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5th Grade Social Studies Overview

Page history last edited by Tracy Hoskins 9 years, 2 months ago

 

Fifth Grade Social Studies

 

Instructor: Melody Augustin

 

Curriculum Map, Class Page

 

Fifth graders at Woodlawn explore the question “What is our world made of?” throughout the social studies and Language Arts curriculum.  This question is a thread that is woven into everything we do.  A highly integrated, project-based curriculum allows students to examine issues that may generally be considered social studies in our Language Arts class, and vice versa. This unique approach to learning reinforces the acquisition of knowledge.  Throughout all lessons, students are continually challenged to consider multiple perspectives and to respect those perspectives.  Through writing, literature studies, and discussion, students in fourth grade learn to analyze information from a variety of sources, and apply newly acquired knowledge.  Language Arts and social studies are reinforced through the carefully constructed, integrated curriculum with art, Spanish, math and science.

 

In this transition year to middle school, students ponder the question not only of our physical world, but the human world as well. Examining how the world communicates, what can be learned about the world through literature, and how our place in the world affects our voice leads us to better understand our world.  Geography skills are strengthened using atlases and a variety of maps to examine our world, but also to examine the characters in literature in terms of their geography and consequently, their culture.  Throughout the study of peoples around the world, geography, culture and stories are connected.   Further, analytical skills are built by comparing our modern culture to ancient cultures of the New World, and then to the cultures of Native Americans.  

 

The study of indigenous people of the world begins with the novel Island of the Blue Dolphins.  The study of survival is examined by reading this novel as well.  Using maps to trace sailing routes, and the literature to extend our vocabulary, comparisons to our own world and that of the main character are made.  Writing poetry and descriptive paragraphs are also a part of this unit.  Fifth grade students study Alaska with the novel, Julie of the Wolves, while learning about the indigenous people of Alaska, focusing again on survival and leadership.  Students create soap carvings in art, mimicking ivory carvings of the Inuit.  These novels are read in small literature circle groups, conducting in-depth discussions for deeper understanding and higher order reasoning.  Finally, students compare our own country to Canada and the countries of Oceania, reading Whale Rider as the final novel of the year.  

 

Fifth graders explore the theme of leadership, past and present, from Indian chiefs, to female leaders, to U.S. presidents.  This theme is woven throughout our Language Arts and social studies curriculum.  As the study of our world and our place in it is examined, students begin to understand the various methods of communication and how different cultures communicate through mythology, folktales and legends of indigenous peoples.  Fifth graders begin to look for threads of those stories in contemporary American and Latin American fiction.  In social studies, our examination of ancient American cultures of the Olmec, Maya, Aztec and Inca is closely tied to our Spanish curriculum.   These cultures are examined in Spanish, social studies, and through literature in Language Arts.   Students construct relief maps of the ancient cities of the Maya, construct accurate models of Aztec homes and villages, and write a play for younger students teaching them about the culture of the Inca.  We visit the Mint Museum in Charlotte to view relics of this time in history.  

 

Throughout our studies, writing is an integral part of our curriculum.  Different types of writing are purposely modeled, so students fully understand the writing process from idea to publishing.  Fifth graders focus on narrative, expository and persuasive writing.  Students write compositions, taking advice on all aspects of fiction creation from an author of young adult fiction, Gail Carson Levine. Students participate in the Young Authors Bookwriting Contest, sponsored by Charlotte Parent Magazine.  They generate an original story idea, develop plot and characters, and follow the book writing process through to publishing.  They work on their illustrations in art class, using a variety of mediums.  Our year culminates with an integrated project in math, science, language arts and social studies as each student chooses an environmental issue to research.  Developing a thesis statement, the students follow the research process to fully develop a persuasive paper supporting their thesis, and then present their research to the Woodlawn community.

 

 

 

 

2008-2009 Archives 5th LA and SS

2007-2008 Archives 5th LA and SS

 

 

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