5th Grade- English Language Arts

Avon Lake City Schools 

Curriculum Framework

Grade 5 English Language Arts

Course Overview:

Students in grade five are provided an environment rich in reading and writing opportunities to help strengthen their literacy skills.  The fifth grade ELA student can expect to focus on the anchor standards for Reading, Writing, Listen/Speaking and Language as established by the Ohio Department of Education. The focus in English Language Arts (ELA) at the fifth grade level is to expand comprehension strategies and communicate effectively through writing.  Lessons will consist of reading, writing, grammar, morphology, and spelling activities. Students are provided opportunities to read from a broad range of topics and cultures in literature and informational texts in order to build strong background knowledge to become proficient readers.  Writing is incorporated consistently as teachers model the writing process and support students to gather and organize information to formulate their own writing. English 5+ students move at an accelerated pace and analyze texts with greater independence.

Textbook (Title and Publishing Company): 

Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), Amplify

Online/Supplemental Materials:

Assessments: 

Ohio State Test

NWEA Map Growth

Amplify CKLA Unit Assessments & Essays

Content/Topics/Learning Goals

Subject to Pacing and Schedules

1st Quarter- 

Unit 1: Personal Narratives

Anchor Text: Personal Narratives

  • Identify and begin to successfully use personification in writing

  • Identify and begin to successfully use point of view in writing

  • Identify and begin to successfully use similes and metaphors in writing

  • Utilize “Think as You Read” strategy to deepen understanding of a text

  • Writing a personal narrative

Unit 2: Early American Civilizations

Anchor Text: Maya, Aztec, and Inca

  • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary

  • Compare and contrast the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations

  • Paraphrase information from a text

  • Create an informative or explanatory essay using evidence from the text

  • Understanding of grammar including action and linking verbs, words that compare and contrast, run-on sentences and subjects and predicates

2nd Quarter- 

Unit 3: Poetry

Anchor Text: Poet’s Journal

  • Identify and use poetic devices, including tone, anaphora, figurative language, rhyme, and metaphor

  • Identify and write in various poetic forms, such as villanelle and list.

  • Compare and contrast poems using graphic organizers

  • Apply new poetry knowledge to develop the craft of writing poetry

Unit 4: Adventures of Don Quixote

Anchor Text: Adventures of Don Quixote

  • Distinguish between fact and opinion

  • Demonstrate understanding of pronoun-verb agreement and commas in a series

  • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary

  • Construct and share a four paragraph persuasive essay

3rd Quarter- 

Unit 5: The Renaissance

Anchor Text: Patrons, Artists, and Scholars

  • Develop an understanding of reading for purposes such as gist, explanation, details, and inferences

  • Write an informational paragraph

  • Review note-taking techniques on informational text

  • Create a biography about a famous Renaissance artist using at least two sources

Unit 6: The Reformation

Anchor Text: Shifts in Power

  • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary

  • Identify interjections, subject-linking verb agreement, prepositions, prepositional phrases, and correlative conjunctions

  • Plan and create a slide presentation and draft a friendly letter considering both audience and purpose

Unit 7: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Anchor Text: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

  • Identify poetic devices such as iambic pentameter and work to understand Shakespearian language

  • Dive into, engage with, and make sense of complex text and vocabulary

  • Develop an understanding of tone, stress, and actions when reading and performing a dramatic piece

  • Complete character analysis from the perspective of each character’s actions and desires

4th Quarter -  

Unit 8: Native Americans

Anchor Text: A Changing Landscape

  • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 

  • Make inferences from informative text 

  • Identify the main argument and evidence of a persuasive text 

  • Focus on collecting relevant information and construct a persuasive essay

Unit 9: Chemical Matter

Anchor Text: The Badlands Sleuth

  • Demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary 

  • Compare and contrast two texts 

  • Prepare arguments for and hold a debate 

  • Categorize evidence and create character maps 

  • Plan, prepare for, and deliver a presentation 

  • Read and integrate information

Last Updated:

September, 2023