Westminster School

Northern Virginia Private School

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    • Westminster School seeks families who are looking for an outstanding educational program and an all-around experience that will help their child grow in character, confidence, and enthusiasm for learning and for life.


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    • ACADEMICS & SPECIALS

      • The Westminster Educational Approach
        • Lower School, Grades K-2
        • Middle School, Grades 3-5
        • Upper School, Grades 6-8
      • After-School Program
      • Arts
      • Athletics
      • STEAM Program & Makerspace
      • Westminster School Library And Resources

    • Westminster’s academic program is based on the belief that children between the ages of five and fourteen are naturally dominated by curiosity and enthusiasm for life, and want nothing so much as to understand the world around them, discover how they fit into it, and show what they can do.


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    • ABOUT US

      • Meet the Head of School
      • Mission & Philosophy
        • Classical Education
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        • History of Westminster
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        • Board of Trustees
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      • Media Room

    • Westminster School is dedicated to providing a superior elementary and middle-school education whose fundamental goals for each child are a disciplined and well-informed mind, strength of character, dedication to learning, generosity of spirit, and joy in the possibilities of life. The school community represents a diverse body of learners who are engaged in a rigorous academic program, enriched by the arts, athletics, and extracurricular activities.


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Curriculum Highlights: Fifth Grade

Back To Curriculum Highlights

Language Arts

  • Parts of speech
  • Capitalization
  • Punctuation
  • Sentence writing
  • Paragraph writing
  • Writing process
  • Writing:  narrative, descriptive, creative, persuasive, reports, letters, journal
  • Literary terms
  • Reading skills
  • Spelling
  • Vocabulary
  • Independent reading
  • Oral reports
  • Junior Great Books
  • Summer workbook
  • Summer reading

Mathematics

  • Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers, fractions, and decimals
  • Exponential notation
  • Percentages
  • Rates, ratios, and averages
  • Probability
  • Negative numbers
  • Factors, prime factors
  • Divisibility rules
  • Metric units of measurement
  • Basic geometry: perimeter, area, volume, and congruency of simple figures
  • Angles
  • Ordered pairs and function rules
  • Inverse functions
  • Graphing
  • Map skills
  • Money and banking skills
  • Summer workbook

History / Classical Studies

  • Sources of historical knowledge
  • Legacy of Rome
  • Roman mythology
  • Rome as a kingdom
  • Roman republic
  • Augustus and the Golden Age
  • The Aeneid
  • Roman daily life
  • Rome as an empire
  • Decline and fall of Rome
  • Note taking, outlining, research skills
  • Written/oral reports
  • National Mythology Exam: The Iliad, The Odyssey, myths, gods

Science

  • Scientific method
  • Frequent hands-on activities/labs
  • Animals: classification, adaptations
  • Body systems and health
  • Plants: photosynthesis, cellular respiration
  • Astronomy: effects of the movement of earth, distances in space, stars
  • Matter: properties and states, physical/chemical changes, periodic table, chemical equations, solutions
  • Forces: gravity, motion, work/machines
  • Energy: energy transfer, electricity and magnetism, thermal energy, waves
  • Independent experiment:  design, implement, report findings

Geography

  • Themes and elements associated with geography
  • Review of globe concepts/skills
  • Review of map concepts and skills
  • Map projections
  • The United Kingdom and Ireland
  • France
  • Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg
  • Germany, Switzerland, and Austria
  • Spain and Portugal
  • Italy
  • Greece
  • Poland
  • Baltic republics
  • Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia
  • Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Yugoslavia
  • Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova

Modern/Classical Languages

French

  • Daily P.E. class in uniform
  • Fitness and conditioning, including endurance, strength, balance, flexibility
  • Healthy lifestyle
  • Social dancing: Virginia Reel, line dances, dance party
  • Game skills/strategy: soccer, football, basketball, softball, whiffle ball, field/floor hockey, volleyball, bowling, track and field, frisbee, lacrosse
  • Intramural opportunities
  • Sports teams opportunities (all students may play)
  • Responsibility, self-control, team work, good sportsmanship

Physical Education

  • Daily P.E. class in uniform
  • Fitness and conditioning, including endurance, strength, balance, flexibility
  • Healthy lifestyle
  • Social dancing:  waltz, jitterbug, fox trot, line dances, dance parties, etiquette
  • Game skills/strategy: soccer, football, basketball, softball, whiffle ball, field/floor hockey, volleyball, bowling, track and field, frisbee, lacrosse
  • Intramural opportunities
  • Sports teams opportunities (all students may play)
  • Responsibility, self-control, team work, good sportsmanship

Visual Arts

  • Weekly art class
  • Drawing: pencil, eraser, markers, colored pencils, oil crayons, oil pastels
  • Painting: watercolors, tempera paints, acrylic paints
  • Sculpture: polymer clay, air drying clay
  • Relief printing: linoleum blocks, carving tools, water-soluble ink
  • Color:  color wheel, terms, variations, mixing
  • Classical proportions:  human face, figure
  • Emotions in portraits
  • Patterns, repeated images
  • Andy Warhol
  • Annual school-wide art contest

Field Trips

Several field trips per year; recent examples include:

  • Inner Quest (outdoor challenges)
  • National Building Museum
  • National Gallery of Art
  • Capital Mall
  • Gunston Hall
  • National Library of Medicine
  • Marriott Corporation
  • Special Event: Roman Day

Performing Arts

Music

  • Develop choral singing
  • Develop musical literacy
  • Musical tour of the Western World:  life and works of various composers
  • Story and music of ballets
  • Percussion instruments
  • Performance:  music program twice each year

Drama

  • Attendance at drama productions
  • Speaking role in class play
  • Develop acting skills
  • Imaginative use of costumes/props
  • Ensemble/solo singing, choreography
  • Public speaking, confidence, poise

Library

  • Selecting/checking out books
  • Research skills, internet research
  • Journalism
  • Historical atlases
  • Periodicals
  • Biographies
  • National Archives
  • Internet research
  • Autobiographies
  • Fantasy literature
  • Books on Roman society
  • Book fair

Technology

  • Star Boards in each classroom
  • Rolling computer cart for computer use in classroom
  • Weekly computer/technology class
  • Basic keyboarding
  • Word processing
  • Basic computer operations
  • Touch typing
  • Creating/revising documents
  • Navigating internet; safety
  • Integration within academic classes

Enrichment:

Several field trips per year; recent examples include:

  • Inner Quest (outdoor challenges)
  • National Building Museum
  • National Gallery of Art
  • Capital Mall
  • Gunston Hall
  • National Library of Medicine
  • Marriott Corporation
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
CONTACT US DIRECTIONS
Westminster School
3819 Gallows Rd,
Annandale, VA 22003
703 -256 -3620

Copyright © 2019 Westminster School

Westminster School
  • Admissions
    • Open Houses
    • Visit Us
    • Apply Now
    • Admission Process
      • Meet The Director
      • Checklist
      • Criteria
    • Tuition & Financial Aid
      • Fee Schedule
      • Military Discount
    • Transportation
    • HS & College Attendance
  • Academics & Specials
    • The Westminster Educational Approach
      • Lower School, Grades K-2
      • Middle School, Grades 3-5
      • Upper School, Grades 6-8
    • After-School Program
    • Arts
    • Athletics
    • STEAM Program & Makerspace
    • Westminster School Library And Resources
  • About Us
    • Meet the Head of School
    • Mission & Philosophy
      • Classical Education
      • School Traditions
      • School Community
      • History of Westminster
    • School Community
      • Our Staff
      • Board of Trustees
      • Alumni
    • Employment
    • Campus Tour
    • Blog
    • Media Room
  • Preschool
  • Camp Griffin
  • Contact Us