In 5th grade we use the Harcourt Trophies reading program. The Harcourt Program is a comprehensive standards based program which directly addresses the skills being measured on the Connecticut Mastery Test. It provides for instruction in varied reading strategies and features many components.
Components:
- Read aloud selections to increase student motivation, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, knowledge base, literary understanding, sense of community and enjoyment / love of literature. Sharing and responding to books helps develop communication and oral language skills and improve comprehension.
- Explicit instruction in comprehension skills and strategies for a wide variety of texts, both fiction and nonfiction; includes explanations, modeling, student practice with assistance as needed, and independent practice and application. Students will learn about genre characteristics and text structures, analyze literary elements and devices, and study expository organizational patterns such as cause/effect and compare/contrast.
- Varied opportunities for students to demonstrate comprehension: asking and answering questions, retelling stories, summarizing, discussion of characters, comparison of stories and text selections, making and confirming predictions.
- Vocabulary component that features multiple encounters with key vocabulary words to improve comprehension and direct instruction in vocabulary strategies.
- Focus on oral fluency with the belief that decoding text leads to increased comprehension. Fluency involves reading with speed, accuracy and prosody (“using stress, pitch, and juncture of spoken language”); as fluency develops, students are able to devote more attention to meaning and comprehension is increased.
- Assessment tools: Various means of gathering information about learners in order to guide and inform instruction; leads to opportunities to differentiate instruction.
- Listening and Speaking: Students have the opportunity to listen to varied text. They will also have opportunities to make narrative and expository presentations; oral reports, and multimedia presentations.
The Harcourt Program meets the needs of students who require varying levels of intervention and challenge. It provides means of assisting students that require additional instruction and support. For those students who meet or exceed grade level expectations it provides opportunities for enrichment or acceleration.
Broad Themes:
- Self Discovery (Look Inside)
- Working Together (Teamwork)
- Growth and Change (A Changing Planet)
- Creativity (Self Expression)
- Communities (School Rules)
- Explorations (American Adventures)
One component of the reading program in grade five includes independent reading and journal writing in response to books read. One on one conferencing and small group lessons will be used to assess and develop comprehension and various reading strategies. Students should always have a novel / chapter book or informational book on hand. Our classroom library has many wonderful selections. Students are also encouraged to check out books from the town library. Donations of books for our library, new or previously read, are always appreciated.
In addition to independent reading, students may be involved in whole class study of novels and small literature discussion groups. Research shows that reading improves through reading experience. Please encourage your child to set aside time (15 - 30 minutes) to read at home each day.
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The Harcourt Trophies Reading Program includes a writing component which incorporates the following:
- Explicit modeling and practice in the conventions of written English; grammar, usage, mechanics.
- Instruction in varied genres; narrative, description, expository, persuasive, poetry.
- Writer’s Craft Skills: developing a clear focus, organization of ideas, effective word choice and sentence structures, expression of one’s own view point
- Process Writing; prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading; use of models, practice, graphic organizers and checklists.
Students will be learning a variety of specific targeted skills in writing, grammar, and spelling. Expository writing is a main focus in grade 5. Students will also develop skills in researching, note taking, outlining, and report writing. Creative writing and journal writing are also part of grade 5. Students will be maintaining a writer's notebook, which will be a tool for fostering ideas for creative writing in various genres.
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This year we will be using the Harcourt spelling program, which aligns with the selections we will be reading in class. The students will receive a pre-test at the beginning of the week, and some practice pages to work on during the week. Spelling post tests will usually be given on Fridays but there may be exceptions depending on when the selection is started.
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The fifth grade uses the Math Trail Blazers program. It features a hands-on, exploratory approach to math skills and problem solving. Many of the lessons are science based and involve cooperative group work in the exploration and development of concepts. Students will also be presented with many opportunities for independent enrichment work in math.
* It is helpful to encourage your child to practice their math facts in order to achieve mastery and to develop facility with problem solving and number operations.
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Science is studied the first half of the year and there are three major units covered; sound, electricity, and light. Sound includes a study of the properties of sound, sound waves, how sound travels, pitch, timbre, resonance, and the creation of music/sounds featuring different instruments. A possible project is the creation of an original musical instrument demonstrating the properties of sound. Electricity includes hands on investigations with current electricity, simple circuits and parallel circuits. Students will learn about conductors and insulators. Light includes study of the electromagnetic spectrum, colors of visible light, lenses as well as reflection and refraction of light.
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- D.A.R.E. - Students will participate in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. (taught in 2 sections, Nov./Dec. then Mar./Apr.).
- Human Growth and Development – Students will attend health classes on a rotating schedule with the health and wellness teacher
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Social Studies is studied the second half of the year, after science is completed.
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In the first unit of study, students will learn about types of maps, geographical features, latitude and longitude, and continents as well as other main features of the world. Students will apply learning to the study of Africa’s physical features. In addition, students will be introduced to the term “culture” and have the opportunity to learn about Kenya and some aspects of Africa’s geography and people.
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Japan will be a featured country of study along with map skills related to Asia. Students will learn about the culture of Japan as well as geographical features. Topics include Japanese schools, sports, art forms (haiku, origami, mon kiri, etc), tourist attractions, performing arts and Japanese cuisine. This unit is a favorite, featuring many interesting and creative hands on projects. To conclude the unit on Japan we take a trip to Japanica to sample authentic Japanese food and we have “Japan Night” where the students present their projects to the parents.
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