How to read this page
Quebec publishes its curriculum as long official documents written for teachers. This page is the same content, translated for the fridge door: each subject below shows this year's units and the skills inside them. If a skill sounds unfamiliar, that's the point — now you know what to ask about at dinner.
Mathematics this year
Math builds in layers, and this year's layer matters — each unit below leans on the ones before it. In Quebec, that's Mathematics, Grade 5 — 5 units, 110 skills.
Arithmetic
- Counts or recites counting rhymes involving natural numbers — counts forward or backward
- Counts collections (using objects or drawings)
- Counts collections (using objects or drawings) — counts a collection by grouping or regrouping
Geometry
- Locates objects on an axis (based on the types of numbers studied)
- Locates points in a Cartesian plane — in all four quadrants
- Matches the net of a convex polyhedron to the corresponding solid
Measurement
- Estimates and measures the dimensions of an object using conventional units — metre, decimetre, centimetre, millimetre and kilometre
- Establishes relationships between units of measure for length
- Estimates and measures surface area — using conventional units
Statistics
- Formulates questions for a survey (based on age-appropriate topics, students’ language level, etc.)
- Collects, describes and organizes data (classifies or categorizes) using tables
- Interprets data using a table, a bar graph, a pictograph, a broken-line graph and a circle graph
Probability
- When applicable, recognizes variability in possible outcomes (uncertainty)
- When applicable, recognizes equiprobability
- When applicable, becomes aware of the independence of events in an experiment
See the full Mathematics, Grade 5 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English Language Arts this year
Reading, writing, and speaking skills deepen this year — less "can they read it," more "what do they make of it." In Quebec, that's English Language Arts, Grade 5 — 8 units, 28 skills.
Response Process
- Use: Sequence/chronology
- Use: Integrates new information with what is already known to…
Writing Process
- Use: Adds descriptive words and sufficient details
- Use: Checks for conventions of grammar
Production Process (Media)
- Use: Understands the purpose for the production
Self-Expressive: Texts That Reinforce or Maintain Relationships
- Use: Self expressive language to relate ideas, feelings,…
Self-Expressive: Reflective Texts
- Use: Texts that focus on reflecting and evaluating own learning,…
- Use: Multimedia journals
Narrative and Literary Texts
- Use: Photo stories
- Use: The physical landscape and social context in which the…
- Use: Literary conventions
Information-Based: Explanatory Texts
- Use: Explanation of reasons for a decision
Information-Based: Persuasive Texts
- Use: Texts that seek to persuade peers to change their habits…
- Notice: Music/sound to promote a product and/or appeal to the…
See the full English Language Arts, Grade 5 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In Quebec, that's Science and Technology, Grade 5 — 3 units, 16 skills.
Material World
- Physical properties and buoyancy
- Chemical changes make new substances
- Circuits, conductors, and insulators
Earth and Space
- Rocks, minerals, and Earth's surface
- Natural phenomena and their impact
- Nonrenewable energy and heat transfer
Living Things
- Metabolism and reproduction
- Metamorphosis, human growth, and evolution
- Photosynthesis, respiration, and energy flow
See the full Science and Technology, Grade 5 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
French this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In Quebec, that's Français, langue d’enseignement, 5e année — 9 units, 131 skills.
Écrire — Section Organisation et cohérence du texte
- Découverte : La situation d’écriture (the writing situation)
- Découverte : L’ordre des idées dans le texte (ordering ideas in a text)
- Découverte : Le texte et la cohérence (text and coherence)
Écrire — Section Lexique
- Découverte : La formation des mots (préfixes, suffixes) (word formation (prefixes, suffixes))
- Découverte : Choisir un vocabulaire précis (choosing precise vocabulary)
- Découverte : Les relations entre les mots (synonymes, antonymes, génériques) (relations between words)
Écrire — Section Orthographe d’usage
- Découverte : Les mots à l’étude (banque orthographique) (the study-word spelling bank)
- Les règles de position (c/ç, g/gu/ge, m devant b, m, p) (position-based spelling rules)
- Découverte : La majuscule (capital-letter rules)
Écrire — Section Conjugaison
- Découverte : Les temps de conjugaison (verb tenses)
- Découverte : Les temps de conjugaison (verb tenses)
- Découverte : Les temps de conjugaison (verb tenses)
Écrire — Section Accords
- Découverte : Le déterminant, receveur d’accord (the determiner (receiver of agreement))
- Découverte : Justifier les accords (justifying agreements)
- Découverte : La formation du féminin (forming the feminine)
Écrire — Section Syntaxe et ponctuation
- Découverte : Les caractéristiques de la phrase (characteristics of the sentence)
- Découverte : Le SUJET, le PRÉDICAT et le COMPLÉMENT DE PHRASE (sentence constituents)
- Découverte : La ponctuation du dialogue (dialogue punctuation)
Compétence Lire des textes variés
- Reconnaître les genres de textes en lecture (recognising text genres in reading)
- Reconnaître les genres de textes en lecture (recognising text genres in reading)
- Découverte : Reconnaître les genres de textes en lecture (recognising text genres in reading)
Compétence Apprécier des œuvres littéraires
- Connaître le livre (couverture, format) (the book's features)
- Connaître le livre (couverture, format) (the book's features)
- Connaître le livre (couverture, format) (the book's features)
Compétence Communiquer oralement
- Participer à un échange (taking part in an exchange)
- Prendre la parole (speaking up)
- Participer à un échange (taking part in an exchange)
See the full Français, langue d’enseignement, 5e année curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
French as a Second Language this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In Quebec, that's Français, langue seconde (Core), Grade 5 — 5 units, 20 skills.
Stratégies
- Use: des intertitres
- Use: Organiser l’information sélectionnée à l’aide d’un outil (ex
Vocabulaire utilisé à l’oral et à l’écrit
- Using French for expressing needs
- Using French for notions (time, space, quantity) (1)
- Using French for giving information (1)
Conventions de communication orale ou écrite
- Use: Utiliser l’apostrophe dans l’élision avec les mots appris en
Connaissances liées au texte oral ou écrit
- Use: des intertitres
- Use: en respectant l'intention donnée (ex. : informer, inciter à
Connaissances liées à la phrase
- Discover: un nom commun (ex. : ajout devant le nom d’un déterminant te
See the full Français, langue seconde (Core), Grade 5 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English as an Additional Language this year
English language skills for learners whose first language is something else — practical, everyday, encouraging. In Quebec, that's English as a Second Language (Core), Grade 5 — 3 units, 5 skills.
Contextual and Functional Language
- Discover: Inquires about others’ opinions
- Using English: Uses expressions of time frequently encountered in class
Language Conventions
- Using English: Uses irregular plurals frequently encountered in class
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 5 in Quebec?
Quebec's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French, French as a Second Language, English as an Additional Language for Grade 5 — 326 specific skills in total. The big themes: Mathematics covers arithmetic and geometry; English Language Arts covers response process and writing process; Science covers material world and earth and space. The full list is on this page.
Is this the official Quebec curriculum?
It's built from Quebec's official program of studies, reorganized into plain language — and each subject links to a course page that quotes the ministry's own wording and links to the government source, so you can check our work. One honest caveat: we're not the ministry, curricula do change, and we can't guarantee this reflects the very latest revision, so confirm anything important against the live provincial curriculum data.
My child is finding one of these skills hard. What can I do?
That's normal — every skill on this page is one most kids wobble on at first. MapleMind teaches any of them one-on-one: a short lesson in plain words, a worked example, then solving together. It's free to start, on any device, in 14 languages.
Keep exploring
Knowing the list is half the job
The other half is the teaching — and that's what MapleMind does. Pick any skill on this page and see it taught properly, free, in under a minute.
MapleMind isn't affiliated with any ministry of education. We build these guides from each province's official program of studies and refresh them from time to time — but curricula change, and we can't guarantee this page reflects the very latest revision. Always confirm against the live provincial curriculum data. Last updated 2026-08-15.
Social Studies this year
Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In Quebec, that's Social Sciences (Geography, History and Citizenship Education), Grade 5 — 5 units, 16 skills.
Organization of a society in its territory (Canadian society around 1820)
- Where and who: Canada around 1820
+ 4 more skills in this unit →Organization of a society in its territory (Quebec society around 1905)
- Where and who: Quebec around 1905
+ 4 more skills in this unit →Change in a society and its territory
- Changes after the Conquest
+ 1 more skill in this unit →Diversity of societies and their territories
Researching and Techniques
- Organizing and sharing information
+ 1 more skill in this unit →See the full Social Sciences (Geography, History and Citizenship Education), Grade 5 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →