5th+Grade+Curriculum

=**5th Grade Curriculum**=

**November**
Tie-in with Ancient Greece Unit by reading "It's All Greek to Me" by John Scieszka. Three weeks worth of read-aloud. **From School Library Journal** Grade 3-5-Hey, are you ready for this? Joe, Fred, and Sam are transported back in time to Mount Olympus while performing in a school play about ancient Greece. Needless to say, they aren't much of a threat when they try to use their cardboard thunderbolts on Cerberus. Instead, the boys use their wits, and a Ding Dong in the case of the three-headed dog, as they quickly slip in and out of danger. Children who know Nike is the Greek goddess of victory will double over with laughter when Sam Orpheus, friend of Nike, introduces his chums as Fred Cyclops, follower of Reebok, and Joe Paris, cohort of Fila. Humor continues as the friends help hide a nervous Zeus, who is worried that his wife, Hera, will blab to the other gods if she finds out he lost his thunderbolts. Dionysus wants to party and Ares wants to fight, but the real trouble starts when Zeus challenges Joe to give his golden apple to the fairest of all goddesses. This entry in the series is guaranteed to sail off of library shelves. Purchase extra copies for teachers to use in their units on Greek mythology. A handy description of the gods, goddesses, and other monsters who rule Olympus is included. //Linda L. Plevak, Alamo Area Library System, San Antonio, TX// Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. //--This text refers to the [|Hardcover] edition.//

Create a story map for "It's all Greek to Me", done using Inspiration, in groups of two. Here's the [|Story Map] template I've come up with for mapping a story. The boys would edit this template together, in order to review the various components of a story.

=December & January=

Rocks, Gems, & Minerals Used Today - Introduction to Noodle Tools
Thanks to Jon Byrd for this tie-in to his science unit on Rocks & Minerals.

Students will research three modern day uses for rocks, gems, and minerals.

They will learn to use NoodleTools to document their research, take notes, and create a bibliography

This project turned into a [|fennrocks] wiki of it's own, and included using books, websites, and Grolier Online database.

Thoughts for next year:
- the wiki needs to open a new window when a student has clicked on a link - ask Jeff for help with this. - we need to expand our book collection and/or change our list of rocks/minerals to ensure we have books about their uses: Granite, Basalt, and others (which ones?) were hard to find uses of in print. - boys had trouble remembering the directions from week to week. A paper checklist of what they've done, what they need to do, and what to do next might help. - redesigning the library space so that everyone can work in one central area would help. - do this at a different time of year so that December/January could be used to prepare for the National Geographic Geobee. We could teach "how to use an atlas" to answer questions from the geobee, and research answers to geobee questions in the library.

I didn't use these resources for rocks/minerals this year...compare them to what is on the fennrocks wiki:

**Databases**
World Book Online for Kids (Minuteman Library Network resource)

**Internet Hunts**
[|Rocks and Minerals Internet Hunt]

**WebQuests**
[|Rocks and Minerals Detectives] [|Alaska's Wild Wild Rockhound WebQuest] [|Rocks and Minerals] [|Why Do I Need a Pet Rock or Mineral]

**November/December**
Proposal for Lucia's class

**People Who Make a Difference (alternate title People for Peace)**
Unit Draft:

1. Over a 3 week span students will be introduced to the following subjects/topics and/or genres of literature:


 * Civil Rights Movement in America, Jim Crow Laws, Reference to Gandhi, etc.
 * 2 to 3 chapters of The Life and Words of MLK Jr. (common vocabulary and common themes)
 * Concepts of Civil Disobedience, Peace, and ?
 * People Who Make a Difference in the World (citing examples of the everyday person)
 * Biographies, Memoirs, Nonfiction, Historical fiction


 * Introduction American Civil Rights Movement**

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2. Students will read: //Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today's Youth (//cooperative and home read)

3. Students may consider one or more of these individuals: In class: Gandhi biography read aloud Pick individual book: Lisa and/or Sue will check the collection for age appropriate materials //Leon's Story// 975.6 TIL** || Muhammad Yunus ** ||=  || to research for their final project:
 * = **Rosa Parks** ||= **Little Rock Nine** ||= **Ruby Bridges** ||= **Mother Teresa** ||
 * = **MLK Jr.** ||= **JFK** ||= **RFK** ||= **Leon Walter Tillage
 * = **Eleanor Roosevelt** ||= **The Dalai Lama** ||= **Gandhi** ||=  ||
 * = **Albert Schweitzer** ||= **Jane Addams** ||= ** Professor
 * = **Benazir Bhutto** ||= **John Lennon** ||= **Daisy Bates** ||=  ||
 * [|The Biography Maker] Please note Jamie McKenzie's rich questions that he poses for this biography unit:


 * Biography Questions of Import **
 * 1) In what ways was the life remarkable?
 * 2) In what ways was the life despicable?
 * 3) In what ways was the life admirable?
 * 4) What human qualities were most influential in shaping the way this person lived and influenced his or her times?
 * 5) Which quality or trait proved most troubling and difficult?
 * 6) Which quality or trait was most beneficial?
 * 7) Did this person make any major mistakes or bad decisions? If so, what were they and how would you have chosen and acted differently if you were in their shoes?
 * 8) What are the two or three most important lessons you or any other young person might learn from the way this person lived?
 * 9) Some people say you can judge the quality of a person's life by the enemies they make. Do you think this is true of your person's life? Explain why or why not.
 * 10) An older person or mentor is often very important in shaping the lives of gifted people by providing guidance and encouragement. To what extent was this true of your person? Explain.
 * 11) Many people act out of a "code" or a set of beliefs which dictate choices. It may be religion or politics or a personal philosophy. To what extent did your person act by a code or act indepently of any set of beliefs? Were there times when the code was challenged and impossible to follow?
 * 12) What do you think it means to be a hero? Was your person a "hero?" Why? Why not? How is a hero different from a celebrity?
 * Research paper and/or **essay - using some of the above questions...**
 * **Poster** and/or Oral presentation
 * Powerpoint presentation

Questions to consider:
 * What is the focus of this lesson? Currently we have Civil Rights Movement in America, do we want to go beyond?
 * Which genre(s) of books do we want to consider? **[Biography, Memoir, and/or Nonfiction]**
 * What will our rubric be?
 * What will the final product(s) be? **[Poster]**

=Ideas for Coming Months=

=February/March=

Ancient China
=March= Planets - create an alien - Jon Byrd's idea Teach google search tools - google game