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. Unit 1 of Fifth Grade English Language Arts focuses on a novel study of Katherine Paterson’s Newbery Medal winning-novel Bridge to Terabithia .

Each week on Monday there will be a video introducing that week’s lesson. Also in the online classroom on Mondays, students will find that week’s assignments, spelling words, worksheets and quiz links. I will be available throughout the week to answer questions in the online classroom, to evaluate students’ work and to provide any additional support learners need. On Wednesdays, I will post that week’s discussion question about the assigned reading. 

INTERACTION: We will keep a classroom journal to respond to our learning together. The classroom journal will be a Google Doc where learners will find writing prompts based on each chapter of the book. Learners are encouraged to go into our classroom journal after reading each chapter and respond to the prompt with a paragraph, and to respond to what their classmates have written. In addition there is a weekly discussion question in the Outschool classroom that learners are encouraged to answer and also to respond to their classmates' answers. 

New sections of each of the fifth grade units are offered in January, February, March, April, May, August, September, and October. For students seeking a letter of completion, one will be provided following each unit of the class as well as a final letter of completion for those students who complete all four units. If your learner is seeking a letter of completion please message me to let me know so we can work together to ensure success. 

This flex class is for learners who just want to practice their English Language Arts Skills, as well as students who want to get a letter of completion. For learners who are just practicing skills, homework is optional but highly recommended. For those learners seeking a letter of completion, there is 3-4 hours of homework to be completed each week. See the rubric below for how the learner will be evaluated. 

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Week 1: 
Grammar Concept: Review common and proper nouns, regular and irregular plural nouns
Chapters 1-4 of Bridge to Terabithia

Week 2:
Grammar Concept: Subject and object pronouns, pronoun agreement
Chapters 5-9 of Bridge to Terabithia

Week 3:
Grammar Concept: Regular and irregular verbs
Finish Bridge to Terabithia

Week 4: 
Grammar Concept: Helping verbs
Short story reader

Week 5: 
Grammar Concept: Linking verbs
Short story reader

Week 6: 
Grammar Concept: Perfect verb tense
Short story reader

Week 7:
Grammar Concept: Verb tense shifts 
Short story reader

Week 8:
Grammar Concept: Subject-verb agreement
Short story reader

Weekly Evaluation Rubric 

Reading: 20 Points 
- 3-Minute Reading Aloud Recording 5 Points
- Comprehension Quiz 5 Points
- Classroom Discussion Question Participation 5 Points
- Vocabulary Quiz 5 Points 

Spelling: 15 Points
- Writing Each Word 3 Times 5 Points 
- Spelling Word Project 5 Points 
- Spelling Quiz 5 Points

Grammar: 15 Points
- Grammar Worksheet 5 Points
- Grammar Project 5 Points
- Grammar Quiz 5 Points

Writing Assignment: 50 Points

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Weekly Evaluation Rubric 

Reading: 20 Points 
- 3-Minute Reading Aloud Recording 5 Points
- Comprehension Quiz 5 Points
- Classroom Discussion Question Participation 5 Points
- Vocabulary Quiz 5 Points 

Spelling: 15 Points
- Writing Each Word 3 Times 5 Points 
- Spelling Word Project 5 Points 
- Spelling Quiz 5 Points

Grammar: 15 Points
- Grammar Worksheet 5 Points
- Grammar Project 5 Points
- Grammar Quiz 5 Points

Classroom Journal: 10 Points

Writing Assignment: 40 Points