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To educate all students to be

contributing members of a

global society by inspiring them

with a lifelong love of learning,

challenging them with rigorous

curriculum, and empowering

them with 21st century skills. To

be an innovator and leader of

public K-12 education within the

state and nation by meeting the

needs of all students with

excellent programs and staff.

Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District

Elementary Curriculum Brochures

Grade Five

http://www.mcpasd.k12.wi.us/

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Literacy Students in grades third through fifth have a literacy block with a minimum of 90 minutes daily. This provides a focused time to develop skills in reading, writing and word study. MCPASD teachers use whole group instruction, small group instruction, individual instruction and independent practice to differentiate for the student learner.

All students are actively engaged in learning whether they are in a small teacher led group of students or reading independently, or writing. Independent activities will often focus on concepts being studied in science, and social studies.

Reading The National Reading Panel identified key skills and methods central to reading achievement. The five

essential elements of reading instruction are what we teach. The elements are phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Current research states that systematic and explicit approaches to instruction in each of the major components are imperative.

In the intermediate grades, there is less focus on foundational skills (e.g., phonemic awareness and phonics), as most students have these skills. Instead, we focus more on word study, both from a vocabulary and spelling lens, at the intermediate level. Students also study genre and literary elements in more depth in grades three through five.

Balanced Literacy Balanced literacy is how we teach literacy. It involves several methods for teaching reading and writing. These essential literacy skills are taught in the context of authentic reading and writing experiences. There are eight components of balanced literacy: reading aloud, shared reading, guided reading, independent reading, modeled & shared writing, guided writing, independent writing, and interactive writing.

The power of the balanced literacy framework is the manner in which students are supported as they are exposed to new learning and guided as they learn to use skills and strategies independently. During read alouds and modeled writing lessons, the teacher explicitly models his/her own thinking for students. Students are supported as they learn to apply new skills and strategies in authentic reading and writing tasks. Our ultimate goal is for students to take on the responsibility for these skills and strategies and be able to use them independently.

Writing Process We use Units of Study for Teaching Writing, developed by Lucy Calkins and her colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Each year, teachers deliver six “units of study,” each lasting four to six weeks.

Launching the Writing Workshop

Raising the Quality of Narrative Writing

Breathing Life into Essays

Writing Fiction: Big dreams, Tall Ambitions

Literary Essays: Writing About Reading

Memoir: The Art of Writing Well

6 + 1 Traits Not only do we talk about the writing process, we also talk about the craft of writing. We use the common language of the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing to discuss and describe authors’ craft. The 6 + 1 traits include the following: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation.

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Mathematics

Children’s experiences shape their attitude toward mathematics. The Everyday Mathematics curriculum is engaging, encouraging, and designed to build children’s understanding over time. This program respects children’s

intuitive understanding of mathematics and helps them develop the range of sophisticated mathematical knowledge and skills necessary for success in our information and technology oriented world.

In Everyday Mathematics, all students in grades K-5 develop a broad background by learning concepts and skills in the six content strands of Number and Numeration; Operations and Computation; Data and Chance; Measurement and Reference Frames; Geometry; and Patterns, Functions, and Algebra. The Fifth Grade program emphasizes the following content.

Number and Numeration Recognizing place value in numerals for

whole numbers and decimals

Expressing numbers in scientific notation

Finding factors of numbers

Comparing properties of prime and composite numbers

Representing rates and ratios with fraction notation

Operations and Computation Extending whole-number facts with

addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to fractions and decimals

Evaluating symbolic expressions

Data and Chance Collecting, organizing, and analyzing data

using bar graphs, line graphs, circle graphs, and stem-and-leaf plots

Measurement and Reference Frames Using linear, area, capacity and personal

reference measures

Locating items with reference to an origin or zero point

Geometry Investigating angles and rotations

Calculating area and volume

Drawing to scale

Introducing relationships of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional figures

Exploring new transformations that affect attributes of geometric shapes

Patterns, Functions, and Algebra Determining divisibility

Exploring number patterns

Applying formulas to geometric figures

Creating number models

Working with scientific calculators

Squaring and unsquaring numbers

Exploring variables in formulas

In Everyday Mathematics you can expect to see…

A problem-solving approach based on everyday situations

Key mathematical ideas repeated over time in slightly different ways

Learning through age-appropriate, playful activities

A broad range of mathematics topics based on an optimistic view of children’s capabilities and motivation to learn

Opportunities to “do math” at home

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Science

The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District utilizes the Full Option Science System (FOSS) at the K-5 Level. FOSS strives to develop students' abilities to do and understand scientific inquiry through:

Asking and answering questions

Planning and conducting simple investigations

Employing tools and techniques to gather data

Using data to construct reasonable explanations

Communicating investigations and explanations

Understanding that scientists use different kinds of investigations and tools to develop explanations using evidence and knowledge

The Fifth Grade program emphasizes the following content.

The Environments Module consists of investigations that introduce students to the basic concepts in environmental biology. They learn that all living things depend on the conditions in their

environment. The study of the relationships between one organism and its environment builds knowledge of all organisms. With this knowledge comes an awareness of limits. Changes in an environment can be hard on organisms. Such knowledge is important because humans can change environments. To do so without awareness of possible consequences can lead to disasters. The Mixtures and Solutions Module has investigations that introduce students to the fundamental ideas in chemistry. Students learn that chemistry is

the study of the structure of matter and the changes or transformations that take place in it. Learning about the makeup of substances gives us knowledge about how things go together and how they can be taken apart. Learning about changes in substances is important for several reasons: changes can be controlled to produce new materials; changes can be used to give off energy to run machines.

The Landforms Module consists of investigations that introduce students to these fundamental concepts in earth science: change takes

place when things interact; all things change over time; patterns of interaction and change are useful in explaining landforms. Students also learn about some of the tools and techniques used by cartographers and use them to depict landforms. The Variables Module has investigations that help students discover relationships through controlled experimentation. Students will fling, float, fly, and flip objects as they discover relationships in each investigation. Some of the most important scientific concepts students learn are the result of their ability to see relationships between objects and events. Relationships always involve interactions, dependencies, and cause and effect.

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Social Studies

The elementary social studies curriculum is based on the 2010 National Council for the Social Studies standards. The aim of social studies is the

promotion of civic competence. Young people who are knowledgeable, skillful, and committed to democracy are necessary to sustaining and improving our democratic way of life, and participating as members of a global society. The national standards are focused on ten themes. These themes represent a way of categorizing knowledge about the human experience, and they constitute the organizing strands that thread through our elementary social studies program.

Culture

Time, Continuity, and Change

People, Places, and Environments

Individual Development and Identity

Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

Power, Authority, and Governance

Production, Distribution, and Consumption

Science, Technology, and Society

Global Connections

Civic Ideals and Practices

At the elementary level, these themes are explored through an age-appropriate “lens.” In fifth grade, the scope of the social studies curriculum is “The United States and Its Development as a Nation.” Teachers and students use a variety of materials and resources, primarily Harcourt Social Studies: The United State—Making a New Nation. Units of Study include the following:

Geography of the United State

Native American Tribes

Exploration and Early Settle of the Colonies

The Thirteen Colonies

Overview of the American Revolution

Introduction to U.S. Government

Visual Arts

Art is a way of understanding ourselves and our relationship with the world around us. Throughout the K-12 Art program, students explore the three essential questions of:

What is art?

How is art created?

Why is art important?

Students explore the answers to the above questions when engaged in art experiences focused around the following six Art standards.

Creation

Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes

Perception Using knowledge of structures and functions

Interpretation Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas

Relation Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

Reflection Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others

Connection Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines

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Music

What Exactly Do We Do In Music Class? The short answer to this question is that in music class we sing, play instruments, and learn about how music works. But there's more to it than that - music in the Middleton-Cross Plains

Area School District reflects the national music education standards, also adopted in the state of Wisconsin. Our Elementary Music Curriculum is based on students learning eight main concepts:

Time: beat, rhythm, meter, rhythmic notation,

playing rhythmic patterns on instruments, time signatures, improvising rhythms

Pitch: matching pitch, relationship of pitches to

each other,

Melody: types of melodic movement, playing

and singing melodies, improvising/composing melodies

Harmony: performing accompaniments,

learning to sing and play rounds, melodies with an ostinato, echo harmony, partner songs, counter-melodies, simple harmonic theory

Form: recognizing sounds that are the same or

different; form (structure of songs/compositions), solo vs. group, types of form: AB, ABA, rondo, sonata, suite

Expression: tempo, texture, dynamics,

phrasing, and articulation

Timbre: effects and mood, instrument families,

world instruments, ensembles, and orchestra

History and Culture - relationship of music to

society, function of music, multicultural music, music of famous composers, music of American composers, musical styles

These eight concepts are geared towards students increasing in skill level in each of the eight areas. The curriculum model designed to increase skill level throughout all conceptual areas as students get older is also known as a spiral curriculum. Over the course of the elementary music experience, the use of each concept becomes more sophisticated. For example, in regard to time, students learn about and practice keeping steady beat in kindergarten, but by 5th grade are working on eight and sixteenth notes, as well as triplets and the offbeat.

Technology

As foundational technology skills penetrate throughout our society, students will be expected to apply the basics in authentic, integrated

ways to solve problems, complete projects, and creatively extend their abilities. Students at the elementary level participate in technology enrichment classes, and students in grades 4 and 5 participate in keyboarding classes. The technology standards and curriculum help students prepare to work, live, and contribute to the social and civic fabric of their communities.

Technology standards addressed at the elementary level identify several higher-order thinking skills and digital citizenship as critical for students to learn effectively for a lifetime and live productively in our emerging global society. These areas include the ability to:

Demonstrate creativity and innovation Communicate and collaborate Conduct research and use information Think critically, solve problems, and make

decisions Use technology effectively and productively

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Physical

Education Physical activity is critical to the development and maintenance of good health. The goal of physical education is to develop physically

educated individuals who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthful

physical activity. A physically educated person:

Standard 1: Demonstrates competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities.

Standard 2: Demonstrates understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning and performance of physical activities.

Standard 3: Participates regularly in physical activity.

Standard 4: Achieves and maintains a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.

Standard 5: Exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical activity settings.

Standard 6: Values physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and/or social interaction

Ideas and Resources for Parents

Help your child identify real-world examples of angles and parallel lines.

Play a card or board game.

Have your child practice math games at www.everydaymathonline.com

http://www.fossweb.com/

http://www.pta.org/5th%20Grade_B-W.pdf