5th Grade Writing and Language Frameworks

Below are the Massachusetts Writing and Language Frameworks for Fifth Grade. You can download the full Language Arts Frameworks for all grades here.

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Writing (W)

Text Types and Purposes
1. Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. 

• Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which related ideas are grouped in paragraphs and sections to support the writer’s purpose.
• Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details. 
• Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically). 

• Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. 

• Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically in paragraphs and sections; include text features (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
• Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
• Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., in contrast, especially). 
• Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. 
• Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.

3. Write narratives in prose or poem form to develop experiences or events using effective literary techniques, descriptive details, and clear sequences.

• Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a speaker, narrator, and/or characters; organize an appropriate narrative sequence.
• Use narrative techniques such as dialogue, description, and pacing to develop experiences or events or show responses to situations.
• Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage sequence.
• Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences or events precisely.
• Provide a sense of closure appropriate to the narrated experiences or events.
• For prose narratives, draw on characteristics of traditional or modern genres (e.g., tall tales, myths, mysteries, fantasies, historical fiction) from diverse cultures as models for writing. (See grade 5 Reading Literature standard 9.)
• For poems, draw on characteristics of traditional poetic forms (e.g., ballads, couplets) or modern free verse from diverse cultures as models for writing.

Production and Distribution of Writing
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

• Demonstrate command of standard English conventions (as described in Language standards 1–3 up to and including grade 5).
• Demonstrate the ability to use general academic and domain-specific vocabulary appropriately (as described in Language standards 4–6 up to and including grade 5).

6. Use technology, including current Web-based communication platforms, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge
7. Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
8. 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.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support written analysis, reflection, and research, applying one or more grade 5 standards for Reading Literature or Reading Informational Text as needed.
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Range of Writing
10. 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 discipline- specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

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Language (L)

Conventions of Standard English
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking; retain and further develop language skills learned in previous grades. (See grade 5 Writing standard 5 and Speaking and Listening standard 6 on strengthening writing and presentations by applying knowledge of conventions.)
  Sentence Structure and Meaning

• Use verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states, and conditions, choosing among verb tenses depending on the overall meaning of the sentence.
• Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.
• Use active and passive verbs, choosing between them depending on the overall meaning of the sentence.

  Word Usage

• Form and use perfect verb tenses.

2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. 

• Write legibly and fluently by hand, using either print or cursive handwriting; write their given and family name signature in cursive.
• Use punctuation to separate items in a series.
• Use a comma to separate an introductory element from the rest of the sentence.
• Use a comma to set off the words yes and no (e.g., Yes, thank you), 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 (e.g., Is that you, Steve?). 
• Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works. 
• Spell grade-appropriate words correctly, consulting references as needed.

3. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. 

• Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style. 
• Compare and contrast the varieties of English (e.g., dialects, registers) used in stories, dramas, or poems.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
4. 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. 

• Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. 
• Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis). 
• Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
• Recognize and use appropriately abbreviations related to grade-level content or common in everyday life, including abbreviations derived from words or phrases in other languages (e.g., lb., oz., etc.).
• Recognize and use appropriately symbols related to grade-level content or common in everyday life, including symbols with multiple meanings (e.g., parentheses in mathematics and in writing, ° to measure angles and temperature).

5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

• Interpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context. 
• Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs. 
• Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words.

6. Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships (e.g., however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).​

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