What your child learns in Grade 5 in Nova Scotia
In Grade 5, students deepen number sense with numbers to a million, decimals and fractions, and take on longer reading and writing tasks. Social studies looks at ancient societies, First Peoples and how people made decisions in Atlantic Canada.
Grade 5 subjects in the Nova Scotia Curriculum
Math
Big Ideas
- Number: Develop number sense.
- Patterns and Relations: Use patterns to describe the world and solve problems.
- Measurement: Use direct and indirect measurement to solve problems.
13 units, including numbers to a million, add & subtract, mental math tricks, multiply.
English Language Arts
Big Ideas
- A1 Foundations of Language: Learners will apply listening, speaking, and non-verbal communication skills and strategies to understand and communicate meaning for various audiences, purposes, and cultural contexts.
- A2 Foundations of Language: Learners will apply understanding of foundational language knowledge and skill when reading and writing.
- A3 Foundations of Language: Learners will apply knowledge of sentence structure, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation when reading and writing.
14 units, including talking together, spelling smarts, context clues, greek and latin roots.
Science
Big Ideas
- Earth and Space Science: Weather. Learners will investigate weather.
- Earth and Space Science: Weather. Learners will investigate how weather impacts daily life.
- Physical Science: Forces and Simple Machines. Learners will construct effective simple and compound machines.
7 units, including weather and the water cycle, forces, friction and machines, simple machines, digestion & breathing.
Social Studies
Big Ideas
- Investigate how we learn about the past. Learners will investigate how we learn about the past, with a focus on Acadians, African Nova Scotians, Gaels, Mi’kmaq, and additional cultures.
- Investigate how environment influenced the development of an ancient society. Learners will investigate how environment influenced the development of an ancient society.
- Investigate the diverse societies of First Nations and Inuit, in what later became Canada. Learners will investigate the diverse societies of First Nations and Inuit, in what later became Canada.
5 units, including learning from the past, land and water, rise and fall, deciding together.
French Immersion
Big Ideas
- French Immersion is first and foremost a language program: French is both the language students learn in and the language they learn.
- Early French Immersion begins in Primary and Late French Immersion in Grade 7, and both follow Français arts langagiers.
- Students listen, speak, read and write in French for real purposes and audiences.
7 units, including qui, que, où, dont, ne… plus, jamais, rien, les adverbes, la ponctuation.
Core French
Big Ideas
- Oral communication. Learners will communicate orally in French in a variety of authentic situations.
- Reading. Learners will determine the meaning of a range of French texts representing a variety of cultures and diverse abilities, in authentic situations.
- Writing. Learners will create texts in French (including in electronic format) in a variety of authentic situations.
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.
Nova Scotia report cards describe learning with Limited, Basic, Good, Thorough. See what each level means.
The Essential Graduation Competencies grow through every subject from Primary to Grade 12. Read about graduation 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, habitats working together, light, sound
- Social Studies: what is exploration?, explorers’ stories, impacts of exploration, people & the land, provinces & regions
- 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 Nova Scotia Curriculum. In Grade 5, students deepen number sense with numbers to a million, decimals and fractions, and take on longer reading and writing tasks. Social studies looks at ancient societies, First Peoples and how people made decisions in Atlantic Canada.
Nova Scotia report cards describe learning with Limited, Basic, Good, Thorough.
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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