Subjects › Grade 5 English Language Arts
Grade 5 English Language Arts: talk through reading, writing, and grammar
This course covers the full Grade 5 Common Core ELA standards: reading literature and informational text, foundational decoding and fluency, writing opinion, informative, and narrative pieces, speaking and listening in discussions and presentations, and the grammar, vocabulary, and conventions of standard English. Students learn to cite evidence from text, compare characters and accounts, analyze text structure and point of view, use correct verb tenses and punctuation, and build multi-paragraph pieces through planning, drafting, and revision.
A session usually starts with something the student already noticed in a book or passage, and the tutor asks a question to pull out what they understood and what they're unsure of. Instead of explaining a rule first, the tutor asks the student to try a sentence, spot a theme, or compare two characters, then follows up based on what they actually said: asking for the evidence behind a claim, a second example of a root word, or a fix to a tense shift they missed. Over time the tutor checks whether ideas taught earlier, like citing evidence or using comparative adjectives, still hold up in new reading and writing.
Who it is for
- Fifth graders working on Common Core ELA skills at home or alongside school
- Parents who want to see exactly what their child can explain and what needs more work
- Teachers looking for extra practice tied to specific grade 5 standards
- Students who read fluently but need help with grammar, citing evidence, or structuring essays
- Homeschoolers following a grade 5 ELA scope and sequence
What you will be able to do
- Cite specific evidence from a text to support an inference or claim
- Determine the theme of a story or poem and summarize it without just naming the topic
- Compare two characters, two accounts of an event, or two stories in the same genre
- Use correct verb tenses, including perfect tenses, without unwanted shifts
- Write an opinion, informative, or narrative piece with a clear introduction, organized body, and conclusion
- Plan and deliver a short oral report or opinion speech, adjusting language to a formal setting
A taste of a lesson on Determining theme from details and summarizing stories and poems
The tutor asks, you answer, and it works from what you actually said. No videos to sit through.
The 63 topics in Grade 5 English Language Arts
Each topic builds on the ones before it. The tutor checks what you already know and starts there.
Decoding multisyllabic words with syllable patterns and morphology
Teach the six basic syllable types and how to divide words into syllables (VCCV, VCV, consonant-le, prefixes and suffixes as separate units). Students use letter-sound correspondences, syllable patterns, and roots and affixes to read unfamiliar multisyllabic words accurately, both in isolation and in sentences, and check that the word fits the context.
Reading on-level text with accuracy, rate, and expression
Teach reading with purpose and understanding, oral reading with accuracy, appropriate pace, and expression (phrasing, intonation) across successive rereadings of prose and poetry. Teach self-correction: when a word does not make sense, pause, use context to confirm or fix the word, and reread the sentence.
Builds on Decoding multisyllabic words with syllable patterns and morphology
Using context clues: cause/effect and comparison signals
Teach how to use surrounding text to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases, especially cause-and-effect relationships, comparisons, contrasts, and definitions set off by commas or dashes. Students practice choosing among several strategies flexibly and checking their guess by substituting it back into the sentence.
Builds on Reading on-level text with accuracy, rate, and expression
Greek and Latin roots and affixes as word clues
Teach common grade-appropriate Greek and Latin roots and affixes (e.g., photo, graph, tele, bio, aqua, port, dict, spect, un-, re-, pre-, -able, -ology) and how combining them builds meaning (photograph, photosynthesis). Students use known parts to infer the meaning of new words.
Builds on Using context clues: cause/effect and comparison signals
Consulting dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses
Teach how to use print and digital dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses to find pronunciation (including respelling keys and stress marks), guide words, entry order, multiple definitions, part of speech, and the precise meaning of a key word in context. Students choose the sense that fits the sentence.
Builds on Greek and Latin roots and affixes as word clues
Figurative language: similes, metaphors, and personification
Teach what similes (comparison using like or as) and metaphors (direct comparison stating one thing is another) are, plus personification, and how each creates images and meaning in a text. Students interpret figurative phrases in context by identifying what is being compared and what quality is shared.
Builds on Using context clues: cause/effect and comparison signals
Idioms, adages, and proverbs
Teach that idioms (e.g., break a leg, under the weather), adages, and proverbs (e.g., Don't count your chickens before they hatch) have figurative meanings that differ from literal words. Students explain common ones, infer meaning from context, and distinguish idioms from literal phrases.
Builds on Figurative language: similes, metaphors, and personification
Word relationships: synonyms, antonyms, homographs, and nuance
Teach synonyms, antonyms, and homographs (words spelled alike with different meanings and sometimes pronunciations, e.g., bat, object). Teach nuance: words like walk, stroll, march, stomp share a core meaning but differ in degree and feeling. Students use these relationships to sharpen word choice.
Builds on Consulting dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses, Idioms, adages, and proverbs
General academic vocabulary and logical connecting words
Teach general academic and domain-specific words, and words that signal logical relationships: contrast (however, although, nevertheless), addition (moreover, also, furthermore), similarity (similarly), cause and effect (therefore, consequently), and sequence. Students use these words accurately in their own sentences and identify them in texts.
Builds on Word relationships: synonyms, antonyms, homographs, and nuance
Quoting accurately and citing evidence from text
Teach how to quote text accurately, using quotation marks and citing the source. Explain the difference between what a text says explicitly and what can be inferred from it, and support each inference with a quoted detail. Practice with short literary and informational passages.
Builds on Reading on-level text with accuracy, rate, and expression
Determining theme from details and summarizing stories and poems
Teach that a theme is a central message or lesson of a story, drama, or poem, stated as a general idea (not a single topic word). Teach how to find theme by tracking how characters respond to challenges, or how a speaker reflects on a topic, and how to write a brief objective summary that leaves out personal opinions and minor details.
Builds on Quoting accurately and citing evidence from text
How chapters, scenes, and stanzas fit together
Teach how a story is built from chapters and scenes, and a poem from stanzas, and how each part contributes to the overall structure (exposition, rising action, climax, resolution; repeated stanza patterns, refrains). Students explain how a series of parts fits together to form the whole.
Builds on Determining theme from details and summarizing stories and poems
Narrator and speaker point of view
Teach the difference between first-person and third-person narration, and limited and omniscient viewpoints. Students describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view shapes what events are shown, how they are described, and what the reader knows or misses.
Builds on Determining theme from details and summarizing stories and poems
Comparing characters, settings, and events in stories
Teach how to compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, using specific details such as actions, dialogue, and how characters interact with each other. Students produce a short comparison supported by quoted or cited details.
Builds on How chapters, scenes, and stanzas fit together
Visual and multimedia elements in texts
Teach how illustrations, graphic panels, layout, sound, and performance in graphic novels, multimedia presentations of fiction, folktales, myths, and poems contribute to meaning, tone, and beauty. Students analyze how an image changes or adds to the words in the text.
Builds on Narrator and speaker point of view
Comparing stories within a genre
Teach common genres (mysteries, adventure stories, folktales, myths, realistic fiction, fables) and their conventions. Students compare two stories in the same genre on how they approach similar themes and topics, noting similarities and differences in treatment.
Builds on Comparing characters, settings, and events in stories, Visual and multimedia elements in texts
Main ideas, key details, and summarizing informational text
Teach how to identify two or more main ideas of an informational text, separate them from supporting key details, and write an objective summary that includes the main ideas and leaves out minor details and personal opinions.
Builds on Quoting accurately and citing evidence from text
Text structures: chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution
Teach the common organizational structures of informational text (chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) and the signal words for each. Students compare and contrast the overall structure of two or more texts and explain how the structure suits the information.
Builds on General academic vocabulary and logical connecting words, Main ideas, key details, and summarizing informational text
Relationships among individuals, events, ideas, and concepts
Teach how to explain relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in historical, scientific, or technical texts, using specific information from the text (e.g., how one event led to another, how a process depends on a condition).
Builds on Text structures: chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution
Domain-specific and academic words in informational texts
Teach how to determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words in history, science, and technical texts, using the context and the reference tools learned earlier, and how the word's meaning is tied to the subject.
Builds on Consulting dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses, Relationships among individuals, events, ideas, and concepts
Comparing multiple accounts and point of view in informational text
Teach how to analyze two or more accounts of the same event or topic, such as a textbook and a diary or two news reports, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view each represents and why the authors might differ.
Builds on Domain-specific and academic words in informational texts
Author's reasons and evidence in argument texts
Teach how an author uses reasons and evidence to support points in a text, identifying which reasons and which evidence support which specific point. Students map claims to supporting reasons in an argument text.
Builds on Comparing multiple accounts and point of view in informational text
Locating information across multiple print and digital sources
Teach how to use multiple print and digital sources, including tables of contents, indexes, headings, and search terms, to locate an answer to a question quickly and efficiently, and how to draw on information from several sources to solve a problem.
Builds on Author's reasons and evidence in argument texts
Integrating information across several texts on one topic
Teach how to combine information from several texts on the same topic into a coherent understanding, noting agreements, gaps, and conflicts, and how to speak or write knowledgeably about the subject using that combined information.
Builds on Locating information across multiple print and digital sources
Reading grade 4-5 literature and informational text independently
Build independent, proficient reading stamina with high-end grade 4-5 texts across stories, dramas, poems, history, science, and technical texts. Students apply all earlier reading strategies (theme, structure, main ideas, evidence) to unfamiliar texts without prompts and explain what they understood.
Builds on Comparing stories within a genre, Author's reasons and evidence in argument texts, Integrating information across several texts on one topic
Conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections
Teach what coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, prepositions (with prepositional phrases), and interjections are, and what work each does in a sentence (joining ideas, showing location or time, expressing emotion). Students identify each in sample sentences and explain their function.
Adjectives versus adverbs and comparative forms
Teach how adjectives modify nouns and adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, including adverbs ending in -ly, and the troublesome pairs good/well and bad/badly. Teach comparative and superlative forms (e.g., more quickly, faster, the most carefully) and when to use them. Students choose the correct form in sentences.
Builds on Conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections
Subject-verb agreement and pronoun-antecedent agreement
Teach how a verb agrees in number with its subject, including compound subjects joined by and (plural) versus or/nor (agree with the nearer subject), intervening phrases, and indefinite pronouns. Teach that a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and person. Students correct agreement errors in sentences.
Builds on Conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections
Correlative conjunctions
Teach correlative conjunction pairs (either/or, neither/nor, both/and, not only/but also) and how they join parallel elements. Students use them correctly, matching the verb to the subject that is closer in the pair (e.g., Neither the boys nor the coach is ready).
Builds on Conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections, Subject-verb agreement and pronoun-antecedent agreement
Simple past, present, and future verb tenses with regular and irregular verbs
Teach the simple past, present, and future tenses, forming regular past tense with -ed and common irregular past forms (ran, saw, went, wrote). Students identify the tense of verbs in sentences and form each tense correctly before moving to perfect or complex tense uses.
Builds on Conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections
Forming and using perfect verb tenses
Teach the present perfect (has/have + past participle), past perfect (had + past participle), and future perfect (will have + past participle). Students form each correctly with regular and irregular verbs and use each to show an action completed before another time or event (e.g., By noon, I will have finished).
Builds on Simple past, present, and future verb tenses with regular and irregular verbs
Using verb tense to show time, sequence, states, and conditions
Teach how verb tenses convey time (past, present, future), sequence of events, ongoing states (I am tired vs. I was tired), and conditions (If it rains, we will stay in; If I were you). Students choose tenses to express the intended time relation and sequence.
Builds on Forming and using perfect verb tenses
Recognizing and correcting inappropriate tense shifts
Teach how to spot unnecessary shifts in verb tense within a paragraph or narrative (e.g., She walks in and sees the dog, and then she screamed) and correct them so that tense stays consistent unless the time actually changes. Students edit sample passages.
Builds on Using verb tense to show time, sequence, states, and conditions
Punctuating items in a series and introductory elements
Teach punctuation to separate items in a series (commas between three or more items, including before and in lists) and the comma after an introductory word, phrase, or clause (e.g., After the storm, we walked; However, the plan failed). Students punctuate sentences correctly.
Builds on Conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections
Commas for yes/no, tag questions, and direct address
Teach a comma to set off yes and no at the start of a response (Yes, thank you), a tag question from the rest of the sentence (It's true, isn't it?), and a name used in direct address (Is that you, Steve?). Students punctuate dialogue and answers accurately.
Builds on Punctuating items in a series and introductory elements
Indicating titles of works
Teach how to show titles with underlining or italics for longer works (books, magazines, movies, plays) and quotation marks for shorter works (poems, short stories, songs, articles, chapters). Students apply the correct convention in their own writing.
Builds on Commas for yes/no, tag questions, and direct address
Spelling grade-appropriate words and using references
Teach grade 5 spelling patterns (homophones, prefixes and suffixes, Greek and Latin base words, silent letters, vowel teams, and irregular high-frequency words) and strategies such as word families and checking a dictionary. Students spell grade-level words correctly in their writing and check unsure spellings.
Builds on Greek and Latin roots and affixes as word clues, Consulting dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses
Expanding, combining, and reducing sentences
Teach how to expand simple sentences with adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and appositives, combine sentences with conjunctions and subordinating clauses, and reduce wordy sentences for clarity and style. Students revise sample paragraphs to vary sentence length and interest.
Builds on Adjectives versus adverbs and comparative forms, Correlative conjunctions, Using verb tense to show time, sequence, states, and conditions, Punctuating items in a series and introductory elements
Varieties of English: dialects and registers in literature
Teach that English varies by region, community, and situation (dialects, such as regional or community speech; registers, such as formal and casual language). Students compare how characters in stories, dramas, or poems speak and what the variety reveals about character, setting, or audience.
Builds on Comparing characters, settings, and events in stories
Adapting speech to context and task: formal English
Teach how to adjust speech and writing to a context and task, using formal English in presentations, interviews, and formal writing, and more casual language with friends. Students practice switching register appropriately.
Builds on Varieties of English: dialects and registers in literature
Collaborative discussion: preparation, rules, roles, and contributions
Teach how to come to discussions prepared by reading material beforehand, draw on that preparation, follow agreed-upon discussion rules, carry out assigned roles (leader, recorder, timekeeper), pose and respond to specific questions, and build on others' remarks with elaboration.
Builds on Quoting accurately and citing evidence from text
Reviewing key ideas and drawing conclusions from discussion
Teach how to review the key ideas expressed in a discussion, summarize them, and draw conclusions in light of the information and knowledge gained, including updating one's own view when evidence warrants.
Builds on Collaborative discussion: preparation, rules, roles, and contributions
Summarizing read-alouds and information in diverse media
Teach how to listen to or view a text read aloud or information presented visually, quantitatively (charts, graphs), or orally, and to summarize the main points accurately. Students practice retelling key points in order.
Builds on Main ideas, key details, and summarizing informational text
Summarizing a speaker's claims and evaluating reasons and evidence
Teach how to listen to a speech or presentation, summarize the speaker's points, and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence, noting which evidence supports which claim.
Builds on Author's reasons and evidence in argument texts, Summarizing read-alouds and information in diverse media
Reporting on a topic or presenting an opinion orally
Teach how to plan and deliver a report or opinion speech with logically sequenced ideas, relevant facts, descriptive details, and clear pace and volume. Students practice opening, supporting main ideas, and concluding.
Builds on Reviewing key ideas and drawing conclusions from discussion, Summarizing a speaker's claims and evaluating reasons and evidence
Including multimedia and visual displays in presentations
Teach how to choose and add graphics, charts, sound, or other visual displays to a presentation when they clarify or enhance main ideas, and how to avoid distracting or decorative elements.
Builds on Reporting on a topic or presenting an opinion orally
Writing an opinion introduction and organizing reasons
Teach how to write an opinion introduction that introduces the topic or text clearly and states the opinion, and how to organize the piece so ideas are logically grouped to support the writer's purpose. Students draft an opening with a clear claim and a planned structure.
Builds on Author's reasons and evidence in argument texts, Adapting speech to context and task: formal English
Supporting opinion reasons with facts and linking words
Teach how to provide logically ordered reasons supported by facts and details, and how to link the opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically, for example). Students revise opinion paragraphs to strengthen each reason with evidence.
Builds on General academic vocabulary and logical connecting words, Writing an opinion introduction and organizing reasons
Concluding an opinion piece
Teach how to write a concluding statement or section that restates the opinion and ties it to the reasons presented, without introducing new evidence.
Builds on Supporting opinion reasons with facts and linking words
Orienting the reader in a narrative
Teach how to open a narrative by establishing a situation, introducing a narrator and/or characters, and organizing an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
Builds on Narrator and speaker point of view, Adapting speech to context and task: formal English
Narrative techniques: dialogue, description, and pacing
Teach how to use dialogue (with correct punctuation), description, and pacing to develop experiences and show how characters respond to situations. Students revise a scene to show character responses through action and speech rather than telling.
Builds on Commas for yes/no, tag questions, and direct address, Orienting the reader in a narrative
Transitions and sensory details in narrative
Teach a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses (first, meanwhile, after a while, by the time) to manage the sequence of events, and concrete words and sensory details (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) to convey experiences precisely.
Builds on Expanding, combining, and reducing sentences, Narrative techniques: dialogue, description, and pacing
Concluding a narrative
Teach how to write a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events, resolving the situation and showing what changed for the narrator or characters.
Builds on Transitions and sensory details in narrative
Introducing an informative topic and grouping information
Teach how to introduce an informational topic clearly, give a general observation and focus, group related information logically under categories, and use headings, illustrations, and multimedia to aid comprehension.
Builds on Text structures: chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution, Concluding an opinion piece
Developing an informative topic with facts, definitions, and examples
Teach how to develop each category of an informational piece with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, and examples, and how to use precise, domain-specific vocabulary to explain the topic.
Builds on Domain-specific and academic words in informational texts, Introducing an informative topic and grouping information
Linking ideas and concluding informative writing
Teach how to link ideas within and across categories using words and phrases such as in contrast, especially, for instance, and how to write a concluding statement or section that follows from the information presented.
Builds on Developing an informative topic with facts, definitions, and examples
Planning, revising, editing, and rewriting with feedback
Teach the writing process: planning, drafting, revising for development and organization, editing for conventions, and rewriting or trying a new approach, with guidance from peers and adults. Students use a checklist and apply feedback to improve a piece.
Builds on Concluding an opinion piece, Concluding a narrative, Linking ideas and concluding informative writing
Writing clear, coherent pieces suited to task, purpose, and audience
Teach how to judge the purpose, audience, and task of a writing assignment and choose development and organization to fit, producing clear and coherent writing across opinion, informative, and narrative forms.
Builds on Planning, revising, editing, and rewriting with feedback
Keyboarding and publishing with technology
Teach how to use technology, including the Internet, with some adult guidance to produce and publish writing and to collaborate with others. Students build keyboarding fluency to type a grade-appropriate minimum of about one page in a sitting, and use word processing features for formatting and sharing.
Builds on Planning, revising, editing, and rewriting with feedback
Short research projects using several sources
Teach how to conduct a short research project: frame a question, investigate different aspects of a topic using several sources, take notes, and build knowledge over the project.
Builds on Integrating information across several texts on one topic, Keyboarding and publishing with technology
Gathering information, paraphrasing, and listing sources
Teach how to recall relevant experience or gather information from print and digital sources, summarize or paraphrase it in notes and finished work (avoiding copying), and provide a list of sources used.
Builds on Short research projects using several sources
Drawing evidence from texts to support analysis and reflection
Teach how to draw evidence from literary and informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research in writing. Students apply grade 5 literature standards (compare and contrast characters, settings, events with specific details) and informational standards (explain how an author uses reasons and evidence) within their written analysis.
Builds on Comparing stories within a genre, Author's reasons and evidence in argument texts, Gathering information, paraphrasing, and listing sources
Integrated grade 5 ELA capstone: reading, writing, and speaking together
Students complete an integrated project: read two related texts, write an opinion or informative piece using cited evidence, and present it orally with a visual display, adapting speech to formal English. This brings together reading, writing, speaking, and conventions across the year.
Builds on Reading grade 4-5 literature and informational text independently, Recognizing and correcting inappropriate tense shifts, Indicating titles of works, Spelling grade-appropriate words and using references, Adapting speech to context and task: formal English, Including multimedia and visual displays in presentations, Drawing evidence from texts to support analysis and reflection
Practice questions in Grade 5 English Language Arts
A few of the kinds of questions you will work through, with answers.
Using the root 'spect' (to look) and the prefix 'in-', what does 'inspect' likely mean?
See the answer
To look into or examine closely
The prefix in- (into) combines with spect (look) to suggest looking closely at something.
A story shows a boy who cheats to win a race, feels guilty, then confesses and loses respect briefly but gains a real friend. What is the theme?
See the answer
Honesty matters more than winning
The theme is drawn from how the character's choices and their consequences unfold, stated as a general idea, not just 'cheating.'
Fill in the blank with the correct perfect tense: 'By the time we arrived, the movie ___ already ___ (start).'
See the answer
had already started
Past perfect (had + past participle) shows an action completed before another past action.
An author claims 'school should start later' and supports it with a study showing teens sleep better with later start times. What is the claim and what is the evidence?
See the answer
Claim: school should start later. Evidence: the sleep study showing teens sleep better with later starts.
A claim is the point being argued; evidence is the specific fact or data used to support it.
A passage describes a dam being built, then explains how it caused flooding downstream. What text structure is this?
See the answer
Cause and effect
The passage links an event (building the dam) to its result (flooding), which is the cause/effect structure.
Which is a stronger opinion introduction: 'Dogs are animals that live with people' or 'Dogs make better pets than cats because they are loyal, trainable, and protective'?
See the answer
The second one
It clearly states an opinion and previews the reasons that will organize the rest of the piece, rather than just stating a fact.
Questions about this subject
Does this follow the Common Core standards exactly?
Yes, the 63 topics map to Grade 5 Common Core ELA across Reading Literature, Reading Informational Text, Foundational Skills, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language, stopping at grade 5 expectations.
My child reads well but struggles with grammar and essay structure. Is this still a fit?
Yes. The course covers verb tenses, punctuation, sentence combining, and the structure of opinion, informative, and narrative writing in detail, alongside reading comprehension.
How does the tutor handle writing assignments, since it's a conversation, not an essay grader?
The tutor asks the student to plan and talk through each part, like the opinion statement or narrative opening, then has them write or revise a piece and asks follow-up questions about their choices.
Does it cover speaking and listening, or just reading and writing?
Both. There are topics on collaborative discussion, summarizing a speaker's points, and planning and delivering an oral report or presentation with visual aids.
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