Dear Parents,

Welcome to fabulous fifth grade! This will be an exhilarating year as we all work together to further develop the academic and life skills of your fifth grader. With an emphasis on self-esteem, confidence, and intrinsic motivation, your child will continue to grow in their higher-level thinking skills, responsible decision making, and in their love of learning. 

Religion: We will explore and develop an understanding of the sacraments as celebrations of life and recognize Jesus as the sacrament of God’s presence.  Additionally, we will study Scripture, pray psalms, participate in the Rosary, and Stations of the Cross.  We will actively be involved in social justice with several visits to a local convalescent home. Finally, we will prepare for the changes in the Mass as it relates to the Glory to God and the Profession of Faith.

Language Arts: The Language Arts focus areas consist of four components: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. The curriculum is heavily focused on the following areas:  building vocabulary, increasing reading comprehension, utilizing various writing process strategies, understanding correct grammar usage and mechanics.  Additionally, the Mountain Language adjunct program will solidify these concepts through our Language Arts tasks.

Math: With a solid foundation built in multiplication and division, we will proceed to work with Number Sense, Algebra, Fractions, Measurement, Geometry and Mathematical Reasoning. We will continue to discover and understand the place value of numbers and solve algebraic equations. We will explore the perimeter and area of geometric figures and simple statistics as we construct graphs to predict trends. As with Language Arts, the Mountain Math adjunct program will solidify these concepts through our Mathematics tasks.

Science: The Science curriculum is exciting and always very engaging for the fifth graders.  We will examine the disciplines of Earth Science, Physical Science and Life Science. Additionally, we have the opportunity for investigation and experimentation in our science lab. We will culminate our science exploration with related field trips to enhance the students' real world application of the science principles.

Social Studies: Fifth graders will begin to internalize and gain a deeper understanding of America’s foundation. Additionally, we will trace early migration tribes to North America and their adaptations to the environment.  In Geography, students learn to distinguish various geographic regions and will learn about all 50 states as well as identify the state capitals.

I look forward to a great year together -

Mrs. Nan Soto