What 5th Graders Learn:

• Second Step: The expectations for students at KES are to be respectful, be responsible, and be safe. We use the Second Step social emotional learning curriculum to practice these skills, and in 5th grade we focus on empathy, emotion management, problem-solving, and anti-bullying skills through fun activities, discussions, videos, role-playing, and partner and teamwork.

• Reading: In 5th grade, we read a variety of genres and a 50/50 mix of fiction and nonfiction texts. We discuss what type of readers we are, how to choose just-right books, and read our choice books independently. We also partner read, read in small groups, and as a whole-class. A big focus of 5th grade is not just reading accurately  and fluently, but building our comprehension skills to ensure we understand what we're reading. We do so through read-alouds, books discussions and literature circles, and journaling about what we've read.

• Writing: We start our year in writing by doing a lot of fun, short writing activities and journaling to build up our written expression skills. We focus on organizing our writing in a way that makes sense, using descriptive and precise word choice to make our writing more interesting and build our own voice, and revising and editing. We write and publish longer pieces in the following genres: personal narratives (true, small moment stories about our own lives), historical information books, procedures, and argument writing. 

• Social Studies: In 5th grade, we learn about our American History- from the Discovery of the Americas to the Civil War. We learn about why people leave home, how America and our government was founded, the effects colonization had on other groups of people such as Native Americans and Blacks, and what leads to war. We learn all about our history through discussions, simulations, videos, and research.

• Science & Engineering: Science and engineering in 5th grade means a lot of hands-on investigations and design tasks! We learn all about ecosystems and how humans impact the earth (for better and for worse) in life science. In physical science we learn all about matter and its phases and laws, and gravity as part of force & motion experiments. We also better understand Earth Systems and how they impact our lives.