ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

FM Virtual University^® uses the Balanced Literacy Approach to best address the needs of all students. This approach involves mini lessons about key reading skills, frequent and in-depth discussions, exposure to high-quality literature and nonfiction texts, and the reading of books at each student\’s own level. Reading: During the year, students in the fifth grade will be working on:

•  Understanding characters in-depth (how they respond to challenges, their point of view, their thoughts, feelings, and motivations)
•  Comparing characters in a story by drawing on specific details and quoting accurately from the text
•  Using multiple strategies (specifically visualizing, making connections, predicting, inferring) to carefully read and comprehend a fiction text or poem.
•  Identifying two or more main ideas and using evidence to support the main ideas of a nonfiction text.
•  Summarizing the text by explaining the relationships between ideas and quoting accurately
•  Using multiple strategies (previewing and predicting, activating prior knowledge, setting a purpose for reading, summarizing, asking questions, and synthesizing information) to read and comprehend a nonfiction text.
•  Using elements of poetry (figurative language, imagery, rhythm/meter, alliteration, onomatopoeia, consonance, and assonance) when talking about poems
•  Figuring out the theme/author\’s message of a poem by drawing on evidence and quotes from the text (tone, language used, imagery)
•  Comparing and analyzing different points of view by reading multiple texts on the same topic
•  Communicating multiple sides of an issue using evidence from research
•  Forming an opinion based on information gathered using multiple sources and points of view.
•  Comparing books with similar themes using specific details (setting, characters, lessons, etc.) and quoting accurately from the text
•  Engaging in discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) on topics and texts, building on others\’ ideas, expressing their own ideas clearly, and using evidence to support claims.

Writing: FM Virtual University^®\’s writing program emphasizes giving students many opportunities to write each day across subject areas. As they write during the year, students in fifth grade will be working on:

•  Organizing ideas on a topic into a multi-paragraph piece
•  Linking ideas in my writing (consequently, specifically, in contract, especially, however)
•  Writing a conclusion that goes beyond just repeating the introduction.
•  Using formal, informal, and specialized language that\’s appropriate for the purpose and audience
•  Using figurative language (metaphors and imagery) to create an effect on the reader.
•  Use details and evidence to support an idea.
•  Writing sentences of varying lengths and structure to communicate meaning or mood.
•  Correctly spelling grade level words using resources if needed.
•  Using commas to separate clauses.
•  Correctly using multiple tenses in one piece of writing as needed

Over the course of the year, students will complete three types of writing: narrative (story), informative, and opinion. Examples of these in fifth grade could include: writing original poetry, writing an essay about a story\’s theme, or writing a feature article about a science topic.

MATHEMATIC

Adapted from PTA Common Core Guide and Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks Critical Areas. Please see the Massachusetts Frameworks for more detailed standards and skills. During the year, students in the fifth grade will be working on:

• Fluently multiply and dividing multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm
•  Using parenthesis, brackets, and braces in solving equations, for example [3 x (45 + 42)] =
•  Reading, writing, comparing, and rounding decimals to the thousandths place.
•  Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals to hundredths
•  Adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators (including mixed numbers)
•  Solving word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions
•  Solving word problems involving multiplication and division of whole numbers
•  Solving word problems involving multiplication and division of fractions
•  Using positive and negative numbers to describe quantities such as temperature, credit/debit, and elevation.
•  Understanding the concept of volume, and solving word problems that involve volume.
•  Graphing points in the coordinate plane (two dimensions) to solve problems.
•  Analyzing mathematical patterns and relationships

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ENGINEERING

During the year, students in the fifth grade will be learning:

• To use a model to communicate Earth’s relationship to the sun, moon, and other stars that explain (a) why people on Earth experience day and night, (b) patterns in daily changes in length and direction of shadows over a day, and (c) changes in the apparent position of the sun, moon, and stars at different times during a day, over a month, and over a year.
•  To describe the cycling of water through a watershed through evaporation, precipitation, absorption, surface runoff, and condensation
•  What relative amounts of salt water in the ocean, and fresh water in lakes, rivers, and groundwater, and fresh water frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps relate to the availability of fresh water in Earth’s biosphere
•  How communities can reduce human impact on the Earth’s resources and environment by changing an agricultural, industrial, or community practice or process
•  The process by which plants use air, water, and energy from sunlight to produce sugars and plant materials needed for growth and reproduction.
•  How matter moves among producers, consumers, decomposers, and the air, water, and soil in the environment
•  How different designs for a composter can effectively encourage decomposition of materials.
•  Use a particle model of matter to explain common phenomena involving gases, and phase changes between gas and liquid and between liquid and solid.
•  How the total mass of matter is conserved even after a reaction or phase change.
•  How to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances with new properties (a chemical reaction) or not (a mixture)
•  How the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed toward Earth’s center.
•  That the food animals digest (a) contains energy that was once energy from the sun, and (b) provides energy and nutrients for life processes, including body repair, growth, motion, body warmth, and reproduction.
•  To provide examples of improvements to existing technologies (innovations) and the development of new technologies (inventions)

SOCIAL STUDIES

During the year, students in the fifth grade will be learning to:

• South and Central American history: Mayan, Inca, Aztec to Spanish conquest
•  Early America and Americans to 1650
•  Settlements, colonies, and the emerging American identity, 1600-1763
•  The American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence
•  The Constitution and the Bill of Rights
•  The early government, 1781-1820
•  The geography related to the content listed above.