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Tennessee Standards

Tennessee 5th Grade ELA Standards

All 42 Tennessee English language arts standards for 5th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is one click away under each one.

42 standards

Foundational Literacy: Phonics and Word Recognition

1 standard
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when decoding isolated words and in connected text.
5.FL.PWR.3
Decode long unfamiliar words, in a passage or on a list, by putting together letter sounds, syllables, and word parts, like misunderstanding or transportation.
Official wording
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when decoding isolated words and in connected text.aUse combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (roots and affixes) to accurately read unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context.

Foundational Literacy: Word Composition

1 standard
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when encoding words; write legibly.
5.FL.WC.4
Spell fifth grade words correctly, looking them up in a dictionary or spell checker when needed, and write clearly in print and cursive.
Official wording
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when encoding words; write legibly.aSpell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.bWrite legibly in manuscript and cursive.

Foundational Literacy: Fluency

1 standard
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
5.FL.F.5
Read 1st-grade books aloud smoothly and accurately with expression, understand them, and reread when a word or sentence does not make sense.
Official wording
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.aRead grade-level text with purpose and understanding.bRead grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.cUse context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding of words; reread as necessary.
Common Core RF.1.4

Foundational Literacy: Sentence Composition

1 standard
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when speaking and conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including capitalization and punctuation, when writing.
5.FL.SC.6
Explain conjunctions and interjections, use perfect tenses like had eaten without tense shifts, place commas after intro words and yes or no, mark titles, and write paragraphs.
Official wording
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when speaking and conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including capitalization and punctuation, when writing.aExplain the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections as used in general and in particular sentences.bForm and use the perfect verb tense.cUse verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states, and conditions.dRecognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.eUse correlative conjunctions.fUse punctuation to separate items in a series.gUse a comma to separate an introductory element from the rest of the sentence.hUse a comma to set off the words yes and no, to set off a tag question from the rest of the sentence (e.g., It’s true, isn’t it?), and to indicate direct address.iUse underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works.jWrite multiple cohesive paragraphs on a topic.

Foundational Literacy: Vocabulary Acquisition

3 standards
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
5.FL.VA.7a
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.
Official wording
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.iUse context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.iiUse common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word.iiiConsult reference materials, both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
Common Core L.5.4
5.FL.VA.7b
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.
Official wording
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.iInterpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context.iiRecognize and explain the meaning of common idioms and proverbs.iiiUse the relationship between particular words to better understand each of the words.
Common Core L.3.5
5.FL.VA.7c
Learn and correctly use school and subject words, including ones that show contrast, addition, and other logic, like however, moreover, or therefore.
Official wording
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships.

Reading: Key Ideas and Details

6 standards
Read closely to determine what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
5.RL.KID.1
Quote the exact words from a story that prove an answer, whether the story says it outright or only hints at it.
Official wording
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Common Core RL.5.1
5.RI.KID.1
Quote the exact words from a story that prove an answer, whether the story says it outright or only hints at it.
Official wording
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Common Core RL.5.1
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
5.RL.KID.2
Find a theme or central idea in a story, play, or poem, show which details build it, and give a short summary of the text.
Official wording
Determine a theme or central idea of a story, drama, or poem and explain how it is conveyed through details in the text; summarize the text.
5.RI.KID.2
Find the central idea of a nonfiction text, show how key details support it, and write a brief summary.
Official wording
Determine the central idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
5.RL.KID.3
Show how two or more characters, places, or events in a story or play are alike and different using specific details, like how two sisters take the same news.
Official wording
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in a text.
5.RI.KID.3
Explain how two or more people, events, or ideas in a text relate to and affect each other, like how an invention changed daily life.
Official wording
Explain the relationships and interactions among two or more individuals, events, and/or ideas in a text.

Reading: Craft and Structure

6 standards
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5.RL.CS.4
Figure out what words and phrases mean in a text, especially similes and metaphors, and explain how sound devices like rhyme or alliteration shape meaning and tone.
Official wording
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language with emphasis on similes and metaphors; analyze the impact of sound devices on meaning and tone.
5.RI.CS.4
Figure out what words and phrases mean in a fifth grade subject text, including figurative, emotional, and technical meanings.
Official wording
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.
Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of a text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
5.RL.CS.5
Explain how chapters, scenes, or stanzas fit together to build the overall structure of a story, play, or poem.
Official wording
Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fit together to provide the overall structure of particular texts.
5.RI.CS.5
Compare how two or more texts organize their events, ideas, or information, like one in time order and another as cause and effect.
Official wording
Compare and contrast the overall structure of events, ideas, and concepts of information in two or more texts.
Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
5.RL.CS.6
Describe how the narrator’s point of view colors the way events are told, like the same argument retold by each sibling.
Official wording
Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.
Common Core RL.5.6
5.RI.CS.6
Analyze how several accounts of the same event or topic share or differ in point of view, like a soldier's letter and a news report.
Official wording
Analyze the similarities and differences in points of view of multiple accounts of the same event or topic.

Reading: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

5 standards
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
5.RL.IKI.7
Explain how pictures and media help set a text's meaning, tone, or mood, like the art in a graphic novel or the visuals with a myth or poem.
Official wording
Explain how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or mood of a text, such as in a graphic novel, multimedia presentation, or fiction, folktale, myth, or poem.
5.RI.IKI.7
Find the answer to a question or solve a problem by using facts from several print or online sources.
Official wording
Locate an answer to a question or solve a problem, drawing on information from multiple print or digital sources.
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
5.RI.IKI.8
Explain how an author backs up points with reasons and evidence, matching each reason or piece of evidence to the point it supports.
Official wording
Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which points.
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches an author takes.
5.RL.IKI.9
Compare how stories in one genre, like mysteries or adventure tales, handle similar themes and topics.
Official wording
Compare and contrast stories in the same genre on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
5.RI.IKI.9
Combine information from two or more texts on one topic to build knowledge, like two articles about the water cycle.
Official wording
Integrate information from two or more texts on the same topic in order to build content knowledge.

Reading: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

2 standards
Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
5.RL.RRTC.10
Read and understand stories and poems at the top of the fourth to fifth grade level on their own.
Official wording
Read and comprehend stories and poems at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
5.RI.RRTC.10
Read and understand stories and nonfiction at the top of the fourth to fifth grade level on their own.
Official wording
Read and comprehend stories and informational texts at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration

3 standards
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with varied partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing one’s own ideas clearly and persuasively.
5.SL.CC.1
Prepare for discussions of fifth grade topics and books, respond to and extend classmates' ideas, and explain their own views clearly.
Official wording
Prepare for collaborative discussions on 5th grade level topics and texts; engage effectively with varied partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing one’s own ideas clearly.
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media formats, such as visual, quantitative, and oral formats.
5.SL.CC.2
Summarize information shared through images, numbers, or speech, like a documentary clip or an infographic.
Official wording
Summarize a text presented in diverse media such as visual, quantitative, and oral formats.
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
5.SL.CC.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.
Official wording
Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence.
Common Core SL.5.3

Speaking and Listening: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

3 standards
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning; the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5.SL.PKI.4
Give a report or share an opinion out loud with ideas in a logical order, backed by fitting facts and vivid details.
Official wording
Report on a topic or text, or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas.
Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
5.SL.PKI.5
Use media and visual displays in a presentation when they help develop the main ideas or themes, like slides with photos and a chart.
Official wording
Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations, when appropriate, to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
Adapt speech to a variety of contents and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
5.SL.PKI.6
Change how they speak to fit different settings and tasks, switching to formal English when it is called for, like during a debate.
Official wording
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.

Writing: Text Types and Protocol

3 standards
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
5.W.TTP.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.
Official wording
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.aIntroduce a topic or text.bDevelop an opinion through logically-ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.cCreate an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.dProvide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.eLink opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses.fApply language standards addressed in the Foundational Literacy standards.
Common Core W.4.1
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
5.W.TTP.2
Write to explain a topic, opening with a general observation, grouping facts logically, adding features and media, linking ideas with clauses, using subject vocabulary, and ending with a conclusion.
Official wording
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information.aIntroduce a topic by providing a general observation and focus.bGroup related information logically.cInclude formatting features, illustrations, and multimedia, when needed, to provide clarity to the reader.dDevelop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.eProvide a conclusion related to the information or explanation presented.fLink ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses.gUse precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.hApply language standards addressed in the Foundational Literacy standards.
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
5.W.TTP.3
Write a real or imagined story that sets the scene, unfolds logically, uses dialogue, pacing, and description, moves with transitions, and ends in a fitting way.
Official wording
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using an effective technique, such as descriptive details and clear event sequences.aOrient the reader by establishing a situation, using a narrator, and/or introducing characters.bOrganize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.cUse narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.dUse a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.eProvide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.fUse precise words and phrases and use sensory details to convey experiences and events.gApply language standards addressed in the Foundational Literacy standards.

Writing: Production and Distribution of Writing

3 standards
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5.W.PDW.4
Match how a piece of writing is developed, organized and styled to its task, its purpose and the people who will read it.
Official wording
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
Common Core W.6.4
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
5.W.PDW.5
With help from classmates and adults, plan, revise, and edit writing to make it stronger, using the grammar and punctuation learned through fifth grade.
Official wording
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Foundational Literacy standard 6 up to and including grade 5.)
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
5.W.PDW.6
With some adult help, use technology and the internet to draft, publish, and collaborate on writing, and type a full piece in one session.
Official wording
With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing, as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of technology skills to type a complete product in a single sitting as defined in W.1-3.

Writing: Research to Build and Present Knowledge

3 standards
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focus questions, demonstrating new understanding of the subject under investigation.
5.W.RBPK.7
Do short research projects that draw on several sources to explore different sides of a topic, like the causes and effects of pollution.
Official wording
Conduct short research projects that use multiple sources to build knowledge through investigations of different aspects of a topic.
Integrate relevant and credible information from multiple print and digital sources while avoiding plagiarism.
5.W.RBPK.8
Gather facts from memory, books and websites, restate them in notes and the finished piece instead of copying, and list the sources.
Official wording
Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work and provide a list of sources.
Common Core W.5.8
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
5.W.RBPK.9
Back up analysis, reflection, and research with evidence from stories and nonfiction, applying fifth grade reading skills.
Official wording
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research, applying grade 5 standards for reading.

Writing: Range of Writing

1 standard
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
5.W.RW.10
Write often, in longer projects and short sittings, for many tasks, purposes, and readers across subjects, like a history essay or a lab note.
Official wording
Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences; promote writing fluency.

The official Tennessee documents

Tennessee Academic Standards for English Language Arts, Tennessee Department of Education, tn.gov/education.

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

The plain-English lines are EMStudio's own explanations, shown beside the official wording. They are not part of the standards.