers
-NC.5.OA.2: Write and interpret numerical expressions
-NC.5.NBT.6: Perform division with multi-digit whole numbers

2nd Quarter

Unit 3: Using Models to Multiply and Divide Fractions
-NC.5.NF.4: Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and multiply fractions
-NC.5.NF.3: Apply and extend previous understandings of division and divide fractions
-NC.5.NF.7: Apply and extend previous understandings of division and divide fractions to solve word problems
-NC.5.OA.2: Write and interpret numerical expressions

Unit 4: Understanding Place Value in the Context of Metric Measurement
-NC.5.NBT.3: Understand the place value system involving decimals to the thousandths
-NC.5.NBT.1: Understand the place value system involving the magnitude of numbers as you move along the place value system
-NC.5.MD.2: Represent and interpret data in line graphs

Unit 5: Using Models to Add and Subtraction Decimals & Fractions
-NC.5.OA.2: Write and interpret numerical expressions
-NC.5.NBT.7: Perform all operations with decimals

3rd Quarter

Unit 5: Using Models to Add and Subtraction Decimals & Fractions (Continued)
-NC.5.OA.2: Write and interpret numerical expressions
-NC.5.NBT.7: Perform all operations with decimals
-NC.5.NF.1: Use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions

Unit 6: Using Models to Multiply and Divide Whole Numbers, Decimals, and Fractions
-NC.5.NBT.5: Perform multiplication with multi-digit whole numbers
-NC.5.OA.2: Write and interpret numerical expressions
-NC.5.NBT.6: Perform division with multi-digit whole number
-NC.5.NBT.7: Perform all operations with decimals
-NC.5.NBT.1: Understand the place value system involving the magnitude of numbers as you move along the place value system

4th Quarter

Unit 6: Using Models to Multiply and Divide Whole Numbers, Decimals, and Fractions (Continued)
-NC.5.NBT.5: Perform multiplication with multi-digit whole numbers
-NC.5.OA.2: Write and interpret numerical expressions
-NC.5.NBT.6: Perform division with multi-digit whole number
-NC.5.NBT.7: Perform all operations with decimals
-NC.5.NBT.1: Understand the place value system involving the magnitude of numbers as you move along the place value system
-NC.5.MD.1: Convert like measurement units within a given measurement system
-NC.5.NF.4: Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and multiply fractions

Unit 7: Classifying Quadrilaterals
-NC.5.G.3: Classify quadrilaterals
-NC.5.G.1: Understand the coordinate plane

Science

1st Quarter

Structures & Functions of Living Organisms
-5.L.1: Understand how structures and systems of organisms (to include the human body) perform functions necessary for life.
-5.L.1.1: Explain why some organisms are capable of surviving as a single cell while others require many cells that are specialized to survive.
-5.L.1.2: Compare the major systems of the human body (digestive, respiratory, circulatory, muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular) in terms of their functions necessary for life.

Characteristics of Living Organisms
-5.L.3: Understand why organisms differ from or are similar to their parents based on the characteristics of the organism.
-5.L.3.1: Explain why organisms differ from or are similar to their parents based on the characteristics of the organism.
-5.L.3.2: Give examples of likenesses that are inherited and some that are not.

2nd Quarter

Interdependence of Plants & Animals in Ecosystems
-5.L.2: Understand the interdependence of plants and animals with their ecosystem.
-5.L.2.1: Compare the characteristics of several common ecosystems, including estuaries and salt marshes, oceans, lakes and ponds, forests, and grasslands
-5.L 2.2: Classify the organisms within an ecosystem according to the function they serve: producers, consumers, or decomposers (biotic factors).
-5.L.2.3: Infer the effects that may result from the interconnected relationship of plants and animals to their ecosystem.

Interactions of Matter & Energy
-5.P.2: Understand the interactions of matter and energy and the changes that occur.
-5.P.2.1: Explain how the sun’s energy impacts the processes of the water cycle (including, evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation and runoff).
-5.P.2.2: Compare the weight of an object to the sum of the weight of its parts before and after an interaction.
-5.P.2.3: Summarize properties of original materials, and the new material(s) formed, to demonstrate that a change has occurred.

3rd Quarter

Interactions of Matter & Energy (continued)
-5.P.2: Understand the interactions of matter and energy and the changes that occur.
-5.P.2.1: Explain how the sun’s energy impacts the processes of the water cycle (including, evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation and runoff).
-5.P.2.2: Compare the weight of an object to the sum of the weight of its parts before and after an interaction.
-5.P.2.3: Summarize properties of original materials, and the new material(s) formed, to demonstrate that a change has occurred.

Relationships of Force & Motion
-5.P.1: Understand force, motion and the relationship between them
-5.P.1.1: Explain how factors such as gravity, friction, and change in mass affect the motion of objects
-5.P.1.2: Infer the motion of objects in terms of how far they travel in a certain amount of time and the direction in which they travel.
-5.P.1.3: Illustrate the motion of an object using a graph to show a change in position over a period of time.
-5.P.1.4: Predict the effect of a given force or a change in mass on the motion of an object.

4th Quarter

Heating, Cooling, & Changing Properties
-5.P.3: Explain how the properties of some materials change as a result of heating and cooling.
-5.P.3.1: Explain the effects of the transfer of heat (either by direct contact or at a distance) that occurs between objects at different temperatures. (conduction, convection or radiation).
-5.P.3.2: Explain how heating and cooling affect some materials and how this relates to their purpose and practical applications.

Weather Patterns & Phenomena
-5.E.1: Understand weather patterns and phenomena, making connections to the weather in a particular place and time.
-5.E.1.1: Compare daily and seasonal changes in weather conditions (including wind speed and direction, precipitation, and temperature) and patterns.
-5.E.1.2: Predict upcoming weather events from weather data collected through observation and measurements.
-5.E.1.3: Explain how global patterns such as the jet stream and water currents influence local weather in measurable terms such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.