5th Grade English & Reading

Students in fifth grade will continue to build upon foundational skills on an as needed basis. Phonological awareness instruction is integrated in spelling and writing lessons. Activities include segmenting syllables, adding or deleting word parts, substituting and blending sounds.

Phonics instruction becomes increasingly embedded in vocabulary development across all content areas. As students encounter grade appropriate words, they are able to break them up into parts and analyze the components as clues to meaning.

Vocabulary instruction is embedded throughout the curriculum, focusing on both spoken and written language. Instruction involves the intentional use of increasingly complex academic language and content specific vocabulary. 

Fluency is practiced and modeled in a variety of ways with the goal to support comprehension. Students become more fluent through repeated readings, partner reading, and listening to teachers model fluent reading through read alouds.

Text comprehension instruction occurs across all content areas. Instruction is based in high interest texts grounded in a variety of genres, cultures and perspectives. In addition, instruction involves continuous teacher modeling, opportunities to discuss text with peers, participation in book clubs and independent reading. Teachers work with students to expand higher level comprehension skills. 

Writing instruction in fifth grade involves responding to text and writing across a variety of genres across all content areas.  As writing expectations become more demanding, students are expected to collect and analyze information through note taking and synthesizing. In addition, writing instruction emphasizes student voice, dialogue, character development and the use of evidence to compare multiple texts.