Mississippi Standards
Mississippi 5th Grade ELA Standards
All 43 Mississippi English language arts standards for 5th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Mississippi Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
43 standards
Reading Literature
9 standardsRL.5.1
Quote the exact words from a story that prove an answer, whether the story says it outright or only hints at it.
RL.5.2
Work out the theme of a story, play or poem from how its characters face challenges or how a poem’s speaker reflects, then summarize it.
RL.5.3
Compare two or more characters, settings or events in a story, using specific details such as how the characters treat each other.
RL.5.4
Figure out what words and phrases mean in a story, including a simile or metaphor such as the classroom was a zoo.
RL.5.5
Explain how the chapters of a novel, the scenes of a play or the stanzas of a poem build on one another to shape the whole.
RL.5.6
Describe how the narrator’s point of view colors the way events are told, like the same argument retold by each sibling.
RL.5.7
Explain what the pictures in a graphic novel, or the sound and images in a filmed poem or myth, add to its meaning, mood or beauty.
RL.5.9
Compare how two stories of the same kind, such as two mysteries, handle a similar theme or topic in different ways.
RL.5.10
Read and understand stories, plays and poems at the top of the grades 4 to 5 difficulty range independently by year’s end.
Reading Informational Text
10 standardsRI.5.1
Quote the exact words from a story that prove an answer, whether the story says it outright or only hints at it.
RI.5.2
Find two or more main ideas in an informational text, show which details support each one, and summarize the text.
RI.5.3
Explain how two or more people, events or ideas in a history, science or how-to text connect, using facts the text gives.
RI.5.4
Work out the meaning of school words like analyze and subject words like photosynthesis in a text on a grade 5 topic.
RI.5.5
Compare how two or more texts are organized, such as one told in time order and another built on cause and effect.
RI.5.6
Read several accounts of the same event and note how the writers’ points of view agree and differ.
RI.5.7
Use several books or websites to find the answer to a question or solve a problem quickly.
RI.5.8
Explain which reasons and evidence an author gives for each point in an informational text, matching each piece of support to its point.
RI.5.9
Combine facts from several texts on one topic, then write or speak about it like someone who has done the reading.
RI.5.10
Read and understand history, science and technical texts at the top of the grades 4 to 5 difficulty range independently by year’s end.
Reading Foundational Skills
2 standardsRF.5.3
Say the main sound of each consonant, know the long and short sounds of a, e, i, o and u, and read common sight words like the, of and you.
RF.5.4
Read 1st-grade books aloud smoothly and accurately with expression, understand them, and reread when a word or sentence does not make sense.
Writing
10 standardsW.5.1
Write an opinion piece that introduces the topic, states the opinion, gives reasons backed by facts, links them with phrases like for instance, and closes.
W.5.2
Write an informative piece that introduces a topic, groups related facts and definitions, links them with words like also, and closes with a final sentence.
W.5.3
Write a story, real or made up, that sets the scene, introduces the characters, uses dialogue and time words like later, and ends with a sense of closure.
W.5.4
Write clearly, shaping and organizing the piece for its task, purpose and reader, like a how-to for younger students versus a book review for the class.
W.5.5
Improve their writing with feedback from classmates and adults by planning, revising and editing it, using fifth grade grammar and spelling.
W.5.6
With some adult guidance, use computers and the internet to publish writing and collaborate with others, typing with enough skill to get it done.
W.5.7
Do a short research project that looks into different sides of a topic, such as a state’s history, land and people, to build knowledge about it.
W.5.8
Gather facts from memory, books and websites, restate them in notes and the finished piece instead of copying, and list the sources.
W.5.9
Use evidence from stories and informational texts in writing, like details that show a character in depth or the reasons an author gives for a point.
W.5.10
Write regularly, from a report built over several days to a journal entry finished in one class, for different subjects, purposes and readers.
Speaking and Listening
6 standardsSL.5.1
Take part in discussions on fifth grade topics prepared, follow roles and rules, add to and build on others' comments, and draw conclusions from what was said.
SL.5.2
Give a short summary of a text read aloud or of information shown in a video, a chart or a talk.
SL.5.3
Sum up a speaker’s main points, such as in a classmate’s persuasive talk, and tell which reasons and evidence back each claim.
SL.5.4
Give a talk on a topic, a book or an opinion with ideas in a sensible order, facts and details to back them, and clear speech at a steady pace.
SL.5.5
Add pictures, sound clips or a slide to a presentation when they help make the main ideas clearer.
SL.5.6
Adjust how they speak for different settings and tasks, using formal English when it fits, like in a presentation to the class.
Language
6 standardsL.5.1
Use fifth grade grammar, like explaining what conjunctions, prepositions and interjections do, perfect tenses, fixing tense shifts, and pairs like either/or.
L.5.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
L.5.3
Notice the difference between formal and casual English, like Good morning, Mrs. Lee versus Hey, and choose which fits the moment.
L.5.4
Work out an unknown word on a grade 5 topic from context clues, from Greek and Latin roots like photo in photograph, or by checking a dictionary or glossary.
L.5.5
Explain a nonliteral phrase like take steps, name someone who is friendly to link a word to real life, and rank knew, believed and suspected by how sure they are.
L.5.6
Learn and use grade 5 school and subject words, including linking words that signal contrast or addition such as however, although and moreover.
The official Mississippi documents
- 2025 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for English Language Arts · adopted 2025 · required since 2025-26
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Mississippi's standards, not the official wording, which Mississippi Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.