The student had a productive 5th grade year where they gained more freedom and responsibility. They completed 6 units of study covering topics like technology, science, waste management, and human rights. Highlights included designing a communication tool, writing a procedural text, presenting on waste management systems, and creating a public service announcement. The student also enjoyed learning about histories on a China trip and making a museum exhibit. Their goals of participating more in class and more descriptive writing were achieved through increased effort.

1. Year In Review - Grade 5A
! This year we got a lot of freedom, it was completely different to Grade 4. The
big differences were that we got lockers and our own MacBooks. That meant we
had more freedom then Grade 4 and we were more responsible then last year. We
had 6 units in total.
!
! Our first unit was called “How We Express Ourselves”. It was mostly about
how technology in the 21st century is different than the technology in the 20th
century. It took place from August 23rd to September 24th. Our central idea for this
unit was: Changes in technology create different types of connections between
people and their audience. For our summative assessment we needed to design a
new communication tool.

2. ! Our second unit was called “How The World Works”. It was mostly about
science and chemicals. It took place from the 27th of September to November 5th.
Our central idea was: Changes in matter pose challenges and provide benefits. For
our summative assessment we wrote a procedural text.

3. !
My Procedural Writing (Summative
Assessment)
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4. !
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! Our third unit was called “How We Organize Ourselves”. It was mostly about
solid waste around the world. It took place from November 8th to December 17th.
Our central was: Decisions made about solid waste management affect societies
and the environment. For our summative assessment we did something called
“Standing In The Spotlight”. We needed to talk about pros and cons about a waste
management system. Our summative assessment was called “Standing In The
Spotlight” because you needed stand up on your own and try convince the class
that your opinion or view is the right one.
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!

5. ! Our fourth unit was called “Sharing The Planet”. It was mostly about human
rights and child labor. It took place from January 5th to February 25th. Our central
idea was: Actions can support or deny access to childrenʼs rights and equal
opportunities. Our summative assessment was writing a recount and making a
PSA (Public Service Announcement).
My PSA (Summative Assessment for 4th Unit)
My Summative Recount:
It was a hot and sunny day in the U.S. When I was sitting in my little
bedroom next to the religious meeting place. It only had one window and I was
pouring down sweat because there wasn’t any breeze. My parents are
members of the religious cult. It is our family’s tradition. Everyone wanted it to
stay that way except for me Elijah Aayan.
Being in a religious cult is my family’s tradition. Actually at first I was
adopted and put into this family the day after my 6th birthday. I was then soon
a member of the cult. I have been outside before and also went to school. I
miss my school very much. I used to have so much fun learning and playing.
But here everything was different.
Everyday was the same I first had my breakfast, then read my book and
start basic learning for example learning nouns and verbs. Every once in a
while, one of my parents come out of the discussion with other religious cult
members and come in my bedroom and look what I was reading or doing. I
was also not allowed to know anything about the world outside the religious
cult. Therefore I couldn’t read newspapers, watch T.V or listen to the radio.
Adding onto that I also didn’t get good quality education or choose some
friends from outside our cult.
I thought that it was really unfair for all of us and stopping religious cults
would do all of us good in many different types of ways. It also denied our
human rights. It didn’t matter how many times I said it but they still didn’t
agree.
It is very boring in the religious cult. There were only 4 children in the
cult, Me, Benedict, Bethel and Eleazar. None of us got along well, we never did
something together. As far as I know none of them have been outside before. I
wanted to change that though.

6. My dream all started on Monday the 11th of February 2008. I was
thirteen at the time. All of the children were getting more mature, and we
were starting to become friends. The days passed on and it got more and more
exciting. We were making our own games and having great fun. On the Friday
of that week I got a fabulous idea. I started talking about us making a group
to protest against religious cults. We were not trying to ban them but make
them more interactive with the world around us and make them friendlier and
also give them a wider education about the world. So we all could get along
well.
Our group was getting more and more popular by the minute we soon
got about 40 religious cults around the U.S to be more interactive with the
world and stopping them denying there own rights. I was really happy and
proud that I achieved my dream, made a difference to the world and made
less people suffer with the denial of their human rights.
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! Our fifth unit was called “Where We Are In Place And Time”. It took place
from February 28th to April 13th. Our central idea was called: People and places
have histories that can be uncovered and interpreted through a variety of sources.
For our summative assessment we made a small museum exhibit about people or
places that have histories that can be uncovered or interpreted.
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7. !
My Museum Exhibit (Summative
Assessment for 5th Unit)
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! I experienced a lot of new things in Grade 5. One of the best things I
experienced was on the China Trip. We went to Guizhou and visited local villages.
We hiked around the villages and saw great views of mountains surrounding us.
When we went to the villages we partnered up with local kids and spent the day
with them sightseeing. I really enjoyed it because I also got to practice my chinese.
My Buddy, Friends and Me in the
China Trip
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8. ! Our last unit was called “Who We Are”. It took place from April 26th to June
16th. We didnʼt have a summative assessment for that unit because it was very
short and our end of year parties took up a lot of time but we had a central idea. It
was “ The human body is comprised of systems that are continually changing.
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My Learning Goals:
! My two learning goals for Grade 5 were participating more in class
discussions and being more descriptive in my writing.
! Participating more in class discussions was a goal for me because I still felt
quite shy to express my ideas and ask questions in front of everyone. I wanted to
be more active and not just sit there listening.
! Being more descriptive was also a goal for me because I felt my writing was
too simple and basic and didnʼt have much detail in it. I pushed myself all the time
to put more effort in it because I wanted to show that I am not lazy.
! I think I achieved both of my goals, I put much more effort and time into my
writing than the start of the year. I also feel much less shy when I express my
opinions and ideas during class discussions. I think I met both of my goals by not
being scared to get the wrong answers and putting more time, being more careful
and not rushing in my work. I think achieving my goals helped me a lot this year
because I got use to putting more effort, not being shy and towards the end of the
year I didnʼt need to remind myself that I need to still follow my goals even if I
achieved them.