Elementary Updates 2023-24 April/May – St. Vrain Valley Schools

April/May 2024

Textbook Inventories

As the end of the school year quickly approaches, it is important that we maintain an accurate count of instructional materials in buildings and classrooms to ensure that teachers and students have what they need for fall 2024. This is especially important for the ReadyGEN trade titles. Building secretaries will be the direct line of communication regarding textbook inventories and will be sharing a Google Sheet with classroom teachers to obtain an accurate count of current curricular materials. Once classroom inventories are completed, please submit that information to your building secretary who will then work directly with our Curriculum Department.

Thank you in advance for completing this very important task by Friday, May 10.

Math Updates

Strong Finish for a Successful Start

In these final weeks of school, it’s important that students have mastered all of the priority evidence outcomes specified in our Unit Plans (at minimum) as readiness for the next grade. Low-stakes cumulative review activities like the Daily Common Core Review pages and the End-of-Year Assessment items (print or digital) can solidify learning from this school year and act as a celebration of the growth and progress made in math.

Powerful Practice: Evidence-Informed Math Teaching

The Colorado Department of Education’s new evidence-informed, K-12 math course offers 14 modules on topics including how students learn math, techniques for engaging students, and aligning instruction with standards. Pre-registration is now open for this online, no-cost, asynchronous course that will be available starting this June. Teachers, school leaders, and others who support the teaching and learning of mathematics are encouraged to participate. Currently, St. Vrain Professional Development/Salary credit is not available.

enVisionmath2.0 Resources in Schoology

This summer, the enVisionmath2.0 resources in Schoology housed under “Group Resources” will be removed. Savvas is no longer supporting these resources, and several of the links are already broken. After this summer, enVisionmath2.0 can be exclusively accessed through ClassLink and Savvas Realize.

ELA Updates

DLMS Text Collection Update

Building background knowledge in topics addressed in the texts our students are reading is critical to building and strengthening comprehension. “Put simply, the more you know about a topic, the easier it is to read a text, understand it, and retain the information” (Reading Rockets: Building Background Knowledge).

To ensure students and teachers in St. Vrain have access to a robust collection of texts that align with topics and themes in ReadyGEN, our DLMS team has partnered with us to build a library of connected texts for Elementary ELA units. This coming fall, be on the lookout for updates to our Text Collection in DLMS. Titles that directly align with themes in ReadyGEN will be reflected on module plans. Additional text sets will be listed in Insignia (accessed through ClassLink).

When checking titles out through Insignia, please be mindful of the following:

While the DLMS collection supports K-12 curriculum, there are titles within the collection that are specifically aligned and designated to support the secondary ELA curricular unit plans. These specific texts will be coded with an “M” (middle school) and “H” (high school) to indicate placement (as shown below). When making reservations through Insignia, please refrain from reserving titles with this coding system. If a title does not carry either of these codes, they are free to reserve. Please be mindful of the designated age range to ensure content is appropriate for the developmental level of your students.

Summer Reading

As you prepare to send your students on their way for summer break, it is important to remember how critical summer reading is for all of our learners! The value behind a predictable routine for daily reading ensures that our students are continuing to be immersed in literacy and language development. Here are some tips and resources to share with students and families to support them in preparing a routine and resources for summer literacy:

Read for 15-20 minutes a day: this can be independent reading, shared or a read aloud
Talk about your reading!
- What was your favorite part of the book?
- Who is your favorite character?
- Based on what you read, what do you now wonder?
Look for opportunities to write for a variety of purposes:
- Writing a letter to a friend, family member, or teacher
- Writing a book review
- Writing a summary of your week, highlighting your favorite activity.

Please see the following links for more tips for families on Summer Reading Activities:

Available ebook sources:

MyOn
Sora St. Vrain Digital Library
Longmont Public Library
High Plains Library District (Weld County)

Social Studies Updates

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI)

May is AAPI Heritage Month! It is a great time to celebrate the histories and social contributions of Asian Americans, Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. You might consider using some of the following resources with your students.

Animals of the Chinese Zodiac: lesson plans
Music of Hawai’i with lesson plans
Can You Haiku? lesson plan
My Name is Yoon: read aloud
A Map Into the World: read aloud
Drawn Together: read aloud
Eyes that Kiss in the Corners: read aloud
Smithsonian Collections
Where Asia Meets America: Smithsonian digital collections and music
Japanese Internment: Library of Congress primary sources and lesson plan (4th or 5th grade)
Amache: History Colorado’s Online Exhibit (great for 4th grade)

Science Updates

Your Voice Matters – Elementary Science Feedback

After a year of using Mystery Science and our NEW K-5 Unit Plans and half a year of using repurposed FOSS enhancement kits, we would appreciate your suggestions and feedback. Please join the Elementary Science Leadership Committee on Thursday, May 9th from 4:00 to 6:00 online. Extra Duty pay of $30 an hour for all who attend. Those who can only make a part of the meeting are welcome. Meeting Link

Mystery Science Refurbishments

Our Science to Go staff will be refurbishing your Mystery Science Packs in August. To assist in these refurbishment efforts please keep all boxes and take a look at the following Refurbishment List, for what supplies you will need to hold onto and what supplies are going to be refurbished.

Help bring your Literacy Standards to Life, Teach More Science!

Think of your new science resources as an enhancement to your ReadyGEN literacy materials… Learn More and explore the NEW science unit plans.

Professional Development Opportunities

The following classes are available for registration through the Office of Professional Development. All classes are in-person unless otherwise noted.

Essentials in Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction (Starts June 3, hybrid course; 2.0 credits)
Thinking Maps Training (June 4 & June 25; 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM; 1.5 credits)
OG for Adolescent Learners 4th Grade and Beyond (June 10-14 & July 2; 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM; 2.5 credits)
Doing Mathematics (June 18 & 19; 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM; 1.0 credit)
DIBELS 8th mClass Training: 1-Day Training (0.5 Credit)
- July 29; 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM or
- August 24; 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Explicit Literacy Instruction Using Fundations (Starts July 30, hybrid course; 0.5 credit)
SAVE THE DATE: Level 5 Structured Morphology (Coming Soon to Wisdomwhere starting in July 2024)
SAVE THE DATE: Level 4 Structured Morphology Refresh (Coming Soon to Wisdomwhere starting in July 2024)