What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Fifth-Grade Education (Core Knowledge Series) [Paperback]

Jr. E.D. Hirsch (Author), Core Knowledge Foundation (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 2006

This completely revised and attractively redesigned edition of one of the most popular volumes in the bestselling Core Knowledge Series features up-to-date ideas and information based on input from parents and teachers across the country.

With sixteen pages of full-color illustrations, a bolder, easier-to-follow format, and a thoroughly updated curriculum, What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know, Revised Edition, reflects the Core Knowledge Foundation’s ongoing commitment to providing a solid educational foundation for today’s elementary school students.

What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know, Revised Edition, covers the basics of language arts, history and geography, visual arts, music, math, and science. A collection of American speeches, tales from around the world, math problems, and biographies of famous scientists add to the book’s usefulness and enhance the pleasure of both adult and child as they work together. Hundreds of thousands of children have benefited from the Core Knowledge Series. This revised edition gives a new generation of fifth graders the knowledge they need to make progress in school and establish an approach to learning that will last a lifetime.

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR THE CORE KNOWLEDGE SERIES

“A new vision for the education of America is being tested in Florida—and it works.”
—Life magazine

“I wanted to take a moment and thank you for the knowledge I am able to give my children through your series. They absorb the information like sponges and can’t get enough of it. It is clear to me that children have the capability to learn so much more than is expected of them in most schools!”
—A parent, Florida

“Core Knowledge has increased the enthusiasm and commitment of our teachers, and our rising standardized test scores show that the program is effective.”
—Gina M. McKinnon, PDC K-6,
Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, Malden, Massachusetts

“We credit Core Knowledge for the improved achievement levels of our socioeconomically disadvantaged students.”
—Joan Jamieson, Principal, Santa Barbara Community Academy,
Santa Barbara, California

About the Author

E. D. HIRSCH, JR., is professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and the author of The Schools We Need, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, and the bestselling Cultural Literacy. He is chairman of the board at the Core Knowledge Foundation and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Delta; Revised edition (June 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385337310
• ISBN-13: 978-0385337311
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.8 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

E.D. Hirsch, Jr. is the Linden Kent Memorial Professor of English at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and the author of Cultural Literacy, The First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, and The Core Knowledge Series. Dr. Hirsch is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been a senior fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is president of the Core Knowledge Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to educational reform.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Need This Book If Your Child Is A Fifth Grader In a Core Knowledge School, April 30, 2008

By 

Susan K. Schoonover "Sue Yingling" (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Fifth-Grade Education (Core Knowledge Series) (Paperback)

I'm a big proponent of Core Knowledge schools since an organized curriculum that sequentially goes from grade to grade is sorely lacking in many public schools today. Too many elementary classrooms are guided simply by what a given teacher is interested in and there is often no consistency even within grade levels in a single school. Core Knowledge maps out a curriculum of what students should be taught during each elementary grade so they have the skills and knowledge educated people commonly possess. The What Your____________ Grader Needs To Know book series by E.D. Hirsch Jr. is the general outline for what is taught in each grade in Core Knowledge. The fifth grade book is very readable for a student of that age but also interesting enough for the parent to be genuinely engaged with the material. Poems and other samples from literature are included along with the math, science, social studies, art and language sections. This can be a useful supplemental book to a child following any curriculum but every parent whose child is in a core knowledge school will want to have access to this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the Social Studies part is great, February 27, 2008

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John Taylor - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know, Revised Edition: Fundamentals of a Good Fifth-Grade Education (The Core Knowledge Series) (Hardcover)

I learned about this book from the reference list in Beestar Social Studies program (www.beestar.org). Due to the vast differences among schools and teachers in teaching Social Studies, students often received a rather unbalanced treatment of the subject. This book comes as a rescue of the situation. It tells you clearly what your child should know as a fifth grader. My child picked up several important chapters from this book that somehow were never taught by his teacher. And yes the knowledge has been very useful in state tests. I'm very glad that we had this book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know, Revised Edition: Fundamentals of a Good Fifth-Grade Education (Core Knowledge Series), June 7, 2007

By 

Kit Cann "Read" (Hayward, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Fifth-Grade Education (Core Knowledge Series) (Paperback)

I found this book to be very informative not only for young students, but also as a refresher for adults. As a future instructor, I find this book helpful not only for information, but also for "short and interesting" presentational information. It is short and to the point. I recommend the series (all grades) to everyone involved with students regardless of age. I have obtained four of the series for the age groups that I am working with currently.