5th Grade Lessons
In 5th grade, many new and exciting concepts are learned and mastered. The lesson plans below can help guide your instruction. Many of the Math and Language Arts lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards - making integration into an existing curriculum very simple. The lessons come from the talented teachers in our Teacher.org community. The 5th grade section will continuously grow as more teachers submit their work. Contact us if you have lessons that you would like to share . You have the power to inspire our future!
5th Grade Arts Lesson Plans
Camouflage and Environment
Students will make butterflies of various colors and then they will experience the advantage that butterflies that are the same color as their environment have against predators.
Christmas Around the World Part 1
This lesson combines Visual Arts with Social Studies. Students will read about how Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world and draw a scene depicting that location.
Christmas Around the World Part 2
This lesson combines Music and Social Studies. Students will listen to and learn Christmas songs from around the world and analyze.
Fairy Tale Fun
In this performing arts lesson, students will rewrite a well-known fairy tale to include a great deal of dialogue and then act out that fairy tale (creation of props is optional as is taping the performance).
Kwanzaa Art
Students will discuss the 7 principals of Kwanzaa and then draw pictures of an example of each.
Making a Menorah
Students will make a beautiful vibrant menorah using art supplies while learning about the background.
Mini Diorama
This visual arts lesson will allow students to share some personal interests in the form of a diorama. Sample rubric included.
Paper Mache Zoo
In this visual arts lesson, students will create zoo animals (or any animals) using paper mache. The ‘zoo’ can be displayed in the classroom or in a localized area of the school.
Theater in Action
Students will write and perform a scene from the story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Upside Down Art
This lesson will allow students to practice creating art from a unique perspective while learning about Michelangelo.
5th Grade English/Language Arts Lesson Plans
Collaborative Questioning
Students will read a teacher selected, standards-based science or history text. Students will then develop questions based on Costa’s levels of questioning to encourage collaborative discussion of the reading.
Explain Those Idioms
Students will recognize idioms for their actual as well as realized meaning.
Fable Lesson: What is a Fable?
In this fable lesson, students will use Internet sources, graphic organizers and group activities to analyze and discuss the characteristics and story lines of two different fables, "The Owl and The Grasshopper" and "The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse." After students read and brainstorm story elements of the folktales, they will then write a fable of their own.
Hiding Homophones
This lesson offers a simple introduction or refresher course in homophones, words that are pronounced the same, but spell and mean differently. Students will create a visual reminder of some of the more common homophones.
Moody Reading: Reading with Expression
This lesson will be used to help students understand how to read with expression by choosing an expression to read with regardless of what is written.
Parts of Speech BINGO
Students will recognize and identify basic parts of speech: preposition, noun, verb, adjective through a simple game.
Short Stories
This lesson is designed to help students ask questions and support answers by connecting prior knowledge with literal information found in, and inferred from, the text.
Tearing Into Vocabulary
This is a quick activity to allow students to work cooperatively while increasing awareness of vocabulary for a given lesson.
Theater in Action
Students will write and perform a scene from the story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Writing Narratives
In this lesson, students will use a graphic organizer for narrative writing.
Writing to a Photograph
Students will develop a plan for a fictional story based on a picture.
5th Grade Environmental Lesson Plans
Angles in Nature
Students will take a walk outside with their protractor and measure the angles in nature. They will record the angles that they find in branches, trees, bushes, flowers, etc… and then determine the supplementary angle.
Biosphere
This lesson will allow students to create a self sustaining biosphere.
Camouflage and Environment
Students will make butterflies of various colors and then they will experience the advantage that butterflies that are the same color as their environment have against predators.
Ozone Layer
Students will think about how people affect the environment and what they can do to help it and prevent further damage.
Rainfall Gauge
This lesson will allow students to learn about the rain amounts in their area as well as offer a hands-on science experiment that could lead to discussions about the water cycle.
Save the World
This lesson is intended to motivate students to become environmental superheroes.
5th Grade Math Lesson Plans
Angles in Nature
Students will take a walk outside with their protractor and measure the angles in nature. They will record the angles that they find in branches, trees, bushes, flowers, etc… and then determine the supplementary angle.
Comparing Decimals Game
Students will play a game in which they choose cards and choose the best place to put the number they have chosen in order to get the highest answer possible. This should not be the first introduction to the topic.
Comparing Multiplication Facts (Hey Tocayo!)
Students will be assigned a number that has various factors and they will find partners with different factors that have the same product.
Fractions, Decimals, Percents, & Graphs
This lesson is designed to explore fractions, decimals, percent’s, and graphs with TRIX cereal.
Order of Operations
This lesson is designed to help students solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic.
Roll the Dice - Probability & Statistics
Students will learn about probability and statistics while rolling dice and flipping a coin carefully recording their results.
Symmetry Search
The students will locate manmade objects or things in nature that are symmetrical.
The Value of a Number
The students will work in groups of 4-6 physically learning and reviewing place value.
5th Grade P.E. Lesson Plans
Aces and Exercise
Using a deck of playing cards, the students will pick the number of reps for various exercises.
And Freeze!
Students will practice listening skills and basic physical concepts as required in physical education class. Students will also work on balance and coordination.
Basketball Relay
Students will practice teamwork, dribbling, and shooting a basketball.
Boom Over Movement Game
Students will play a game in which they need to change direction quickly. Students are to pretend that they are on a sailboat that is in the middle of a storm. They will have to run and change direction based on verbal commands and duck quickly to avoid being hit by the imaginary boom.
Coordination Course
This plan will allow students to practice coordination while staying physical.
Music Movement
The students will move to the music based on its beat, words, tune, and other variables.
PE Immigration
The students will research games and activities from other countries to share during a PE class.
Pass It Off
This lesson will allow students to practice passing, dribbling, and bouncing skills using basketballs
Race to the Answer
This lesson will allow students to practice teamwork, basic math skills, and get exercise through a relay race. Note: Problems/difficulty level can be altered by grade
Trust Me
This lesson will allow students to practice teamwork and trust building, as well as working on directionality for younger students.
What Time is it FOX?
The students play a game where they practice different movements including jumping, galloping, skipping, running, jogging, leaping, and walking. Based on National Physical Education Standards, students should have been learning these skills for the last 4 years.
5th Grade Science Lesson Plans
Camouflage and Environment
Students will make butterflies of various colors and then they will experience the advantage that butterflies that are the same color as their environment have against predators.
Engineering Design
This lesson is designed to generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
Layers of the Earth
This lesson is designed to help students understand that the Earth has a layered structure.
Solar System
The students will learn about the Solar System, the order of the 8 planets, special words such as orbit and asteroid.
5th Grade Social Studies Lesson Plans
A City Saved by a Volcano
Students will learn how the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy preserved two Roman towns.
A Day in the Life of a Roman Girl and Boy
Students will research the topic of daily life for children of ancient Rome.
Christmas Around the World Part 1
This lesson combines Visual Arts with Social Studies. Students will read about how Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world and draw a scene depicting that location.
Christmas Around the World Part 2
This lesson combines Music and Social Studies. Students will listen to and learn Christmas songs from around the world and analyze.
Exploring the West
The lesson will teach the students why there was an expansion to what is now the western half of the United States, as well as the displacement of Native Americans.
History of Hanukkah
Students will read a passage about the history of Hanukkah and “talk to the text” to understand the story better. Students will answer questions individually and then with a partner to understand the text better.
Kwanzaa Socratic Seminar
Students will discuss the cultural roots of Kwanzaa and analyze why the holiday has been brought to the United States.
The History of Thanksgiving
Students will research the history of Thanksgiving based on the perspective of the Native Americans and the Pilgrims and then interview each other to learn about each story.
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