C&I Connections Newsletter

Welcome to December. Winter has certainly arrived!

As we complete these final few weeks before winter break, we want to highlight writing across the curriculum along with our Clarity practices that many teachers are working on. Remember, writing appears in state standards at every grade level. It is specfic to each discipline, helps students solidify their understanding of content, and increases students' critical thinking ability. Planning opportunities for writing will provide students with the opportunity to share their thinking and new understandings about the content we are teaching!

Our work within the Clarity Cohorts has provided an opportunity to examine what it means to show mastery of ELA Standards. Many of us started our journey with Clarity taking a broad look at the ELA Strands of reading foundations, reading informational text, reading literary text, writing argumentative essays, and writing informative essays. Encompassing all of the standards in each of these strands is one way to help students understand that reading requires active participation and engagement. Students can consider what they are typically keeping in their minds while they read or what part of writing is something they already do well. Here is a sample of a chart created by Michelle Manolio which helps students gain clarity about reading and comprehending texts:

When one of our 6th grade ELA teams with then members Caitlin Gerber, Katie Spilker, and Amanda Sell asked students to reflect on their ability to meet a specific success criteria for reading, the results looked like this:

Notice how in both instances, students interacted with the charts to illustrate what they are already doing with confidence. This broad illustration of reading and the identification of a specific success criteria invites everyone to actively engage in reading and increases each student’s sense of ownership of their own learning.

When thinking about writing, here is a way to make a direct connection between the learning intention, success criteria and Wonders (HQIM). First, review the Peer Feedback Checklist for the writing project. Examine how it aligns with the rubric and create the learning intention and success criteria with both of these resources in mind.

To support the Peer Conference, a Revising Checklist for grade 5 is provided:

Here is a sample learning intention and success criteria for writing an argumentative essay.

Learning Intention:

I am learning to write an argumentative essay.

Success Criteria:

• I can determine how to organize my writing.

• I can write an introduction which includes my claim.

• I can write the reasons that support my claim.

• I can provide evidence from multiple sources to explain the reasons.

• I can include transition words and phrases.

• I can write a strong conclusion.

By using the revision checklist and the success criteria above, students know what evidence they need to produce to meet the learning intention.

Sometimes a learning progression is used to help specify where students are currently in their learning and where they are going next. It is recommended in Clarity for Learning: Five essential practices that empower students and teachers by John Almarode and Kara Vandas (2019, page 41) that when learning progressions are used to represent the incremental steps that students take to build to, demonstrate understanding of, and move beyond a standard, “both students and teachers see a pathway to meeting the learning expectations.” (2019, page 41). Here is one example of a learning progression created by Dana Bogus based on Foundational Skills in Reading following the scope and sequence of our Core Phonics program:

As you continue your journey with Clarity, the ELA HQIM and the ELA vertical alignments are great resources to anchor your thinking and fuel your creativity. Additionally, the NWEA MAP presents a Learning Continuum that provides a hierarchy of skills that students are ready to learn based on RiT scores earned on the MAP test. The example below shows how the Reading Literature Standard 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text changes from one RiT range to the next. This standard is in the Key Ideas and Details portion of the ELA Standards in the Reading Literary Text strand.

Connecting the ELA Standards and ELA HQIM through the work with Clarity will help to make our purposeful work of increasing literacy for all more than a test score. Students will have more ownership and agency when interacting with text and media. We will have more ways to describe success and show students that reading goes beyond answering multiple choice questions.

Did you know that Into Math includes interactive digital lessons on the Ed platform? These interactive lessons offer a variety of engaging features - digital tools, drawing options, sample models and solutions, multiple-choice items, and built-in checks.

Interactive lessons work especially well during the first task of Building Understanding or Step It Out. Since the digital version may not mirror the student workbook, consider having workbooks closed and using the interactive lesson to model during the I Do. The built-in tools, models, and checks can help students visualize the math, strengthen understanding and stay engaged. Starting with the 3-Read Strategy can also set a strong foundation for understanding.

Accessing interactive lessons is easier than ever - just open the Teacher eBook and click anywhere on the Build Understanding (or Step it Out) page to launch the digital version!

This year, we're joining with The King Center, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that the King legacy not only remains relevant and viable, but is effectively leveraged for positive social impact.

The King Center's 2026 theme is: Mission Possible II: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way. According to the nonprofit, "This theme is more than a banner; it’s a blueprint for action...anchor[ing] our commitment to building the Beloved Community: a world where injustice ends, violence is replaced by compassion, and love becomes the prevailing force."

These are both large and complex ideas, and we encourage our younger students to focus on the power of choosing kindness over meanness.

Students are invited to explore these ideas in essay form, in a poem, or visually in a poster.

Deadline for all submissions: December 31, 2025

Entries may be submitted here.