5th Grade – Catching Up a Struggling Reader

gr. 5 reading expectations

These are my recommendations for struggling readers.

This page will guide you in helping your child meet fifth-grade reading expectations. These recommendations are based on the science of reading.

If your child is more than a year below grade level, follow my recommendations for grade 2 or grade 3 instead, which will provide a stronger foundation.

Home support plays a critical role in a child’s academic success. A fifth grader who does not develop strong foundational skills can still catch up. By actively engaging in your child’s learning journey and following these recommendations, you can reinforce what they are taught in school, boost their confidence, and create positive learning habits. The resources here will empower you with practical tools to make learning fun, effective, and meaningful at home.

Parents and Teachers! Check out the skills children need in their grade!

1. Phonics

Teach syllabication rules. These are fun and will help your child sound out any word. If you are really ambitious, check this out!

Teach decoding and spelling in this reading and spelling order. Please ensure you have mastered each column before proceeding. Give your child some words to read and spell.

Here is another phonics by grade level.

 

2. Read Decodable Texts—Tap and Blend to Figure Out Unknown Words!

Check out these decodable texts. Decodable texts will also help solidify phonics patterns for spelling!

UFLI is my favorite decodable resource.

UFLI Decodable Passages: Reinforcing Phonics Through Reading and Writing
Learn phonics through the UFLI passages. UFLI passages align with systematic phonics instruction, providing students with targeted practice on each new phonics skill. Every word in a passage can be decoded and should also be written, reinforcing sound-spelling patterns through both reading and writing. As skills build, students develop accuracy, fluency, and confidence with connected text.

Research shows decodable texts are the BEST way to learn to read!

Decodable text falls under the phonics approach of the science of reading. When students decode words, they break them down and figure out how to pronounce them. When your child struggles to read a word, have them sound it out. Not all words have regular spelling patterns, but most have decodable parts.

When reading any text…

  • No more than 10 errors per 100 words, including words you had to tell your child, are acceptable.
  • The child must also demonstrate comprehension. 5th graders should be able to retell, state the author’s lesson, and describe the most important event and why in any story they read.
  • Reading at an appropriate rate (words per minute) is essential. When fluency is achieved, comprehension can occur.

Words Correct Per Minute for Grade 5

To calculate words correct per minute, follow this formula.

___ words in the passage read correctly divided by ___ seconds it took to read X 60 = __ WCPM

For example, say your child read 207 words correctly. The child read it in 3 minutes and 25 seconds, which is 205 seconds. 207 divided by 205 is approximately 1.0 words per second x 60 = 60 WCPM!

What Counts as an Error?

  • Mispronounced words

  • Skipped words

  • Words read out of order

  • Substitutions

  • Words not self-corrected within 3 seconds

Do NOT count:

  • Repetitions

  • Self-corrections (if within a few seconds)

This table shows approximate percentile ranks for correct words per minute at 3 points during the school year. The average 5th grader should read 121 words correctly per minute in the fall, 133 in the winter, and 146 in the spring.

* WCPM = Words Correct Per Minute

3. Sight Words

By the time your child reaches grade 5, they should be able to read and spell all the Dolch sight words. If not, they should read, reread, and reread:

220 Dolch Words in One Story

and

Decodable-Dolch-Sight-Word-Stories-Preprimer-Grade-3

For more sight word stories, click here.

4. Vocabulary for 5th Graders

5th graders need to know the meanings of these words from the Marzano list.

And these words from WORDS TO KNOW BY GRADE LEVEL. Look for the grade 5 list.

5. Are you looking for a tech option?

Lexia Core 5 is a well-respected app used in many schools. It is available as a home version and costs $175 for a one-year subscription. My school uses it, and I highly recommend it! It goes up to grade 5 and addresses all areas of reading.

Lexia Core 5 is a research-proven computer program that accelerates the development of literacy skills for students of all abilities, helping them make the critical shift from learning to read to reading to learn. It has 21 levels, spanning from preschool through grade 5. It is based on the science of reading. Each level comprises five areas, including automaticity/fluency, comprehension, phonics, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Each level should be completed within 5.5 to 9 hours.

6. Read Aloud or Listen to Online Texts—Put the Closed Captioning On

Read aloud more complex books to your child, or have your child listen to books online—not decodable texts—on topics they enjoy to instill a love of reading, improve listening comprehension, and grow vocabulary. 5th-grade reading and listening comprehension are based on:

Here are Grade 5 Common Core State Standards question stems to get book discussions going with your child. These are used in school.

We administer the free DIBELS 8 three times a year.

  • 1 Minute Oral Reading Fluency—Can the child read 137 words correctly in a story with at least 96% accuracy by June?
  • 3-Minute Maze Comprehension—The student reads a story that is missing words. Each time a word is missing, the student selects the correct missing word from three words.

The minimum scores to pass: 

Here are other free literacy assessments to evaluate your child!

 


cards

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Copyright 05/04/2012

Edited on 07/08/2025

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