Curriculum Connections Newsletter
For the week of 10.12.26
Hello Tiger Nation!
It's hard to believe we are almost to the end of the 1st quarter of the school year! Thank you for your hard work and for showing up for your students every day. The Learning Team is working on planning beneficial professional learning for the upcoming October 23 grade-level team meetings. As a reminder, middle and high school teacher meetings are from 8:00a-11:00a and elementary teacher meetings are from 12:45p-3:45p. Tentative agendas and meeting places will be shared with staff on or around October 19. All professional learning for the 2026-27 school year will be aligned to the district's One Plan goals and action steps.
Warm Regards,
The Learning Team
Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15-October 15, provides an additional opportunity to explore the incredible impact Latinas and Latinos have had on the United States for generations. It is the time we give extra recognition to the many contributions made to the history and culture of the United States, including important advocacy work, vibrant art, popular and traditional foods, and much more. (National Museum of the American Latino).
To engage students in lessons and activities regarding Hispanic Heritage Month, view these resources: National Museum of the American Latino, PBS Learning Media
Presentation Proposal Deadline has been extended!
The CH-UH Professional Learning Day is just around the corner on November 3, 2026. We invite you to share your experiences and instructional strategies related to district initiatives like Clarity, Coaching, HQIM implementation, SEL, MTSS implementation, or AVID. Complete this form to submit your proposal by October 9, 2026. Reach out to Tekara Ray or Joyce Bukovac if you have any questions.
Per the negotiated contract, CH-UH teachers who are presenting will be paid for 1.5 hours of preparation time per hour of presentation. After November 3, you will want to request this payment by using an extra assignment sheet and sending it to Chris Keating at the Board of Education.
As we move toward the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), we will need to ensure that we have a good understanding of the policies and practices incorporated into the framework. The NGSS are based on a three dimensional approach: Practices, Core Ideas, and Crosscutting.
Practices refers to the scientific and engineering practices that students perform when investigating and learning new science material.
These practices include:
Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics and computational thinking
Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
The following rationale is provided from the NGSS Website as to why these practices are essential:
Engaging in the practices of science helps students understand how scientific knowledge develops; such direct involvement gives them an appreciation of the wide range of approaches that are used to investigate, model, and explain the world. Engaging in the practices of engineering likewise helps students understand the work of engineers, as well as the links between engineering and science. Participation in these practices also helps students form an understanding of the crosscutting concepts and disciplinary ideas of science and engineering; moreover, it makes students’ knowledge more meaningful and embeds it more deeply into their worldview. The actual doing of science or engineering can also pique students’ curiosity, capture their interest, and motivate their continued study; the insights thus gained help them recognize that the work of scientists and engineers is a creative endeavor—one that has deeply affected the world they live in. Students may then recognize that science and engineering can contribute to meeting many of the major challenges that confront society today, such as generating sufficient energy, preventing and treating disease, maintaining supplies of fresh water and food, and addressing climate change. Any education that focuses predominantly on the detailed products of scientific labor— the facts of science—without developing an understanding of how those facts were established or that ignores the many important applications of science in the world misrepresents science and marginalizes the importance of engineering. (NRC Framework 2012, pp. 42-43) .
Learn more here: Next Generation Science Standards
