Fifth Grade
Mr. Frazier, Mrs. Rucker and Mr. Vogel
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Mission Statement
We, the 5th grade team, will work together, take care of each other, and share leadership in order to prepare students academically, emotionally, and socially so they will succeed.
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This last year at Garrett Park is a stepping-stone to the next challenge – Middle School. Our goal is to prepare the students academically, emotionally, and socially with a focus on organization and basic life skills. Each year, the fifth grade students have enjoyed researching early leaders for an October Wax Museum and research paper, an individual science expo project and display in the spring, and creating PowerPoint presentations. This year the presentations will enhance our study of astronomy. Other science units include the physics units of motion and electricity which we enhance by making robots, astronomy and what we see in the evening sky, and cells.
Throughout the year in social studies, the students learn about Colonial America's struggle to become independent, the Revolutionary War, the principles on which our government is based, and the initial growth of the new country. We include project-based learning through research and technology. During reading classes, fifth graders read novels, short stories, biographies, and expository articles. Students also read some challenging materials in William and Mary and Junior Great Books that encourage inquiry-based discussions. Vocabulary development, spelling, oral and written communication, and grammar also receive significant emphasis in 5th grade. Each student also creates a poetry anthology of 10 or more poems with many types of literary forms. Math units include whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, graphing of all sorts, number theory, geometry, and pre-algebra. Fifth grade culminates with a long day trip to an historical place, a swim party, and an evening graduation.