Fifth-graders can make a mobile while studying punctuation marks. Have them create a pencil out of construction paper or a wooden dowel, or have them use an actual pencil. From the pencil, have them hang depictions of punctuation marks such as periods, commas, exclamation points, colons, apostrophes, quote marks, semi colons and parentheses.
A book mobile can be an ongoing project that fifth-graders add to throughout the year. Have students decorate a hanger with yarn or construction paper. Then have them design a book cover for every book they read independently. Whenever they finish the book, they get to hang the cover they designed on their mobile. At the end of the year, they have a visual mobile of all the books that they've read. You can also have students create a mobile for a book read in class. For a single-book mobile, have students draw pictures of characters from the book.
Fifth-grade science typically includes lessons on simple machines. After teaching students about simple machines, have them create a mobile with depictions of each of the six types of machines. These should include levers, pulleys, wedges, wheels, inclined planes and screws. If possible, have them hang actual samples of each of those types of simple machines.
Fifth-grade math includes the study of polygons. Give your students the chance to create polygon monsters that they can then hang from a mobile in your classroom. Make a list of the polygons that your fifth-graders have studied. Tell them that they are to create monsters using each of those shapes. Give them construction paper, foam, craft sticks, buttons and pipe cleaners to use in creating their monsters. Then have them hang those monsters as part of a mobile.
After teaching fifth-graders about the water cycle, challenge them to create a mobile that illustrates the process. Have them spend time thinking about how they can depict water in its different forms and hang their depictions in a circular fashion that shows the steps in order. Encourage them to be creative and find different ways (but still scientifically accurate) to show the cycle.
Most fifth-graders spend some time in social studies learning about Native Americans. Assign different students different elements of Native American life to create a mobile that depicts those elements. For example, one student could research Native American toys, another clothing, another foods and another types of houses. Let each child present his mobile to the rest of the class and explain the items that are hanging from it.