Taken by all fifth grade students, these courses develop students’ foundation knowledge in Music and the Visual Arts. Each class meets for two periods every six-day cycle.  

These classes give students an opportunity for focused study in two artistic disciplines of their interest. Students are scheduled for Arts Workshops based on the arts they select on their application and during the New Student Interview. Arts Workshops meet for two consecutive class periods one each six-day cycle. We offer Arts Workshops representing all seven of our artistic disciplines.

Four class periods each cycle are reserved for flexible instruction and are used by teachers for academic support or additional arts rehearsals.

Fifth grade science is an introduction to the topics that will be covered throughout your child’s science courses at AACMS as well as an emphasis on the human body, the solar system and rocks and minerals We will be using many learning activities to interact with these topics. These will include hands-on experiments, demonstrations, projects, lesson reviews, and tests. Inquiry science is also used in our curriculum to promote exploration, investigation, and questioning in the Science classroom.  

In Social Studies, we will focus on United States history. The topics that will be covered throughout this year include Early American Cultures, Native Americans, Explorers, Life in the Thirteen Colonies, and the American Revolution. We will use a variety of interactive activities to learn about these topics including interactive notebooks, projects, lesson reviews, quizzes, and tests. For our Social Studies class, we will be using the Scott Foreman Social Studies text, Building a Nation, as well as the accompanying workbook for additional guided practice and supplemental skill building.

Students will learn about fiction and non-fiction text. The course will refine skills in identifying story elements-character, setting, and plot. The students will also create inferences to combine what they know with information from the text. Students will learn about types of text structure, which is how the author organizes text. This knowledge of text structure will improve reading comprehension skills. Students will continue to learn how to identify important ideas in non-fiction text through main idea and details. Students will read dramas and plays to increase knowledge of dialogue and story elements.
Students will refine their questioning skills which helps to make inferences, interpret a variety of texts, and promote classroom discussions. Students will also learn how to capture important ideas from the text in a few sentence through summarizing and paraphrasing. This understanding improves comprehension and understanding of text. Throughout the school year, students will be learning about three different types of writing. The first, narrative writing, describes an event or tells the story. The second type of writing is opinion, which is about a person’s belief, view, or judgement about a subject. The final writing type, expository, writes information or explanations about a topic. 

Throughout the year, we will be learning an abundance of topics. We will be reviewing multiplication and division basic skills. We will be using order of operations to complete equations successfully, using PEMDAS. We will be using decimals to understand place values, compare decimals, and gain a better grasp of decimals, in general. After our students master basic decimal skills, we will move on to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals. After decimals are mastered, the students will participate in a lengthy unit on fractions, like mixed numbers and improper fractions. After fractions are mastered, students will move on to measurement and conversion. These skills are essential to understanding converting different measurements. Finally, we will be working on coordinates, graphs, and geometry. We will be learning so many new concepts in 5th grade and encourage students to try their best! 

The Health & Physical Education program introducted students to new games and strategies, in turn building students’ confidence in their athletic abilities. The program fosters an environment where students feel comfortable participating while also encouraging athletic activity outside of school. During the winter months, students take part in Health Education classes, which challenge students to take responsibility for their personal health. The course emphasizes how students can find and assess reliable sources of information and making informed health-related decisions. Physical Education couses are held outdoors, weather permitting, with Health classes held indoor during the winter months.