5th Grade Curriculum Overview
*Revised 7/23/09*
RELIGION
We will be following the Voyages – Exploring God’s Word book produced by Concordia Publishing House. It contains 9 units with different topics such as Martin Luther, Old Testament Leaders, and God’s Prophecies. At the end of each unit there is a review and test to help the students remember the stories. Students do need a Bible for this class.
**Memory is also a part of the religion program here. In fifth grade students start to learn parts of the Small Catechism including the commandments, creeds, and The Lord’s Prayer, all with their meanings. This will be posted on the 5th grade web site.
MATH
Here at Zion we follow the Saxon Math series. This approach takes time to introduce new ideas while at the same time reviewing old concepts. We will be using many manipulatives during math class which helps a child to remember what they are learning. Big topics include fractions, decimal numbers, and conversions.
READING & SPELLING
We use a book made by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill called Treasures. There are 6 Units we go through during the year, each with their own theme. They are Challenges, Discoveries, Turning Points, Experiences, Achievements, and Great Ideas. The students will learn through a mixture of reading, work sheet pages, class activities, and tests.
**For reading we will focus on one story per week and have several activities based on that story. Through these activities we work on many different skills that are important to your child’s education such as comprehension, listening, speaking, and fluency.
**New spelling words will be provided each week. There is a pretest every Monday and a final test every Friday. We will work with the spelling words through out the week so that the students will become familiar with them.
GRAMMAR & WRITING
We use a book called English which is produced by Houghton Mifflin. This text book is broken down into three parts. Part one is called “Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics.” Part two is called “Writing, Listening, Speaking, and Viewing.” Part three is called “Tools and Tips.” Most of our time will be spent on the first two parts. To help teach the rules of the English language the students will be doing many practice pages and a lot of writing projects. Some projects will be very challenging and time consuming while others will be easy and able to be completed in an hour or less.
SCIENCE
We have chosen to follow the Harcourt School Publishers series entitled Illinois Science. It is divided into Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science. Under each division there are two units which include 2-4 chapters. In this class we will be doing several hands on experiments along with doing work sheet pages, researching different topics and testing our knowledge.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
We have PE every Monday and Thursday for forty minutes. Every class we begin with warming up and stretching. This teaches the kids the importance of doing so. We will be doing sports such as soccer, football, and volleyball, along with taking part in physical fitness testing.
**Extracurricular Sports are also an option for all fifth graders. The girls can choose from cross country, volleyball, basketball and cheerleading. The boys can choose from cross country, soccer, and basketball.
MUSIC
This year all students participate in the 3rd, 4th, & 5th grade choir. They also have the choice of being in band or music. Band is taught by Mr. Hippel who is the band director at MetroEastLutheranHigh School. I teach music at the same time. In this class we cover the basics of music such as reading notes, learning rhythms, beats and melodies. We use McGraw-Hill’s Share the Music curriculum.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Mrs. Huffman will be teaching United States History using a book called Adventures in Time and Place by McGraw Hill. In this class students learn how to read history and understand it. They also learn how history is applicable to us today. During 3rd quarter we will be learning the 50 states and their capitals. The learning tools used in this class include work sheets, projects, maps, books, and field trips.
ART
Fifth graders have art every Friday with Mrs. Huffman. We use a program called Arts Attack which goes through many different art skills and teaches children to appreciate art. Some of the skills taught include patterns, textures, and shape/form.
COMPUTER
Mrs. Kim Griffith teaches computer class. It takes place every Tuesday and Friday for thirty minutes. They focus on computer terminology and parts, Microsoft Word, keyboarding, a touch-typing program, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and searching the internet. We will also use the computer lab for doing research projects.
FIELD TRIPS
One of our exciting trips will be to Lewis and ClarkCollege where we will see a production of a Christmas show. From what I’ve heard this is a very exciting event and is not to be missed. We will take this trip with the fourth graders. Another trip we will take is to the Arch and the Old Court House in St. Louis. The students will be looking at both of these sites from a historical point of view and will be able to see and experience some of what they have been learning through out the year.