Mercer Island School District's curriculum is selected to support student learning as defined by the Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs).
To view the fifth grade standards, check out The Common Core. Washington State is currently in the middle of adopting and transitioning to the Common Core, a set of national standards.
Communication
There are many opportunities in 5th grade to hone Communication skills. Some of these opportunities include:
Book report presentations
Google Slides presentations
Independence debate unit
Health & Fitness
In General Education, we cover Human Growth and Development later in the year as part of our science/health curriculum. More information to come as the unit approaches!
Please direct further inquiries to our P.E. teacher, Mrs. Smedberg.
Math
The iReady math program is a rigorous, college-preparatory program. We cover the following 5th Grade targets (a Common Core standards packet will be distributed during Curriculum Night):
Adding and Subtracting Fractions
Addition and Subtraction with Decimals
Multiplication and Division with Fractions
Multiplication with Whole Numbers and Decimals
Division with Whole Numbers and Decimals
Operations and Word Problems (equations and multi-step word problems)
Algebra, Patterns, and Coordinate Graphs
Measurement and Geometry (converting units of measure, area, volume, and classifying geometry figures)
*For your child's best interest, it is important that they enter 5th grade competent and confident with their fast facts and multiplication tables. We start right away expecting that they have mastered this material in order to succeed in our fraction unit (and the rest of the year)!
Reading
We are using Mondo BookShop Curriculum. This curriculum covers 11 units of study alternating nonfiction and narrative text. This curriculum follows Comprehensive Literacy, which includes:
Word Study: Greek/Latin roots, contractions, etc.
Read Aloud
Shared Reading (whole class reads together)
Independent Reading
Guided Reading
Constructed Responses (written responses about what was read).
*Students also use daily reading logs to track their reading. To improve fluency, students are expected to read aloud for a portion of their 30 minutes of nightly reading.
Writing
We cover five required Being a Writer genres:
Narrative Writing
Expository Nonfiction
Opinion Writing
Poetry
Functional Nonfiction (or Explanatory Writing)
*There are also additional, optional units including Scary Stories, and Fantasy
Being a Writer also includes weekly grammar and guided spelling lessons, in addition to Mondo word study lessons.
Social Studies
5th Grade Social Studies brings history to life! We cover the following units of study:
Discovery of America and Native Americans
Colonization
The American Revolution
United States Government and the Constitution
United States Geography
Science
5th Grade science is hands-on and inquiry-based. We cover the following units:
Living Things and Ecosystems
Earth Systems
Changes in Matter
Earth, the Moon, and the Stars
Technology
In 5th grade, we use one-to-one iPads in all subjects! Students have daily experiences with technology. Some ways we use iPads and technology include:
Daily use of GoogleDocs for writing
Use of Google Slides and visual presentations for various projects
Instructional use of interactive flipcharts in math
MyOn and Sora for accessing a wide range of electronic books
Nearpod for interactive technology lessons
PicEdu to create digital citizenship posters to display around our school
BrainPop to access educational videos to support learning
Freckle for adaptive practice in ELA and Math
i-Ready Math for individualized math practice and review
