St. Michael School 5th Grade
Notes from the Teacher
Religion
Faith First (Resources For Christian Living)
The Faith First Scope and Sequence is divided into three parts: Doctrine: The doctrines in Faith First are drawn from the four pillars of faith as presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These are developmentally presented to help students recognize what we believe, how we worship, how we live, and how we pray make a difference in our lives. Scriptures: Scripture is included in every chapter and is taught as a separate strand throughout the book. Each unit has core Scripture chapters that include studying the Bible background, reading a complete story, and deepening the students’ understanding. Liturgical Season: The liturgical seasons are taught in separate strands. The lessons help the students reflect weekly on God’s presence.
www.faithfirst.com
Students also learn Catholic prayers, scripture stories and vocabularyDownload a list of prayers that our 5th graders are required to learn.
Reading/Language Arts/Spelling
Journeys (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
This newly adopted reading curriculum integrates all the areas of language arts. Students experience their spelling words while reading fiction and non-fiction stories collected in an anthology containing many different authors. Vocabulary, grammar, writing, comprehension and reading strategies are all approached within the context of an engaging story. The curriculum provides opportunities for multimedia experiences using the Promethean interactive white board and the Internet. In addition, students are provided many hands-on activities using differentiated instructional practices to meet the needs of all learners.
www.hmhschool.comAccelerated Reader
The Accelerated Reader program uses the computer based testing to check the students’ comprehension of various stories and vocabulary. The books read are leveled by the programs authors. The levels are generally reflective of the books length, complexity of the vocabulary used, and the length of sentences. This program assesses the students ability to read longer works and to assess their vocabulary growth. This is a supplement to the anthology.
http://www.renlearn.com/Step Up To Writing (Sopris West Educational Services)
This approach to writing uses colors and symbols to help students organize meaningful sentences, paragraphs and essays.Math
Progress in Mathematics (Sadlier-Oxford)
In grade five the concepts of fractions an decimals will be further developed, and your fifth grader will use all four operations with these number types. There will also be an increased emphasis on algebraic thinking. Other topics that are studied include: Statistics, geometry, measurement, probability, percents, and proportions. Special attention is given to critical thinking, problems solving, and mental math.
http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/mathRocket Math (R & D Instructional Solutions)
Students practice basic math facts for quick recall.Science
Foss (Delta Education)
Variables: The Variables module has four investigations that help students discover relationships through controlled experimentation. Students will fling, float, fly, and flip objects as they discover relationships in each investigation.
Levers and Pulleys: Consists of four investigations that involve students in fundamental concepts of simple machines.
Landforms: Consists of five investigations that introduce the students to these fundamental concepts in earth science: change takes place when things interact; all things change over time; patterns of interaction and change are useful in explaining landforms. Students also learn about some of the tools and techniques used by cartographers and use them to depict landforms.
www.fossweb.comSocial Studies
United States History (Harcourt Horizons)
The curriculum begins with a review and study of map and globe skills. It continues with why the study of history, geography, economics, civics/government and culture/society matter. It then travels into the earliest Americans, exploration and colonial settlement of America. It follows the American Revolution through the building of a new nationArt: Art in Action: American Art
www.artinaction.org
Shakespeare: The Tempest with Director Pug Bujeaud
Music: Twice a week with Mrs. Guraad
Computers: Twice a week with Ms. Berning
Physical Education : Fridays with Mr. Hart.
Library: Once a week with Mrs. Evans
