January/February 2025

Academic Excellence by Design

As we analyze winter i-Ready data and strengthen our focus, how are we elevating the Plan & Prepare and Reflect & Adjust domains in the St. Vrain Valley Schools Instructional Framework in supporting all students in their learning and growth? Specifically, how might we…

• collaborate with colleagues and use Colorado Academic Standards, district curricular resources, student performance data, and advanced technologies to develop dynamic instruction that meets student’s needs?
• incorporate scaffolding, extensions, varied grouping, and active learning strategies, aligned with the gradual release of responsibility model of instruction?
• gather, analyze, interpret, and visualize data to glean meaningful information which can be used to make informed instructional decisions?
• engage in collegial discourse to analyze student learning outcomes, implement high leverage practices, and advance academic excellence by design?

In the coming weeks, what scaffolds and supports might we gradually remove in promoting student independence? How will we provide targeted reteaching while continuing on with instruction? How will we challenge students already demonstrating grade-level mastery? How might we incorporate ongoing spiral review and retrieval practice for ensuring students remember content from earlier in the school year?

Math Updates

enVision Mathematics ©2024 Adoption Training & Public Review 

enVision Mathematics ©2024 Adoption Training – CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

• Monday, April 28 (1-day option)
• Thursday & Friday, May 29 & 30 (2-day conference-style option)
• Thursday, July 31 (1-day option)

Teachers will have the option of earning Professional Development/Salary Credit or a stipend. For teachers seeking a more comprehensive training experience with keynote speakers and choice sessions geared toward elevating math instruction, please consider attending the 2-day option in May. Please note that the May 29 & 30 training dates overlap with Project Launch planning days.

We will be conducting a public review of enVision Mathematics ©2024 on Wednesday, February 5 from 3:30 – 6:30 PM at the Learning Services Center in Longmont (401 S. Pratt Pkwy). Teachers, administrators, families, and community members are welcome to attend.

Troubleshooting the Solve & Share

How do we mediate when students cannot access the Solve & Share task or are non-starters during individual think time? Consider a quick retrieval practice and activating their background knowledge without doing the thinking for students. There are also two samples of student work provided in Savvas Realize for each Solve & Share task. If students are having trouble generating their own thoughts, have them unpack the student work samples and the thought process shown. That is still considered mathematical reasoning, and it might serve as a useful entry point for some students.

Topic Assessments, Reasoning & Modeling 

We strongly encourage teachers to use the Topic Assessments linked in the Unit Plans. Looking at CMAS frameworks, Expressing Mathematical Reasoning is 20-22% of the total test points. Modeling and Application is 18% of the total test points. That’s 38-40% of the total test points rooted in multi-step problem solving tasks where students have to apply mathematics, make mathematical arguments, or critique the reasoning of others. The revised Topic Assessments linked in the Unit Plans contain reasoning and problem solving items similar to those on CMAS.

Digital forms of these assessments also exist for Grades 3-5 only with CMAS-style questions in a CMAS-style digital environment. Check out how to use Performance Matters for administering these digital assessments.

ELA Updates

Summaries for Newcomer and Multilingual Learner Support

Spanish summaries for supporting Newcomer students are now available for all anchor texts K-5 and are linked in this update as well as under “Instructional Resources” on the homepage of the ELA Website. 

Why Provide Summaries? 

• Providing a concise summary to MLs and Newcomers in their native language before reading the text in whole group can help students grasp the key points of the text more easily and improve their comprehension of the text. 
• Summaries give students leverage to start making connections from their native language to the language they are acquiring.

How to Use the Summaries

Writing in Response to Reading 

As CMAS grows closer, having students engage in writing responding to reading is pertinent to practice routinely. Be sure to be using the daily Writing in Response to Reading prompts found in the Readers and Writers journal as well as on Scope and Sequence documents. 

Additionally, Selection Tests for each text are available on the ELA Website under “Assessments.” These formative assessments are a great gauge for the following skills: vocabulary acquisition, text comprehension, and short-constructed response. 

Social Studies Updates

Black History Month

February is Black History Month, and although we should be teaching Black History throughout the year, it is a great time to emphasize the history and contributions of both individuals and groups of people. Here is a curated list of books, lessons, and other resources you might consider bringing into your classroom.

37th Annual Colorado Council for the Social Studies Conference

Registration is open for the CCSS conference in Denver on March 3, 2025. There are some great elementary-level presentations this year! Click here for more details and to sign up!

CMAS Update

For those schools that will be administrating the social studies CMAS test for 4th grade, there are now practice resources aligned with the new state standards. Check out these resources here.

Science Updates

The Importance of Having Students Ask Questions in Science

Asking good questions in elementary science is crucial because it fosters curiosity, encourages active learning, deepens understanding of concepts, develops critical thinking skills, and empowers students to take ownership of their learning by actively exploring the world around them through inquiry-based investigations; essentially, it lays the foundation for a scientific mindset early on.

Check out this new unit plan page for the following

• Short video on how to get your students to ask more questions
• Key benefits of asking good questions in elementary science
• How to promote good questioning in elementary science
• NGSS K-12 Question Progressions

Professional Development Opportunities

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

• Join us the evening of Tuesday, January 28 for “Developing a Student-Centric Classroom to Serve All Learners,” a special event with Dr. Robert Dillon. Register here to attend. 0.25 PD/salary credit is available.
• Math Routines for Reasoning (Saturday, December 7; 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM; 0.5 PD/Salary Credit)
• Thinking Maps (Saturdays, February 22 & March 1 + individual work time; 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM; 1.5 PD/Salary Credits)

Contact Us!

Previous Updates