Preschool Curriculum UpdateThe 2019-2020 school year brought sweeping curriculum changes for the preschool learning community. Guided by the newly revised Colorado Academic Standards (CAS 2020), Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) recommendations from experts in the field of Early Learning, and a cadre of preschool educators, the cross-content inquiry studies came to life. Each inquiry study begins with an essential question connected to science or social studies standards, with early literacy and math skills taught in service of the content. Additional details about the structure of the preschool inquiry studies can be found in the video below. Looking ahead to the 2020-2021 school year, educators will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the content offered in the existing inquiry studies; while refining instructional practice that supports students’ natural curiosity, independence, and social-emotional skills.
As always, please reach out to the Preschool-3rd grade (P3) Team with questions. Preschool Inquiry Study Updates Spring 2020
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Science Curriculum Update In 2018, our Colorado Department of Education adopted an adapted version of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). It all started when the National Research Council (NRC) wrote the Framework for K–12 Science Education. Then, the NRC, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Achieve wrote the standards that became known as the NGSS. Our CDE adopted everything except the engineering-specific standards. The good news is that most of the science content that you are familiar with lives on. A few concepts have shifted grades in order to better align with developmental levels and be better aligned vertically.  The innovations of these new standards include an integrated approach to the three components of a standard. This includes, “what students know” or content, “what students do” or the Science & Engineering Practices, and “how students think” or crosscutting concepts. This takes into consideration that learners have behaviors that assist in mastering the content (the Science and Engineering Practices) and they can and should be making connections to other content (Crosscutting Concepts). Additionally, since these new standards were released in 2013, many resources have been developed and freely released to aid in the teaching and learning of three-dimensional science. Our new standards really do bring an increase in equity in learning for all students. Check out some of the free resources:
National Science Teaching Association NGSS by Unit/Topic Tom Anderson’s The Wonder of Science NGSS Classroom Sample Tasks (make sure to scroll down) Secondary Math Curriculum UpdateWondering about Secondary Math Standard changes (2010-2020)? We can all breathe, as the changes in Secondary Math are minor. The biggest changes that you might notice in both middle and high school are things like coding, for example, 7.NS.1 changed to 7.NS.A.1, and the PFL (Personal Financial Literacy) standards have moved to Social Studies. In the high school standards, advanced content has been identified with a (+). You can view a summary of the standard changes from 2010-2020 here (adapted from CDE). New standards will be implemented for the 2020-2021 school year. Bridge to Curriculum will be updated to reflect the standard changes over the summer. You will notice supports in Bridge to Curriculum, such as proficiency scales, units, and assessments, aligned to the new standards. If you would like to read more, here is a link to the CDE math page.  Elementary Math Curriculum Update
Good News teachers, Colorado Academic Standards (CAS) in elementary Math haven’t changed. However, the packaging might look a little different . As the standards themselves have not changed the coding of those standards have changed. We have also added Proficiency Scales to all our units and the Math Practices are more clearly laid out. We would like to share those changes of how the coding is addressed in this short video.
The Elementary Math Team is here to support you.
Elementary ELA Curriculum UpdateAs you may have heard by now the Colorado Academic Standards 2020 (CAS 2020) will be in our Jeffco Curriculum starting the 20-21 school year. You may be wondering what to expect in Elementary ELA. For Elementary ELA we are excited to share that the largest shift you will see is in “packaging”. The intent and language of the standards have not changed all that much, just the coding. Example of an Evidence Outcome (EO) with no change: 2010 Colorado Academic Standard 3.2.2.a.i:  2020 Colorado Academic Standard 3.2.2.a.i:  Example of a Grade Level Expectation (GLE) change: 2010 Grade Level Expectation (GLE) 3 Kindergarten:  2020 Grade Level Expectation (GLE) 3 Kindergarten:  Example of an Evidence Outcome(EO) added: 2010 Evidence Outcome (EO)  2020 Evidence Outcome (EO K.2.3.b.vi) has been added  The piece that will be new however is the way in which we are grouping the standards to support the whole package of literacy instead of reading, writing and oral expression. Let’s talk about what you’ll see in the K-5 Literacy Year-At-A-Glance(YAAG): Genre Units You will see Genre Units focused on Informational, Narrative, Research and Opinion. These units are book-ended with a launching unit and an integrated unit. This allows for setting good routines and expectations and an opportunity to reteach and extend before the end of the year. These Genre Units were created in a way that the content builds on prior units. However, they are end of year standards for the purpose of allowing flexibility in their placement or sequence if buildings so chose to. Foundational Units This is a year long unit in the study of all the essential foundational skills for students to be able to read and write. You will find standards and skills such as Print Concepts, Phonological Awareness, Spelling, Decoding, Analyzing Words, and Fluency, as appropriate for each grade level. We know that these foundational skills and standards are developed throughout the year and are applied in all genres. We also know that many schools have a core resource that they lean into for pacing and sequence. These units are designed to still allow for that flexibility. Language and Literacy Processes Units (Writing process, Conventions, Language) This is a year long unit in the study of the Writing process, Conventions, and Language with an understanding that the standards and skills addressed in this unit are weaved in and out of every unit and other content areas. You will find standards and skills such as Analyzing Language, Generating Sentences, Revision for Audience, Purpose, and Task, Editing and Parts of Speech as appropriate to each grade level. Changes to Organizing Concepts You will notice the organizing concepts of each unit have changed. The proficiency scale titles will be the new way the units are organized. This highlights the interconnectedness of the units. Sample Elementary Literacy YAAG Here is an example of our Elementary Literacy YAAG where you will see the Foundational Unit, Genre Units, and the Language and Literacy Unit. The possible organizing concepts are listed with their proficiency scale code for clarity.  Your Elementary Literacy TOSA’s are here to support you:  |
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February 2021
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