EndeavorElementary School

What are Fountas & Pinnell Reading Levels?

At Endeavor Elementary we use Fountas & Pinnell’s Benchmark Assessment System as one way to determine our students’ reading levels.  We use this one-on-one assessment to determine independent and instructional reading levels as well as to observe reading behaviors.

The following levels are considered “At Grade Level” reading benchmarks using the Fountas & Pinnell system:

• October (End of 1^st Marking Period)- Level S/T
• December (End of 2^nd Marking Period)- Level U
• March (End of 3^rd Marking Period)- Level U/V
• May (End of 4^th Marking Period)- Level V/W

*We also use other measures such as i-Ready scores, common grade level assessments, teacher observation and a student’s independent work to determine whether a student is At, Above or Below grade level.

Writing

Students need to be familiar with the writing process that they are expected to follow in order to successfully complete an informational or opinion based essay. Students will create essays using multiple texts.

The stages of writing are as follows:

• deconstruct the prompt
• read the text/texts
• plan/outline
• write: including hook statement, main idea (topic plus point) evidence, elaboration, conclusion
• edit and revise 

ELA Academic Focus Skills

• Key Ideas and Details in Informational Text
  • Summarizing, Inferencing, Relationships

     

• Key Ideas and Details in Literature
  • Compare and Contrast, Theme

     

• Craft and Structure in Informational Text
  • Unfamiliar Words, Text Structure, Analyzing Multiple Accounts
• Craft and Structure in Literature
  • Language and Meaning, Point of View

     

• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas in Informational Text
  • Information from Multiple Sources, Supporting Evidence

     

• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas in Literature
  • Stories of the Same Genre, Analyzing Visual Elements

Mathematics

Fifth graders will be able to do the following by the end of the school year…

• Multiply multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.
• Find whole-number quotients of whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and two-digit divisors.
• Evaluate numerical expressions containing whole numbers and up to one fraction and parentheses, brackets, or braces.
• Write and interpret numerical expressions.
• Recognize that in a multi-digit number a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.
• Explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole-number exponents to denote powers of 10.
• Read and write decimals to thousandths using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form.
• Compare two decimals to thousandths based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
• Use place value understanding to round decimals (from millions to thousandths) to any place.

• Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths.
• Add and subtract fractions (including mixed numbers) with unlike denominators

• Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions.
• Interpret the product (a/b) × q as a parts of a partition of q into b equal parts; equivalently, as the result of a sequence of operations a × q ÷ b (when multiplying whole numbers by fractions or fractions by fractions) (limit denominators to 1-20)
• Find the area of a rectangle with fractional side lengths.
• Represent fraction products as rectangular areas.
• Interpret multiplication as scaling (resizing) by comparing the size of a product to the size of one factor on the basis of the size of the other factor, without performing the indicated multiplication.

• Interpret a fraction as division of the numerator by the denominator (a/b = a ÷ b).
• Solve word problems involving division of whole numbers leading to answers in the form of fractions or mixed numbers.
• Interpret division of a unit fraction by a non-zero whole number, and compute such quotients.
• Interpret division of a whole number by a unit fraction, and compute such quotients
• Solve real world problems involving division of unit fractions by non-zero whole numbers and division of whole numbers by unit fractions.
• Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (using whole, decimal, or fractional measurement values). Use conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
• Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Use operations on fractions for this grade to solve problems involving information presented in line plots.
• Understand that attributes belonging to a category of two-dimensional figures also belong to all subcategories of that category.
• Classify and organize two-dimensional figures into Venn diagrams based on the attributes of the figures.
• Understand a cube with side length 1 unit, called a “unit cube,” is said to have “one cubic unit” of volume, and can be used to measure volume.
• Understand a solid figure which can be packed without gaps or overlaps using n unit cubes is said to have a volume of n cubic units.
• Measure volumes by counting unit cubes, using cubic cm, cubic in, cubic ft, and improvised units.
• Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with whole-number side lengths by packing it with unit cubes, and show that the volume is the same as would be found by multiplying the edge lengths, equivalently by multiplying the height by the area of the base. Represent threefold whole-number products as volumes.
• Apply the formulas V = l × w × h and V = B × h for rectangular prisms to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with whole-number edge lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical problems.
• Find volumes of solid figures composed of two non-overlapping right rectangular prisms by adding the volumes of the non-overlapping parts, applying this technique to solve real world problems.
• Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, called axes, to define a coordinate system, with the intersection of the lines (the origin) arranged to coincide with the 0 on each line and a given point in the plane located by using an ordered pair of numbers, called its coordinates.
• Understand that the first number indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of one axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the second axis, with the convention that the names of the two axes and the coordinates correspond.

Entering fifth graders should be able to…

• Distinguish between types of scientific investigations and understand the scientific method and need for accurate measurements and repeated trials.
• Describe situations where the use of models is an effective investigations tool.
• Identify the three categories of rocks (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary) and explain how they are formed.
• Describe minerals according to their properties (hardness, cleavage, luster, color, and streak color) and recognize that rocks are made up of minerals.
• Describe the differences between physical weathering and erosion and provide examples of how these shape our natural world.
• Describe renewable and nonrenewable resources that are available in Florida (oil, silicon, phosphate, limestone, water, wind, and solar energy.)
• Measure and compare objects and materials based on their physical properties including: mass, shape, volume, color, hardness, texture, odor, taste, attraction to magnets.
• Explain the differences between the properties of water in all of its states.
• Explain how magnets work and list materials that are attracted to magnets.
• Explain the differences between chemical and physical changes and Identify some familiar changes in materials that result in other materials with different characteristics, such as decaying animal or plant matter, burning, rusting, and cooking.
• Explain that energy has the ability to create change and do work, and that is has many forms such as sound energy (pitch, frequency) and heat.
• Describe the types of materials that are conductors and the types of materials that insulate against heat transfer.
• Explain that heat moves from hot objects to cold objects.
• Calculate speed as distance divided by time.
• Identify processes of sexual reproduction in flowering plants, including pollination, fertilization (seed production), seed dispersal, and germination.
• Explain that although characteristics of plants and animals are inherited, some characteristics can be affected by the environment.
• Explain that some animal behaviors are learned and others are inherited.
• Compare and contrast the major stages in the life cycles of Florida plants and animals, such as those that undergo incomplete and complete metamorphosis, and flowering and nonflowering seed-bearing plants.
• Compare the seasonal changes in Florida plants and animals to those in other regions of the country.
• Explain the difference between producers and consumers and trace the flow of energy from the sun to the top predators in a food chain.
• Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment.

  Exiting fifth graders should be able to…

• Define a problem, use appropriate reference materials to support scientific understanding, plan and carry out scientific investigations of various types such as: systematic observations, experiments requiring the identification of variables, collecting and organizing data, interpreting data in charts, tables, and graphics, analyze information, make predictions, and defend conclusions.
• Explain the difference between an experiment and other types of scientific investigation, recognize and explain the need for repeated experimental trials, identify a control group and explain its importance in an experiment, and recognize and explain that authentic scientific investigation frequently does not parallel the steps of "the scientific method."
• Differentiate between verifiable observations and opinions.
• Recognize and explain that science is grounded in empirical observations that are testable; explanation must always be linked with evidence, and that investigations must be repeatable by others.
• Recognize that a galaxy consists of gas, dust, and many stars, including any objects orbiting the stars. Identify our home galaxy as the Milky Way.
• Recognize the major common characteristics of all planets and compare/contrast the properties of inner and outer planets.
• Distinguish among the following objects of the Solar System -- Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets -- and identify Earth's position in it.
• Create a model of the water cycle and recognize that the ocean is an integral part of the water cycle and is connected to all of Earth's water reservoirs via evaporation and precipitation processes.
• Recognize how air temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, and precipitation determine the weather in a particular place and time.
• Distinguish among the various forms of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, and hail), making connections to the weather in a particular place and time, and recognize that some of the weather-related differences, such as temperature and humidity, are found among different environments, such as swamps, deserts, and mountains.
• Describe characteristics (temperature and precipitation) of different climate zones as they relate to latitude, elevation, and proximity to bodies of water.
• Develop a family preparedness plan in case of a natural disaster.
• Compare and contrast the basic properties of solids, liquids, and gases, such as mass, volume, color, texture, and temperature.
• Identify things that will speed up and slow down the rate of dissolving. 
• Demonstrate and explain that mixtures of solids can be separated based on observable properties of their parts such as particle size, shape, color, and magnetic attraction.
• Explore the scientific theory of atoms (also called atomic theory) by recognizing that all matter is composed of parts that are too small to be seen without magnification.
• Explain how many physical and chemical changes are affected by temperature.
• Describe some basic forms of energy, including light, heat, and sound, electrical, chemical, and mechanical and explain that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.
• Investigate and explain that an electrically-charged object can attract an uncharged object and can either attract or repel another charged object without any contact between the objects.
• Explain that electrical energy can be transformed into heat, light, and sound energy, as well as the energy of motion.
• Investigate and illustrate the fact that the flow of electricity requires a closed circuit (a complete loop) and describe materials that are good conductors or insulators of electricity.
• Describe that the greater the force applied to it, the greater the change in motion of a given object and describe that the more mass an object has, the less effect a given force will have on the object's motion.
• Explain that when a force is applied to an object but it does not move, it is because another opposing force is being applied by something in the environment so that the forces are balanced.
• Identify the structure and function of the organs in the human body and compare and contrast the function of organs and other physical structures of plants and animals, including humans.
• Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce while others die or move to new locations.
• Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycles variations, animal behaviors and physical characteristics.