Grade Five Curriculum Picks

English Language Arts

• Rigorous Approach (Option 1): Lightning Literature Gr 5 Student Workbook and Teacher's Guide with poetry book and readers

OR

• Lighter Approach (Option 2): Language Lessons for a Living Education 5 by Master Books with 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible; From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiller by E.L. Konigsburg with Classroom Complete Press Literature Kit (or alternate); Sabotage by Karen Autio with activity guide OR No Time to Say Goodbye: by Sylvia Olsen with activity guide (pg. 29; cross-curricular w/social studies)

Mathematics

OR

OR

Science

• The Elementary Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers by Katherine S. McKnight OR 3-D Graphic Organizers by Daniel J. Barnekow

Biology

• Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology by Jeannie Fulbright and Brooke Ryan, MD, lessons 1 - 8. (Lessons 9, 10, and 14 address grade six content standards; lesson 11 addresses grade four content standards)

Chemistry

• Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Textbook by Jeannie Fulbright and Notebooking Journal - Chapter 5 

Physics

• Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics Textbook by Jeannie Fulbright and Notebooking Journal - Chapter 14

Earth/Space

• The Geology Book by John D Morris OR(Chapters 1 - 4) and  Rocks and Geology ScienceWiz Kit by Penny Norman, Ph.D. (optional)

Social Studies

• InternmentHuman CampsRights, byImmigration Natalie Hyde and MyDiscrimination NameUnit IsStudy Seepeetza by Shirley SterlingKit
• BC Land and People by GeorgeBill QuinnMacDonald (Apple Press)
• Coming to Canada by Robert Livesey
• Canadian Government by Classroom Complete Press

Bible/Christian Studies

• Who IsAm God?I? And CanWhat Am I ReallyDoing KnowHere? Him? by David Webb and John Hay (Apologia)

Optional Resources

(not detailed below)

• STEM Starters: Balloon Cars by Teacher Created Resources (ADST)
• Healthy Habits for Healthy Kids Gr. 5-6 by Tracie Heskett  (Health Education)
• Sockeye Mother by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw Brett D. Huson (Science; to address First Peoples concepts of interconnectedness in the environment)
• Above & Beyond with Communication by Robin Johnson  (Career Education)
  

Type of Resource: Home Education Curriculum

Description: Lightning Literature is a language arts curriculum designed to instill a love of literature in students, expand their ability to read intelligently and deeply, and prepare them for more advanced language arts concepts. The key components of this series are literature, grammar and mechanics, and composition. The Teacher’s Guide contains the answers to the comprehension questions for all nine books, as well as four chapters on poetry,poetry and the grammar pages, instructions for daily composition, a discussion guide for each book, and suggestions for additional activities. The Workbook and Guide can be purchased separately, in a set together, or in a pack with the readers. The author’s goal in writing this series is to “instill a love of great literature in children, expand their ability to read intelligently and deeply, improve their communication abilities, and prepare them for more advanced language arts concepts.” The three key components toof this series are literature, grammar and mechanics, and composition. This year, students read a variety of great children’s literature, classic and modern. Grade 5 Lighting Literature will continue the Lightning Literature method of teaching intelligent reading, composition, and grammar using great children’s literature. Students will be introduced to new authors, exciting stories, and different cultures and experiences. The consumable four-colour Student Worktext contains comprehension questions, discussion questions, instruction on grammar (including sentence diagramming), and workbook pages. Workbook answers are in the Teacher’s Guide. The workbook will ask questions on the reading, teach (and quiz on) grammar and mechanics, and introduce composition techniques. Each week, students will write something of their own to keep their composition muscles exercised and growing. The Workbook and Guide can be purchased separately, in a set together, or in a pack with the readers. You’ll need something else forto teachingteach spelling, learning to read, and penmanship.

Website

Review

Samples: Teacher Intro, Teacher's Sample, Student Workbook Sample

Other Optional or Supplementary Resources: Worksheets

Type of Resource: Workbook

 Description: students will build on and reinforce essential communication skills as they achieve proficiency in grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling, and written communication. Independent reading and mastery of effective sentences and paragraphs are at the heart of this course.

Students will enjoy poem, hymn, and picture studiesstudies, as well as faith-growing stories to inspire detailed and descriptive paragraphs while making real-world connections that enhance this fun and engaging story-based approach. Written with a Charlotte Mason influence but designed for modern homeschoolers, activities include book reports, Scripture, creating a dictionary, narration, and critical thinking games to hone and apply their writing and reading skills creatively.

This course is a story-based approach, using Charlotte Mason's ideas for the modern homeschool student with character-building themes. Each quarter has five stories, two picture studies (one of which is biblically-biblically based), and two poems (one of which is a proverb). Using the spelling words and the Dictionary Worksheets, the student will create their very own dictionary as they move week by week through the material.material weekly. 

This course incorporates picture study, memorization, grammar and punctuation, spelling and vocabulary, observation, and application through creating their own stories through pictures, sentences, paragraphs, poems, proverbs, and letters. This course also develops reading and narration skills. Writing stamina is built up gradually. By the end of the course, students should be able to comfortably write various types of paragraphs.

Scope and sequence, daily course calendar, assessment charts, recommended reading list, spelling practice ideas, and grammar sheets are also included.

Website

Series Overview 

Placement Guide

Review

Other Optional or Supplementary Resources

Table of Contents (under "Scope & Sequence")

PDF Samples

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler with Literature Kit by Classroom Complete Press (or alternate)

Type of Resource: fiction novel and workbook

Description: enhance instruction and allow for much deeper conversations to keep students engaged. Imagine who the character of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler will be and what role she will play in the story. Put the Kincaid children's actions in the correct order they occurred as they ran away. Find a simile usedin the book to describe how hungry the children are in the book.are. Invent a character and write a letter similar to what Mrs. Frankweiler does at the beginning of the novel. Draw a map of the children's journey in the style of a plot pyramid. Aligned to your State Standards, additional crossword, word search, comprehension quiz and answer key are also included.

About the Novel: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a Newbery Medal-winning story about two young children who run away from home. Twelve-year-old Claudia and nine-year-old Jamie run away to New York using an old unused adult ticket for the train. The pair find themselves living in the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art by hiding in the bathrooms when the Museum closes. While there, they become interested in Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and her recent purchase of the marble statue of an angel on display at the Museum. They use the rest of their money to visit the woman in Connecticut. Their trip leads to them discovering the secret behind the angel statue.

Note from Curriculum Consultant: Any novel can be chosen in place of this one. Other options for novels/novel studies can be found here.

Sabotage by Karen Autio

 Type of Resource: novel, suitable for cross cross-curricular learning in Social Studies (internment camps) and Language Arts

Description: It's 19151915, and the Great War is raging in Europe. What does that have to do with Port Arthur, Ontario? Heaps, thinks John Maki. Sure, he's a prankster, but he's also a hard-working newsboy with a secret dream to be a reporter. So he keeps his eyes peeled, waiting for the big story. Sabotage is the final book of Karen Autio's trilogy about a Finnish family in early Thunder Bay. This story, told by both Saara and John, takes us into a real-life world of espionage, sabotage, and paranoia - right here in Canada!

Student Activity Guide

Website

Sample Chapters 1 and 2

Other Supplementary Resources: Clippings from the Port Arthur Daily News, The Note Book, Spies and Sabotage, Internment and Enemy Aliens, Vernon Internment Camp

No Time to Say Goodbye: Children's Stories of Kupe Island Residential School

 Type of Resource: Historical Fiction

Description: a fictional account of five children sent to aboriginalan Indigenous boarding school, based on the recollections of a number of Tsartlip First Nations people. These unforgettable children are taken by government agents from Tsartlip Day School to live at Kuper Island Residential School. The five are isolated on the small islandisland, and life becomesis regimented by the strict school routine. They experience the pain of homesickness and confusion while trying to adjust to a world completely different from their own. Their lives are no longer organized by fishing, hunting and family,family but by bells, line-ups and chores. In spite of the harsh realities of the residential school, the children find adventure in escape, challenge in competition, and camaraderie with their fellow students. Sometimes sad, sometimes funny, always engrossing, No Time to Say Goodbye is a story that readers of all ages won’t soon forget.

Note from Curriculum Consultant: this book addresses standards in Social Studies as well as English Language Arts. No Time to Say Goodbye is made up of a number of different stories. Not all of them are appropriate for Grade 5, and some refer to sensitive material. Parents should exercise their discretion in assigning stories.

Website

Other Optional or Supplementary Resources:

FNESC Indian Residential Schools & Reconciliation Teacher Resource Guide, Gr. 5, pages 29 - 62

Description: students learn best and retain more when they are engaged in the material and actively applying concepts to everyday life—Math Lessons for a Living Education Level 5 engages your student through exciting stories and teaches them how to apply mathematical concepts through everyday life situations—allowing your student to learn smarter instead of harder! Math Lessons for a Living Education teaches through short, story-based lessons;lessons, real-life application;applications, Hands-on activities;activities, and engaging,engaging full-colour worksheets.

This engaging, story-based approach puts math into context for your student as they student build connections between mathematical concepts and their own lives—learning both how to do math,math and how to apply it to life outside the textbook. A blend of stories, copy-work, oral narration, and hands-on experience brings the concepts to life, invites the student to explore the world around them, and gives this course a Charlotte Mason flavour.

In Math Lessons for a Living Education Level 55, your student will learn:

• Factoring
• 2 Digit Divisors
• Proper & Improper Fractions
• Common Denominators
• Multiplying & Dividing Decimals

Website

Placement Tests

Series Overview Video

Series Overview Webpage

Review

Table of Contents (under "Scope & Sequence")

PDF Sample Pages

Description: in conjunction with the New Canadian Edition of JUMP Math's teacher resources, Student Assessment & Practice (AP) Book 5 is designed to cover the curriculum for Grade 5 mathematics, with units on:

NOTE: The New Canadian edition of AP Book 5 is printed in two parts, Book 5.1 and Book 5.2. In order to cover the full curriculum, students will need both parts. 

Note from Curriculum Consultant: The multi-modal approaches to solving math problems presented in this resource can be a benefit to some students, but other students may find this approach confusing and would be better served with a program that presents a consistent approach to solving problems.

 Website

On pages where there are multiple grade options, chooseChoose the correct grade from the dropdown menu.menu on pages with multiple grade options.

Teacher Resource/Lesson Plans (free when you register online as a Teacher)

Other Optional or Supplementary Resources

Table of Contents (free when you register online as a Teacher)

Sample Pages (free when you register online as a  Parent)

Type of Resource: home education curriculum

Description: Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics is part of Apologia’s award-winning Young Explorer Series and a curriculum specifically designed for elementary students. From the laws of motion to electricity and magnetism to the very building blocks of creation, this course is a God-honoring study about some of the most impactful scientific principles that are at work all around us. As your student works through this course, their scientific curiosity and confidence will explode as they engage with the vivid graphics, thought-provoking lessons, and hands-on experiments that will bring theory to life.

Curriculum Overview

We believe that your child’s education is at theirits best when their learning begins with curiosity. That’s why this course was designed for elementary students with no prerequisite. We use the practical concepts and things in their world to help them to learn and experience that science isn’t just a class–it’s a means for them to discover their world! 

Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics course is written in a conversational tone, and takes complex and abstract conceptsconcepts, and makes them approachable for curious young minds. As your student engages with the lessons, projects, and experiments, they will better understand the fascinating world of chemistry and physics,physics and the Master Designer who created it all. 

Throughout this course, they’ll study and explore the basic building blocks of creation, atoms and molecules, simple chemicals, the laws of motion, energy in its many forms, as well as concepts of electricity and magnetism. Your student will get to put their learning to work as they have fun making a bouncy ball, developing a smoke bomb, building a solar oven, constructing a working periscope, fashioning a miniature motor, and creating a lava lamp! 

Lesson Plans and Materials
There are 14 lessons in this one-year chemistry and physics course.  Detailed lesson plans as well asand a suggested daily schedule are included in the student notebooking journal (sold separately). This will set you and your student up for success as they work through the course,course while also providing flexibility to meet the needs of your student and your family.

Packed with vivid photos and a variety of hands-on activities and experiments that bring chemistry and physics to life, the student textbook and provides engaging hands-on activities to help solidify the concepts learned. The hard-cover textbook and notebooking journals (sold separately) are recommended for your student to make the most of this course. 

All of the activities and experiments use easy-to-obtain household items and truly make the lessons come alive!

Website

Preview and Table of Contents

Resource Extras

Type of Resource: Science Kit with Book

Description: This is the WEIGHTIEST ScienceWiz book sold, as it has lots of good-sized rock samples! Eruptive experiments are used to explore the active geology of planet Earth. Relate rocks to the history of the planet and connect the earth’s crust to real rocks through exciting eruptive experiments to foster comprehension.

20 activities which include:

• Mold and slice open a model of the earth
• Create a lava fountain to explore density
• Spew your own volcano
• Make your own pyroclastic eruptions
• Discover which rocks will float and which will burn
• Identify, break & display volcanic rocks
• Sediment your own sedimentary rocks
• Acid test rocks
• Explore metamorphic rocks
• Form fossils

Website

Other Optional or Supplementary Resources

Note: only the first 4 of 8 chapters need to be completed to address content standards. This is not a very costly book.

Type of Resource: Nonfiction 

Description: rocks firmly anchored to the ground and rocks floating through space fascinate us. Jewellery, houses and roads are just some of the ways we use what has been made from geologic processes to advance civilization. Whether scrambling over a rocky beach or gazing at spectacular meteor showers, we can’t get enough of geology! The Geology Book will teach you: what really carved the Grand Canyon; how thick the earth’s crust is; why the earth is unique for life; the varied features of the earth’s surface—from plains to peaks; how sedimentary deposition occurs through water, wind and ice; effects of erosion; ways in which sediments become sedimentary rock; fossilization and the age of the dinosaurs; the powerful effects of volcanic activity; continental drift theory; radioisotopes and carbon dating; and geological processes of the past.

 Website

Other Optional or Supplementary Resources

• The Geology Book Study Guide

Type of Resource: Science Kit with Book

Description: This is the WEIGHTIEST ScienceWiz book sold, as it has lots of good-sized rock samples! Eruptive experiments are used to explore the active geology of planet Earth. Relate rocks to the history of the planet and connect the earth’s crust to real rocks through exciting eruptive experiments to foster comprehension.

20 activities, which include:

• Mold and slice open a model of the earth
• Create a lava fountain to explore density
• Spew your own volcano
• Make your own pyroclastic eruptions
• Discover which rocks will float and which will burn
• Identify, break & display volcanic rocks
• Sediment your own sedimentary rocks
• Acid test rocks
• Explore metamorphic rocks
• Form fossils

Website

Other Optional or Supplementary Resources

Type of Resource: workbookHCOS Unit Study Kit

Description: graphic organizersWhat are ahuman powerful metacognitive teachingrights, and learningwhy tool.are Thesethey graphicimportant? organizersHow can bewe usedprotect beforehuman learning,rights duringin learning,Canada? orHow aftercan learningwe activities.protect Thishuman resourcerights providesaround toolsthe world? What does the Bible have to helpsay studentsabout understandhuman relationshipsrights? between facts, terms,You and ideas.

student

Note from Curriculum Consultant: this resource canwill be utilizedinvestigating wherethese resourcesand domany notother providefascinating questions about human rights in this exciting unit! You will be able to investigate historical injustices, create your own treatise on human rights, design a waybrochure toabout interactchildren’s withrights, play the materialTime presented.Shuffle Teachershistorical andgame, students can pick and choose organizers that appeal to them and are readily adaptable to the material they are learning. It iscreate a recommended pick for grades 2 - 5 and can be used again year after year. 

Website

Type of Resource: Workbook

 Description: bring a new dimension to graphic organizers-and increase students' ability to learn and remember important content-area information-with these 20 engaging learning tools. Each organizer comes with a ready-to-go template, easy step-by-step directions, and ideas for using it across the curriculum. The finished three-dimensional products serve as powerful reference tools-and make a great classroom display to show off what students have learned. Great for individual, small-group, and whole-class learning!

Note from Curriculum Consultant: this resource can be utilized where resources do not provide a way to interact with the material presented. Teachers and students can pick and choose organizers that appeal to them and are readily adaptable to the material they are learning. It is a recommended pick for grades 3-6 and can be used again year after year. 

Website

Use of The Elementary Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers or 3-D Graphic Organizers with the resources in the section below is recommended, as the books below provide only a few ways to interact with the content.

Type of Resource: Nonfiction Book 

Description: an important addition to any multicultural collection, this title examines the internment of “enemy aliens” in the United States and Canada during the Second World War. With particular emphasisproject on “yellow peril” and the plight of Japanese-American and Canadian citizens, the book reveals the events, mindsets, and policies leading up to and following the forced removal of thousands of citizens from their homes into internment camps. Using primary sources including real accounts of survivors, the title encourages readers to examine differing perspectives on the events and think critically about the complex relationship between citizenship and diversity in North America. A final chapter considers the lasting effects of internment—and how harmful stereotypes in today’s global climate run the risk of repeating past mistakes.

Note from Curriculum Consultant: Students may wish to expand their learning by completing an inquiry project (see this page for more) where they conduct their own research and reflect/report on Canada’s policies and treatment of minority peoples.

Type of Resource: historical fiction novel

Description: An honest look at life in an Indian residential school in the 1950s, and how one indomitable young spirit survived it. Seepeetza loves living on Joyaska Ranch with her family. But when she is six years old, she is driven to the town of Kalamak, in the interior of British Columbia. Seepeetza will spend the next several years of her life at an Indian residential school. The nuns call her Martha and cut her hair. Worst of all, she is forbidden to “talk Indian,” even with her sisters and cousins. Based on her own experiences at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, this powerful novel by Nlaka’pamux author Shirley Sterling is a moving account of one of the most blatant expressions of racism in the history of Canada.Chinese

Thethe 30thJapanese Anniversaryinternment editionduring IncludesWorld War II, engage with technology, tell stories with stop-motion animation, research and create a newdynamic afterwordpresentation, bytake acclaimeda Creevirtual authortour Tomsonof HighwayEllis Island, make your own heritage fair project, learn about the sad history of Canadian Residential schools, and much more! You will be able to read engaging books, watch fun and fantastic videos, play games, make crafts, and choose from dozens of projects to create the ultimate self-directed learning experience for your fifth grader. This kit is divided into sections based around driving questions. You will have the opportunity to choose your materials and projects in each section of the Barrenkit. LandsThe Firstmaterials, Nationprojects, and activities contained in northernthe Manitoba.kit have been carefully selected to address the big ideas, competencies, and content of BC's Modernized Curriculum.

Teacher’sDownload the Unit Study Guide by Groundwood Books (automatic download)

NovelBorrow StudyPhysical by First Nations Young People: Becoming Healthy LeadersKit (FNED Victoria SD #61)

Type of Resource: Consumable Workbook

Description: This reproducible activity book is about Canada's Pacific province. Topics include a cross-section of British Columbia, the Cordillera, climate, the Fraser River system, preserving a temperate rainforest,rainforest and natural resources, AboriginalIndigenous place-place names, a traditional winter lodge, the gold rush, fruit growing, copper mining, Pacific Rim National Park, the capital, Victoria and emblems of British Columbia.

This series of reproducible resource books are filled with factual and up-to-date information. The imaginative and self-directing activities in each book focus on a particular province or territory of Canada and are designed to help students acquire a knowledge of theCanada's basic geography and social history of Canada.history. Numerous map activities are a part of eachthe bookbook, and develop map skills are developed, such as plotting a route, interpreting symbolssymbols, and using a scale to calculate distance. Pictures and charts are used to clarify and enhance the content. Activities such as crossword puzzles and quizzes are used for review. The answers to the activities as well asand outline maps for the teacher or student use are included at the end of eachthe book.

Type of Resource: student textbook

Description: This textbook of 160 pages contains personal stories of 42 young people aged 8 to 25,25 who left their native countries to come to Canada. It describes their reasons for leaving, why they,they (or their parents) chose Canada, the problems that they encountered on the way here, the immediate culture shock when they arrived, their adjustment to their new environment, the problems and advantages that they discovered and their opinions of Canada today.

Note from Curriculum Consultant: This resource could cross over into some English language arts standards as it includes hundreds of Topics for Discussion and Creative Challenges that will inform students about their new multicultural citizens and the advantages of living in Canada as seen by new Canadians.

Website

Type of Resource: Workbook

Description: travel back to Confederation to see how Canada became a new nation.  This resource breaks down the responsibilities and parts of the federal government. Recognize that Canada is a democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with the head of state being the King or Queen. Read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,Freedoms before writing your own Constitution for a new country. Create a presentation on one of the departments the federal government is responsible for, such as national defensedefence or the post office. Understand that Canada is made upcomprised of provinces and territoriesterritories, and that each has its own government under the federal system. Jump into the political process to elect the next Prime Minister,Minister and see how a majority of minority government affects his or her leadership. Written to Bloom's Taxonomy. Additional writing tasks, crossword,crosswords, word search,searches, comprehension quizquizzes, and answer keykeys are also included. Gr. 5-8; reading level Gr. 3-4.

Video Overview

Website

PDF Samples (shown as photos on this site)

Type of Resource: Student Textbooktextbook

Description: introduces the concept of worldview while laying the foundational truths upon which a biblical Christian worldview is built. Ourhelps children areunderstand bombardedwhat onit ameans dailyto basisbe with competing messages. Every song, movie, book, TV show, blog,fearfully and gamewonderfully is full of ideas about truth, morality, beauty, identity, faith, and more. Not all of these ideas are true. Some are wrong, some are deceptive, and some are outright destructive. Young children must be equipped to discern among competing ideas and stand firmmade in the truth.image Conceptsof coveredthe include:Most High God. Students will develop a healthy, biblical self-image based on the truths taught in this second book in the What We Believe Series.

Students will develop a healthy, biblical self-image based on these truths:

• God ismade truthme in His image and Hecrowned revealsme Hiswith truth to peopleglory
• He ishas thegiven oneme truespecial gifts and almightya God;unique Hepurpose isin the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spiritlife
• HeI createdcan everything
creatively
• We areexpress God’s childrenlove
• I am meant to think about beautiful and arepraiseworthy madethings, especially God and His Word
• I must make decisions based on God’s truth
• I can always know the wise thing to lovedo
• I must cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in my life
• I am a beloved child of God whose true identity is found in Christ.

Website

Review

Table of Contents and toSample praisePages

Note from Curriculum Consultant: this resource is most suitable for students in Grades 4-8 students but could be used for children as young as 6 and as old as 14 in a multi-grade learning environment. This resource could be used for family devotions and discussions.

Website

Review

Other Optional or Supplementary Resources

• Who Is God? Junior Notebooking Journal
• Who Is God? MP3 Download/Audiobook

Table of Contents and PDF Samples