Instructional Minute

Now that you’ve got your students set up in Boost Reading and on their quests, it’s the perfect moment to check out the Teacher Dashboard and discover how students are progressing. We recommend you focus on these key areas:

• The Insights tab for an at-a-glance overview of student usage, subskill mastery, and any trouble spots.
• Weekly usage goals to maximize the benefits of Boost Reading. Remember, Boost Reading is proven to help at-risk students see growth by the end of year with as little as 30 minutes of use per week!
• Guidance on what to do when students need support in their quests and how to use information gleaned from Trouble Spots.

In the last Minute, we explored how structured collaborative groups deepen understanding and build student ownership. This edition, we take that foundation further — transforming collaboration into targeted learning through small group instruction.

Small groups provide the opportunity to:

• Personalize learning using data and insights from tools like the common assessments, NWEA data, and formative assessments, which are all opportunities to gather data for grouping.

• Reinforce or extend specific skills students need most

• Keep engagement high by connecting students’ collaboration skills to purposeful learning goals

As you plan small group instruction, consider how the same strategies you used in last week's Minute — assigning clear roles, rotating responsibilities, and reflecting on progress — can strengthen your small-group routines and make every minute of instruction intentional.

💡 Try this:

• Use your class data to form flexible small groups based on current learning needs.

• Incorporate “role cards” from the last Minute's strategies to keep students accountable and engaged during independent or partner work.

• Reflect weekly: How did my small groups help students move closer to mastery?

*Please note: these PD opportunities are entirely optional and no payment is offered for completing them.

Last week, we explored how creating a sense of belonging helps students see themselves as valued members of the math community. This week, we focus on another key practice: challenging stereotypes about who is “good at math.”

For generations, cultural messages have suggested that math ability is tied to natural talent, gender, race, or background. These myths not only limit students’ confidence—they also shape how we, as educators, view potential. By actively confronting and disrupting these stereotypes, we make space for every student to develop a positive math identity.

This might look like highlighting mathematicians from diverse backgrounds, providing equitable opportunities for students to share their reasoning, and using language that reinforces effort and growth rather than innate ability.

Our new math curricular tools help support this work by creating opportunities for all students to engage, contribute, and experience success.

When we broaden the image of who can be “good at math,” we open the door for every student to see themselves as a capable mathematician.

Inquiry begins with intentional planning. When we design lessons around compelling questions and meaningful sources, students engage deeply and think critically.
Examples:

• K–2: Build a mini-inquiry around “What makes a good community helper?” using picture books and interviews.

• 3–5: Create an inquiry project exploring “Why do people move from one place to another?” using migration stories and maps.

• 6–8: Develop a unit on “What makes a government fair?” incorporating historical case studies and debates.

💡 Reflection Prompt:
How might you redesign an upcoming unit to center student inquiry around a compelling question?

Thank you to all of those who joined the K-8 Math Steering Committee last month! We have included the minutes from that meeting HERE.

K-8 Math Steering Committee meets on the last Tuesday of every month!

The K-8 Science Steering Committee is working on rebuilding. More information to come!

For more information on Co-Creating Classroom Expectations, check out our brand new Lansing School District educator's Guide located here on the district's staff forms page!

“Quality teaching is not an individual accomplishment; it is the result of a collaborative culture that empowers teachers to team up to improve student learning beyond what any one of them can achieve alone.” (Carroll, “The Next Generation of Learning Teams,” Phi Delta Kappan 91(2), 2009, p.13)

These guidelines are in place to ensure that all students have access to a guaranteed and viable curriculum—one where every learner receives the essential content and skills needed for success.

Intention to daily instructional minutes supports learning retention, builds routines, and ensures equity across classrooms and schools.

By adhering to the daily instructional minutes, we create:

• Consistency – Students know what to expect and can build stronger learning habits.

• Equity – Every child has access to the same high-quality learning opportunities.

• Progression – Skills and content build in a logical, intentional sequence.

Your commitment to this practice ensures that our students benefit fully from the curriculum we’ve adopted and are better prepared for future success. Thank you for your dedication to maintaining this consistency for all learners.

The documents attached outline K-8 curricular resources, standards and pacing. This can also be found by clicking here on the LSD website. *Please note that pacing for Illustrative Math powered by Kiddom and Reveal Math will become available as the year progresses.

The document attached outlines 9-12 curricular resources, standards and pacing. This can also be found by clicking here on the LSD website.

A resource to use as you see fit.

The newsletter is created each week by the Instructional Division: