Upper Level (5th Grade)
The Upper Level at Caedmon consists of one class of fifth grade students. They spend the year preparing for the academic and social rigors of middle school, while enjoying the culmination of their Caedmon experience. Academic instruction is still individualized and takes into account the learning styles, needs, and strengths of each child.
There is a greater emphasis on long-term assignments and collaborative projects, in which the keys to success are time management, study skills, and organization. Graded assignments are introduced in anticipation of the imminent transition to other schools. A grading criteria sheet rubric accompanies these assignments, so that the children understand very clearly what is expected and how to meet their goals.
In language arts, the children focus on essay writing, learning to formulate a thesis, write persuasively, revise subsequent drafts, and produce a final product. They read, discuss, and report on literature from many genres, including historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. The emphasis on conceptual understanding in math begins to pay off as basic operations are applied to the study of ratios, percentages, and proportions. Confident in their conceptual approach, the children are now able to recognize the efficiency of standard algorithms in arriving at solutions. The continuing study of American culture is expanded to include the European exploration of the Americas. Upper Level frequently leads the rest of the Elementary Program in the performances of the school plays. Each spring, they go on their own overnight trip to a nearby city of historical interest, or to an upstate nature conservatory.
