Students entering fifth grade at Alcott have an exciting year filled with lots of learning and fun.

Students learn how to enhance their reading skills and become more fluent. As students develop skills to become better readers, they use these strategies in their writing. To assist students in this journey, the fifth grade teachers use the Four Blocks Literacy Model. This model teaches language arts in four different areas, or blocks, each day. The first block is guided reading. Guided reading offers lessons in how to read, and set aside time to read in small groups for instruction. Self-selected reading is the second block. During this time students choose their own reading material to read silently. Students will often share what they have read at the end of this block. The third block, working with words, is where the phonetic instruction to strengthen letters and sound relationships occurs. Students learn about word chunks and how to use the word wall by doing activities and games. Writing is the final block in the model. Students are taught about writing through mini-lessons56 and writing independently. Students have a writer's conference with the teacher to discuss the writing they have done on a regular basis. As a district, all fifth grade classes use the reading series "Treasures" in conjunction with Four Blocks.

Our district's math series is Saxon. Saxon is a hands-on, success-oriented series that emphasizes manipulatives and mental math. The series uses a multi-sensory approach to teaching. It enables all children to develop a solid foundation in the language and basic concepts of mathematics. The program introduces new concepts in small pieces that are practiced and reviewed throughout the year.

In science our students conduct scientific inquires and explain the results.   They learn about the properties of matter and its changes, forces and motion, and they study the inherited characteristics of plants and animals. Students will also study ecosystems along with the positions of the Earth and its materials.

In social studies children learn about the colonization of America and events leading to the nation we live in today.  They alos learn about democracy and a form of government and study the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens. They will use maps, charts, graphs, and timelines while studying the United States. We visit the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island to gain a deeper understanding of the Civil War.