Just how smart is a Grade 5 student?

Just how smart is a Grade 5 student?

So what does Manitoba Education Minister Nancy Allan expect a kid to know by the end of Grade 5?

Alas, even though report cards are now in parent-friendly plain language, much of the curriculum still requires that you're fluent in eduspeak or have a universal jargon translator handy.

Everything in the curricula can be found at: http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/index.html

Meanwhile, here's a brief summary of what a child in Grade 5 is expected to do to achieve expected levels of positive learning outcomes (we warned you):

Language arts:

Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent: to explore thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences; to comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, literary and media texts; to manage ideas and information; to enhance the clarity and artistry of communication; to celebrate and to build community.

Math:

There is a huge list of outcomes, of which a few examples are that children aged 10 or so will:

Represent and describe whole numbers to 1,000,000.

Apply mental mathematics strategies for multiplication, such as annexing then adding zeros, halving and doubling, using the distributive property

Demonstrate an understanding of division (three-digit numerals by one-digit numerals) with and without concrete materials and interpret remainders to solve problems.

Demonstrate an understanding of volume by selecting and justifying referents for cm3 or m3 units, estimating volume by using referents for cm3 or m3, measuring and recording volume (cm3 or m3), constructing rectangular prisms for a given volume

Pretty clear, eh, Mom and Dad?

Science:

The study of the human body focuses on the maintenance of good health. Students learn about the role nutrients play and how to plan balanced and nutritious meals using Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Students gain experience in interpreting nutritional information on food labels and in evaluating images presented by the media. A study of the major body systems and their role in the healthy functioning of the human body helps students to appreciate the nature and function of each, and the interrelationships that exist between systems. Students explore how lifestyle choices and environmental factors can affect personal health.

Students deepen their understanding of the characteristics and properties of substances and the changes that occur in substances in different situations.

Through their explorations, students identify the three states of matter -- solids, liquids and gases -- and describe the properties of each. Students evaluate household products by using criteria such as efficiency, cost and environmental impact.

Students increase their understanding of forces through the study of simple machines. Students apply their knowledge of simple machines by designing, constructing and evaluating a prototype.

Social studies:

Study clusters include First Peoples, Early European Colonization (1600 to 1763), Fur Trade, From British Colony to Confederation (1763 to 1867)

(Thanks, Nancy, from all of us, we can understand that one.)

Phys ed and health:

It occupies 11 per cent of the time; every six days, students will have 150 minutes of physical activity, and 48 minutes of health.

Health topics include: Safety of Self and Others, Personal Development, Social Development, Mental-Emotional Development, Personal Health Practices, Active Living, Nutrition, Substance Use and Abuse Prevention, and -- brace yourselves, parents, Human Sexuality.

Arts:

They are to include at least one of drama, dance, music and visual arts.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 8, 2012 J2