The document provides comprehensive fifth-grade language arts curriculum materials from Core Knowledge, including lessons, activity books, teacher guides, and digital components across various literary and historical topics. Each unit focuses on different subjects such as contemporary fiction, early American civilizations, and classical literature, offering explicit instruction in reading, writing, grammar, and spelling. Included are assessments and remediation tools to support student skill development and fluency in language arts.

1. Fifth Grade Language Arts Lessons & Activities by
CoreKnowledge
September 27, 2021
Fifth Grade Language Arts Lessons & Activities by CoreKnowledge
This is the final CoreKnowedge Language Arts curriculum post, giving you the freely available Grade
5 Language Arts materials, instructions and teaching modules. Student activity books, readers, teacher
guides, digital components and alignment charts are included in the lesson units below. Subject areas
include learning content for skills improvement in language arts, literature and history. (All file sizes
larger than 5MB are indicated.) Language arts materials are also available for Kindergarten, First
Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade and Fourth Grade.
Documents To View And Download For Grade 4 Language Arts Curriculum:
Introduction: Teacher Guide – Grade 5
The Introduction to grade 5 CKLA provides component descriptions as well as background information
on common lesson types and instructional practices.
Decoding and Encoding Remediation Supplement (21.75MB)
The Decoding and Encoding Remediation Supplement contains assessments and remediation materials
for grades 4 and 5 that build incrementally, intended for use with students who have gaps in their code
knowledge or fluency.
Beginning-of-Year Assessment: Teacher Guide – Grade 5
The Beginning-of-Year Assessment consists of reading comprehension, grammar, morphology, word
reading in isolation, and fluency assessments. The analysis and placement recommendations determine
students’ preparedness for grade-level CKLA instruction.
Yearlong Teacher Resources: Teacher Guide – Grade 5 Ancillary Materials
The Yearlong Teacher Resources document includes resources for use across multiple CKLA units.
These include an Individual Code Chart, Anecdotal Reading Records, Tens Recording and Conversion
charts, Using Chunking to Decode Multisyllabic Words, and the Sound and Spelling of Schwa.
Fluency Supplement: Fourth and Grade 5 Ancillary Materials
The Fluency Supplement contains selections from a variety of genres for grades 4 and 5 to provide
additional opportunities for students to practice reading with fluency and expression.
LA Unit 1 Grade 5 Skills – They Call Me Güero
In this first unit of Core Knowledge’s Language Arts program, students study contemporary fiction
through the novel, They Call Me Güero, which is written in various forms of poetry. Through They Call
Me Güero: A Border Kids Poems, students explore the many aspects of the living on the border
between two countries. They look at the cultural richness inherent in being part of two cultures, and the
difficulties of having family on either side of a protected border. Students review the writing process,
and engage in an extended writing project. This unit includes a Beginning of Year Assessment.
• Teacher Guide: They Call Me Güero – Unit 1
• Activity Book: They Call Me Güero – Unit 1

2. LA Unit 2 Grade 5 Skills – Early American Civilizations
Students develop reading, writing, listening, and thinking skills through engagement with informational
text in the Student Reader Maya, Aztec, and Inca. Students explore the complex civilizations developed
by the Maya, Aztec, and Inca prior to the arrival of Europeans. Students learn about the geography of
each region. They learn about the innovations and discoveries made in these civilizations, and read
some of their myths. Students use the writing process to write an informative or explanatory report that
compares and contrasts the three civilizations. Lessons include explicit instruction in grammar,
morphology, and spelling.
• Teacher Guide: Early American Civilizations – Unit 2 (8.89MB)
• Activity Book: Early American Civilizations – Unit 2 (5.56MB)
• Student Reader: Early American Civilizations – Unit 2 (16.72MB)
• Digital Components: Early American Civilizations – Unit 2 (7.61MB)
• Alignment Chart: Early American Civilizations – Unit 2
LA Unit 3 Grade 5 Skills – Adventures of Don Quixote
Students will learn that the Adventures of Don Quixote was originally written in the early 1600s by
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (generally referred to as “Cervantes”/saer*von*taes/) who lived in
Spain. This work represents a very popular genre of books read and enjoyed by many people during
this period which recounted fantastic adventures, brave deeds, and fanciful romances of various
fictitious knights. This unit also provides explicit instruction in reading, writing, morphology, grammar,
and spelling.
• Teacher Guide: Adventures of Don Quixote – Unit 3 (30.10MB)
• Activity Book: Adventures of Don Quixote – Unit 3 (18.31MB)
• Digital Components: Adventures of Don Quixote – Unit 3
LA Unit 4 Grade 5 Skills – The Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that began in Italy and swept through Europe. During the
Renaissance, increased trade between European countries led to increased wealth, power, and influence
of the middle class. Scholars, philosophers, and artists turned to the works of the ancient Greeks and
Romans for inspiration. This unit provides students with a broad exposure to the art and literature of
this time period, through the works of renowned masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo,
Raphael, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Bruegel, Dürer, Van Eyck, Machiavelli, Castiglione,
Cervantes, and Shakespeare. Students review the writing process, and engage in an extended writing
project. This unit also provides explicit instruction in reading, writing, morphology, grammar, and
spelling.
• Teacher Guide: The Renaissance – Unit 4 (10.90MB)
• Activity Book: The Renaissance – Unit 4 (7.94MB)
• Student Reader: The Renaissance – Unit 4 (6.20MB)
• Digital Components: The Renaissance – Unit 4 (13.30MB)
• Alignment Chart: The Renaissance – Unit 4
LA Unit 5 Grade 5 Skills – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Students will review what they learned about William Shakespeare in the Renaissance Unit, and

3. continue to assess why his work is still important today. Students will read A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, which is perhaps one of Shakespeare’s most known plays. This play is a literary work – a
play. Students will understand that the word literary comes from the Latin word litterarius which
means “letters”, referring to the letters of the alphabet. Students will analyze literary elements such as
character, setting, theme, plot (series of events), conflict, resolution, point of view, and dialogue. This
unit also provides explicit instruction in reading, writing, morphology, grammar, and spelling.
• Teacher Guide: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Unit 5
• Activity Book: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Unit 5
LA Unit 6 Grade 5 Skills – The Reformation
In this unit, students learn about the Reformation, a movement involving religious and political
upheaval that shifted the power in Europe from the Catholic Church to the state and led to the creation
of Protestantism. Gutenberg’s invention of an efficient printing press helped fuel the Reformation
movement and allowed Martin Luther’s and others’ ideas to spread quickly. Great advances in science
were also made during this time, some of which challenged religious doctrine and contributed to the
undermining of the power of the Catholic Church. Students review the writing process, and engage in
an extended writing project. This unit also provides explicit instruction in reading, writing,
morphology, grammar, and spelling.
• Teacher Guide: The Reformation – Unit 6 (9.30MB)
• Activity Book: The Reformation – Unit 6 (17.84MB)
• Student Reader: The Reformation – Unit 6 (9.26MB)
• Digital Components: The Reformation – Unit 6 (5.00MB)
• Alignment Chart: The Reformation – Unit 6
LA Unit 7 Grade 5 Skills – Poetry
Students will learn that the poems in this unit are drawn from various literary traditions over the last
several centuries, and they range from William Blake’s eighteenth century verse to the work of such
contemporary writers as Virgil Suárez and Marie Howe. The poets come from many backgrounds and
nations; the poets included are of European, Middle Eastern, African American, Native American, and
Hispanic descent. The poems themselves are similarly diverse; some employ precise meter and rhyme
schemes, while others use free verse and experimentation. This unit encourages students to express
their views on the poems they encounter. This unit also provides explicit instruction in reading, writing,
morphology, grammar, and spelling.
• Teacher Guide: Poetry – Unit 7 (21.94MB)
• Digital Components: Poetry – Unit 7
LA Unit 8 Grade 5 Skills – Native Americans
Students will explore how the policies of the American government in the 1800s and contact between
Native Americans and settlers, missionaries, traders, and explorers adversely affected Native American
traditions, cultures, ways of life, and relationship with the land. The unit presents information about
diverse Native American tribes and nations with unique identities and cultures, including their specific
regions and the geography of those regions. The unit reveals the unique role Native Americans played
during World War II, and the struggle to transmit and preserve the diverse languages spoken by Native
Americans. This unit also provides explicit instruction in reading, writing, morphology, grammar, and

4. spelling.
• Teacher Guide: Native Americans – Unit 8 (13.70MB)
• Activity Book: Native Americans – Unit 8 (10.35MB)
• Student Reader: Native Americans – Unit 8 (7.82MB)
• Digital Components: Native Americans – Unit 8 (14.01MB)
• Alignment Chart: Native Americans – Unit 8
-love learning -your best ed lessons guide, Scott