Fifth Grade

• The focus this year is on the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church.
• Special emphasis is placed on the lives of many saints and holy people.
• Students respond to God’s call and grace in their daily lives through prayer, Catholic devotions, and Bible reflections on their growing faith experiences.

• Good literature, silent reading, and group discussion are used to extend students’ love of reading.
• Course work includes grammar, vocabulary, mechanics, and word structure in both reading and writing.
• Public speaking is emphasized as students gain maturity and confidence.
• Students learn to make connections from their own experiences, to analyze information in problem solving, and to express themselves through their choices of reading, writing, and speaking.
• Build on theme, concept, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
• Expand students’ exposure to genre with stories, poems, non-fiction, and expository texts.

• Students learn the concept of a variable as an unknown, using a letter or symbol.
• They work with decimals, including addition/subtraction with different decimal places, and multiplication/division of whole numbers by a decimal.
• Students add/subtract/multiply/divide fractions, and compare equivalent fractions.
• They learn the expanded form of numbers less than 1,000,000, standard form, & exponential notation.
• Students use coordinate systems to name locations and explain paths.
• They develop proficiency with multiplication/division, and apply these to story problems.

• Students design scientific investigations, with consideration of fair tests, variables, and multiple trials.
• They study motion as related to a point of reference, distance, time, and direction and they perform in-depth explorations into friction.
• Students explain seasons by the tilt of the earth on its axis and revolution around the sun.
• They explain eclipses based on the relative positions of the sun, moon, and earth.
• They study the universe and describe the position, motion, and relationship of the planets to the sun.
• Examine the Earth’s 4 major systems and their interactions
• Examine the structure of matter as well as how it interacts with one another.
• Observe, study, and apply the use of simple machines (i.e. Pulleys, levers, wedges, inclined planes, screw wheel & axle, and gear)

• Fifth Graders learn early United States history including the prehistoric land formations, the migration of the ancient Americans, and the resources needed to establish early communities.
• Students study the settlement of New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies and Southern colonies.
• They study the causes of the American Revolution, the birth of a new nation, the growing country, its ensuing problems/successes, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.
• Emphasis is placed on the use of timelines, charts, graphs, diagrams, and how fine art represents historical accuracy before cameras.
• They learn that core democratic values reflect the Christian values on which our country was founded.

Fifth Graders attend weekly specials classes including art, library, music, Spanish, physical education, and technology.