Grade 5 Curriculum
Ready for middle school: research, reasoning and responsibility
Elementary · Grade 3 – Grade 5
Grade 5 consolidates the elementary years and prepares learners for specialist teaching. Learners write full research reports, operate confidently with fractions and decimals, run independent investigations, and complete the Elementary Level exhibition.
Developmental learning priorities
- Independent research and citation
- Fractions, decimals and volume
- Investigation independence
- Coding and first data projects
- Study habits and organisation
Subjects taught in Grade 5
Research Writing & Literary Analysis(open for detail)
Learners analyse theme, point of view and figurative language, write research reports with a bibliography, and deliver formal presentations with visual support.
Annual learning objectives
- • Analyse theme and point of view
- • Write a research report with cited sources
- • Paraphrase without plagiarising
- • Present formally with slides
Key units & topics
- • Literary analysis
- • Research process
- • Citation and paraphrase
- • Presentation
- • Grammar mastery
Skills developed
- • Research
- • Citation
- • Analysis
- • Public presentation
Projects & performance tasks
- • Research report and presentation on a Liberian development issue
Technology & AI integration
Learners compare a human-written and an AI-written summary and identify what the AI got wrong.
Assessment approach
Research report rubric, presentation rubric and tests.
Fractions, Decimals, Volume & Coordinate Geometry(open for detail)
Learners operate with fractions of unlike denominators, multiply and divide decimals, calculate volume, plot coordinates and interpret data with measures of centre.
Annual learning objectives
- • Add, subtract and multiply fractions
- • Multiply and divide decimals
- • Calculate volume of rectangular prisms
- • Plot and interpret coordinate points
Key units & topics
- • Fraction operations
- • Decimal operations
- • Volume
- • Coordinate plane
- • Data and averages
Skills developed
- • Operational fluency
- • Spatial reasoning
- • Data interpretation
Projects & performance tasks
- • Packaging design project optimising volume and cost
Technology & AI integration
Spreadsheet models and coordinate plotting tools.
Assessment approach
Unit tests, performance tasks and a modelling project.
Independent Investigation: Systems & Change(open for detail)
Learners study matter and mixtures, ecosystems and energy flow, the water cycle and earth systems, and design and run an investigation with limited teacher direction.
Annual learning objectives
- • Design an investigation independently
- • Control variables and repeat trials
- • Analyse data and identify patterns
- • Write a full investigation report
Key units & topics
- • Matter and mixtures
- • Ecosystems and energy
- • Water and weather systems
- • Independent inquiry
Skills developed
- • Experimental design
- • Data analysis
- • Scientific writing
Projects & performance tasks
- • Water filtration design and testing project
Technology & AI integration
Data analysed in spreadsheets with charts included in the report.
Assessment approach
Investigation report, practical work and tests.
Government, Rights & Community Action(open for detail)
Learners study Liberia's levels of government, the purpose of a constitution, rights and responsibilities, and plan a real action on a local issue.
Annual learning objectives
- • Describe levels of government and their roles
- • Explain key rights and responsibilities
- • Analyse a local issue and propose action
- • Participate in a formal school civic process
Key units & topics
- • Levels of government
- • Constitution basics
- • Rights and duties
- • Community action
Skills developed
- • Civic analysis
- • Advocacy
- • Collaboration
Projects & performance tasks
- • Community-issue action campaign with a written proposal
Technology & AI integration
Learners verify information about local government online before using it.
Assessment approach
Proposal quality, participation and tests.
Advanced Blocks & Transition to Text Code(open for detail)
Learners complete complex block projects and are introduced to text-based code, seeing the same logic expressed in typed instructions.
Annual learning objectives
- • Build a multi-feature block project
- • Read simple text-based code
- • Convert a block sequence into typed code
- • Debug typed syntax errors
Key units & topics
- • Complex block projects
- • Introduction to text code
- • Syntax and errors
- • Project delivery
Skills developed
- • Programming logic
- • Syntax awareness
- • Debugging
Projects & performance tasks
- • Interactive learning game for younger learners, tested with them
Technology & AI integration
Prepares directly for Python in Grades 7–8.
Assessment approach
Project delivery, code reading test and user feedback.
How AI Learns & How to Use It Honestly(open for detail)
Learners study training data, prediction and bias in accessible terms, test AI tools under supervision, and apply strict rules on verification and disclosure in their own work.
Annual learning objectives
- • Explain training data and prediction
- • Give an example of AI bias
- • Verify an AI answer against a trusted source
- • Disclose any AI help used
Key units & topics
- • Training data and bias
- • Prediction and error
- • Verification
- • Academic honesty
Skills developed
- • Critical evaluation
- • Verification
- • Honest practice
Projects & performance tasks
- • Fact-check challenge: find and correct three AI errors
Technology & AI integration
Establishes the verification-and-disclosure habit used through Grade 12.
Assessment approach
Verification log and written explanation.
Enterprise Planning & Customers(open for detail)
Learners identify a real need, interview potential customers, plan and cost a product or service, and run and account for a small enterprise.
Annual learning objectives
- • Identify a genuine customer need
- • Interview customers and use the findings
- • Cost and price a product
- • Report profit or loss honestly
Key units & topics
- • Needs and opportunity
- • Customer research
- • Costing and pricing
- • Records and review
Skills developed
- • Customer research
- • Costing
- • Record keeping
- • Presentation
Projects & performance tasks
- • Enterprise fair with real sales and audited records
Technology & AI integration
Accounts kept in a spreadsheet with charts of daily sales.
Assessment approach
Plan quality, records accuracy and reflection.
Elementary Level Exhibition(open for detail)
Learners complete a substantial cross-subject project: define a problem, research it with cited sources, produce a solution or product, and present it publicly.
Annual learning objectives
- • Define a researchable problem
- • Use and cite at least three sources
- • Produce a tested product or proposal
- • Present and answer questions publicly
Key units & topics
- • Problem definition
- • Research and citation
- • Building and testing
- • Public presentation
Skills developed
- • Project management
- • Research
- • Communication
Projects & performance tasks
- • Elementary Level Exhibition presented to parents and staff
Technology & AI integration
Learners submit a short log of any AI assistance and their verification steps.
Assessment approach
Exhibition rubric with a question-and-answer component.
Health, PE & Growing Up(open for detail)
Learners study growth and development at an age-appropriate level, nutrition, disease prevention, peer pressure and wellbeing, and take on organising roles in sport.
Annual learning objectives
- • Describe healthy growth and development
- • Plan for balanced nutrition and rest
- • Respond to peer pressure appropriately
- • Organise and officiate a class game
Key units & topics
- • Growth and development
- • Nutrition and hygiene
- • Peer pressure and decisions
- • Sport leadership
Skills developed
- • Self-care
- • Decision making
- • Leadership
Projects & performance tasks
- • Wellbeing week organised by learners
Technology & AI integration
Health claims found online evaluated for reliability.
Assessment approach
Tests, organisation quality and participation.
Visual Arts, Media & Performance(open for detail)
Learners work with perspective and composition, produce digital designs, take and edit photographs and contribute to a class performance production.
Annual learning objectives
- • Use perspective and composition deliberately
- • Produce a digital design for a purpose
- • Take and edit purposeful photographs
- • Contribute to a staged production
Key units & topics
- • Perspective and composition
- • Digital design
- • Photography
- • Performance production
Skills developed
- • Design skill
- • Digital tools
- • Collaboration
Projects & performance tasks
- • Exhibition catalogue designed digitally by the class
Technology & AI integration
Free design and photo tools from the school's app directory.
Assessment approach
Portfolio, critique and production roles.
History: African Civilisations & Oral History(open for detail)
Learners study the great West African empires — Ghana, Mali and Songhai — alongside Liberian community history collected through their own oral-history interviews conducted with consent.
Annual learning objectives
- • Describe the rise and decline of one West African empire
- • Explain why Timbuktu mattered as a centre of learning
- • Conduct and transcribe an oral-history interview
- • Judge whether a source is reliable and say why
Key units & topics
- • Ghana, Mali and Songhai
- • Trans-Saharan trade
- • Scholarship and cities
- • Oral history and consent
- • Reliability of sources
Skills developed
- • Historical explanation
- • Interviewing and transcription
- • Reliability judgement
- • Research note-keeping
Projects & performance tasks
- • Recorded community oral-history archive with consent forms
- • Empire research presentation with a bibliography
Technology & AI integration
Learners record and store interviews digitally with permission, and compare an AI summary of an empire with a teacher-supplied text, listing what the summary got wrong or left out.
Assessment approach
Interview portfolio, research presentation and a source-reliability quiz.
End-of-year outcomes
By the end of Grade 5, a learner:
- Writes a cited research report and presents it publicly.
- Operates fluently with fractions, decimals and volume.
- Designs and reports an independent investigation.
- Reads simple text-based code and completes a complex coded project.
- Verifies AI output and discloses assistance honestly.