Class Description

We are about to embark on adventures of a very bright year of growing more awake and feeling ready to “look out into the world” with increasing confidence and strengthening of capacities. The curriculum of this school year meets the children in these adventures and takes them into the mysteries of ancient civilizations and the magical realms of the world of trees and plants. While we look back through the lens of ancient civilizations and begin to contemplate the future, our center stays rooted in the present as we explore the realm of the plant kingdom, take further strides in mathematics, strengthen our writing skills, and create beauty every step of the way.

Children at this age find themselves at a point of dynamic balance between earlier years of their childhood and the near-future years of adolescence. They feel confident, graceful, and capable most of the time, and a sense of harmony with the world becomes a part of most experiences.

Explorations of the cultural beauty of several ancient civilizations (Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece) through stories, geography, art, and mythology will bring all to the early history and the many lessons Ancient Greece has given us. Language Arts curriculum will weave through all the blocks expanding children’s grammar, composition, and reading capacities. Natural Science elements of the curriculum will thread through the realm of trees and plants (Botany) as we further expand our relationship to the blessings of plant life and the many gifts that we can give and receive to and from our beautiful Earth. Math curriculum will be full of color as freehand geometry and illustrated word problems accompany our practice and expanding skills of working with large numbers and fractions; and introductions to decimals, the metric system of measurement, and the ancient ways of recording numbers and measuring spaces.  

Main Themes of Grade 5

Language Arts: Grammar, Writing Composition, Reading, Reciting Poetry

Math: Freehand Geometry, Fractions cont’d, Long Division and main operations with large numbers, Word Problems, Decimals, Metric System of Measurement

Science: Trees, Plant Life, Connections to some of Ancient Civilizations’ Discoveries

Social Studies: Geography (North American Continent), Ancient Civilizations, Freehand Mapmaking

Watercolor Painting, Clay Modeling, Pencil and Chalk Drawing, Handwork, Working with Wood

Work Samples:

Sample Video's from Mr. Siepker:

Handwork With Ms. Maggie

This year we will advance our knitting skills from working on two needles to now four. To begin, we will dye wool with natural plant dyes, wind wool, and make double pointed knitting needles. The students will work on these four needles to learn to knit in the round as they learn to follow a written pattern, picking up stitches, shaping, and creating curves in three-dimensional knitting as they knit a pair of cozy socks. The students will continue to practice knitting in the round as they create a classic winter hat.

Eurythmy Inspired Movement With Ms. Tiffany 

The theme of the fifth grade is the star. We are stars; I am a star, its rays shape me and I form it. We go deep this year into the eurythmic gestures and form walking in learning how to use our etheric bodies and ray into the space surrounding us. We add steps to gestures and work with basic colors. This year for tone eurythmy, we learn not just rhythm, beat and pitch, but how to truly experience each. We will also work with major scales including the c-major scale. For copper rods we will add steps and movements to basic and intermediate rod exercises.

German with Mr. Dornemann

The aim of the course is to experience the German language, to get used to its sounds, acquire basic vocabulary and speaking skills. It is intended for beginners with no or little previous exposure to the German language.  

In the recorded part of the lessons there will be listening and speaking activities, poems, songs, stories and tongue twisters. Students will practice speaking by repeating what the teacher presents. In our live sessions we will engage in speaking and conversation as well as call and response.  

The vocabulary covered will include actions, counting, phrases, cultural references and many words describing aspects of everyday life.

Music with Mr. Mark

In Music Class 5 we use singing games, dancing games, and sing-alongs to create music together. We explore physically the steady beat, how the beat relates to rhythm, and how beat and rhythm relate to melody in a naturally organic progression. The material we use incorporates the changing seasons as well as aspects of the students’ Main Lesson blocks. Emphasis is on creative expression and musical exploration, where everyone participates together in the creation of beautiful music. Rythmic and Melodic Notation are explored in a fun, organic way that relates to the Feeling Life of the music rather than the Intellectual. We incorporate Beginning/Intermediate Recorder into our musical explorations (many students have already been playing recorder at this age, and I take that into account as I incorporate complete beginners with those who have some recorder skills, so that we can all progress together). We will also incorporate Beginning Ukelele!