Fifth grade at Milton is an exciting year for students.  It allows them the opportunity to explore, create, and acquire independence in a safe and nurturing environment.  As the year begins, we delve into reader’s and writer’s workshop units which help students master their craft.  Students read literature and attain a higher level of intellectual independence.  They draw on a repertoire of strategies to elevate the level of their writing about reading, and comprehend sophisticated text by close reading, including analysis of story elements and details that represent big ideas. Students also investigate the increasing complexities of text and learn strategies to tackle complex text.  Language arts instruction develops strong foundational skills, such as fluency, orienting to text, and word-solving that are necessary for comprehending challenging literature.  Students utilize the strategies they have acquired to raise their awareness and deepen their thinking about larger world issues that are implied in the stories they read.  

Our math program provides a coherent and streamlined progression to address math standards.  The program emphasizes comprehension of math concepts as well as fluency of math facts.  Students master the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as they solve real-world problems. Grade 5 social studies is based on the history and geography of the Western Hemisphere, including the development of cultures, civilizations, and empires; interaction between societies; and, the comparison of government and economic systems of modern nations.  The Science 21 units of study adhere to the New York State learning standards of math, science, and technology. The program’s major emphasis is on investigations that are student-directed and relevant to students’ everyday lives.  The program utilizes hands-on learning and inquiry-based science experiments. Topics include: the scientific method, chemical matter, the micro-world, the human body, and interactions in the environment.  

Each day begins with a Responsive Classroom activity.  The Responsive Classroom approach integrates social and emotional growth into the academic curriculum so that our students’ education becomes truly well-rounded, shaping every aspect of their lives. The program promotes autonomy and involves students in their own learning so that they feel better about their classroom and their place in it. Some of the highlights of fifth grade include: school-wide recycling, morning announcements, kindergarten buddies, New York City trips to Broadway and the Intrepid Air and Space Museum, fifth-grade musical, and creating their own i-Stop Animation films.