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| FIFTH GRADE CURRICULUM
LiteratureIn addition to individual novel reading using the Accelerated Reading program, students in fifth grade read Hatchet, My Brother Sam and The Lion, The and The Wardrobe. Students also read stories in our Treasures in Literature textbook. Students investigate mystery novels and nonfiction text in Ms. Tatone's class.
Language ArtsSpelling
is a weekly part of our curriculum. Students study 25-30 words each
week, by completing weekly workbook activities. Students are given a
Pretest and Post-tests. Students also explore writing in Writer's
Notebooks to expand creativity and writing fluency. The study of basic
grammar is also a part of our language arts. Students in Ms. Tatone's
class also study nonfiction writing in magazines. Students then create
their own magazine.
Science
In science class we explore matter, forces of nature, life processes, weather and climate, astronomy, and ecology.Social Studies
In
fifth grade, we investigate United States History. Students learn about
geography through SPAM and DOG, two unusual activities that motivate
students to learn. We begin the year exploring how the Americas were
inhabited, explorers that set sail for the Americas, and when and where
the colonies began. We continue to explore how the states were formed,
how our government came to be, and what conflicts arose throughout this
journey. Students research a state of their choosing, to create a state
report. We spend a good portion of our time on the American Revolution,
the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Branches of
Government. We also spend some time talking about the Civil War.
In
correlation with our social studies curriculum, we take several field
trips. We visit Camp St. Croix, where we work on team building and
orienteering. In late winter, we visit the MN State Capitol Building to
see how our government works. In the Spring, we see a Civil War
reenactment.
Math
In
the fifth grade math curriculum, we study a variety of math topics.
Students will enhance their skills in place value, by extending it to
the Billions place and adding decimal place value. Students then move to
explore decimals in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division. Graphing of many types of graphs is completed in fifth grade,
along with the use of range, mean, median, and mode. One of the bigger
units of study is fractions. Students review the basics of fractions and
then begin applying those basics to comparing and ordering of
fractions, decimals, and mixed numbers. Students learn how to add,
subtract, multiply, and divide fractions and mixed numbers. The process
of converting fractions and decimals into percents is used. Other units
of study are measurement ( metric and customary),Geometry, Perimeter,
Area, Volume, Ratios, Probability, Algebra, and Integers.
In addition
to our fifth grade text we also incorporate math stations. Each student
is expected to complete 18 stations in a quarter. These stations
include worksheets or games on topics of study for each quarter. These
are used to challenge, enrich and reinforce skills necessary for
everyday problem solving and math class.
Religion
Our fifth grade religion text is Blessed Are We.
Throughout the book we focus on the sacraments. We study the Beatitudes
and the Fruits of the Spirit as well. The fifth grade completes a
service project each year during Lent. Students learn the art of
stitching.Their stitched blocks are put together to make quilts. Two of
these quilts are placed in a school auction, as a fundraiser for our
school, while the rest are sent down to Guatemala to our sister parish.
In
addition to our religion textbook, we also spend time on a Character Ed
and Bullying curriculum. Here students learn about good character
traits that God has given each of us. We also spend time discussing
bullying, what is it and how to prevent or handle tough issues. Through
these two addition areas our mission is to teach students to be
better Christians in the world around them.
Art
Art
is taught by a teacher who has a B.S. degree in K-12 Broad Area Art
Education. The students meet once a week for 40 minutes for the entire
year. The art curriculum at St. Patrick School follows the theory of
Discipline Based Art Education which centers around and teaches art
history, aesthetics, production, and criticism.
Fifth grade art
centers around the Impressionist and Postimpressionist periods. The
students learn extensively about Edward Degas, Vincent van Gogh, and
George Seurat. They learn about and are tested on the artist's
background and their artistic characteristics and are able to identify
their artwork. They also learn about and do projects that center around
books arts and typography. In addition, they review, from 3rd grade,
and do an in-depth project on linear perspective. As a highlight of art
in fifth grade, the students have an art experience day. They spend
the morning at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and create their own
'font' and produce a class alphabet which they each print on a Vander
Cook printing press. In the afternoon, they take a tour of the
Minneapolis Institute of Art and see specific works of art they have
studied in class.
Computer Technology
The
computer technology curriculum at St. Patrick School approaches
technology as a tool. We do not teach technology for the sake of
technology but as a tool to be used to enhance learning in other
subjects areas. Fifth grade students meet for computers for 40 minutes a
week for three quarters of the school year starting second quarter.
Fifth
grade computers starts off with a review in proper keyboarding
techniques. They then review and go more in-depth using StarOffice
Presenter (PowerPoint) which was introduced in fourth grade. They get
to pick a famous building or structure from anywhere in the world and
then research its construction and history using the internet and book
research. After they have assembled their notes, they use Presenter to
create a presentation on their building. To finish the year, they learn
about statistics and percentages and how to use a spreadsheet to create
a graph, and how to properly label and present their information.
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