Valley Preparatory School Redlands California

Language Arts

Language arts in the fifth grade include grammar, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and reading.  Writing skills are refined to show recognition of purpose and audience.  Grammar and mechanics are emphasized as part of the writing process.  Note taking and outline skills are integral in the honing of research and report writing.  Spelling skills are refined through the use of a text, personal writing, and reading selection.  Dictionaries and thesauruses are tools of major importance to the program.

In reading, the students examine different types of literature and analyze the basic elements of prose fiction (theme, plot, setting, characterization and conflict).  Novels read integrate with the social studies program in several cases.  Students also read poetry, biographies, and other genres for entertainment and analysis.  Vocabulary is introduced through literary selections and the vocabulary text.  The novels students read are historically based and are meant to promote a better understanding of the American history they will study in social studies.

Texts: English, Level 5 – Houghton Mifflin
Vocabulary Workshop, Level A – Sadlier-Oxford
The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth George Speare
The Light in the Forest, Conrad Richter
My Brother Sam is Dead, James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Slave Dancer, Paula Fox
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi
The Pearl, John Steinbeck
The Cay, Theodore Taylor

Mathematics

The fifth grade program is built on development of a solid sense of numbers and confidence to compute, estimate, reason, and communicate to solve real-life problems for success today.  Experiences are provided from the following strands: numbers and operations; place value; addition, subtraction, and division of decimals; metric and customary measurement; data and graphs; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of fractions and mixed numbers; ration and percent, probability and geometry.  Evaluation and reinforcement of needed skills goes on throughout the year.  A variety of techniques are used to meet the needs of all of the students.

Text: Progress in Mathematics – Grade 5, Sadlier-Oxford, 2007

Science

The fifth grade science program provides the students with a general background in science.  This is achieved through an agenda that has a wide variety of topics including physical, Earth, and life sciences.  Each topic is reinforced through experiments that help the students visualize the concepts being taught.  An important aspect of the curriculum is that students are introduced to and encouraged to use the scientific method in reporting their experiments.

Among the topics taught in fifth grade are life science, physical science, and Earth science.  Within the sphere of life science, the activities of cells and how living things interact is covered.  Physical science topics include electrical energy.  As part of Earth science, weather, climate, and tectonic plates are covered.

Text: Discovery Works, Level 5 – Houghton Mifflin, 2000

Social Studies

The fifth grade studies American history.  The course of study begins with the pre-historic migration of various people to the North American land mass and continues through the study of the Cold War.  Units covered include, but are not limited to: indigenous cultures of North and Central America, the process of European exploration and colonization of North America, the causes and effects of that colonization, the regional differences among Spanish, French, and English colonization, the regional differences between the original thirteen colonies, the cultural and economic causes of the American Revolution, and the establishment of the American system of government and growth of the American nation.

The course is designed to facilitate students’ understanding of the major cultural components of their nation’s heritage.  The textbook is used as a springboard for in-depth discussion and research.  Additional secondary and primary sources are introduced to broaden student awareness of the main themes covered in the textbook.  Cooperative learning is incorporated to allow students to develop a more personal understanding of the history of their nation and its value in their lives.

The course emphasizes various skills to promote this understanding.  These skills include, but are not limited to: note taking and listening, research strategies and organization, the writing process, recognizing main idea, drawing conclusions, map reading and use, and critical thinking.  The writing process is particularly emphasized in collaboration with the language arts program.  Students are taught how to construct paragraphs that are concise and coherent, to develop outlines, to write research reports, and to construct essays.

Text: America’s Story – Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1997