Grade 5 English Language Arts
12 units matched to the Alberta Curriculum. Kids see this subject as “Language Arts”.
Organizing ideas
- Engage in collaborative dialogue to share ideas, solve problems, and make decisions
- Apply knowledge of vocabulary to reading and writing
- Evaluate ideas and information to comprehend texts
- Analyze and reflect on ways to write effectively for different audiences and purposes
- Experiment with and apply grammar, spelling, and punctuation to develop precise written communication
- Examine how text genres, forms, and structures support and enhance communication in a variety of digital or non-digital formats
Units
Unit 1
Talking Together
Speaking and listening in a group: taking turns, building on ideas, asking questions, disagreeing respectfully and reaching decisions together.
Learning outcome: Engage in collaborative dialogue to share ideas, solve problems, and make decisions. · listening, building on ideas, respectful disagreement and group decisions
Unit 2
Context Clues
Using the words around an unfamiliar word to figure out what it means, naming the type of clue, and choosing the right meaning of words like “bat” or “bank.”
Learning outcome: Apply knowledge of vocabulary to reading and writing. · using context to work out the meaning of new words
Unit 3
Greek and Latin Roots
Learning common Greek and Latin roots (like tele = far, port = carry, rupt = break) and using them to figure out long words such as “spectator” or “interrupt.”
Learning outcome: Apply knowledge of vocabulary to reading and writing. · Greek and Latin roots and word parts
Unit 4
Reading Detectives
Reading original stories, a poem and nonfiction passages, then finding the theme and main idea, making inferences, describing characters, summarizing and working out word meanings.
Learning outcome: Evaluate ideas and information to comprehend texts. · main ideas, inferences and understanding what you read
Unit 5
Plot and Conflict
The five parts of a plot, types of conflict (person vs. person, nature or self), and telling first-, second- and third-person point of view apart.
Learning outcome: Evaluate ideas and information to comprehend texts. · plot, conflict and the order of events in a story
Unit 6
Purpose and Structure
Deciding whether a text informs, persuades or entertains, recognizing five common text structures and their signal words, and using text features like the glossary and index.
Learning outcome: Examine how text genres, forms, and structures support and enhance communication in a variety of digital or non-digital formats. · text forms, purposes and structures
Unit 7
Media Smarts
Spotting the tricks ads use, telling facts from opinions, and asking smart questions about who made a message and why.
Learning outcome: Examine how text genres, forms, and structures support and enhance communication in a variety of digital or non-digital formats. · persuasive techniques and facts and opinions in media
Unit 8
Write for Your Reader
Writing to inform, persuade or entertain; formal and informal voice; and picking details, openings and word choices that suit the reader.
Learning outcome: Analyze and reflect on ways to write effectively for different audiences and purposes. · choosing words, tone and details for the reader and the purpose
Unit 9
Verb Tenses
Choosing irregular past-tense verbs (brought, swam, froze), making verbs agree with their subjects, naming tenses and keeping tense consistent within a sentence.
Learning outcome: Experiment with and apply grammar, spelling, and punctuation to develop precise written communication. · verb tenses and subject-verb agreement
Unit 10
Complex Sentences
Choosing conjunctions like although, because and unless, finding dependent and independent clauses, telling simple, compound and complex sentences apart, and combining sentences.
Learning outcome: Experiment with and apply grammar, spelling, and punctuation to develop precise written communication. · simple, compound and complex sentences
Unit 11
Punctuation Power
Placing commas after introductory words, using colons before lists, writing possessives and contractions, choosing its/it's and their/there/they're, and punctuating dialogue.
Learning outcome: Experiment with and apply grammar, spelling, and punctuation to develop precise written communication. · commas, quotation marks, colons and apostrophes
Unit 12
Spelling Smarts
Spelling rules (plurals, dropping the silent e, doubling a final consonant), homophones such as its and it's, commonly misspelled words and Canadian spellings like colour and centre.
Learning outcome: Experiment with and apply grammar, spelling, and punctuation to develop precise written communication. · spelling patterns, plurals, suffix rules, homophones and Canadian spellings
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