• 5th Grade Math Curriculum
    math  
     
    What does math look like at the 5th grade?
    The state of Arizona follows the Standards for College and Career Readiness of Math (formerly known as Common Core).  These standards were designed by a council of national math instructors who wanted to create a national curriculum that would decrease the gap between the skills students were graduating from, and what was needed to be successful in college and career fields.  Below you will find links to websites having to do with the College and Career Readiness (Common Core initiative) and specific links to 5th grade math standards.

    What should my child know before coming to 5th grade?
    5th grade is a jump up in curriculum.  It is critical that students have mastered the skills they were supposed to learn in 4th grade to be successful and not struggle in 5th grade.  If you child has struggled in any one of the following areas, please work with them over the summer to shore up these skills:
    • Basic measurement conversions (iches to feet, inches to yards, ounces to gallons, etc.)
    • Basic addition and subtraction facts 
    • Multiplication and division facts from 1's to 12's.
    • Read, write, and speak numbers through the millions place.  
    • General sense of numbers and how they work.
    • Multi-digit addition and subtraction
    • Single digit multiplication by a multi digit number
    • Double digit multiplication by a double digit number
    • Division of a multi digit dividend by a single digit divisor 
    • Basic understanding of benchmark fractions
    • Basic understanding of decimals and the base 10 place value system

    *You can visit my "links" page to find websites that will help out with these skills. 

    Instructional Approach to curriculum in 5th Grade?
    With the introduction of the College and Career Readiness standards, the approach to learning mathematics has shifted from a focus on learning the formula or algorithm of how to solve a math problem, to students creating their own understanding and strategies for solving math.  For years we have taught "one way" to solve math problems.  However, not all strategies make sense to every student.  The human brain is complex and thinking varies from student to student.  In fifth grade we provide multiple strategies based on making meaning of the math and it is focused on understanding the process of math.  Students need to be able to explain why the math works and make sense of it.  This doesn't mean that we don't teach the algorithm; the way you and I learned growing up.    However, students won't understand the algorithm until they are able to make sense of the concepts behind the algorithm.  Then it will have a lasting impression and they will have long term understanding.

    Below are links to three examples of strategies we use in 5th grade.  Click on them to watch videos on how to use the strategies: 
    Topics of Study in 5th Grade:  For the 2024-2025 school year, Deer Valley USD is utilizing the i-READY Classroom for instruction of the College and Career Readiness Standards. 
     
    The Topics of Study we will be exploring this year are: 
    • Whole Number Operations and Applications: Volume, Multiplication, and DIvision
    • Decimals and Fractions: Place Value, Addition, and Subtraction
    • More Decimals and Fractions: Multiplication and Division
    • Measurement, Data, and Geometry: Converting Units, Using Data, and Classifying Figures
    • Algebraic Thinking and the Coordinate Plane: Expressions, Graphing Points, Patterns and Relationships