School Skills: Fifth Grade Milestones
In fifth grade, your kid has reached the final year of their primary/elementary school journal. Written work and socialising come to them naturally now, and you can begin to think of the next big step up the educational ladder. It can sometimes be hard to know what to expect or what they ‘should’ know after their fifth year at around 11-12 years of age.* By the end of the fifth grade, your child should be able to do the following tasks in each area.
Listening
Listen in different classes and draw conclusions.
Speaking
Make planned speeches, knowing the audience and including information for them.
Deliver speeches with eye contact, gestures, and a loud voice.
Participate in class discussions.
Summarize main points.
Report on group activities.
Reading
Read grade-level books smoothly with few mistakes.
Learn new words by looking at their origins, synonyms, and meanings.
Identify important information when reading.
Read different types of texts like fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Describe how characters and plots develop.
Discuss poetry and its possible meanings.
Study an author's language and style.
Use reference materials to support opinions.
Writing
Write for various purposes.
Use a wide range of vocabulary.
Vary sentence structure.
Revise writing to make it clearer.
Edit final copies.
Grammar & Punctuation
Understands If‐Though (e.g. If the train is late, I will be late for school today).
Metacognitive skills emerge (e.g. define words, edit another’s writing, brainstorm ideas)
Social Skills
Understands jokes and riddles based on lexical ambiguity (e.g. The golfer said duck and I said “I don’t see any birds”)
Suggestions for Parents:
Keep your child reading.
Find books and magazines that interest your child. Get them a book on their favourite subjects.
Ask your child what they think about what they hear or read.
Connect what they read to events in their life. E.g., they play soccer, then find reading material about soccer.
Help your child connect what they read and hear at school, home, and other events.
Talk out loud as you help your child read about and solve problems. Homework at the kitchen table is a great time to do this or on the drive back from school.
Help your child recognize spelling patterns. For example, point out the beginnings and endings of words, like "pre-" or "–ed."
Get your child to write letters, keep a diary, and write stories.
Encourage them to explore the wide world of literature.
*As the age at which children can start or end certain grades varies wildly from country to country, this guide is written with general achievements in mind, so has tried to use as broad age ranges as possible. Please check with your kindergarten or school for more detailed local information and guidelines.
Please note the above information is general in nature and is not intended as professional medical advice. Please seek an appointment with a registered speech-language pathologist if you are at all worried about your child's development.
References:
ASHA (2009). Your Child’s Communication: Fifth Grade. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/fifthgrade/
Paul, R., Norbury, C., & Gosse, C. (2018). Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating (5th ed.). Elsevier.
Roseberry-McKibbin, C., Hegde, M. N., & Tellis, G. M. (2024). An Advanced Review of Speech-language Pathology.
Suggested Resources
FREEBIE Nifty Nature: The Water Cycle Reading Comprehension
Informational text reading comprehension and multi-choice question activities to check understanding. Practices more advanced reading concepts around finding main ideas and details.
FREEBIE Castles & Creatures: The Fortress Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension for more advanced readers. Includes multi-choice questions, sequencing tasks, true/false questions and writing prompts.
FREEBIE Detective Dave: Social Inferencing
Helps students to practice those more abstract figurative language concepts, like social inferencing, by following the adventures of the detective.
FREEBIE The Write Sounds: Extended Code /ae/ Sounds (ea, ay, ai, a-e)
A game show-themed activity set for students to practice their more advanced phonics and spelling skills. Practice important abilities like blending, segmenting, and picking sound with audio.
FREEBIE Investigator Ivan: Recognising Emotions
Follow the adventures of Ivan as he navigates the world of social skills. Help students practice recognising different emotions and how others may be feeling.