Grade 5 · Alberta
Grade 5: letters for numbers
Grade 5 is where a letter stands for a number for the first time, where reading becomes judging what you read, and where matter gets a model made of particles. This page is for the grown-up — what Alberta asks for, what the words mean, and what to do about it at home.
The four learning areas
Each one starts with what Alberta asks for, defines the words teachers use, and then gives you things to try at home.
English language arts and literature
Reading and writing
Talking a problem through in a group, word knowledge, judging what you read, writing for a particular reader, and punctuation that changes meaning.
Open reading and writing
Mathematics
Numbers to a million
Columns to a million, multiplying by two digits, adding fractions, letters standing for numbers, symmetry, area and perimeter, and the coordinate grid.
Open numbers to a million
Science
Looking closely
What matter is made of, why things float and fly, where energy comes from, weather and farming, the body's inner systems, the sky, coding, and fair experiments.
Open looking closely
Physical education and wellness
Moving and feeling good
What makes someone want to move, movement patterns, listening, healthy habits during puberty, food as fuel, respecting a yes or a no, and choosing what to buy.
Open moving and feeling good
For the child
23 printable sheets
Printables
Context clues and fact or opinion, columns to a million, long multiplication, fractions, expressions, symmetry and the coordinate grid, particles and buoyancy, coding, nutrition and unit prices.
Print a sheet
3 games
Games
Coordinate Catch, Fraction Builder, Fact or Opinion? — coordinates, fractions and fact or opinion.
Play a game
What changes from Grade 4
Grade 5 is the middle of the new Grades 4–6 block, and three things are genuinely new.
- Letters stand for numbers. An algebraic expression like 3 × n + 2 has a value once n does. It is the first step on a road that runs all the way to Grade 12.
- Reading becomes judging. The Grade 5 outcome is evaluating ideas and information — who made this, can it be checked, what is missing — not just understanding them.
- Matter gets a model. The particle model explains melting, evaporating and why smells spread, and science uses models all year: for floating and flying, the body, and the sky.
Alberta teaches six subjects. This site covers four of them: English language arts and literature, mathematics, science, and physical education and wellness.
How to use this
- Start with a learning area. Each one gives the actual expectations, then defines the words — evaluate, partial products, buoyant force, unit price — that teachers use and parents rarely hear explained.
- Try the home ideas. Several are specific to Alberta: the chinook, irrigation in the south, the long summer days of the Peace Country, and an Alberta summer shadow.
- Print a sheet when you want something on paper. Every one has a line of instructions for you at the top and an answer note underneath.
- Hand over a game when you need ten quiet minutes. No account, no advertising, nothing that asks for money.
The expectations above are paraphrased from Alberta Education's New K–6 curriculum fact sheets, which publish a snapshot of each grade rather than the complete program of studies. Alberta's full programs are at alberta.ca/curriculum.