Plan a vocabulary card game for the class where students try to find three different words sharing the same alphabets with a cue word but having different meanings. Form teams of four and give each team a cue card. For example, a cue card can have the word "lair" with the description "animal's den." The students have to form three words like "rail," "liar" and "aril," which share the same letters with the cue word. They also note down the meaning of the words. Allow use of dictionary and or thesaurus.
Haiku is a type of short Japanese poetry. It combines language, form and content in an evocative yet compact form. Themes for haiku poetry include nature, emotions or everyday experiences. Simplicity of words and grammar make haiku exercises easy for 5th graders to practice and improve their English skills. Haiku inculcates in students the habit of observation, imagination and reflection. It enhances their command over the language and improves their power of self-expression.
Descriptive writing is another exercise which 5th graders can undertake to improve their English written skills. The aim of descriptive writing is to elaborate an experience or subject through vividly written passages. The writing also contains a narrative of the personal significance of the experience to the writer. Descriptive writing hones the observations skills of students as it requires them to pay close attention to details using all their five senses. Ask your students to elaborate on a particular vacation activity or to note down their experiences after an excursion, as topics for descriptive writing.
Plan a bio cube for students. In class, read out a biography of a famous personality or historical character. Prepare a chart on the biography, with suitable fold marks on the chart. If the chart is folded and pasted correctly, it should resemble a cube with each face representing particular information about the person. The chart would contain reference points like the person's name, nationality, time span, background, personality and significance to history. Once finished, take print outs and ask students to fold the chart along the guidelines to form the bio cube.