What your child learns in Grade 5 in New Brunswick
In Grade 5, students deepen number sense and take on longer reading and writing tasks. Science looks at human body systems and simple machines. Social studies looks at Atlantic Canada, interactions among first and founding peoples, the Wabanaki Confederacy and worldviews.
Grade 5 subjects in the New Brunswick Curriculum
Math
Big Ideas
- Number: Number Sense. Develop number sense.
- Number: Operations. Develop number sense.
- Statistics and Probability: Data Analysis. Collect, display and analyze data to solve problems.
13 units, including numbers to a million, add & subtract, mental math tricks, multiply.
English Language Arts
Big Ideas
- Interactions: Expression. Express and discuss thoughts, feelings, experiences, ideas, and opinions, and consider those of their peers.
- Interactions: Exchanges. Ask and respond to questions to clarify information, explore possibilities, and identify solutions to a problem.
- Interactions: Reception. Receive and critically reflect on the ideas and opinions of others.
14 units, including talking together, spelling smarts, context clues, greek and latin roots.
Science
Big Ideas
- Grade focus: Living and Technological Systems.
- Scientific Literacy: Investigation. Plan investigations to solve problems relating to simple machines or human systems: digestive, respiratory, circulatory, nervous, and musculoskeletal.
- Scientific Literacy: Sensemaking. Analyze data to construct explanations and conclusions based on evidence from scientific inquiry.
7 units, including weather and the water cycle, forces, friction and machines, simple machines, digestion & breathing.
Social Studies
Big Ideas
- Geography: Human Systems and Interactions. Identify evidence of British and French presence in Atlantic Canada.
- History: Events and Peoples. Describe interactions between the first and founding peoples of Atlantic Canada.
- History: Sources and Methods. Discuss how to answer questions about the past using historical thinking concepts.
4 units, including learning from the past, french & british in atlantic canada, the wabanaki confederacy, worldviews & deciding together.
French Immersion
Big Ideas
- Speaking and Listening: Oral Comprehension. Understand different oral texts on a variety of familiar/known topics, topics studied and personal interests.
- Speaking and Listening: Oral Production and Interaction. Communicate about familiar/known topics, topics studied and personal interests using specific language
- Reading and Viewing: Vocabulary. Use vocabulary knowledge to support reading of various types of more complex texts.
7 units, including qui, que, où, dont, ne… plus, jamais, rien, les adverbes, la ponctuation.
Core French
Big Ideas
- Oral Communication: Speak, Listen, Communicate, Interact. Explore, extend, and clarify thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences.
- Reading and Viewing: Read, Comprehend, Respond, Interpret. Select, read, and view a range of fiction and non-fiction texts.
- Writing and Representing: Create Simple Texts. Communicate reflections on thoughts, feelings, experiences, and learnings.
8 units, including salutations, sounds and accents, numbers 0 to 30, masculine, feminine, plural.
What to look for on the report card
Look for comments on problem solving, supporting ideas with evidence, and independent work. A Grade 5 mathematics assessment is listed for 2026-2027.
New Brunswick report cards describe learning with Working below, Approaching, Meeting, Excelling. See what each level means.
Grade 5 students also take the New Brunswick provincial assessments. Read the Provincial assessments guide.
The Global Competencies grow through every subject from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Read about global competencies.
Ready for Grade 5?
Grade 5 builds on what your child practised in Grade 4. If a skill feels shaky, a few short practice sessions before or early in the year can help:
- Math: numbers to 10 000, add & subtract, times tables, multiply & divide, fractions
- English Language Arts: listen, speak & read aloud, word builders, sound-alikes, parts of speech, super sentences
- Science: habitats & communities, food chains & webs, light, sound
- Social Studies: canada’s landform regions, provinces & regions, people & the land, wabanaki lands & waters, explorers & discoveries
- French Immersion: tu ou vous?, poser des questions, synonymes et contraires, les adverbes en -ment, comparer
- Core French: greetings, my classroom, colours, numbers 0 to 20, days, months and seasons
Common questions
Grade 5 covers math, english language arts, science, social studies, french immersion, core french in the New Brunswick Curriculum. In Grade 5, students deepen number sense and take on longer reading and writing tasks. Science looks at human body systems and simple machines. Social studies looks at Atlantic Canada, interactions among first and founding peoples, the Wabanaki Confederacy and worldviews.
New Brunswick report cards describe learning with Working below, Approaching, Meeting, Excelling. Students in Grade 5 also write the New Brunswick provincial assessments, which is separate from the report card.
Short, regular practice works better than long sessions: 10 to 15 minutes a few times a week, on the skills your child's teacher flags. Read together, use math in real life, and praise effort.
Practise Grade 5 skills with Gradelings
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