This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 5th grade ELA content. Within the folder you will access Parent Guide PDFs in FIVE Languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Spanish, and Vietnamese to help on-going communication with caregivers. 

In this lesson, traditional stories of the Native peoples (i.e., narrative text) introduce students to the study of animals in Alaska (i.e., expository text). Students use the Internet to listen to a Yu'pik tale told by John Active, a Native American living in Alaska. They also use online resources to find facts about animals in Alaska. Students compare and contrast the two types of text in terms of fiction and nonfiction. The narrative stories provide students with a context to begin studying a content area topic; this lesson emphasizes the integration of curriculum.

What drives changes to classic myths and fables? In this lesson students evaluate the changes Disney made to the myth of "Hercules" in order to achieve their audience and purpose.

In this lesson, students evaluate the changes Disney made to the myth of "Hercules." By creating a plot diagram of the “real” myth, students hone in on critical differences. They then document these changes in a Venn diagram and discuss the role of audience and purpose in Disney’s decisions through the Think-Pair-Share strategy. Finally, students evaluate the changes for themselves in a summary and critique writing activity.

In this lesson, students read and analyze an essay focusing primarily on one aspect of Ben Franklin's life - his work as a printer - and how he was an inventor and entrepeneur who also promoted the use of currency in the United States. Students will cite specific textual evidence regarding problems and solutions and will answer questions and complete a timeline. Then, using evidence and information gleaned from the text, students will write a fictious social media post defending the selection of Ben Franklin's portrait for the $100 note.

n this lesson, students explore a historic event in depth by reading fiction and nonfiction literature. Then, to enhance and extend the reading experience, students participate in website exploration and virtual field trips. Throughout the process, students gather facts and relevant information, which they later organize and present to the class. This lesson is easily adaptable to accommodate a wide range of historic events, instructional objectives, and grade levels.

In this lesson, students will make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections after reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. Students gain a deeper understanding of a text when they make authentic connections. After reading the novel, the instructor introduces and models the strategy of making connections. After sharing and discussing connections, students choose and plan a project that makes a personal connection to the text.

Students will understand and appreciate the work of their bones, muscles, and joints.This educator's guide provides a detailed lesson plan for instruction on the musculoskeletal system. The guide includes questions for discussion, outlines of two classroom activities, a quiz for assessment, and reproducible student handouts. In the first activity, "A Winning Combination," students write a play-by-play commentary describing how the parts of the knee joint work together to kick a soccer ball. In the second activity, "Dr. Build-a-Bone's Laboratory," students read an article about bones (including a cross-section diagram of a bone) to investigate what bones are composed of and how new bone is formed.

Tradition in the Lakota Sioux involves giving a name to a child based on his actions, so a young child who moves slowly in all he does earns the name ‘Slow’ from his family. After demonstrating bravery and determination during battle he then earns a new name, Sitting Bull, and this same man later becomes the respected chief of the Lakota Sioux. In this CCSS lesson students will explore Sitting Bull's life through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

This lesson plan contains reading, writing, and science integration. Students will view onion cells under the microscope, read and answer questions from a selection about cells, learn a note-taking strategy, and create a writing piece from their outline notes. A rubric is provided for assessment of student work.

How do cells keep us alive? Through reading and hands-on activities, students learn about parts of a cell, and their functions in carrying out processes for life. Study skills are taught and modeled as students make entries in science notebooks.

Both suggested learning activities in this lesson will help students understand the relationship between the weight of reactants and the weight of the products involved in chemical reactions. In the first activity students will combine borax and glue, and in the second activity they will combine vinegar and cream.

In this unit, students explore Colonial America through the building of timelines and investigating primary and secondary sources. This study of significant events in the colonization of North America and the aspects of everyday life in Colonial America is designed for students to gather, record, and organize their own Colonial Notebook. Students will take on the role of colonist in a given region and work with other 'colonists' of the same region to develop a report and presentation. The study will take students through the life and times of those early settlers and will have them preparing a colonial meal representative of their region of focus

In this lesson, students will see how artistic materials can extend knowledge. This lesson provides opportunities for students to explore and experience the meaning potential of everyday writing and drawing tools in their own writing. The lesson can adapted for older students.

In this lesson plan, the character of Mama, in Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary, writes to the State Librarian asking for help starting a library in their town. Inspired by the actions in Cleary’s book, students write to their school librarian, requesting that a specific text be added to the school library collection. Students use persuasive writing skills as well as online tools to write letters stating their cases. Students then have an opportunity to share their letters with the librarian.

Students read and discuss the Founding Fathers of our country indulgence in gripe sessions. In fact, a list of grievances comprises the longest section of the Declaration of Independence; however, the source of the document's power is its firm philosophic foundation. You can capitalize on the inclination of your students to complain to increase student awareness of the precedents behind the Declaration of Independence. Students will summarize the contributions of the "Founding Fathers" to the development of our county as well as explain how key historical figures exemplified values of American democracy.

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the Industrial Revolution in the United States by examining the manufacturing industry as a proxy for industrialization.

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the experiences faced by immigrant groups who traveled to New York throughout the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Students discuss and illustrate the water cycle, including evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Students then use language arts skills to create stories about the journey of one drop of water through the water cycle. A MapMaker Interactive site is linked for use and a graphic illustrating the water cycle is included. Key terms are highlighted and linked to definitions.

Students conduct research and design a news program about the lives and habitat of selected estuary animals.