4/5 Learning Community

4/5 Teacher Partner Teams

Mrs. Gabby Amirin | gamirin@pky.ufl.edu | Reading/Writing
Mr. Josh Hammond | jhammond@pky.ufl.edu | Math/Science

Mrs. Kristina Belvin | kbelvin@pky.ufl.edu | Reading/Writing
Mrs. Susan Hansen | shansen@pky.ufl.edu |
Math/Science

Mrs. Megan Lanier | mlanier@pky.ufl.edu | Reading/Writing
Mrs. Kristin Taylor | ktaylor@pky.ufl.edu | Math/Science

Mrs. Angie Gonzalez | agonzalez@pky.ufl.edu |  3rd-5th Grade Math Support

Dr. Ashley Pennypacker Hill | apennypacker@pky.ufl.edu| Director of Elementary Programs 

Other Important Contact Info. for Caregivers with Students in 4/5:

Main Office/Attendance: 352-392-1554 | attendance@pky.ufl.edu
Cafeteria: 352 294-9097 | cafeteria@pky.ufl.edu
Clinic: 352-294-7293 | nurse@pky.ufl.edu
Elementary School Counselor | bstevenson@pky.ufl.edu
Elementary Behavior Coach | rstewart@pky.ufl.edu
5th Grade Patrol Program | apennypacker@pky.ufl.edu

About Our Learning Community

The 4/5 Community at PK Yonge uses research-based curriculums and programs throughout the school day with students. Read on to find out more about the curriculums and programs used for morning meetings, English language arts (ELA), math, and science.

Morning Meeting
Curriculum: Caring School Community

​​Morning Meeting is an engaging way to start each day, build a strong sense of community, and set children up for success socially and academically. Each morning, students and teachers gather together for twenty to thirty minutes and interact with one another in ways guided by our Caring School Community curriculum.

This curriculum is a comprehensive, research-based social and emotional learning program that builds school-wide community, develops students’ social skills, and enables a transformative stance on discipline.

This CASEL SELect program promotes positive behavior through direct teaching of responsibility, empathy, and cooperation, creating settings where students feel heard, known, and cared for. Students become intrinsically motivated to contribute productively to a community they feel invested in, and where they know they matter.

English Language Arts
Curriculum: Collaborative Classroom’s Collaborative Literacy Curriculum

Collaborative Literacy is the result of years of research on literacy development, best practices in literacy instruction, and child development. Students learn to work independently and collaboratively, respectfully share their thinking with others, and take responsibility for their learning. Read on for more information about the reading and writing curriculums the 4/5 community uses.

Reading- Making Meaning 

Making Meaning is a program designed to help students build their reading comprehension and social skills. The students hear books read aloud and discuss them with partners and with the class. They learn several comprehension strategies, including questioning, analyzing text structure, determining important ideas, making inferences, and summarizing. They also practice reading independently each day during Individualized Daily Reading (IDR). 

Writing- Being a Writer 

Being a Writer intrinsically motivates students through choice and independence. Rich, engaging mentor texts introduce students to a wide range of genres, and integrated social skills development gives students the tools needed to respectfully confer with one another, while developing ideas and sharing writing samples. Through daily independent writing with teacher and peer conferring, children grow into enthusiastic, skilled writers who write for authentic purposes and audiences.

Science
Curriculum: Amplify Science

Amplify Science is a phenomena-based K–8 science curriculum that blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers.

Each unit of Amplify Science engages students in a relevant, real-world problem where they investigate scientific phenomena, engage in collaboration and discussion, and develop models or explanations in order to arrive at solutions.

Math
Curriculum: Eureka Math 

Eureka Math® is a holistic Prekindergarten through Grade 12 curriculum that carefully sequences mathematical progressions in expertly crafted modules, making math a joy to learn.

Thoughtfully constructed and designed like a story, Eureka Math is meticulously coherent, with an intense focus on key concepts that layer over time, creating enduring knowledge. Students gain a complete body of math knowledge, not just a discrete set of skills. They use the same models and problem-solving methods from grade to grade, so math concepts stay with them, year after year.