The Core Knowledge Foundation (www.coreknowledge.org) provides open access to content-rich curriculum materials for preschool through grade 8, including the Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™. This material includes learning materials for language arts, history and geography, and science. Please read the Terms of Use. for using materials from the CKLA Free Download Manager.
The Research Foundation for Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA)
The materials made available for download are freely available for anyone to use, adapt, and share (with attribution), but no one is permitted to sell either the original program, an adaptation of it, or lesson plans that reproduce any part of it.See the Guidelines to Core Knowledge and the Creative Commons License
Introduction: Teacher Guide - Grade 5
The Introduction to grade 5 CKLA provides component descriptions as well as background information on common lesson types and instructional practices.
Decoding and Encoding Remediation Supplement - Fourth and Fifth Gardes
The Decoding and Encoding Remediation Supplement contains assessments and remediation materials for grades 4 and 5 that build incrementally, intended for use with students who have gaps in their code knowledge or fluency.
Beginning-of-Year Assessment: Teacher Guide - Grade 5
The Beginning-of-Year Assessment consists of reading comprehension, grammar, morphology, word reading in isolation, and fluency assessments. The analysis and placement recommendations determine students’ preparedness for grade-level CKLA instruction.
Yearlong Teacher Resources: Teacher Guide - Grade 5 Ancillary Materials
The Yearlong Teacher Resources document includes resources for use across multiple CKLA units. These include an Individual Code Chart, Anecdotal Reading Records, Tens Recording and Conversion charts, Using Chunking to Decode Multisyllabic Words, and the Sound and Spelling of Schwa.
Fluency Supplement: Fourth and Grade 5 Ancillary Materials
The Fluency Supplement contains selections from a variety of genres for grades 4 and 5 to provide additional opportunities for students to practice reading with fluency and expression.
Students develop reading, writing, listening, and thinking skills through engagement with informational text in the Student Reader Maya, Aztec, and Inca. Students explore the complex civilizations developed by the Maya, Aztec, and Inca prior to the arrival of Europeans. Students learn about the geography of each region. They learn about the innovations and discoveries made in these civilizations, and read some of their myths. Students use the writing process to write an informative or explanatory report that compares and contrasts the three civilizations. Lessons include explicit instruction in grammar, morphology, and spelling.
Teacher Guide: Early American Civilizations - Unit 2
Activity Book: Early American Civilizations - Unit 2
Student Reader: Early American Civilizations - Unit 2
Digital Components: Early American Civilizations - Unit 2
Alignment Chart: Early American Civilizations - Unit 2
Students develop reading, writing, listening, and thinking skills through engagement with informational text in the Student Reader Patrons, Artists, and Scholars. Students explore the Renaissance, the “rebirth” of ideas from ancient Greece and Rome that began in powerful Italian city states and then spread through much of Europe. Students learn how increased trade led to new wealth, and how wealthy families and the Church acted as patrons to support artists. Students are introduced to Renaissance art and literature through the works of masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Bruegel, Dürer, Van Eyck, Machiavelli, Castiglione, Cervantes, and Shakespeare. Students conduct research about a famous Renaissance artist to compose a biographical essay. Lessons include explicit instruction in grammar, morphology, and spelling.
Teacher Guide: The Renaissance - Unit 6
Activity Book: The Renaissance - Unit 6
Student Reader: The Renaissance - Unit 6
Digital Components: The Renaissance - Unit 6
Alignment Chart: The Renaissance - Unit 6
Students develop reading, writing, listening, and thinking skills through engagement with informational text in the Student Reader Shifts in Power. Students explore the Reformation, the 16th-century religious and political upheaval that challenged the power of the Catholic Church and led to the creation of Protestantism. Students learn about Gutenberg’s invention of an efficient printing press, which led to increased literacy while also fueling the Reformation by spreading the ideas of Martin Luther and others. Students learn how the scientific discoveries of Copernicus and Galileo challenged religious doctrine, and how the Church responded. Students write a friendly letter, and they plan and create a slide presentation. Lessons include explicit instruction in grammar, morphology, and spelling.
Teacher Guide: The Reformation - Unit 7
Activity Book: The Reformation - Unit 7
Student Reader: The Reformation - Unit 7
Digital Components: The Reformation - Unit 7
Alignment Chart: The Reformation - Unit 7
Students develop reading, writing, listening, and thinking skills through engagement with informational text in the Student Reader A Changing Landscape. Students learn about the Great Basin, Plateau, Plains, and Pacific Northwest Indians. Students explore the intricate connections between the ways of life of these Native American peoples and their specific regions and landscapes. Students learn how American government policies affected Native American cultures from the 1800s on. Students also read Native American myths and tales from specific peoples. In writing a persuasive essay, students practice skills of note taking, incorporating evidence, and crafting an argument. Lessons include explicit instruction in grammar, morphology, and spelling.
Teacher Guide: Native Americans - Unit 9
Activity Book: Native Americans - Unit 9
Student Reader: Native Americans - Unit 9
Digital Components: Native Americans - Unit 9
Alignment Chart: Native Americans - Unit 9
This unit begins with a review of map skills and geographical terms. Students learn about the benefits and resources provided by lakes, including, in Asia, the Caspian and Aral Seas; in Africa, Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, and Chad; in South America, Lakes Maracaibo and Titicaca; and, in North America, Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario.
This unit begins by placing three ancient Mesoamerican civilizations in historical and geographical context. Students learn about characteristics of Maya culture, their religious beliefs, and their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. They explore ruins of ancient Maya temples and pyramids. Students are introduced to the Aztecs as warriors and empire builders, their religious beliefs and practices, their use of pictograms in codices, and the great city of Tenochtitlan. Students learn about the Inca’s complex network of roads and the city of Machu Picchu. Students also learn about the demise of Aztec and Inca civilizations after their encounters with Spanish conquistadors, and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the Maya.
Teacher's Guide: Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations
Student Reader: Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations
Timeline Cards: Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations
This unit (Unit 3 for schools using the CKHG series in Sequence grade-level order) introduces students to European exploration and trade from 1400 to the 600s. Students learn about motivations for European exploration, including profit from the trade of goods such as gold, silk, sugar, and spices, as well as the desire to spread Christianity. Students study specific European explorers (Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco de Gama, Pedro Cabral, Columbus, Magellan, and Vasco de Balboa) and learn about their encounters with indigenous peoples. Students also learn about John Cabot and the search for the Northwest Passage, Sir Francis Drake, Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, and Henry Hudson. Students are introduced to the early origins of the slave trade and the beginnings of slavery in the Americas.
Teacher's Guide: The Age of Exploration
Student Reader: The Age of Exploration
Timeline Cards: The Age of Exploration
This unit introduces students to the Renaissance, which began in Italian city-states and then spread across much of Europe, impelled by Gutenberg’s printing press. Students learn how artists were supported by patrons, such as the wealthy Medici family, or Pope Julius II for whom Raphael painted frescoes and Michelangelo the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Students are introduced to the lives and works of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, to Castiglione’s writings on courtly behavior, to Machiavelli’s ideas about politics, and to Shakespeare and Cervantes as exemplars of the Renaissance spirit in literature. Students also learn how the Renaissance spread to northern Europe.
Teacher's Guide: The Renaissance
Student Guide: The Renaissance
Timeline Cards: The Renaissance
This unit tells the story of the 16th-century religious upheaval known as the Reformation, which led to the founding of Protestantism and had far-reaching social and political consequences. Students learn how Gutenberg’s printing press made the Bible widely available and encouraged the spread of literacy. Students learn what led Martin Luther and John Calvin, the most influential leaders of the Reformation, to protest against the authority of the Catholic Church. Students also learn about the Church’s efforts to reform its practices, known as the Counter-Reformation. Students also explore how the findings of Copernicus and Galileo led to conflicts between science and the Church.
Teacher's Guide: The Reformation
Student Guide: The Reformation
Timeline Cards: The Reformation
This unit explores England in the 1500s and 1600s, a time of religious conflicts and political change. Students learn about Henry VIII and the founding of the Church of England. They explore the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a time of expansion abroad, peace and prosperity at home, and extraordinary literary achievements (including many of the works of Shakespeare). They learn about the fate of Charles I in the English Civil War, the rise of Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans, and the Restoration era under Charles II. Students also learn about the “Glorious Revolution” that put William and Mary on the throne, and the importance of the English Bill of Rights.
Teacher's Guide: England in the Golden Age
Student Guide: England in the Golden Age
Timeline Cards: England in the Golden Age
This unit introduces students to major geographical features of the vast lands of Russia, and tells the story of how Russia grew from a small principality to a large country ruled by powerful czars. Students learn how, after the fall of Constantinople, Moscow emerged as the center of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Students meet Ivan III (the Great) and Ivan IV (the Terrible), who expanded Russian territory and the authority of the czars. Students also learn how Peter the Great and Catherine the Great sought to modernize and westernize Russia.
This unit introduces students to the history of feudal Japan. Students first explore how Japan’s geography as an island nation influenced its culture and history, especially its long isolationism. Students learn about the rise of powerful feudal leaders called shoguns, and the role of the soldier-nobles called samurai, who lived by a code known as Bushido. Students also learn how the Tokugawa Shogunate closed Japan to most outsiders, and how Japan remained secluded until European powers and Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States compelled the Japanese to open their doors for trade. Students are also introduced to two important religions in Japanese history, Buddhism and Shinto.