Listening/Speaking.  Students:

• analyze a speaker's message for content, persuasive techniques, and tone
• distinguish between a speaker's opinion and verifiable fact
• listen to proficient models of oral reading of classic and contemporary works
• identify how language, such as labels and sayings, reflects regions and cultures

Reading.  Students:

• read and comprehend a variety of fifth-grade level texts
• draw inferences from text and support these conclusions and generalizations with evidence from the text
• offer observations, make connections, react, speculate, interpret, and raise questions in response to text
• generate relevant research using multiple sources of information
• demonstrate relevant research using multiple sources of information
• demonstrate characteristics of fluent and effective reading
• use a thesaurus, synonym finder, dictionary, and software to clarify meanings and usage
• support responses to readings by referring to relevant aspects of the text and their own experiences

Writing.  Students:

• compose original texts applying the convention of capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and correct spelling
• compose, organize, and revise letters, essays, records, and research papers
• use suspense, dialogue, and figurative language in original compositions
• write to persuade, argue, and request
• engage in the writing process and refine selected drafts to publish for general and specific audiences

Viewing/Representing.  Students:

• describe, interpret, and use visual media to compare ideas and points of view
• analyze, critique, and contrast the messages found in visual media
• produce class newspapers, multimedia reports, and/or short films

 In fifth grade mathematics, your child will learn:

Number, Operation, and Quantitative Reasoning.  Students:

• read, write, compare, and order whole numbers through billions
• read, write, compare, and order decimals through thousandths
• generate equivalent fractions
• compare fractions in a variety of ways
• relate decimals to fractions using models to the thousandths
• add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers
• add and subtract decimals
• identify prime and common factors
• model adding and subtracting fractions like denominators
• round whole numbers and decimals to tenths
• estimate to solve problems

Patterns, Relationships, and Algebraic Thinking.  Students:

• determine all possible combinations
• use patterns to make generalizations
• identify prime and composite numbers
• select and use diagrams and number sentences

Geometry and Spatial Reasoning.  Students:

• identify critical attributes of geometric figures or solids
• use critical attributes to define shapes and solids
• sketch translations, rotations, and reflections
• describe transformations that relate congruent figures
• graph ordered pairs of whole numbers

Measurement.  Students:

• measure volume using concrete models
• estimate volume in cubic units
• measure length, perimeter, weight, capacity, time, temperature, and area to solve problems and describe equivalent measures

Probability and Statistics.  Students:

• construct line graphs
• describe characteristics of a set of data
• graph data using the appropriate representation
• use fractions to describe results of an experiment 
• use results to make predictions

Problem Solving.  Students:

• identify the mathematics in everyday situations
• use a problem-solving model that incorporates understanding the problem, making and carrying out the plan, and evaluating the solution for reasonableness
• select or develop an appropriate problem-solving strategy
• explain and record observations
• relate informal language to mathematical language and symbols
• make generalizations from patterns
• justify why an answer is reasonable and explain the solution process

In fifth grade science, your child will learn:

Field and Laboratory Investigations.  Students:

• demonstrate safe, environmentally appropriate, and ethical practices
• learn to use and conserve, dispose, and recycle resources

Scientific Inquiry.  Students:

• plan and implement investigations, ask well-defined questions, formulate hypotheses, select and use equipment, collect, analyze and interpret information, observe and measure, and communicate valid conclusions
• construct graphs, maps, charts to organize and evaluate information

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Skills.  Students:

• analyze scientific explanations as to strengths and weaknesses
• draw inferences on promotional materials
• represent the natural world using models
• evaluate research on scientific thought, society, and the environment
• connect concepts with history of science and contributions of scientists

Tools and Models.  Students:

• using scientific methods and tools, including sound recorders, computers, hand lenses, thermometers, compasses, balances, magnets, meter sticks, collecting nets, and safety goggles to collect information
• shows that repeated investigations may increase reliability of results

Systems, Cycles, and Change.  Students:

• describe cycles, structures, interactions, and processes found in systems and life cycles
• identify events and describe changes that occur on a regular basis and the significance of water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles

Matter and Energy.  Students:

• investigate physical states of matter
• describe light, sound, heat, and electricity as forms of energy
• demonstrate how some mixtures and solutions maintain physical properties of their ingredients
• differentiate forms of energy including light, heat, electrical, and solar

Adaptations.  Students:

• explore and predict adaptations
• describe an organism's niche within an ecosystem
• examine traits that are inherited by offspring from their parents
• study examples of learned characteristics

Past and Future Events.  Students:

• see that growth, erosion, and dissolving are examples of past events that have affected present events

Processes of the Natural World.  Students:

• interpret how landforms develop
• describe processes responsible for coal, gas, and minerals
• compare physical characteristics of the Earth and Moon
• identify gravity as a force that keeps planets and the moon in orbits

In fifth grade social studies, your child will learn:

History.  Students:

• explain causes and effects of European colonization
• summarize how conflict between the American colonies and Great Britain led to American independence
• describe events that led to the creation of the U.S. Constitution
• identify important social changes of the 19th century, including the Industrial Revolution, westward expansion, and the Civil War
• describe important issues, events, and individuals of the 20th century

Geography.  Students:

• use geographic tools to collect, analyze, and interpret data
• describe political, economic, and physical regions in the United States
• explain the location and patterns of settlement and the geographic factors that influence where people live in the United States
• describe how people in the United States adapt to and modify their environment

Economics.  Students:

• explain basic economic patterns of early societies in the United States
• identify economic motivations for exploration and colonization
• describe the characteristics and benefits of the free enterprise system in the United States
• explain patterns of work and economic activities in Texas

Government.  Students:

• identify examples of representative government in the American colonies
• identify important ideas in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution
• describe the framework of government created by the U.S. Constitution

Citizenship.  Students:

• explain important customs, symbols, and celebrations that represent American beliefs
• explain the importance of individual participation in the democratic process
• identify leaders of the national government
• summarize fundamental rights of American citizens

Culture.  Students:

• explain the relationship between the arts and the times during which they were created
• identify the contributions of people of various racial, ethnic, and religious groups to the United States

Science, Technology, and Society.  Students:

• describe the impact of science and technology on life in the United States

Social Studies Skills.  Students:

• apply critical-thinking skills, communicate effectively, and use problem-solving and decision-making processes