VT After School Advantage ELA for 5th Graders

Grade 5

Overview

This series is designed for 5th-grade students who may benefit from the added challenge of accelerated instruction of Common Core 5th grade and 6th grade English Language Arts skills that will form the essential foundation for success in the next grade and beyond.

First Semester - Accelerated 5th-Grade ELA

The fall semester will emphasize fluency and a deep understanding of the 5th grade ELA skills that will form the essential foundation for reading and writing success in 6th grade and beyond. Classes will focus on quoting accurately from a text, determining two or more main ideas within a text, and describing how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

October

Accelerated 5th Grade Reading: Determine Two or More Main Ideas of a Text

This month, students will dive deeper into their knowledge of main ideas and begin looking at multiple main ideas. Students will find that within one single text, there are multiple main ideas. Using key details to support their responses, students will scour informational text by looking at the main ideas and summarizing what they’ve read.

November

Accelerated 5th Grade Reading: Describe How a Narrator's or Speaker's Point of View Influences How Events are Described

This month, students will go beyond just identifying who the narrator or speaker is and explore how the speaker or narrator’s point of view has influenced how events are described. Depending on who is telling the story, the viewpoints may reveal different information about what is taking place.

December

Accelerated 5th Grade Reading: Compare and Contrast Two or More Characters, Settings, or Events in a Story or Drama

This month, students will select multiple events, settings, or characters within a story and compare/contrast them. Students will find similarities and differences and use specific text details to support their responses and ideas. Students can make inferences about the text based on what they learn about the characters, events, and settings.

January

Accelerated 5th Grade ELA Review

Coming off a holiday break, students will spend this month reviewing and sharpening the most important skills in 5th grade ELA: quoting accurately from a text, determining two or more main ideas within a text, and describing how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. This will set them up for success in their scholastic second semester, plus lay the foundation for the advanced preview of 6th grade ELA to come during the next few months of Afterschool Advantage classes.

Second Semester: 6th Grade ELA Preview

The winter/spring semester will give students a preview of the most important skills they’ll encounter in 6th grade while solidifying their comfort and fluency with the 5th-grade skills that future grades will build upon. Students will focus on determining a theme or central idea of a text, comparing and contrasting texts in different forms or genres, analyzing how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text, and determining an author’s point of view or purpose in a text.

February

6th Grade Reading Preview: Determine a Theme or Central Idea of a Text

This month, students will expand their understanding of stories and describe the theme within a story. Using literature-based texts, students will infer what theme (lesson or message) can be learned from the story and how it could be applied to their own lives. Students will use key details to infer this information. Students should also summarize the text without using their own opinions or judgments.

March

6th Grade Reading Preview: Compare and Contrast Texts in Different Forms or Genres

This month, students will dive deeper into their knowledge of text forms and genres. Many students may be familiar with identifying genres or explaining what w genre a text is, but this skill has students moving beyond identification. Students will find similarities and differences between texts in different forms or genres and see how the authors approach the themes and topics presented.

April

6th Grade Reading & Writing Preview: Analyze How a Key Individual, Event, or Idea is Introduced, Illustrated, and Elaborated in a Text

This month, students will use their analysis skills to describe and explain how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text. Students may be familiar with describing character traits or events. Still, this skill requires examining anecdotes and text examples to determine how the author develops the character, setting, or event.

May

6th Grade Reading Preview: Determine an Author's Point of View or Purpose in a Text

This month, students will go beyond just identifying who the narrator or speaker is and explore how the speaker or narrator’s point of view has influenced how events are described and how the author conveys this viewpoint. Students will use key details to support their responses and inferences.