Grade 5 · English

Grade 5 English

Grade 5 asks children to step back from a text: what is the main idea, why did the author write it, and how would you sum it up? Writing grows to several paragraphs. Here is what it covers, where kids usually get stuck, and one way to help.

What your child learns this year

Every curriculum words it differently, but most grade 5 classes cover the same ground:

  • Main idea and summary. Stating what a text is mostly about, and summarizing without copying.
  • Author's purpose and point of view. Why a text was written, and whose view it shows.
  • Figurative language. Similes, metaphors and personification, and what they add.
  • Writing. Multi-paragraph stories, opinion pieces and reports, with an introduction and a conclusion.
  • Words and grammar. Prefixes, suffixes and roots, and punctuation that makes longer sentences clear.

Where kids usually get stuck

  1. 1Giving the topic instead of the main idea. “Gardens” is a topic. The main idea says something about it.
  2. 2Repeating one detail as the main idea. One example from the text is too narrow; the main idea covers what most of the details add up to.
  3. 3Skipping unknown words. Skipping every hard word adds up. The words around it often give enough clues to work it out.

One of Pip's tricks

Topic plus point

Use it when stating the main idea of a paragraph, article or section in your own words, especially when no single sentence says it.

  1. Name the topic: who or what the text is mostly about, in a word or two.
  2. Find the point: what is the author saying about that topic that most of the details back up?
  3. Join them in one sentence, topic plus point, and check that most details support it.

Watch it work. “Some city parks now have pollinator gardens. Volunteers plant native wildflowers where short grass used to grow. Within one summer, far more bees and butterflies visit.” Topic: pollinator gardens. Point: they bring more bees and butterflies. Main idea: pollinator gardens bring more bees and butterflies to city parks.

Why it works: a topic alone makes no point and a single detail is too narrow, so the main idea joins the topic to the point most of the details back up.

Try three

Tap a choice to see if it is right, with the reason.

  1. 1.A paragraph is about recycling, and every sentence explains how it saves resources. What is the main idea?

  2. 2.A paragraph's topic is school uniforms, and its point is that they save families money. The main idea is…

  3. 3.Which is a main idea, not just a topic?

How Sparkpip fits in

Pip, Sparkpip's tutor, works through texts and questions like these with your child one small step at a time, using tricks like the one above.

Start freeSee how it works

Your curriculum

Sparkpip is built on the grade 5 English curriculum for your province or state. The official pages:

Also: Grade 4 English · Grade 6 English · Grade 5 math · Grade 5 science