C&I Connections Newsletter

We hope you had a great week back from spring break and are looking forward to the upcoming long weekend. Take a few minutes to check out this week’s C&I Connections newsletter—inside you’ll find key updates, resources, and reminders to support your planning and instruction in the weeks ahead.

CHUH has Word to Word Bilingual Dictionaries (BD) for EL Students. The goal is for students to utilize them for the entire school year for academic purposes and during the OST. All EL students may not need a BD; if you have a student who may benefit, complete the yellow highlighted portion of this sheet in any empty space for the specific language, the BD will be interoffice mailed to you. Review the list to verify if your student already received a BD prior to requesting a BD.

Please collect and return all dictionaries by May 22, 2026: Attention TeKara Ray/BOE.

April is Financial Literacy Awareness Month, making it the perfect time to focus on economics, decision-making, and personal finance. Students learn how individual and collective choices impact communities, society, and the world. Economics helps students weigh options, understand trade-offs, and see the consequences of decisions in everyday life.

In elementary grades (K–5), students explore needs vs. wants, goods and services, and basic financial decision-making. For example, they might plan a small classroom budget, compare the value of different choices, or decide how to spend limited “classroom currency.” This helps students understand that their choices affect not only themselves but also others in their community.

In middle school (6–8), students examine scarcity, opportunity cost, specialization, trade, and economic systems. They analyze how individuals, businesses, and governments make economic decisions and how those choices affect communities. April is also an opportunity to introduce students to personal finance concepts such as budgeting, saving, and responsible spending, connecting classroom economics to real-world financial awareness.

At the high school level, students explore market systems, supply and demand, financial literacy, and global economic interactions (E; CS). They evaluate how personal, business, and government economic decisions impact local, national, and global economies. Financial Literacy Awareness Month emphasizes developing skills to manage money, plan for the future, and understand credit, saving, and investment, empowering students to make informed choices that affect their own lives and society.

Call to Action: Students are encouraged to develop a budget for their income/allowance and reflect on the economic and financial decisions they make daily, consider the impact on others, and apply critical thinking and money management skills to make responsible choices in school, home, and community.

Looking for ways to strengthen students’ understanding of key math standards? New resources are being added to the Resources by Standards document to support instruction across grades 4–7, Algebra, and Geometry.

Learning by Example

MathByExample assignments are designed to deepen conceptual understanding by having students analyze worked examples, both correct and incorrect. These tasks go beyond a typical ‘find the error’ worksheet, students are asked to explain why reasoning is correct or incorrect, justify their thinking, and engage in meaningful mathematical argumentation. Rather than focusing only on getting the right answer, this approach builds deeper understanding and has been shown through research to significantly improve learning, especially for students who need additional support.

These resources are available for Gr 4-5, Algebra & Geometry and are currently being organized by standard and added to our Resources by Standards document.

Key Features

• Targeted Misconceptions: Problems are labeled with correct 🗸 or incorrect ✘, prompting students to analyze and explain the reasoning.

• Structured Learning: Each assignment includes worked examples followed by similar independent practice problems.

• Curriculum Alignment: Aligned with Common Core State Standards.

• Research-Based Design: Developed by Dr. Julie Booth (Temple University) in collaboration with practitioners to strengthen student argumentation. Read about the research here.

• Flexible Use: Ideal for warm-ups, exit tickets, stations/centers, or homework.

Why It Matters

Students using these materials learn to identify errors, build accurate mathematical understanding, and clearly articulate their thinking—moving beyond procedures to true conceptual understanding.

Grade 4 Example

Also available: Grade 6-7 Strategic Math Poster Problems

In addition, 12 strategic Math Poster Problems (Gr 6 problems / Gr 7 problems) are available to support key Gr 6 & 7 math concepts. These tasks are designed to highlight important concepts while encouraging multiple solution strategies and varied entry points for students.

This creates opportunities for rich discussion and allows teachers to connect multiple representations as students explore the mathematics.

Each poster problem includes:

• Lesson plans

• Student handouts

• Presentation slides

• (In some cases) instructional videos

These resources will also be added to the Resources by Standards document.

Examples of two Grade 6 Poster topics

If you would like support implementing these materials or have any questions, please reach out to the C&I team, we’re happy to help!

Camp Invention is Coming to CHUH

Grades: students completing K-5th this school year

Location: Cleveland Heights High School

Dates: July 20-24, 2026

Time: 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM

Cost: $285. The first 30 students registered will receive a $150 scholarship

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/CHUHCampInvention26

We are excited to have Lisa Husain (l_husain@chuh.org) back as the Summer School Coordinator this summer!

The Summer Employment Opportunities Form for summer school is now open! If you are interested in working during summer school, please fill out the form by Friday, April 10, 2026. Staffing decisions will be made and communicated by Friday, April 17, 2026.

Below are important dates/times for summer school:

• Summer School Dates: June 8-July 17 (no school on June 19 or July 3)

• Summer School Teacher Hours: 8:00-12:30pm

• Optional Virtual Q&A Session: March 5 from 4:00-4:30pm (link to attend)

• Form Submissions Close: Friday, April 10

• Staffing Decisions Communicated: Friday, April 17

• Required All Staff Training: Wednesday, May 20 from 4-5pm (compensated)

• Required Teacher Training: Tuesday, June 2nd (compensated)

• Elementary Teachers: 8:30am-3:30pm

• Middle School Teachers: 8:30am-11:00am

• High School Teachers: 1:00-3:30pm

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.