Delaware Grade 5 English

Notice which details two reports select about one event

Reports of the same event can agree on the main actions while giving attention to different details. This activity asks students to describe those choices before deciding whether a difference is a contradiction.

Curriculum source: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy, adopted for Delaware English language arts in 2010, from the Delaware Department of Education ELA resource directory.

Delaware Grade 5 references for this activity

Delaware’s ELA/literacy standards use the Common Core State Standards. The full ELA document contains the Grade 5 expectations across its subject strands. These are selected references for the activity on this page; use the full document for curriculum planning.

These are selected CCSS references used in Delaware’s ELA/literacy standards. Activity labels describe a teaching focus rather than reproduce the full requirements. Districts develop their own curriculum sequence; use the complete document and the school’s plan for wider coverage.

A worked Grade 5 reading and writing activity

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Student account: Our class planned a mural on large paper. I drew a tree near the edge. When two classmates wanted the same space, we moved one sketch before painting. We finished on Friday.

Classroom newsletter: The class completed its paper mural on Friday. Students planned the layout together and adjusted overlapping sketches before painting. The project will be displayed beside the library entrance.

Try the activity

Identify details both accounts report. Explain what the student emphasizes and what the newsletter adds. Does either account say that painting began before the layout changed? Support the response with the relevant words.

Follow the reasoning

Both accounts describe planning, adjusting a sketch before painting, and finishing on Friday. The student mentions a personal drawing and a specific disagreement about space. The newsletter summarizes the adjustment and provides the planned display location. Neither says the painting began first. “Before painting” in each account connects the layout change to the later stage. A difference in selected detail does not by itself make one account false.

Notice what needs more practice

A response claiming the newsletter denies the disagreement confuses omission with denial. It does not include that detail, but it does describe overlapping sketches. Conversely, the student account does not establish the display location; that information comes from the newsletter. Keep sources attached to their details so the comparison does not merge every statement into something both writers said.

Grade 5 English worksheets

Choose printable practice that matches the skill being taught. Check the task, reading difficulty, and directions before assigning it; the collection is independently published.

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Use the next session to build independence

1. Record two shared details and their wording in each account.
2. Identify one detail unique to each source.
3. Explain how those choices shape each account’s focus.
4. Check whether an apparent disagreement concerns a fact or merely an omitted detail.

Write a neutral summary of the shared event, then add a sentence that clearly attributes the planned display to the newsletter. Ask a partner to check which source supports each sentence. For a later lesson, compare longer reports that genuinely disagree and identify the precise conflict. These fictional classroom accounts allow practice with source attribution; they are not records of an actual school project.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 5 English Online Center.

Delaware Grade 5 English: useful planning questions

Does leaving out a detail mean a writer denies it?

No. Omission may reflect a different focus. Look for a statement that actually contradicts the detail before describing the accounts as factually inconsistent.

Where are the complete state requirements?

Delaware’s ELA/literacy standards use the Common Core State Standards. The full ELA document contains the Grade 5 expectations across its subject strands. These are selected references for the activity on this page; use the full document for curriculum planning. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.