IPCUSD Fifth Grade Curriculum                 

LANGUAGE ARTS

The Immersion Approach is used in the teaching of writing to capitalize on the natural connection between reading and writing.

The 6 + 1 Trait Model is utilized for teaching and assessing writing.

This model focuses on qualities that define strong writing: conventions, ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, and voice.
Students read ghost stories for inspiration and modeling, as well as a variety of other genres like histories, biographies and based-on-fact fiction as research for their own stories.
Primary and secondary resources from books, the Internet and live interviews can be drawn on when creating a ghost story.
Students learn different techniques for writing an effective ghost story to thrill their classmates.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Landscapes
Resources and People
Trade Routes
Early Settlers
American Revolution
Civil War
Our geographic area is rich with connections to events that shaped our nation that students can readily visit, write about and study.

VISUAL ARTS
Understand and apply media techniques and processes.
Use knowledge of art elements and principles of design.
Students can illustrate their ghost stories, design a book cover, create a graphic novel, or storyboard a film.

SCIENCE
Earth — Weather
Planetarium — Stars and Constellations
Ghost stories naturally lend themselves to studies of weather, the nighttime sky and “CSI” type of sciences.

Source:  Indian Prairie Community Unit School District 203 Curriculum—Grade Five www.ipsd.org

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