Milaca Public Schools
500 Highway 23 West
Milaca, MN 56353
Welcome to 5th Grade!

One of our goals is that each student will become a lifelong, responsible learner. We feel that it is important that students strengthen their study and organizational skills. Students should become more self - reliant and independent. We expect students to complete required assignments to the best of their abilities and on time.

Math:

Our fifth grade program is designed to develop understanding through the connection of concrete experiences to abstract concepts as part of a comprehensive plan. Application, problem-solving, and logic is stressed throughout the year as well as appropriate mathematical vocabulary. The following is covered in fifth grade:
  • Numbers, counting, and fractions
  • Writes, orders and expresses place value through billions
  • Rounds numbers to the nearest whole number and greatest place
  • Works with decimals and fractions
  • Expresses fractions in the simplest form
  • Writes ratios as fractions
  • Changes fractions to whole numbers or mixed numbers
  • Expresses fractions and mixed numbers as decimals to the thousandths place
  • Operations
  • Multiplies multiples of 10, 100, 1,000
  • Multiplies three-digit numbers by three- digit numbers
  • Divides 4-digit numbers by 1 or 2 digit numbers, with or without remainders
  • Finds averages
  • Uses calculator
  • Adds, subtracts, and multiplies fractions
  • Adds, subtracts, and multiplies decimals
  • Chooses the appropriate operation to solve word problems
  • Identifies needed or missing information in a problem and solves the problem
  • Uses decimals to express amounts of money
  • Measurement & time
  • Uses the appropriate tool to measure temperature, mass, distance, time, capacity
  • Geometry
  • Identifies right, acute, and obtuse angles
  • Identifies parallel, intersecting, and perpendicular lines
  • Identifies congruent or similar shapes, shapes that have lines of symmetry, and solid shapes
  • Finds perimeters of polygons, area of rectangles, and volumes of rectangular solids
  • Patterns, functions, & probability
  • Reads and creates picture graphs, line graphs, circle graphs, and bar graphs
  • Locates points on graph for ordered pairs

Language Arts:

The Benchmark Literacy Reading Series and Science of Reading is the core of our reading program. Students are exposed to a wide range of quality literature. Reading, Word Study, and Writing skills are developed through integrated lesson plans in conjunction with the literature. Development of literal comprehension, interpretation and evaluation, vocabulary, and fluency skills are emphasized. A goal of our program is to develop lifelong readers. We want our students to read, read, read!

Students are involved in resource management skill development. We continue to work on media and technology skills. Students create documents through researching, writing, and publishing. Speaking skills are developed as students plan and organize group presentations. Individual presentations are also part of the fifth grade curriculum.

Science:

FOSS (Full Option Science System) is the core of our curriculum. Lessons are inquiry based, where students experiment and reflect on what they've learned. We supplement this hands-on approach with two texts in the "Science Explorer Series" from Prentice Hall and a monthly magazine called "Super Science" from Scholastic.

The curriculum is based on these five main topics:

1. Variables: Controlled experimentation through the study of pendulums, boats, airplanes and catapults
2. Levers and Pulleys: Controlled experiments to discover the mechanical advantage gained through the use of simple machines.
3. Landforms: Mountains, streams, deltas, erosion and topographic maps
4. Natural Disasters: Tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, blizzards, floods, droughts, avalanches,etc.
5. Environments: Terrestrial environments, environmental preference of different animals, and aquatic environments.

Social Studies:

The curriculum deals with the geography and history of North America, with emphasis on the United States. Within this topic, our students study about:

The Land and People
The First Americans
Exploration of North America
The American Colonies
The American Revolution

Health: 

The curriculum uses a comprehensive program designed to provide your students with the knowledge, life skills, and thinking skills they need in order to achieve good health.

Topics include:
Power of Three
Dealing with feelings
Growth and Development
Keeping fit and Healthy
Foods for Good Nutrition
Drug Awareness
Safety