Curriculum & Instruction Newsletter
October Edition
Last week we welcomed our face-to-face students back to school! We cannot thank you enough for all the hard work and intense planning you are doing to teach our children - whether it is through remote instruction, face to face, or maybe even both ways. Please know that the role of Curriculum & Instruction Team is that of support. We are here to support you and your campus leadership, and provide you with resources and guidance to design the best instruction possible for ALL of our students. We certainly understand that this has been an unusual year, and being a teacher now is harder than it ever has been. We cannot thank you enough for your efforts and dedication, and we want to make sure that we provide you various layers of support. Please see below for resources, PD collaboratives, extensions, and support meetings that the C&I Team has compiled for you, . Please stay safe and hope you are enjoying this nicer, cooler weather.
With Much Appreciation - The C&I Team
Ongoing Support for Teachers & Staff
Deadlines Extended for Universal Screeners
- TX-KEA for Kindergarten extended to Thursday, October 22
Amplify for 2nd grade extended to October 16
Imagine Learning (Reading) for Grades 3 through 8 extended to October 22nd
Imagine Learning (Math) for Grades 1st and up extended to October 22nd
Writing Diagnostic extended to October 9th
Curriculum Unit Assessments/Checkpoints Retests
Curriculum Unit Assessments (AKA Checkpoints) are the formative assessments included at the end of each curriculum unit of instruction. For elementary, these are not taken for a grade, but they are graded in secondary. Many 6-12th grade teachers reached out to the C&I specialists asking for help by developing a retest at the district level. Therefore, the secondary specialists are including a retest that is a COPY of the unit assessment in the curriculum, and it will include randomized questions or answers.
Please know that you are NOT required to use the district created retests, BUT THEY ARE AVAILABLE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO USE THEM. Contact your content area specialist to learn more.
Content Area Weekly Zoom Meetings
Join our weekly meetings via Zoom to provide you with a consistent way to openly communicate with our C&I specialists and Directors. Please see the list below for the zoom link that applies to your content area or grade level. Hope you can join us! We want to serve and support you!
Zooming in Science
At-Risk Services
Focused on Literacy
Instructional Technology Weekly Zoom Meetings
To join, click the link below:
ELAR Weekly Zoom Meeetings
Primary grades K-2nd meet every Wednesday 3:30 - 4:30
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81699241938
Elementary grades 3rd-5th meet every Wednesday 3:30 - 4:45
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87344245267
Middle School meets every Monday 3:30 - 4:30
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82543885563?pwd=Zndpck1jaXl5c0gzZ2hsMTlMRXlDQT09
High School meets every Monday 4:30 - 5:30
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82543885563?pwd=Zndpck1jaXl5c0gzZ2hsMTlMRXlDQT09
Spanish ELAR Weekly Zoom Meetings
Elementary School meets every Thursday 3:00 - 4:00
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81176962055?pwd=djY5ZUZvU3hQbE1zMTBvL3k2RVFJdz09
Math Weekly Zoom Meetings
Elementary 2nd - 5th meets every Monday from 3:30 - 4:30
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81264075022?pwd=eUJVNzJmdTh5UG5mSXJTSk1tbEZ2dz09
Meeting ID: 812 6407 5022
Passcode: 621011
Secondary meets every Monday from 4:00 - 5:00
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81264075022?pwd=eUJVNzJmdTh5UG5mSXJTSk1tbEZ2dz09
Meeting ID: 812 6407 5022
Passcode: 621011
Science Weekly Zoom Meeetings
Elementary School meets every Tuesday from 3:00 - 4:00
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5562920664?pwd=a3ZOQ1BmRlRCWkVpb2drbG1wU3RrZz09
Middle School meets every Wednesday from 3:30 - 4:30
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5562920664?pwd=a3ZOQ1BmRlRCWkVpb2drbG1wU3RrZz09
High School meets every Thursday from 4:30 - 5:30
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5562920664?pwd=a3ZOQ1BmRlRCWkVpb2drbG1wU3RrZz09
Social Studies Weekly Zoom Meetings
Elementary School meets every Monday 3:00-4:00
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86838301955
Middle School meets every Tuesday 3:30 - 4:30
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86838301955
High School meets every Wednesday 4:30 - 5:30
To join, click the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86838301955
Benchmark Testing this Fall
Benchmark testing is around the corner and this year, we are happy to share that elementary and middle school benchmarks will only focus on taught TEKS. High schools will continue to proctor the released STAAR test in its entirety due to STAAR testing in December. Below is a quick overview of the upcoming assessments, but more information will be given to the Campus Testing Coordinators (CTCs) before benchmarks occur.
Elementary & Middle Schools Benchmarks
Benchmark testing will be the week of November 17-20. The assessments will be short enough to completed within 90 minutes and will only cover the TEKS taught up to that point. Questions will be pulled from the 2018 released STAAR exams. Students will take the benchmarks through the Eduphoria online testing platform.
High School Benchmarks
Benchmark testing will be the week of October 26-30. The assessments will be administered through the student’s EOC class over 2 days. The test will be broken into 2 parts: Day 1 and Day 2 so that students have enough time to finish. The assessment will be the 2019 released STAAR exam. Students will take the benchmark through the Eduphoria online testing platform.
Oral Administration for ELAR Assessments
Although Eduphoria does not allow for direct mirroring of the online STAAR platform, it does provide many similarities. Beginning with the ELAR unit 3 online assessments, assessments that include revising and editing passages will have an oral administration feature available for students with that accommodation. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Lucia West or Jeanette Dear.