Our Academics
Our fifth grade classroom will use the following point value scale, learner progress scale, mastery of content strands, and learner behaviors when grading various assignments.
POINT VALUE SCALE
-
100% of overall subject grade for classroom assessments and projects
LEARNER PROGRESS SCALE
-
A = 90-100% mastery of grade level common core standards
-
B = 80-89% mastery of grade level common core standards
-
C = 70-79% mastery of grade level common core standards
-
D = 60-69% mastery of grade level common core standards
-
F = 55% mastery of grade level common core standards
MASTERY OF CONTENT STRANDS
-
E = exceeds grade level standards S = meets grade level standards N = needs improvement
LEARNER BEHAVIORS
-
E = exceptional progress S = satisfactory progress N = needs improvement
Science
In fifth grade, we use the science program entitled Mystery Science. Our Mystery Science units include Web of Life, Watery Planet, Spaceship Earth, Stars and Planets, and Chemical Magic.
​
-
Web of Life: students explore how organisms depend on one another and form an interconnected ecosystem. Students investigate food chains, food webs, and the importance of producers, consumers, and decomposers.
-
Watery Planet: students consider the profound importance of water as a natural resource. Students investigate the distribution of water, how it cycles through Earth’s systems, and explore how it affects human societies.
-
Spaceship Earth: students explore patterns of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and stars. They investigate how shadows change throughout the day, how the Sun's position changes throughout the year, and how stars change throughout the seasons. They also create Earth, Sun, and Moon models to explore Moon patterns.
-
Stars and Planets: students explore our solar system! They investigate how bright the Sun appears from each planet in our solar system in addition to stars of other solar systems in galaxies far away. They also investigate gravity on Earth and gravity on other planets to discover patterns of this incredible force.
-
Chemical Magic: students investigate the properties of matter by dissolving everyday chemicals to make solutions and by exploring simple yet surprising chemical reactions. Through these investigations, students begin to build conceptual models for the particulate nature of matter.
Mathematics
Mathematics and science have a mutually beneficial relationship. Math can be used in science to:
​
-
Organize and analyze data in tables and graphs, helping to represent the scientific phenomena
-
Understand scientific concepts
-
Enhance knowledge and skills in both subjects
-
Provide relevance to math, which can be abstract and isolated
-
Help scientists find relationships between a hypothesis and the data collect
​​​And, although Ms. Cobos will be teaching the bulk of the fifth grade mathematics curriculum, we will explore the science math relationship during our instructional time. Our main mathematics focus will be in several critical areas:
​
A. Convert like measurement units within a given measurement system.
1. Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
B. Represent and interpret data.
1. Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Use operations on fractions for this grade to solve problems involving information presented in line plots. For example, given different measurements of liquid in identical beakers, find the amount of liquid each beaker would contain if the total amount in all the beakers were redistributed equally.
​C. Graph points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
1. Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, called axes, to define a coordinate system, with the intersection of the lines (the origin) arranged to coincide with the 0 on each line and a given point in the plane located by using an ordered pair of numbers, called its coordinates. Understand that the first number indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of one axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the second axis, with the convention that the names of the two axes and the coordinates correspond (e.g., x-axis and x-coordinate, y-axis and y-coordinate).
2. Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.​​
​​
Citizenship
To earn exemplary citizenship on his/her progress report and report card, a student is graded on seven categories of the Learning Behavior. Following classroom rules is only one measure of the citizenship grade. The seven categories are as follows:
-
follows classroom rules
-
observes school rules
-
follows directions
-
accepts responsibility
-
works independently
-
works cooperatively
-
quality of work