Villa Maria Elementary

Fifth and Sixth Grade

Language Arts and Reading
An integrated curriculum is used to teach vocabulary, comprehension, and literary elements involving reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. In addition to the regular textbook, the class studies a novel, and students individually choose books to read and complete book reports.


English
This program develops the students’ ability to think clearly and to express themselves effectively. Grammatical structure is taught and emphasized during the writing process where students reevaluate, assess and proofread their writing. The students’ communication skills are developed through the use of oral presentations, poems and verbal expression.


Spelling

  • Grade 5: Weekly spelling lessons to improve students’ everyday work spelling

  • Grade 6: Spelling is focused on vocabulary study



Mathematics
Increased attention is given to actively involve students, both individually and in groups, in exploring, conjecturing, analyzing, and applying mathematics in a real-world context. Technology is an important component of the math class. Students will periodically use calculators to self-check computational exercises. Computer programs are used for tutorial help, drill, and enrichment.


  • Grade 5: Students master basic skills used in everyday life. Hands-on materials and pictorial representations help students visualize mathematical concepts. Students perform step by step lessons in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The major focus in fifth grade is long division and fractions. These skills are sequenced to illustrate progression from simple to complex concepts.

  • Grade 6: The curriculum is divided into three categories: concepts, computation, and application. The main focus is on the concepts and skills needed to solve problems involving fractions, decimals and percents. At this point, it is expected that students have learned to add, subtract, multiply and divide with whole numbers. However, these processes are reviewed and practiced as necessary.
For enrichment and practical experience, using fractions, decimals and percents, students collect a mile of pennies and illustrate the result in the aforementioned forms. Another form of enrichment, participation in the Stock Market Game in the spring, also used the processes described above.
A computer graphing program is taught in conjunction with a data gathering project. The Stock Market Game is played on the computer and portfolios can be viewed daily for results.



Science

  • Grade 5: This program is an integrated program using hands-on activities, appropriate vocabulary and scientific concepts. Units of study include, plants, animals, weather, geology and physics.

  • Grade 6: Students center on three major areas: living things, changing systems, and the physical world. Within these areas students deal with chapters on chemistry, life science, physics, and earth science. The students experience many hands-on experiments that teach and reinforce the concepts.



Social Studies

  • Grade 5: Students study our neighbor Canada to the north, and Latin America to the south. Students focus on five themes for each region: history, political science, geography, behavioral science and economics.

  • Grade 6: Students focus on regions of the world, specifically those in the Eastern Hemisphere. It begins with early civilizations, ancient Greece and Rome, and continues through the growth and development of Europe, Asia and Africa.



Religion
The students are now becoming more independent and ask more questions about themselves and their lives. Our religion program invites the students to examine their ordinary everyday experiences and find God’s love touching them in millions of ways. Specifically students study the liturgical calendar, the mysteries of the rosary, the seven sacraments, and the Holy Bible through the use of the Venture Magazine. Opportunities are provided for individual reflection and prayer as well as group prayer services and projects.



Other
Art, Computer, Gym/Swimming, Wellness, Library, and Performing Arts (music, drama and dance) are weekly specials provided by trained personnel.



After-school opportunities include: Chorus, Band, and Voice Lessons