Khan Academy
Mastery practice — strongest for math and ELA grammar/vocabulary
A full CCSS-aligned Grade 5 math course plus the new Reading & Vocab and Grammar courses. Use it as the daily practice and mastery layer underneath the GD lessons.
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Companion Guides
Integrating Free Tools in Support of Your Curriculum
The GD Grade 5 plan is the spine. Four free, vetted platforms — Khan Academy, PBS LearningMedia, CommonLit, and the Smithsonian Learning Lab — layer in mastery practice, rich media, leveled reading, and primary-source artifacts. Each guide below shows where the tool fits, where it doesn't, and the highest-leverage way to use it week by week.
At-a-glance: which tool for which subject
Stack ranking across the four core subjects. Use this to decide which guide to open when you're planning a particular week.
| Tool | Math | ELA | Science | Social Studies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khan Academy | Excellent Excellent — full Grade 5 course | Strong Strong — Reading & Vocab + Grammar | Useful Newer — NGSS hands-on activities | Light Weakest — no Grade 5 course |
| PBS LearningMedia | Light Light — real-world applications | Strong Strong — current events + author studies | Excellent Excellent — NOVA + NASA collections | Excellent Excellent — documentary power |
| CommonLit | Skip None — use Khan instead | Excellent Excellent — largest free passage library | Useful Some useful nonfiction articles | Strong Strong — historical fiction + Text Sets |
| Smithsonian Learning Lab | Skip Minimal — use Khan | Useful Useful — visual literacy + author studies | Strong Strong — Natural History + Air & Space | Excellent Excellent — primary sources from every era |
The four guides
Filter by the subject you're planning for, then narrow to the tools strong enough to lean on. Grade band: Grade 5.
Subject
Minimum fit
Showing 4 of 4 tools.
Free
PBS LearningMedia
Video and primary-source library — fills the science gap
100,000+ standards-aligned videos, interactives, and lessons from NOVA, NASA, Ken Burns, American Experience, and more. Best free way to bring science and social studies units to life.
CommonLit
2,000+ leveled reading passages — the ELA library
The deepest free library of leveled passages, paired texts, and Text Sets — filterable by Lexile, theme, genre, and CCSS standard. Plug it into GD ELA lessons all year.
Smithsonian Learning Lab
1M+ primary sources — the deepest social studies artifact library
Primary sources, museum objects, and curated Collections from 21 Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo. The single best free tool for GD Grade 5 social studies.
Together, these four cover what no single one can.
- GD curriculum = the spine.
- Khan Academy = mastery practice (math, grammar, vocab).
- PBS LearningMedia = video and documentary depth (science + social studies).
- CommonLit = leveled reading library (ELA + historical fiction).
- Smithsonian Learning Lab = primary-source artifacts (social studies).
None replaces the GD plan. Each adds a layer the spine alone can't carry. Pick the one that matches the day's lesson — not all four every day.