Early U.S. History

5th-Grade

Fifth Grade in Woodside Elementary School is committed to helping each child meet the academic and social-emotional competencies expected at this grade level and become an engaged learner in the classroom setting.

5th-Grade ELA Common Core Standards

Curriculum standards are what all grade-level students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of a school year. Key standards of fifth grade education are highlighted below. All K-5 teachers are implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) (http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cc/) in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. Curriculum used includes Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop, Envision Math, Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative (SVMI), FOSS Science Program, and History Alive Program.

In Fifth Grade, each student will…

Reading

  • Draw on a repertoire of ways to read closely, alert to how story elements interact and details that seem to represent big ideas

  • Participate in reading clubs to work with a novel that has nuanced characters and multiple subplots

  • Learn to read analytically, analyzing differences in perspective across texts

  • Investigate the ways nonfiction texts become more complex and learn appropriate strategies

  • Pursue independent inquiry projects

  • Analyze arguments, working in research groups to study a debatable issue

  • Learn how to compare the ideas and perspectives of many authors and how to formulate their own evidence-based, ethical positions on issues

  • Become immersed in the fantasy genre and develop higher-level thinking skills

  • Work on their habits as readers to build knowledge, study how authors introduce hard words and use strategies to learn new vocabulary as they read

Writing

  • Learn to apply their own writing techniques across the genres of Opinion, Information, and Narrative

  • Use their knowledge of narrative craft to make their stories more thematic

  • Draw inspiration and understanding from mentor texts, historical accounts, primary source documents, maps, and timelines to write focused research reports

  • Grasp that form follows content, deciding whether to express their thoughts in narratives, in essays, or in a hybrid genre

  • Learn to build powerful arguments that balance evidence and analysis to persuade readers to action

Speaking & Listening

  • Engage in discussions on grade appropriate topics

  • Summarize a text, information, or points made by a speaker

  • Speak clearly about a topic/opinion with main ideas or themes

  • Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks

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Social Studies

  • Study geography

  • Learn about pre-Columbian settlements

  • Examine exploration

  • Discover the Colonial Era

  • Investigate the causes of the American Revolution

  • Learn about Westward Expansion