The fifth grade language arts curriculum will develop literate individuals through a balanced program that includes:

* An engaging and motivating curriculum that grows in complexity throughout the year

* A comprehensive curriculum that includes word study, reading comprehension, fluency, vocabulary development, grammar, writing, listening and speaking, literary analysis, and research skills

* Assessment based, differentiated instruction to meet the individual needs of students

Our language arts curriculum endeavors to inspire independent reading, critical thinking, writing and speaking.
Reading

* Fluency: Model and practice appropriate expression, intonation, pacing, and rhythm
* Literary Elements: Understand literature by using idiom, poetic elements, personification, alliteration, theme, plots and subplots, point of view, and characterization
* Build upon previously learned reading comprehension strategies and develop strategies of monitoring comprehension, determining importance, inferring, synthesizing, drawing conclusions, applying cause and effect, sequencing, and determining authors’ purpose
* Genres: Explore a wide range of genres, particularly autobiography/biography, science fiction, and legends

Word Study

* Use prefixes, suffixes, and roots/bases to determine meaning
* Broaden vocabulary through context clues, analogies, and homophones

Writing

* Writing process/Genres: Use stages of the writing process -prewriting (brainstorming and organizing), drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing- to develop body paragraph support, leads, theses, and effective conclusions for expository essays, persuasive essays, extended reading responses, and poetry
* Grammar: Apply the rules of grammar to the process of writing and diagraming sentences while focusing on the study of complex sentences, linking verbs, independent/dependent clauses, clause/phrase, possessives, abstract/concrete nouns, adverbs, comparative/superlative adjectives, and quotation punctuation

Informational Research and Study Skills

* Continue to bolster research skills such as organizing information from a variety of resources, citing sources, determining the accuracy, credibility and currency of various sources, and preparing and delivering oral presentations based on information

Language Development and Communication Skills

* Refine listening comprehension and listening behaviors such as evaluating speakers by offering constructive feedback, answering questions from audience/teacher post presentation, summarizing and executing oral directions, and using bullet-pointed notecards to guide presentation