A Word About Fifth grade…

What will your child be learning this year? How can you help him or her be successful in school? These are important parent questions! This brochure was developed to explain was developed to explain the major academic expectations held by the Shiocton School District for students in the fifth grade. You’ll also learn more about homework, home-school communications, common behaviors for ten-and-eleven-year olds, and much more. Welcome to fifth grade—together, we can help you child reach his or her full potential and enjoy school!

Snapshot of a child at age ten and eleven

Some developmental characteristics displayed by many ten-year olds

• Experience an overall feeling of well being and seem to be at peace with self and the world.
• Have fleeting moments of being angry, depressed, or sad, but usually these times are quickly forgotten
• Girls are beginning to show physical signs and an awareness of approaching puberty. Boys show few signs and far less concern about physical maturity
• Appear to be stable with fewer fears and anxieties and have better relations with parents, teachers, and peers than ever before.
• Love family and enjoy family outings and activities
• Generally like school and are conscientious students
• Enjoy reading or being read stories of adventure and mystery. Biographies of famous people are a favorite, too.
• Are more interested in learning facts and memorizing than finding explanations
• Boys relationships with friends are fluid and harmonious, while girls friendships are more intense with time spent getting mad and making up
• Love to play! Are partial to outdoor activities such as baseball, bicycling, skating, clinging, and most of all running.
• Forming, planning, and joining a club are high on the list of favorite things.

Some developmental characteristics displayed by many eleven-year olds

• Entering a preadolescent stage of development
• Present a range of behavior from alert, imaginative, outgoing, and energetic to rebellious, quarrelsome, and self-centered.
• Show increase levels of activity and energy—keeping still is difficult.
• Are argumentative, more emotional, and sensitive. This is due to a faster pace of growth, hormonal changes, and new anxieties and fears about growing up.
• Have larger appetites that may fluctuate between ravenous and poor.
• Appear to have forgotten manners with displays of loud, sometimes rude, behavior
• Are critical of parents and challenge their authority. Quarrelling with siblings is at an all-time high.
• Are choosing friends with common interests and temperaments. Boys tend to have a group of friends with one or more best friends, while girls have a small group whoa re all good friends. Quarrelling is common.
• Are interested—or soon will be—in the opposite sex.
• Like school because their friends are there.
• Enjoy school work where skill at rote learning can be displayed competitively, such as in spelling bees.
• Relish a good story and are partial to schoolwork that involves drawing.
• Tire quickly and may show inconsistent learning patterns—doing well one day and no so well the next.
• Favor gym and sports, including baseball, soccer, kickball, volleyball, and football.

Academic Expectations

As you review this brochure, please note that we couldn’t include everything your child will be learning. Please contact your child’s teacher for more information.

Language Arts

Spelling

• Correctly spell frequently used words
• Spell words correctly in all writing
• Apply a variety of strategies, including phonetics and resources, to spell words.

Reading

• Read many types of written resources.
• Use a variety of strategies and skills to decode familiar words and integrate them
• Summarize and paraphrase what was read
• Recall, identify, classify, and sequence details, facts, and stated main ideas from a variety of written materials.
• Distinguish between fact, opinion, bias, assumption, and elements of persuasion, and can evaluate the quality and validity of written material.
• Compare works, evaluate conclusions, and apply what is learned to real life experiences.
• Make reasonable predictions before, during, and after reading.
• Make inferences and draw conclusions after reading.
• Recognize cause-effect relationships.
• Read trade books as a class and identify characteristics, themes, plots, and settings.

Language

• Use correct mechanics in written language
• Use correct grammar in spoken and written language
• Demonstrate effective oral communication
• Use the steps of the writing process: plan, first, draft, revise, edit, final draft.
• Develop and write various types of writing including: personal narrative, essay, speech, letter, fiction, descriptive writing, and persuasive writing.
• Identify and use parts of speech correctly including: nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions

Math

• Multiply/Divide up to a 3-digit number by a 2-digit number
• Estimate outcomes using and appropriate strategy
• Add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators
• Read, write, compare, add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths
• Solve and communicate problems using a variety of strategies
• Collect data and interpret graphs, tables, and charts.
• Measure and convert using both standard and metric units
• Use the basic characteristics and language of geometry

Social Studies

• Read and interpret various maps
• Demonstrate an understanding of North America History including
• Early Native America Cultures
• European exploration of North and Central America
• Colonization of North America
• American Revolution
• U.S. Constitution
• Westward expansion
• Civil War
• Industrial Revolution, WWI, WWII
• Twentieth Century U.S.
• Current Events

Science

• Describe the interaction of living and nonliving things within the six main land biomes
• Label plant parks and write a description of their function
• Differentiate between vertebrates and invertebrates
• Label the parts of an airplane
• Write definitions of drag, lift, thrust, and gravity
• Describe the contributions of Earhart, Lindberg, and the Wright Brothers
• Participate in and graduate from the CounterACT program
• Explain how nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana negatively affect the body’s systems
• Label and explain the function of the male and female reproductive systems
• Explain the physical and emotional characteristics of puberty

Music

• Sing in groups, blending voices, creating dynamic levels, and responding to cues from a director
• Work on appropriate choral techniques and etiquette
• Perform rhythmic, melodic, and chordal accompaniments on classroom instruments
• Demonstrate appropriate behavior in a variety of settings, especially during a performance
• Show how music affects individuals and how music is interrelated to many other topics in their life
• See how other cultures create and use music, and how this has affected America music

Art

• Develop visual awareness and appreciation through art history
• Review coil, slab and glazing methods with clay (moist)
• Recognize color families
• Develop subject matter awareness (gesture drawing, skeletal structure)
• Know various purposes for creating art
• Respect, care for, and organize tools, and materials and work environment
• Use problem solving strategies that promote fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originally
• Understand that art reflects the time and place in which it was created
• Identify artistic styles of artists
• Know about a range of art careers

Physical Education

• Follow and apply rule procedures
• Understand and apply leadership skills
• Work in a group on problem solving and cooperation skills
• Use basic sport-specific skills for a variety of activities
• Engage in activities that provide personal challenge
• Perform manipulative skills with and increase of accuracy (throwing, catching, kicking, striking, dribbling)
• Understand and apply proper sportsmanship
• Use strategies for sport related activities
• Understand that individuals have differences in their physical abilites
• Engage in activities that increase cardiorespiratory endurance
• Engage in activities that develop flexibility, muscular strength and endurance

Your Child’s Homework

While there is a lot of learning going on in school, it is very important for your child to continue the learning process at home. Daily homework deepens your child’s understanding of what is being taught in the classroom. It also reinforces the study skills necessary to really learn the concepts and material presented by the teacher. To find out more about the content covered daily in the classroom and homework assignments, review you child’s agenda each evening. It’s a great opportunity to talk to your child about the school day.

Field Trips/Activities

• French Fur Trapping days (September)
• Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya (October)
• EAA (February)
• CounterACT Graduation (May)

Parent Tips for Helping Children Succeed in School

• Establish a set time to do homework nightly
• Encourage your child to study at a desk or table rather than a bed, easy chair, or floor
• Supply your child with study aids, such as a computer, dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia. (Show your child how to use them)
• Discourage distractions, like TV, background conversations, or calls from friends during homework time.
• If your child can’t get started, talk trough the assignments with them. Be supportive, but avoid doing the homework for them.
• If you are unable to help your child with a difficult subject, ask for help from a relative. Also, see if the school library, or a community organization can provide tutoring or homework help through an after school program. Encourage your child to participate in study groups with classmates or older family members
• Check to see that all homework is completed correctly and sign your child’s agenda
• Read with your child; show an interest in what he or she is doing in school each day
• Tell your child that he or she can do well in school
• Stress that you child can get good grades through hard work and study, and not just because “some students are smart”
• Offer praise and encouragement for achievement and improvement
• Talk with your child about positive values and personal traits, such as respect for self and others, hard work, responsibility, and honesty. Show these values through your actions
• If you need help with a school-related problem, contact your child’s teacher(s), the school counselor, or principal.

Home-School Communications

We welcome your partnership in helping you child achieve success in school. By working and talking, we can create a very positive learning achievement.