C&I Connections Newsletter

In this week's newsletter from the C&I Department, you'll find the curricular weekly overview, instructional resources, and information about upcoming grade level team meetings. Our goal is to keep you informed and supported as you continue your work with students across the district. We appreciate your dedication and collaboration!

Warm Regards,

The C&I Team

You may have noticed the new AI Tools available on the HMH Ed dashboard. We’re excited to share that our district has access to these tools for the remainder of the school year.

This year, AI Tools are free to use, with a daily limit. Every teacher and leader with access to HMH Ed receives 6 AI Tool credits every 24 hours.

Because AI-generated content can vary, all materials should be reviewed before use to ensure accuracy and alignment with your instructional goals.

Designed with the classroom in mind, the AI Tools support lesson design and planning, differentiation, and communication. You’ll find tools that help streamline family communication, generate instructional materials, scaffold vocabulary, translate text, build presentations, create quizzes, and develop lesson or unit plans, all aligned to our Into Math curriculum.

Here are links to some helpful AI how-to’s:

Communication tools

Planning tools

Text tools

HMH’s approach to AI is grounded in a strong commitment to data privacy, ethical use, and educator empowerment, ensuring these tools are safe, inclusive, and supportive of both teaching and learning.

If you have questions or would like support exploring these tools, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

As our K–8 students work to strengthen their phonics and reading skills using Lexia Core5 and PowerUp, it is important to begin with goal setting to support focus, motivation, and progress. Using the goal-setting sheet, students can clearly understand their learning targets and take ownership of their learning.

Next, students and teachers can use achievement charts/trackers to monitor growth and track progress toward completing each level. As students complete a skill, they will color in a box on the achievement chart, allowing them to visually see their progress and stay motivated. Develop classroom rewards and incentives to celebrate movement on the chart.

Finally, once a student completes a full level, recognize their hard work and achievement by awarding Lexia certificates to celebrate their success.

To access these resources in MyLexia, select: Resources → Resource Hub → Student Achievement

Strong writing rarely begins with typing; it begins with thinking.

💻 How do students effectively plan for on-demand writing when the text they are reading is on a screen?

In many of our classrooms (and on the OST), students read articles digitally, use a blank sheet of paper to take notes or organize their thinking, and then type their written response. While this may seem simple, the planning step is critical.

Research continues to support the value of intentionally planning before writing, even in on-demand contexts where students read on screens and then respond in writing. Pre-writing activities (such as planning and outlining) are one of several instructional practices that positively impact writing quality and organization. These activities help students conceptualize key ideas and structure their responses before drafting, which contributes to clearer, more coherent writing. The National Writing Project highlights the fact that students benefit when they are explicitly taught strategies for organizing thinking before drafting, particularly in analytical and evidence-based writing tasks.

🚩Why Planning Matters in On-Demand Writing

On-demand writing requires students to:

• Read closely

• Identify key ideas or claims

• Select relevant evidence

• Organize reasoning

• Communicate clearly within a limited time frame

Without a structured planning moment, students often default to summarizing or listing ideas rather than constructing a focused response.

When students pause to plan, even for 3–5 minutes, they are more likely to:

• Write with clearer structure (introduction, evidence, explanation)

• Use evidence intentionally rather than randomly

• Maintain alignment to the prompt

• Reduce cognitive overload while drafting

🚩Practical Structures for Digital Reading + Paper Planning

When reading on a device, students can use their blank planning sheet strategically. Consider explicitly teaching and modeling structures such as:

1. Two-Column Evidence Organizer

• Left column: Key idea/claim

• Right column: Evidence + brief explanation

2. Prompt Deconstruction Box

• What is the task asking?

• What must be included?

• What text(s) will I draw from?

3. Quick Outline Framework

• Claim/Thesis

• Reason 1: Evidence + Explanation

• Reason 2: Evidence + Explanation

• Reason 3: Evidence + Explanation

• Concluding sentence

These do not need to be elaborate. The goal is not extended drafting; it is cognitive organization.

🚩Teaching Students the Process

To strengthen this practice:

• Model how you read a digital article and jot organized notes.

• Think aloud about selecting evidence rather than copying.

• Set a visible timer for planning to normalize the expectation.

• Ask students how planning helped (or didn’t) their response.

Over time, planning becomes internalized. Students begin to mentally organize before writing, even in timed settings.

🚩The Bigger Picture

When students read digitally, organize on paper, and draft on a device, they are engaging in the same workflow used in many college and career contexts. Teaching them how to intentionally plan bridges comprehension and written expression.

As you continue embedding on-demand writing within Wonders and My Perspectives, consider how explicitly you are teaching the planning step.

Pictured above is an example of using a blank sheet to gather evidence and organize thoughts while reading.

Pictured above is the response that was created using the information in the organizer. This response received an 8/10 in the CRS.

In February's GLTM, we will have a 90 minute training on how to access and utilize reports within Lexia. Following the training, you'll have 30 minutes to dive into your reports.

Lastly, we'll have 60 minutes for you to share an instructional practice within Wonders that has impacted writing. Sharing will take place within a small group. For those of you in the Clarity Cohort, sharing will follow a similar format to the small group sharing that took place during session 3 in January!

If you have not yet participated in the Clarity Cohort and are interested in joining next year, please add your name to the interest form. You only need to do this once.

If you have already been part of the Clarity Cohort (last year or this year), you do not need to add your name here.