Fifth Grade

A. Course Description:

Fifth Grade continues teaching considerable quantities of historical/geographical/ Biblical/scientific/literature content, but the dialectic phase and critical thinking skills are increasingly emphasized.

B. Objectives and Methods:

We use the Spalding method ("Spell to Write and Read") to refine the student's spelling abilities, and we continue to use dictation to develop listening and analytical thinking skills. We integrate history/geography/Bible/science and literature, so that students learn these subjects in their interrelated contexts and not in isolation. We introduce debate, to develop analytical and speaking skills. We also continue using the Progymnasmata composition program, to develop writing skills (Encomiums, Comparisons, Fables, etc.)

C. Course Goals:

• a student will be able to read and understand literature's plot, main characters and setting, and identify and critique the author's worldview;
• a student will be able to write, neatly, in cursive, and spell the 1,000 most common words;
• a student will be able to write an Encomium and Comparison (five paragraphs in length), showing mastery of grammar and syntax skills;
• English grammar: a student will be able to identify all parts of speech, diagram sentences, and master beginning Latin grammar and vocabulary;
• a student will understand fractions and decimals;
• a student will know the timeline and facts of European Expansion into the West and Colonial American history, as well as major geographical features of North and South America;
• a student will be introduced to rhetoric/public speaking through participating in class debates

D. Sample books used in Fifth Grade:

The Hobbit by Tolkien, Amos Fortune by Yates, Johnny Tremain by Forbes, The Secret Garden by Burnett, Where the Red Fern Grows by Rawls, etc.

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