English Language Arts
5th Grade
5th Grade ELA Course Summary
In 5th Grade English Language Arts, students explore the different factors that can positively and negatively influence a community and how groups of people have fought for their rights, particularly immigration and civil rights. Students build their social-emotional skills through the core texts Seedfolks and The Breadwinner, learn about the impacts of plastic pollution in Protecting the Earth, and explore movements for equality in Young Heroes and Belonging to a Movement. In each unit, students engage in process-based writing projects connected to the core texts that develop their narrative, informational, and opinion writing skills.
Using authentic, engaging texts, teachers help students develop their language comprehension and address grade-level reading, writing, language, and speaking and listening standards. Over the course of 5th Grade ELA, students deepen their understanding of the world around them through thematically-aligned, knowledge-building units, embedded daily writing instruction, and frequent opportunities for in-class discussion.
After completing the 5th Grade ELA course, students will have the reading, writing, and speaking and listening skills, and the relevant background knowledge to set them up for success in middle school ELA.
Recommended Sequence
Unit 1
19 Lessons
Building Community: Seedfolks
Students explore the theme of community through the book Seedfolks, wrestling with how prejudice and racism impact the way people treat each other and the ways in which that can influence a community.
Unit 2
33 Lessons
Exploring Human Rights: The Breadwinner
Students explore the Taliban's influence on the Middle East through the lens of human rights in the book The Breadwinner, and practice narrative writing by rewriting scenes from other point of views.
Unit 3
16 Lessons
Protecting the Earth: Plastic Pollution
Students explore how plastic pollution is choking the world’s oceans, and explore a variety of solutions for reducing plastic waste and reducing the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean.
Unit 4
34 Lessons
Young Heroes: Children of the Civil Rights Movement
Students study the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of the children who experienced its hardships, victories and defeats firsthand by reading and analyzing multiple accounts of the same event.
Unit 5
30 Lessons
Friendship Across Boundaries: Return to Sender
In the novel Return to Sender, students explore the complexity of immigration and stereotypes, and interpret how authors highlight different characters' perspectives.
Alternate Units
Alternate Unit 1
23 Lessons
Shaping Dreams: A Single Shard
Students explore themes of hard work, growth, and the power of connection through the book A Single Shard, wrestling with how the ways we respond to challenges reveals who we are.
Alternate Unit 4
33 Lessons
Exploring Mars: Spirit and Opportunity
Students explore the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, grappling with the complexity involved in space missions through reading, analyzing photographs, and participating in engineering and design labs.
Alternate Unit 5
31 Lessons
Belonging to a Movement: One Crazy Summer
Reading the novel One Crazy Summer, set in 1968 Oakland, CA at the height of the Black Panther movement, students explore the meaning of community, identity, and what it means to be part of a revolution.
Alternate Unit 5
26 Lessons
Seeking Truth: A Wrinkle in Time
In this final 5th grade unit, students read about the nuances of good versus evil and how unconditional love can overpower darkness in A Wrinkle in Time, the first science fiction novel in our curriculum.
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