Fifith Grade

ELA 

By the end of fifth grade, students are expected to proficiently read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts, building knowledge and vocabulary across related texts while analyzing themes, characters, plot, main ideas, text structures, author’s craft, purpose, and perspective. Students will compare ideas and perspectives across texts and draw several pieces of evidence—accurately quoting or paraphrasing—to support claims, conclusions, and inferences in discussion and writing. Teachers use EL Education for instruction. 

Math

Fifth-grade mathematics in Virginia focuses heavily on advanced fraction and decimal operations, multi-digit computation, volume, and algebraic reasoning. The curriculum aligns with the state's Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) to prepare students for middle school and to take Algebra 1 in eighth grade.

Science

Fifth grade science delves more deeply into foundational concepts in physical science, and students begin to make connections between energy and matter. Students continue to develop scientific skills and processes as they pose questions and predict outcomes, plan and conduct investigations, collect and analyze data, construct explanations, and communicate information about the natural world. Mathematics and computational thinking gain importance as students advance in their scientific thinking. Students continue to use the engineering design process to apply their scientific knowledge to solve problems. 

Social Studies

Fifth grade social studies focuses on the United States, including its regions, states, major cities, physical features, climate, natural resources, and patterns of human settlement. Students will examine how geography influences where people live, how communities develop, how resources are used, and how regions are connected through movement, trade, and culture. Students will also study key events, individuals, and developments in United States history and explore the nation’s government, economy, and diverse cultural heritage. Students will use maps, globes, charts, timelines, geographic data, artifacts, and primary and secondary sources to investigate historical and geographic questions. By the end of the year, all students will be able to locate and describe major regions and features of the United States, explain relationships between people and the environment, analyze how geography has shaped historical events and economic activity, compare regions and perspectives, and construct well-reasoned conclusions supported by relevant evidence.

Additional Learning Opportunities

Fifth grade students at RPS also receive exposure to the arts, including fine arts and music, as well as the library and PE classes. Many schools also offer periodic Spanish-language instruction — please reach out to your school principal to learn if this is an option. Additionally, fifth grade students transferring into RPS can test into SPACE programming, which offers a rigorous and challenging curriculum for academically advanced students. Initial testing typically occurs in the 2nd grade.

Social-emotional Skill Development 

In fifth grade, students develop the independence, self-management, and relationship skills needed for the transition to middle school. By the end of the year, they should be able to regulate their emotions, organize assignments and materials, manage time, set academic and personal goals, and persevere through increasingly complex tasks. Students should also collaborate effectively, communicate respectfully, consider different perspectives, and resolve disagreements through discussion and compromise. Social-emotional growth is evident when students can accept responsibility for their choices, respond constructively to feedback, advocate appropriately for themselves and others, resist negative peer pressure, demonstrate empathy, and make responsible decisions that support a respectful and inclusive learning community.