This document provides an overview of the 5th grade curriculum for Mrs. Zitiello and Ms. Southworth's class. It discusses the teachers' backgrounds and goals for students. The curriculum will focus on English/language arts, math, science, social studies, and technology. Students will be expected to complete around 50 minutes of homework per night, including independent reading. Formative and summative assessments will be used to track student progress. The document also provides information on state standards, standardized testing, and differentiation for gifted students.

1. 5th Grade Curriculum
Chat
Welcome to Mrs. Zitiello’s and Ms. Southworth’s Class

3. Agenda
▪ All About Us!
▪ Communication
▪ Homework
▪ Technology
▪ Grading
▪ Florida Standards/New State Assessments
▪ Content Areas
▪ Late/Missing Work
Please jot down burning
questions on the index cards
provided at your table; we will
answers questions at the end
of the presentation or post
online.

4. Mrs. Zitiello
▪ From Ocean Palms Elementary where I taught 5th grade gifted/blended.
▪ A Florida State Grad.- Go Noles
▪ I have lived in Ponte Vedra for over 10 years.
▪ I have 4 children, all whom have or are attending school at VRA and PVHS.
▪ If I haven’t taught it, I’ve lived it. So, don’t ever hesitate to come to me for
anything.
▪ My goal as your child’s teacher is not only to expose them to the best in
academics but to prepare them for the future in middle school and beyond.

5. Ms. Southworth
▪ I love 5th grade, and I love teaching.
▪ This is my 8th year teaching, and 7th year at a K- 8 school; I was part of the
inaugural team at Liberty Pines Academy, too.
▪ My certification is in K-6 Elementary Education and K –12 Exceptional
Student Education with Endorsements for Reading, ESOL, and Gifted
▪ I was raised in St. Augustine and attended SJCSD schools from
Kindergarten through college. I love my hometown.
▪ My daughter is a 9th grader in the Pre-IB program at Nease High School.
▪ My goal is to be the teacher for your child that I want for my own, caring,
compassionate, creative, and challenging.

6. Communication
▪ Please read weekly updates sent via email, and
check school and our class homepages weekly.
▪ If you haven’t received an email, please let us
know 
▪ Weekly papers are in take-home folders (school
news, graded assessments & quizzes); graded summative
assessments need to be signed and returned
▪ Check your child’s planner/Edmodo frequently
▪ HAC (Home Access Center) check for student
progress-all grades/assessments are posted
within one week
Email is the best way:
Blakeney.Zitiello@stjo
hns.k12.fl.us
Holly.Southworth@stj
ohns.k12.fl.us
OR
School phone number:
(904) 547- 4090
(not the best form of communication during the
day unless it’s an emergency)

7. Home Access Center (HAC)
•Web based application engineered to help parents monitor their child’s academic progress.
•Benefits:
1.Provides parents/students with a summary of student information.
2.Schedules, attendance, discipline referrals and test scores posted for parents.
3.Parents/students have access to view records to stay informed with academic
progress.
•Report Cards will still be sent home.
•Interim/progress reports will not be sent home. You will have constant access to your
child’s progress with this great at-home tool.
•If you do NOT have HAC login info, please email your child’s homeroom teacher.

8. 5th Grade Curriculum
▪ English/Language Arts
▪ Math
▪ Science
▪ Social Studies- American History through
1800s
▪ Digital Citizenship and Technology
▪ Character Counts!
A Word on Homework:
▪ Approximately 50 minutes per night- does
not include Independent Reading time (20
minutes)
▪ Assigned as needed
▪ Serves two purposes:
1. Practice skills/strategies learned in class
2. Reinforces responsibility
▪ Homework is always posted in the
classroom and your child should write
homework in their planner exactly as it is
written; also posted in Edmodo and/or class
website
▪ Homework is subject to change

9. Grading Policy
Formative Assessments
• Guide our instruction
Summative Assessments
• Tests/projects (80%)
• Classwork/quizzes/projects (20%)
Retake Policy
• Unit tests with scores of 70% or
below are eligible for reteach/retest;
maximum grade of 70%
– Formative Assessments- tools to
guide our instruction (Discovery
Education, classwork, pre-tests,
writing prompts, journals, etc.)
– Summative Assessments- graded
▪ tests (80%)
▪ classwork/quizzes (20%) - includes
grades assignments not in the test
category, such as vocabulary
journals.
– Retake only on tests (70% or
below); student must meet with
teacher to make a plan for
mastery.

10. The Florida Standards reflect the expectations of what ALL
students should know and be able to do in each grade from
kindergarten through 12th grade.
The Florida Standards are designed to ensure that ALL students
reach their greatest potential.
They were adapted from the Common Core Standards and adopted by
the Florida State Board of Education in February 2014. All
schools state wide will be implementing them in 2014-2015.
For more information go to:
http://www.flstandards.org/about.aspx
So, what about standardized testing?
http://www.fsassessments.org/ AND http://www.fsassessments.org/wp-content/
uploads/2014/09/Florida-Family-Brochure-v6-2.pdf
5th graders will take the computer-based AIR test for ELA and Math;
5th graders will take the FCAT 2.0 Science test

11. Technology
1:1 Digital Pilot
Laptops assigned to each student
Used daily in class across the curriculum
Focus on responsibility and digital
citizenship
Laptop Use and Care Policy
5th graders will keep at school
Technology Lessons in class weekly:
keyboarding, Word, Excel, Powerpoint,
Digital Citizenship, and more.
Digital Resources
Student passwords are in
Password Keeper;
textbook usernames and
passwords are the 55
student number and
INITIALSmm/dd/yyyy
▪ Science Text: www.pearsonsuccessnet.com
▪ SS Text: www.successnetplus.com
▪ Study Island: www.studyisland.com
▪ Edmodo: www.Edmodo.com
▪ Keyboarding Skills: http://www.typingweb.com/tutor/
▪ Microsoft Office Suite
▪ And more!

12. Math and Science
Math
▪ Go Math Textbooks
▪ (class book, homework book, and online)
▪ Nightly Homework
– Matches and reinforces skills learned that day
IMPORTANT!
Your child must have multiplication and
division facts (0-12) memorized! The
complexity of math problems in 5th grade
requires that they know these facts with
fluency so they do not get “bogged down” with
simple facts. This will allow them to focus on
the bigger, more complex problem.
Science
▪ National Geographic Textbook
▪ Science Labs
▪ Process Skill Practice
▪ Cooperative learning based
▪ Vocabulary/Journals entered as quizzes
(classwork) (20%)
▪ Units/Themes are entered as Summative
Tests (80%)
▪ STEM Challenges/Independent Projects
▪ STEM Fair – May

13. Mathematics – 2 Big Shifts
1. Coherence: Think across grades, and link to major
topics
2. Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual
understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and
application

14. English/Language Arts and Social Studies
ELA
We will be implementing reading, writing, research, and
study strategies throughout all subjects.
▪ Readers/Writers Workshop
▪ Reading Goals- 5 books each quarter; 1 in-class novel
study per quarter/Students should be reading at
home everyday (min. 30 minutes)
▪ Vocabulary quizzes are entered as classwork (20%)
▪ Opinion and Text-based written response
▪ Research Skills
▪ Grammar and SWAG focus on all work product,
including Edmodo posts
▪ Tropicana Speech Contest in Feb. and Spelling BEE
TBA
Social Studies
▪ Pearson Workbook/Textbook, “My
World-Building our Country”
▪ Curriculum focuses on American
History
▪ Social Studies is integrated into the
Reading Curriculum and classroom
discussion
▪ DBQs (Document-Based Questions) –
1 each quarter, all parts including the
essay are entered as summative
assessment grade for Reading and
Social Studies

15. THE HIGHEST PRIORITY FOR COMMON CORE
“…read closely and
gain knowledge
from texts.”

16. STUDENTS WILL READ LIKE A DETECTIVE!
• Use clues / evidence
from text
• Make non-trivial
inferences based on
that evidence
• Use information
from multiple sources
within or between text
to make arguments

17. Focus on Writing Arguments from Sources
You will see
▪ Students required to use more
than one source for their
writing
▪ The majority of writing will use
evidence to inform or make an
argument
▪ Evidence from text required in
writing assignments and oral
discussions
You will not see
▪ Writing only in Language Arts
▪ Writing assignments that are
not tied to reading

18. Differentiation: A Blended Model
What is a blended model?
▪ In a gifted blended model, students
who are eligible for gifted services are
placed in classes with their high-achieving
peers and assigned a
gifted-endorsed educator (we are!)
▪ Differentiation happens through
content, product, and process.
▪ You can expect sensitivity to your
child’s unique learning style and
social emotional needs as well as
support for your child in leadership,
creative and critical thinking, and
organizational skills
SJCSD Gifted Services
Wondering if
your child is
gifted? Click
here.
▪ http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/es
e/gifted/Home%20Page
▪ Please note, the deadline to request a
screening is 10/31. Please contact us
immediately if you would like your
child screened.
▪ Did you child receive gifted services
in another state? Please let us know!
Some great resources for parents of gifted and bright children are:
hoagiesgifted.org, PrufrockPress.com, and http://www.davidsongifted.org/