5th GRADE LITERATURE GOALS AND CONTENT (cont.)
3. To use literature as a vehicle for writing instruction and vocabulary development. Books are chosen for their craft and their enhancement of the reading-writing connection. Students are encouraged to come to school with favorite passages earmarked for class discussion. What is memorable about the reading, what is funny, poetic, interesting? What questions did you ask while reading? How were these questions answered? Through discussion of students’ favorite passages, the class is drawn into an examination of good, thoughtful writing and encouraged to incorporate these general ideas into their own writing.
4. To teach several specific literary elements used by these authors, such as point-of-view, simile, metaphor, foreshadowing, and symbolism. These techniques help make the stories powerful as good literature. We teach children to read a story for its own sake but also to learn the technical aspects of how it is designed and constructed. Students are encouraged to incorporate specific literary elements in their own writing.
5. To discuss and understand important themes found in literature, such as…
- individuals possess personal power
- love and compassion come in many manifestations
- hope, even in the face of great challenge, overcomes adversity
- lives as well as stories have multiple layers
- knowledge overcomes fear
- empathy and understanding of others contribute to meaningful relationships
6. To use literature and related writing assignments to explore values such as tolerance, courage, compassion, loyalty, integrity, generosity, forgiveness, and trust.
Whole and Small Group Literature Selections in Grade 5:
Gathering Blue, Belle Prater’s Boy, Maniac McGee, The Watson’s Go to Birmingham, King of Shadows, American Plague (non-fiction), Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (non-fiction), The Wanderer, View from Saturday, Hatchet, Holes, Trouble Don’t Last
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