5TH GRADE LESSON PLANS

Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies

LANGUAGE ARTS

Get to Know Your Classmates

By: Megan Moynihan, Heather Olson, Brooke Topping, Teresa Frizell

  • Students will gather information about their classmates and put it into a PowerPoint presentation. They will present their classmates' information to the class.
  • Virginia Langauge SOLs
    • The student will make planned oral presentations

 Political Issues Survey
By: Sara Young

  • In pairs, the students will develop two non-leading questions for the survey on issues in the gubernatorial campaign. 
  • As a class, the students will create an opinion survey dealing with the current issues of the gubernatorial campaign.   
  • After explaining the purpose of the survey,  the students, in pairs, will distribute and collect the surveys in a third, fourth, or fifth grade class.
  • The students will input the collected data using a spreadsheet program.
  • In pairs, the students will illustrate the results of their assigned classroom graphically, using two different charts on a spreadsheet program.
  • The students will report the results of their assigned classroom to the rest of the class.
  • In small groups, the students will compare and contrast the recorded results.
    1. Compare/contrast classes 2 at a time
    2. Compare/contrast grades (combining 4 classes of each grade)

Historical Fiction Persuasive Presentation

By: Harvey Kelly, Michele Cadenas, Lisa Rainen

  • Students will analyze and report their opinion of the reader appeal on specific topics for their historical fiction books.
  • Virginia Language Arts SOL &endash; Oral Language
    • 5.1 The student will listen, draw conclusions, and share responses in subject-related group learning activities.
    • 5.2 The student will use effective nonverbal communication skills.
    • 5.3 The student will make planned oral presentations.

 

MATH

Calculate the Mean with Student Athletics

By: Jennifer Giles, April Bahen, Cecilia Rennix

  • Given data collected from student athletic events, students will individually calculate the mean using paper and pencil. Given a spreadsheet program and data collected from athletic events, students will, also, work in groups to calculate the mean.
  • Virginia Mathematics SOL
    • 5.18 The student will find the mean and the mode of a set of data.

 

Calculate and Graph the Density of Fruit

By: Michele Cadenas, Harvey Kelly, Lisa Rainen

  • Students will work in groups to calculate and graph the density of various fruits using Microsoft Excel. Given the density of a hidden fruit, students will determine the name of the hidden fruit, also.
  • Virginia Standard of Learning
    • Science 5.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which appropriate instruments are selected and used for making quantitative observations.

Measuring Your Body
By: Heather Dancy

  • Students will draw a portrait of a person consistent with the proportions of human bodies. Prerequisite skills would include work with fractions/proportions and previous use of scales (as on maps, etc.). Mastery of this objective will be assessed by collecting student drawings and determining whether the measurements are consistent with the range of proportions established in class.

Perimeter
By: Jen Pijor, Sharon Salpeter, Jessi Denion, Toni Cipriano

  1. Given different geometric shapes, students will be able to figure out the perimeter and area of each shape.
  2. Using Paintbrush, the students will draw geometric shapes (2 circles, 2 squares, 2 triangles, and 2 of your choice choosing from rhombus, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, trapezoid, diamond) in order to create a design or picture.  The pair will find the area and perimeter of each shape and the group to complete them correctly first will get a prize (turn them in to teacher and they will be numbered in the order that they are turned in and then checked).  There will be a prize for the most creative picture/design as well.

 

 

SCIENCE

The Earth's Surface

By: Kathleen Dumm, Laia Gresham, Erin Kerby and Leah Reyna

  • Students will use the Internet to research rock types in a scavenger hunt manner, fill out a worksheet about rocks, discuss the findings and compare researching using the Internet and "traditional" research.
  • Virginia SOLs
    • SCIENCE 5.7 The student will investigate and understand how the earth's surface is constantly changing. Key concepts include: the rock cycle, including the identification of rock types weathering and erosion
    • COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY C/T5.3 The student will process, store, retrieve, and transmit electronic information.

Measuring Your Body
By: Heather Dancy

Students will draw a portrait of a person consistent with the proportions of human bodies. Prerequisite skills would include work with fractions/proportions and previous use of scales (as on maps, etc.). Mastery of this objective will be assessed by collecting student drawings and determining whether the measurements are consistent with the range of proportions established in class.

The Five Kingdoms

By: Jessica Early, Kevin Fahy, Adia McDuffey, Amanda Ingram

  • Students will research information about the five kingdoms of living things (Animalia, Plantae, Monera, Protista, and Fungi) and present the information in a 6- slide PowerPoint presentation.
  • Virginia Science SOL 5.5

 

Luray Caverns Rock Formation

By: Jennifer Giles, April Bahen, Cecilia Rennix

  • Students will explore web sites to get an overview of the rock cycle and the effects of erosion on the formation of caverns in preparation for a field trip to Luray Caverns. They will answer questions on a worksheet about rock formation and discuss as a class.
  • Virginia SOL 5.7 - The student will investigate and understand how the Earth's surface is constantly changing. Key concepts include: the rock cycle including the identification of rock types; weathering and erosion

Using A Database in Science Experiments
By: Beth Mertens

  • Students will plant and maintain lima bean plants for two weeks.
  • Students will make predictions about the growth of their plants
  • Students will create and fill in data tables the growth of their plants
  • Students will use the data base to compute total growth and create graphs
  • Students will describe and interpret the data from the graphs to make conclusions about their experiments.

Measuring Ourselves
BY: Kyung Bender, Katie Coyle, Jessica Swantek

  • Working with a partner, students will measure their heights to the 1/8 of an inch with the use of a measuring tape.
  • Working with a partner, students will measure their weight on a bathroom scale estimated to the nearest pound.
  • Working with a partner, students will measure the thumb-to-pinky span to the 1/8 of an inch using a standard wooden 12-inch ruler.
  • Working with a partner, students will measure their body temperatures using a thermometer placed into their armpits.
  • Given the data of entire class, students will correctly type in data onto an Excel worksheet, including appropriately indicated column headings. (body temperature, height, etc.)
  • Given the class data on an Excel spreadsheet, students will convert the data into 3 graphs for the different body measurements; bar for thumb-pinky span and height, line for weight, and pie for body temperature.
  • Students will be able to distinguish between a pie chart, bar graph, and line graphs.
  • Students will be able to notice trends and patterns by observing class data presented on different types of graphs.
  • Virginia Math SOL 5.11
    • The student will choose an appropriate measuring device and unit of measure to solve problems involving:  measurement of length-part of an inch (1/2, 1/4, and 1/8), inches, feet, yards, miles, millimeters, centimeters, meters, and kilometers; weight/mass-ounces, pounds, tons, grams, and kilograms; temperature-Celsius and Fahrenheit units.

Exploring Volcanoes
By: Jennifer Frank,  Jayme Mills, Marilyn Rossi

SOL 5.7 Investigating the changing earth. Origin of volcanoes and how they effect the earth’s surface.

After discussing with the students the origin of volcanoes, students working in pairs will:

Research an assigned volcano and answer questions:

Input the research into a teacher created database

Using the database student’s will answer questions regarding specific characteristics of    volcanoes in the database.

 

SOCIAL STUDIES

Civil War Figures

By: Brooke Topping, Megan Moynihan, Heather Olson, Teresa Frizell

  • Students will work in pairs using the Internet to research Civil War figures. The students will create a page on a paint program, including a quote from their leader, a short biography, a picture of or pertaining to their leader, and one of the following: a table of the leader's actions and their effects, a link to a website about their leader, or a scanned image pertaining to their leader.
  • Virginia SOL 5.7 - Students will identify and summarize the impact on the Civil War of one of the following Civil War leaders: Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Frederick Douglas, William Lloyd Garrison.

 

The Journal of a Civil War Soldier

By: Lisa K. Rainen, Harvey Kelly, Michele Cadenas

  • Students will read fictional thoughts from a Civil War soldier and write a response in their journals. They will access specific web sites in the life of a soldier during the Civil War and research questions provided on a worksheet.
  • Virginia Social Studies SOL 5.7 - The student will identify causes, key events, and effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction with emphasis on life on the battlefield and on the home front.

Immigration in America, 1870-1920
By: Beth Mertens

  • Students will follow directions and use the internet to find specific information as delineated on the worksheets.
  • Students will consider the pros and cons of using the internet.

The American Revolution
By: Heather Dancy

·     Students will research a battle of the revolution and present what they have learned. The presentations will use powerpoint if the technology is available. The presentations will contain criteria for assessing their mastery of the information such as the date of the battle, key people, key vocabulary, and the importance of the battle.

Political Issues Survey
By: Sara Young

  • In pairs, the students will develop two non-leading questions for the survey on issues in the gubernatorial campaign. 
  • As a class, the students will create an opinion survey dealing with the current issues of the gubernatorial campaign.   
  • After explaining the purpose of the survey,  the students, in pairs, will distribute and collect the surveys in a third, fourth, or fifth grade class.
  • The students will input the collected data using a spreadsheet program.
  • In pairs, the students will illustrate the results of their assigned classroom graphically, using two different charts on a spreadsheet program.
  • The students will report the results of their assigned classroom to the rest of the class.
  • In small groups, the students will compare and contrast the recorded results.
    1. Compare/contrast classes 2 at a time
    2. Compare/contrast grades (combining 4 classes of each grade)

 

 

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