Lower School - Fifth Grade Language Arts

The Fifth Grade Language Arts program is comprised of these areas: Reading/Literature, Composition/Grammar, Handwriting, and Spelling.

Reading/Literature: The reading program correlates closely to the Core Knowledge Social Studies program. Class literature studies as well as teacher read-aloud books are chosen with the historical time periods we are studying in mind. In the fall, the study of the world lakes and the geography of the United States is enhanced with American Tall Tales by Adrien Stoutenburg. These include stories such as Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and John Henry. In the spring, our focus turns to American history. An example of our literature study would be Charley Skedaddle by Patricia Beatty or The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. Fifth graders are no longer “learning to read, but reading to learn.” With this in mind, our fifth graders strive not only to understand the main idea, but to look more deeply into the author’s meaning and purpose. They are expected to respond to literature questions in complete, restated sentences and to cite evidence from the stories to support their thinking.

Composition/Grammar: In composition, students follow the writing process which includes prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The conventions of proper grammar and punctuation are introduced in mini-lessons during the process of writing. Students learn to compose in a variety of written forms and for various audiences and purposes – to inform, persuade, entertain, instruct, and describe. We use the Harcourt Grammar Series as the supportive text for the instruction of grammar.

Handwriting/Spelling: Legible handwriting and accurate spelling allow the students to communicate effectively in writing. Fifth graders use the Zaner-Bloser text to reinforce the correct letter formation for cursive. They use the Zaner-Bloser Spelling Connections text to practice weekly phonetic spelling patterns. The ultimate goal would be for students to carry over the knowledge of each week’s words and integrate proper spelling into their everyday writing. Keyboarding is taught in conjunction with handwriting with the recognition that computers will play a large role in future writing assignments.

Leadership

Students identify, discuss, and write about leadership principles and attributes demonstrated by characters in all works of literature. In addition the class examines the lives and examples of leadership set by two Gerstell Leaders through the following biographies: Abraham Lincoln:
A Photo-Illustrated Biography by T. M. Usel, and Who Was Mark Twain? by April Jones Prince.