Grade 5 English Language Arts
14 units matched to the Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum. Kids see this subject as “Language Arts”.
Learning focus
- Speaking and listening: explore and reflect. Students will speak and listen to explore, extend, clarify, and reflect on their thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences.
- Speaking and listening: communicate. Students will be able to communicate information and ideas effectively and clearly, and to respond personally and critically.
- Speaking and listening: interact with respect. Students will be able to interact with sensitivity and respect, considering the situation, audience, and purpose.
- Reading and viewing: select and read. Students will be able to select, read, and view with understanding a range of literature, information, media, and visual texts.
- Reading and viewing: interpret and combine information. Students will be able to interpret, select, and combine information using a variety of strategies, resources, and technologies.
- Reading and viewing: respond personally. Students will be able to respond personally to a range of texts.
- Reading and viewing: respond critically. Students will be able to respond critically to a range of texts, applying their understanding of language, form, and genre.
- Writing and representing: explore and reflect. Students will be able to use writing and other ways of representing to explore, clarify, and reflect on their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and learning; and to use their imagination.
- Writing and representing: create texts. Students will be able to create texts collaboratively and independently, using a variety of forms for a range of audiences and purposes.
- Writing and representing: strategies. Students will be able to use a range of strategies to develop effective writing and other ways of representing and to enhance their clarity, precision, and effectiveness.
Units
Unit 1
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.
Curriculum outcome: Reading and viewing: respond personally (by Grade 6) · predicting, monitoring understanding and summarizing
Unit 2
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.
Curriculum outcome: Reading and viewing: respond critically (by Grade 6) · the structure of stories
Unit 3
Figurative Language
Spotting similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia and alliteration, and explaining what common idioms really mean.
Curriculum outcome: Writing and representing: create texts (by Grade 6) · descriptive and figurative language
Unit 4
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.
Curriculum outcome: Reading and viewing: respond critically (by Grade 6) · text forms, purposes and organization patterns
Unit 5
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.”
Curriculum outcome: Reading and viewing: select and read (by Grade 6) · using context to work out word meaning
Unit 6
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.”
Curriculum outcome: Reading and viewing: select and read (by Grade 6) · Greek and Latin roots and word parts
Unit 7
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.
Curriculum outcome: Writing and representing: strategies (by Grade 6) · verb tenses in writing
Unit 8
Complex Sentences
Choosing conjunctions like although, because and unless, finding dependent and independent clauses, telling simple, compound and complex sentences apart, and combining sentences.
Curriculum outcome: Writing and representing: strategies (by Grade 6) · simple, compound and complex sentences
Unit 9
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.
Curriculum outcome: Writing and representing: strategies (by Grade 6) · capitals, commas, colons and apostrophes
Unit 10
Media Smarts
Spotting the tricks ads use, telling facts from opinions, and asking smart questions about who made a message and why.
Curriculum outcome: Reading and viewing: respond critically (by Grade 6) · bias, point of view and persuasive techniques in media
Unit 11
Style & Perspective
Noticing imagery, humour, voice and sentence length, using book parts like the preface and glossary, and spotting one-sided opinions in persuasive writing.
Curriculum outcome: Reading and viewing: respond critically (by Grade 6) · style and perspective in texts
Unit 12
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.
Curriculum outcome: Writing and representing: create texts (by Grade 6) · writing for a reader
Unit 13
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.
Curriculum outcome: Writing and representing: strategies (by Grade 6) · spelling strategies
Unit 14
Talking Together
Speaking and listening in a group: taking turns, building on ideas, asking questions, disagreeing respectfully and reaching decisions together.
Curriculum outcome: Speaking and listening: communicate (by Grade 6) · talking and listening in a group
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