English Language Arts — Grade 5

Jackie Robinson Taught Us More Than Baseball

After determining student knowledge about Jackie Robinson, the teacher/counselor reads "Teammates" by Peter Golenbock to fifth graders. The teacher/counselor then divides students into four groups to work cooperatively on questions. Groups select leaders and recorders and each group leader presents answers to the whole class. The teacher/counselor ends the activity with a question that individual students will respond to in writing.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–5 English Language Arts, Guidance, and Social Studies)

By Jan Huggins.

North Carolina Cherokee Indians: The Trail of Tears

In this two week unit, students will study the Cherokee by participating in literature circles, learning about Native American story telling, writing a letter to Andrew Jackson to protest against the Creek War, and more.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 Social Studies and English Language Arts)

By Gina Golden.

Simplicity: A Literature Based Paideia Seminar

Students will apply their knowledge of how developments in the history of the United States, as well as the world, can impact the lives of people today. The lesson is based on the picture book entitled, The Simple People, written by Tedd Arnold and illustrated by Andrew Shachat. (Summary: The simple people enjoy the simple life until one of the character's inventions is used to make life more complicated. As a result, everyone forgets the simple things in life.) After a Paideia seminar discussing the book, students will select a modern invention, research the history of its development and how it impacts society, and create a multi-media presentation.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)

By Krista Hannah.

Survival/Abel's Island/Segment 1 of Novel Unit, 8 activities

This is the first segment of a literature study on the book "Abel's Island" by William Steig. This unit is centered around the concept of survival. The instruction involves the student in analysis of all that is involved in what we simply term "survival". It prepares students for situations in their real worlds that are symbolized by events in the novel as well as hopefully increasing their understanding and ability to analyze these situations, break them down and make logical decisions supported by evidence and higher level thinking skills.

This unit is especially appropriate for gifted students, using different models (Bloom, Bruner, Kohlberg) in the lesson formats. It contains intense analysis of passages from the novel and questioning strategies that pull the students into a higher realm of thinking and reasoning.

This first lesson is a combination of an introduction to natural disasters (which is the first major conflict in the book), the start of a diary and analysis of a passage.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

By Courtney Pickett.

Trick or Truth: Recognizing the hottest trends in advertising

Students will study commercials and advertising techniques, will work in groups to select different types of ads from magazines, and make a collage to illustrate one of the ten techniques advertisers use.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Information Skills and English Language Arts)

By Kathy Idol.

WOLVES: Comprehending Informational Texts

This integrated plan uses non-fiction text and wolves to motivate students with language arts and science. Students will read a nonfiction text and use metacognitive skills of guided reading and KWHL chart to monitor comprehension and extend vocabulary.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Computer Technology Skills)

By Amy Vance.

Lesson plans on the web

Alaska Native stories: Using narrative to introduce expository text

This lesson uses traditional stories of the Native peoples (i.e., narrative text) to introduce students to the study of animals in Alaska. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Alter egos and more with Avi's "Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?"

After reading Avi's Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?, students learn about the history of radio shows, examine scripts, and write their own radio show similar to the scenarios that the characters, Frankie and Mario, perform. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Author study: Improving reading comprehension using inference and comparison

In this lesson, students review several texts by one illustrator/author, practice making inferences about that author, and then check their inferences against the author's online biography. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Balancing three branches at once: Our system of checks and balances

Students use primary source documents to investigate how the three branches of the American government can check each other. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Be a reading detective: Finding similarities and differences in ideas

In this lesson, students use graphic organizers and clue words to compare and contrast items in nonfiction writing. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Biographies: Creating timelines of a life

Students study biographies and create a timeline about the life of a person. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Book clubs: Reading for fun

In this lesson, small groups of students create, organize, and run book clubs in order to promote reading for fun. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Buzz! Whiz! Bang! Using comic books to teach onomatopoeia

This lesson uses comic strips to introduce students to onomatopoeia, words that imitate the natural sound associated with an action or an object. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

A case for reading: Examining challenged and banned books

This lesson introduces students to censorship and then invites them to read a challenged or banned book and decide for themselves what should be done with this book at their school by writing a persuasive essay explaining their perspectives. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA\NCTE

Charting characters for a more complete understanding of the story

Introduces the instructional strategy of Character Perspective Charting. This method is designed to reflect the actual complexity of stories that may not be reflected by the use of traditional story maps. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Choosing clear and varied dialogue tags: A mini-lesson

Students explore the use of dialogue tags such as “he said” or “she answered” in picture books and novels, discussing their purpose, form, and style. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Cinderella folk tales: Variations in character

Students compare and contrast several versions of Cinderella stories told around the world to find differences and similarities in character traits. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Color burst

Students gain experience in asking questions and conducting inquiry by exploring the separation of colors in water and other solvents. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Composing cinquain poems with basic parts of speech

Students learn to compose original cinquain poems in this lesson that follows a unit on parts of speech. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE