Select reading material that reflects the concerns and interests of fifth-graders. Specifically, resist the urge to tailor your selections to what you feel is the ability level of your students. If the material is compelling to your students, the interest will motivate them to cope with vocabulary or structures that are unfamiliar.
Find books with open questions. There are many reasons to read: to learn about other cultures or eras, to cultivate empathy toward others, to remove yourself from your own problems and many more. To understand the elements of literature, however, the reader must develop a sensitivity to language and symbols that surround the questions being posed in a story.
Read the material aloud with your class. When done with a section, go over unfamiliar words or structures to clarify meaning. Be open and receptive to all questions, and encourage the students to ask questions. At this stage, the point is to clarify the surface action of the story so that everyone shares an understanding of "what happens" in the story.
Have the students identify elements that connect to a larger theme in the story. For example, you might ask them to mark phrases that show a character is in control of his fate and phrases that show a character is at the mercy of outside forces. You might also ask students to highlight passages that illustrate when the character feels alone, and when the character feels part of a group.
Discuss the examples the students found in the previous step. Have the students present their arguments for the selections they have made. Insist that they support their choice with passages from the text; for example, you can ask how the student interprets a particular word in a passage, and why the author's choice of that word supports the student's choice. Encourage the students to discuss and disagree with one another.
Ask key questions about the book, continuing to insist the students support their arguments with specific references from the text. For example, you could ask "Does Alice know who she is?" Or "Is Scho teasing the other boys because it is what he wants to do?" The point here is not to ask a question that has a definite answer, but to ask a question that the author seems to be posing to the reader.