Fifth Grade

In fifth grade Humanities, we explore ancient civilizations, cultures, and major world religions. We study specific civilizations like Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, but also explore big questions, such as What makes a civilization? What is culture? What are the major world religions? Our learning is structured around building inquiry skills, such as developing questions and planning inquiries, evaluating sources and using evidence, communicating conclusions and taking informed action.

In addition to ancient world civilizations, we also study geography and discuss current events throughout the year. In Humanities, students read, write, engage in cooperative learning, participate in simulations and Socratic Seminars, practice public speaking, and more!

In Humanities, students explore language arts and learn about how and why we communicate with written language through reading and writing. The reading material (mentor texts) chosen covers a variety of genres in order for students to become comfortable reading in formats that may not be their preferred genre or may be unfamiliar to them.

Students practice reading skills and habits in order to further develop critical reading skills. Mentor texts chosen also model writing skills that will be worked on throughout the year. Writing assignments also vary in style, with discussion about the function and purpose for different styles of writing. Throughout the year, students practice revision in writing in order to develop skills that support personal growth and achievement.

In 5th grade, students focus on three critical areas specified by the Common Core Standards:
 

We strive to make math fun and bring it to life while investigating these core concepts.

In 5th grade Science, the year is all about learning to think like a scientist! Students learn to observe the world, ask scientific questions, create models, conduct investigations, collect data, and analyze the results. Most importantly, they discuss how to tell good science from bad, and what it means for an experiment or study to be “valid.”

Along the way, students dive into a little chemistry, starting off with a unit on mixtures and solutions, and different states of matter. This is applied during the next unit on weather and water, where students take a look at our water cycle, and all the ins and outs of the atmosphere.

Finally, students look at the most pressing scientific issue of our day: climate change. They take a nuanced look at the causes, potential solutions, and challenges our global community is currently dealing with in regard to this crisis.

Foundations is a course to help ensure fifth graders have a successful transition to middle school at Westside. During Trimester 1 we focus on developing academic, self-management, and organization skills toolkits to give students what they need to identify and manage their emotions and advocate for their own needs as well as for the needs of others. In Trimester 2, students focus on the health and wellbeing of the body and mind as well as learning life skills using the Flash Health curriculum. During Trimester 3, students focus on their self and social identity through a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racist lens.

In fifth grade World Language courses at Westside, students learn how to learn how to learn a new language. Each class will take time to have conversations about language acquisition and setting healthy learning expectations. Students do this by learning how to have a growth mindset through better understanding, language proficiency, progress, and performance. In 5th grade, students learn both Spanish and Mandarin and at the end of the year they decide which they’d like to focus on in 6th-8th grade.

Learn more about our World Language program.