5th Grade English Language Arts: Complete Curriculum for Fifth Grade ELA

Fifth Grade English Language Arts is taught to common core standards, covering literature, foundational skills, writing, speaking and listening. Students practice reading for fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. They will practice determining theme, summarizing texts, conducting research, and using details and evidence to support an argument. There is a strong focus on grammar, which includes writing for meaning, audience, and style, using correlative conjunctions, and recognizing and correcting inappropriate shifts in verb tenses. There are also daily and weekly writing assignments with students practicing opinion writing, informative and explanatory essays, storytelling, and analysis and reflection. 

I am currently enrolled in my final course through the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History master of arts in American history program. In addition, I have bachelor of arts degrees in English, journalism, and political science. I was the director of a social justice center for three years during which time I routinely taught about and facilitated conversations about historical and current political events for both teen and adults participants. Before that, I was a newspaper editor and reporter for 15 years. I have been teaching history, social studies, and English Language Arts classes for the past five years. I am currently lead teacher at The Foster Woods Folk School, which focuses on education, storytelling, and the arts within an ecosocial justice framework aimed at celebrating and improving our connections as a global community of human and non-human earthlings. In this role, I work with learners of all ages with a primary focus of working with learners in grades three through 12.  

There is daily homework to be completed outside of class time. Homework includes reading and writing assignments, as well as worksheets and other learning projects. 

Weekly homework is assessed as follows: 
Journal Entries: 30 Points
Reading Quiz: 10 Points
Spelling Word Project: 10 Points
Grammar Quiz: 10 Points
Grammar Project/Worksheet: 10 Points
Participation: 10 Points
Writing Assignment: 20 Points

Learners earning a C (70 percent) or greater will receive a letter of completion that reflects their final grade. 

1 hour 40 minutes per week in class, and an estimated 2 - 4 hours per week outside of class.

I will provide PDF readers for materials covered in Units 3-4. Students will need either a paper or digital copy of Katherine Paterson's "Bridge to Terabithia" and Lois Lowery's "Number the Stars."