Grade 5 English Language Arts
10 units matched to the Ontario Curriculum. Kids see this subject as “Language Arts”.
Overall expectations
- A1 Transferable Skills: Demonstrate an understanding of how the seven transferable skills (critical thinking and problem solving; innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship; self-directed learning; collaboration; communication; global citizenship and sustainability; and digital literacy) are used in various language and literacy contexts
- A2 Digital Media Literacy: Demonstrate and apply the knowledge and skills needed to interact safely and responsibly in online environments, use digital and media tools to construct knowledge, and demonstrate learning as critical consumers and creators of media
- A3 Applications, Connections, and Contributions: Apply language and literacy skills in cross-curricular and integrated learning, and demonstrate an understanding of, and make connections to, diverse voices, experiences, perspectives, histories, and contributions, including those of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals, communities, groups, and nations
- B1 Oral and Non-Verbal Communication: Apply listening, speaking, and non-verbal communication skills and strategies to understand and communicate meaning in formal and informal contexts and for various purposes and audiences
- B2 Language Foundations for Reading and Writing: Demonstrate an understanding of foundational language knowledge and skills, and apply this understanding when reading and writing
- B3 Language Conventions for Reading and Writing: Demonstrate an understanding of sentence structure, grammar, cohesive ties, and capitalization and punctuation, and apply this knowledge when reading and writing sentences, paragraphs, and a variety of texts
- C1 Knowledge about Texts: Apply foundational knowledge and skills to understand a variety of texts, including digital and media texts, by creators with diverse identities, perspectives, and experience, and demonstrate an understanding of the patterns, features, and elements of style associated with various text forms and genres
- C2 Comprehension Strategies: Apply comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading, listening to, and viewing a variety of texts, including digital and media texts, by creators with diverse identities, perspectives, and experience, in order to understand and clarify the meaning of texts
- C3 Critical Thinking in Literacy: Apply critical thinking skills to deepen understanding of texts, and analyze how various perspectives and topics are communicated and addressed in a variety of texts, including digital, media, and cultural texts
- D1 Developing Ideas and Organizing Content: Plan, develop ideas, gather information, and organize content for creating texts of various forms, including digital and media texts, on a variety of topics
- D2 Creating Texts: Apply knowledge and understanding of various text forms and genres to create, revise, edit, and proofread their own texts, using a variety of media, tools, and strategies, and reflect critically on created texts
- D3 Publishing, Presenting, and Reflecting: Select suitable and effective media, techniques, and tools to publish and present final texts, and critically analyze how well the texts address various topics
Units
Unit 1
Greek and Latin Roots
Learning common Greek and Latin roots (like tele = far, port = carry, rupt = break) and using them to figure out long words such as “spectator” or “interrupt.”
Expectation: B2.1, B2.2 · word parts, roots and vocabulary
Unit 2
Context Clues
Using the words around an unfamiliar word to figure out what it means, naming the type of clue, and choosing the right meaning of words like “bat” or “bank.”
Expectation: B2.2 · using context to understand new words
Unit 3
Grammar Gears
Finding the direct object, choosing herself, themselves and myself, capitalizing words like Canadian, and using pairs like either/or and not only/but also.
Expectation: B3.2 · direct objects, intensive and reflexive pronouns, proper adjectives and correlative conjunctions
Unit 4
Sentence Builders
Building and spotting compound-complex sentences, and fixing fragments, run-ons and comma splices.
Expectation: B3.1 · compound-complex sentences, and fixing fragments and run-on sentences
Unit 5
Punctuation Power
Setting off extra information with commas, adding commas after opening phrases, and using colons to introduce lists.
Expectation: B3.3 · commas around appositives and participial phrases, and colons before lists
Unit 6
Reading Detectives
Reading original stories, a poem and nonfiction passages, then finding the theme and main idea, making inferences, describing characters, summarizing and working out word meanings.
Expectation: C2.6, C3.2, C3.3 · main ideas, inferences and analyzing texts
Unit 7
Plot and Conflict
The five parts of a plot, types of conflict (person vs. person, nature or self), and telling first-, second- and third-person point of view apart.
Expectation: C3.3 · sequencing the events of multiple plots
Unit 8
Figurative Language
Spotting similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia and alliteration, and explaining what common idioms really mean.
Expectation: C3.1 · literary devices, imagery and humour
Unit 9
Purpose and Structure
Deciding whether a text informs, persuades or entertains, recognizing five common text structures and their signal words, and using text features like the glossary and index.
Expectation: C1.2, C1.3 · text forms, purpose and text patterns
Unit 10
Style & Perspective
Noticing imagery, humour, voice and sentence length, using book parts like the preface and glossary, and spotting one-sided opinions in persuasive writing.
Expectation: C1.3–C1.5, C3.1, C3.5 · imagery, humour and voice, word patterns, visual elements, text features, and perspectives and bias in texts
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