Here is what we will be learning this year in grammar! Students in fifth grade are expected to write with more complex sentences, capitalization, and punctuation. Grammar —Correctly employ Standard English usage, including subject/verb and noun/pronoun agreement and the four basic parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs). —Identify and correctly use verbs that are often misused (e.g., lie/lay, sit/set, rise/raise), modifiers, and pronouns. —Use regular and irregular plurals correctly. —Use adjectives (comparative and superlative forms) and adverbs appropriately to make writing vivid or precise. —Use prepositional phrases to elaborate written ideas. —Use conjunctions to connect ideas meaningfully. —Write with accuracy when using objective case pronouns such as “Can you ride with my mom and me?” Punctuation —Punctuate ends of sentences correctly. Use punctuation to clarify and enhance meaning, including using commas in a series, in direct address, and in clauses. Correct use of hyphens. —Write with accuracy when using apostrophes in contractions such as it’s and possessives such as Jan’s. —Use a colon to separate hours and minutes and to introduce a list. —Use quotation marks around the exact words of a speaker and titles of poems, songs, short stories, etc. Capitalization —Capitalize correctly to clarify and enhance meaning. —Fifth-graders pay particular attention to capitalization of literary titles, nationalities, ethnicities, languages, religions, geographic names and places. Spelling —Use spelling rules, orthographic patterns and generalizations correctly. —Write with accurate spelling of roots words such as drink, speak, read, or happy, inflections such as those that change tense or number, suffixes such as -able or -less, and prefixes such as re- or un. —Write with accurate spelling of contractions and syllable constructions, including closed, open, consonant before -le, and syllable boundary patterns. —Use knowledge of Greek and Latin root words, prefixes, suffixes, and use dictionary, thesaurus, or other resources as necessary. Penmanship —Write fluidly and legibly in cursive or manuscript as appropriate.