Curriculum Updates
for K12 Texas Faculty & Staff
September 2018
Celebrate Freedom Week is Coming! September 17-20
Week of September 17
- Texas Government Code § 29.907 - Celebrate Freedom Week.
- (A) To educate students about the sacrifices made for freedom in the founding of this country and the values on which this country was founded, the week in which September 17 falls is designated as Celebrate Freedom Week in public schools. For purposes of this subsection, Sunday is considered the first day of the week.
- (B) The agency, in cooperation with other state agencies who voluntarily participate, may promote Celebrate Freedom Week through a coordinated program. Nothing in this subsection shall give any other state agency the authority to develop a program that provides instruction unless funds are specifically appropriated to that agency for that purpose.
Thank you Naomi Armstrong for sharing the resources below!
New for Constitution Day: Distance Learning for Students and a Professional Development Webinar by Jenny
September 17th is Constitution Day! On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document that they had spent weeks creating: the Constitution of the United States.
However, the Constitution is only one of our founding documents. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights – collectively known as the Charters of Freedom – lay the foundation for our nation and government.
Students sometimes confuse these documents and have a hard time remembering each one's purpose. Our brand new distance learning programs can help students differentiate and understand the importance and relevance of each.
K-12 Distance Learning Programs
These programs for grades 3-12 are free of charge. A National Archives facilitator will connect with your class for a fun and interactive experience via traditional video conferencing equipment or through a web-based platform.
Each program has been designed to enhance content knowledge of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, and to strengthen critical thinking skills by analyzing primary sources from the holdings of the National Archives.
Programs are available Tuesday-Thursday and must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance. For more information, email distancelearning@nara.gov or visit our distance learning page.
The Charters of Freedom: Building a More Perfect Union, for Grades 3-5
45-60 minutes
No required pre-program lesson
Guiding Question: What is the purpose of each of the founding documents and why are they important?
During this program, students will learn the purpose of each of the founding documents—the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights—and why each is important. In groups, students will complete a graphic organizer and use the information to answer questions by incorporating kinesthetic learning.
Special Constitution Day Presentation
Or, join us for a Constitution Day presentation on Monday, September 17, 2018, 1:15–2 p.m. EDT· Register via the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC)
Or via email at distancelearning@nara.gov with subject line: Elementary Constitution Day Program. Include the school or group name, the number of students participating, and grade levels.
The Charters of Freedom: Building a More Perfect Union, for Grades 6-12
45-60 minutes
No required pre-program lesson
Guiding Question: Why do the Charters of Freedom exist?
During this program, students will analyze opening passages of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They will create a graphic organizer to help them distinguish the Charters of Freedom by their purpose. Next, students will match document excerpts to each excerpt’s origin—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. The program will conclude with a discussion about the legacy of these founding documents.
Special Constitution Day Presentation
Or, join us for a Constitution Day presentation on Monday, September 17, 2018, 10:15–11 a.m. EDT
· Register via the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC)
· Or via email at distancelearning@nara.gov with subject line: Middle School Constitution Day Program. Include the school or group name, number of students participating, and grade levels.
Professional Development Webinar for Educators
Teaching the Constitution with Political Cartoons
Wednesday, September 5, 2018, 7:00 p.m. EDT
"Anyone Home?" by Cartoonist Clifford Berryman, 2/24/1920, From the Records of the U.S.Senate, available at: www.docsteach.org/documents/document/anyone-home
Join the Center for Legislative Archives to discover how to use political cartoons to teach about the United States Constitution. Offered for the second year, this free webinar will draw from the collection of Clifford K. Berryman cartoons from the U.S. Senate Collection.
Berryman’s career as a political cartoonist in Washington, DC, spanned five decades and his cartoons are a rich resource for history and civics lessons.
During the interactive webinar, you will practice techniques for helping students evaluate visual content and explore ideas for how to use political cartoons to illustrate the “Big Ideas” of the Constitution, such as separation of powers and representative democracy. You will also explore additional resources from the National Archives for integrating political cartoons in the classroom, such as DocsTeach.org. This webinar is designed for middle school and high school educators.
Professional Development
Sheltered Instruction Training
The Sheltered Instruction Training Series resource provides direct links to the four ELL Foundations courses, the ELPS Academy course, and content specific courses. The resource also contains a checklist to track progress in completing courses
Courses for Back-to-School Training
As you plan for back-to-school training, please keep in mind that Science Safety for Elementary School, Middle School, and High School are open for enrollment for the 2018–2019 school year. Bloodborne Pathogens Training is also available for the upcoming school year, and the Texas Dyslexia Identification Academy: Dyslexia Foundations course is available for districts that want teachers to take this course as a refresher and re-new their certification.
For any of the courses listed above, participants may self-enroll at Gateway Courses. To receive updates as courses go live, follow us @txgateway or watch for announcements via the Digital Learning or Texas Gateway bulletins.
Making Your Everyday Curriculum Materials More Accessible for All Learners
Texas is collaborating with the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (AEM Center) and seven other states to offer a no-cost professional development opportunity to improve the accessibility of the materials students use for learning. More information about the training can be found at Making Your Everyday Curriculum Materials More Accessible for All Learners.
Advanced Placement
AP® in-person professional development workshops
Search for a WorkshopLed by experienced AP professionals, the College Board's one- and two-day workshops are available from October through March. Workshops are facilitated with you in mind and designed to give you specialized support to develop or refine your AP course.
You can use what you learn right away in your classroom to help your students excel in their AP courses. You will:
•Deepen your understanding of the AP program and course and exam expectations.
•Develop instructional approaches that align with the goals of AP.
•Identify content and skills where students might need more preparation.
•Connect with other AP teachers and share best practices.
At the AP® Annual Conference last week in Houston, we highlighted 10 new resources and supports that will launch in the 2019-20 school year.
As an AP teacher, you'll receive resources that will help you provide focused practice and feedback for your students throughout the year:
•Unit guides help chart a path from day one to exam day.
•Question bank boosts student practice with 15,000 on-demand AP Exam questions.
•Personal progress checks give students actionable feedback throughout the year.
•Performance dashboard highlights student progress and focus areas.
•Transparency and stability through detailed course and exam descriptions and consistent exam formats eliminate guesswork from the classroom and exam room.
2018-19 AP U.S. Government and Politics Redesign
•A secure practice exam reflecting the redesign is now available in your AP Course Audit account. Log in and click Secure Documents in the Resources section of your Course Status page.
•The course and exam pages on AP Central® have been updated to serve as your home base for information and resources for the redesigned course and exam.
•For the 2018-19 AP Course Audit, you'll need to submit a new or revised syllabus that aligns with the updated curricular requirements.
•Join the U.S. Government and Politics Teacher Community to connect with colleagues, share classroom materials, and exchange ideas.
•Beginning later this summer and continuing through the fall and winter, additional new resources will be available, including Teaching and Assessing modules, online events, and reading skills lessons.
Update on 2019-20 AP World History Changes
The current AP® World History course and exam attempt to cover 10,000 years of human history—from the Paleolithic Era to the present. In contrast, colleges manage the unique breadth of world history by spreading the content across multiple courses. Because AP World History does not do this, a majority of AP World History teachers have told us that they've been teaching too little about too much. Students' essay scores on the end-of-year AP Exam have reflected that overwhelming challenge.
Since our recent announcement about changes to AP World History, which were meant to alleviate that problem, we've received thoughtful, principled feedback from AP teachers, students, and college faculty. This feedback underscores that we share the same priorities: engaging students in the rich histories of civilizations across the globe and ensuring that such important content is given the time it deserves.
Changes We'll Make in Response to Feedback
Corrected Instructional Reports for History
New Resources for AP Science Students
A new student reference guide, Quantitative Skills in the AP® Sciences, is available for AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, and AP Physics C: Mechanics.
This guide is designed to help students develop quantitative skills like using measurements, gathering and evaluating data, using quantitative evidence to support claims, and connecting empirical information to scientific theory. It will also familiarize students with formulas that appear on the equation sheets for each AP science course, so that they can perform common calculations on the AP Exam.
Please note: Although students can refer to the Quantitative Skills in the AP Sciences guide as they prepare for the exam, they may not bring this resource to the exam.
Highlights from the Chief Reader Report
In a new series of modules, the Chief Readers for four subjects briefly walk you through the highlights of their 2017 Chief Reader Report. You'll get bite-sized overviews of each free-response question: how students performed, teaching tips for areas where students struggled, and a deeper understanding of the questions and results.
AP Chemistry presented by Paul Bonvallet of the College of Wooster
AP English Literature and Composition presented by David G. Miller of Mississippi College
Because these modules are a new resource, we'd like to get your feedback. Please take this brief survey about the new Chief Reader presentations.
English/Language Arts
Deeper Class Discussions with the TQE Method by Jennifer Gonzalez
Thank you Naomi Armstrong for sharing!
RESOURCES
Gifted and Talented: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1prQyifbot70tgh7-K6aIvEjr8vIrhKRc
Thank you Jennifer Wolford for sharing!
Rubric Maker: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
PowerPoint Games: https://www.thebalanceeveryday.com/free-powerpoint-games-for-teachers-1358169
Science
Streamlined Science TEKS Posting
The streamlined science TEKS for K-8 science and four high school science courses will be posted on August 27 in the Texas Administrative Code at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter112/index.html.
The link to the strikethrough and underlined version of the streamlined science TEKS curriculum can be found on the Science TEKS Streamlining page at http://tea.texas.gov/Academics/Curriculum_Standards/TEKS_Texas_Essential_Knowledge_and_Skills_(TEKS)_Review/Science_TEKS_Streamlining/.
NOAA’s Webinars for Educators
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides a range of resources on oceanic and atmospheric science. Additional information may be found at
http://www.noaa.gov/news/sharpen-your-science-skills-with-noaa-s-webinars-for-educators.
Hot Science, Cool Talks: Fall 2018 Series
Hot Science - Cool Talks features interactive hands-on activities and information related to the evening's topic starting at 5:30 p.m., followed by a talk at 7 p.m. The talk and interactive Q & A are recorded and available on-demand.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 Hurricane Harvey: Flood Emergency Response Dr. David Maidment, Professor, Civil Engineering The University of Texas Sarah Labowitz, City of Houston
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018 Fire Ants, Crazy Ants & Zombie Ants Dr. Rob Plowes
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018 A Taste for the Beautiful Dr. Michael J. Ryan Professor, Integrative Biology The University of Texas
Event and parking information available at hotsciencecooltalks.org.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Biointeractives
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has created a series of resources for educators and students called Biointeractives. Additional information on these resources is available at https://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive.
Science PAEMST 2016 Winner Announced
Denise Koontz, a teacher in the Keller Independent School District, has been selected as the national winner representing Texas for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) in science. PAEMST is the highest recognition a mathematics or science teacher may receive for exemplary teaching in the United States.
As the PAEMST science awardee, Koontz will receive a $10,000 award, a Presidential citation, and a trip to Washington, D.C., for a series of recognition events, professional development activities and an awards ceremony.
The National Science Foundation administers PAEMST on the behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. For additional information about the PAEMST program, visit www.paemst.org.
For additional information on the announcement of the award, please see the press release at https://tea.texas.gov/About_TEA/News_and_Multimedia/Press_Releases/2018/Two_Texas_teachers_announced_as__2016_presidential_teaching_award_recipients/.
Earth Science Classroom Activities
On this website, educators can find suggested Earth science-related activities that are marked with a grade-level range. The activities can be found at http://www.earthsciweek.org/classroom-activities.
Texas Environmental Excellence Awards
The Texas Environmental Excellence Awards honor achievements in environmental preservation and protection. As the state's highest environmental honor, the Office of the Governor and commissioners from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality recognize outstanding projects from ten diverse categories and have added a new award category, Environmental Educator of the Year. The winning educator's school/organization will receive a $2,500 to further environmental efforts.
Additional information is available at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/p2/events/teea/how-to-apply.
Green Strides Resources
This website provides tools that schools may use to reduce environmental impacts such as waste, water, energy, greenhouse gases, and transportation in the areas of facilities, grounds, and operations; improve health and wellness through coordinated school health, with consideration to air quality, contaminant control, acoustics, daylighting, thermal comfort, school food, and outdoors physical activity; and offer effective
environmental and sustainability education that emphasizes hands-on, real-world learning, civic engagement, STEM connections, and green career preparation.
Additional information is available at http://www.greenstrides.org/resources/.
Social Studies
Social Studies TEKS Streamlining Updates
The State Board of Education’s Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) review and revision process for streamlining the social studies TEKS calls for multiple, separate work groups. Five social studies TEKS streamlining work groups have been convened to date.
All work group drafts are posted on the Social Studies TEKS Streamlining Work Group Drafts web page at
Work Group E draft recommendations are now available on the Social Studies TEKS Streamlining Work Group Drafts web page. Please note that the Work Group E documents contains draft recommendations as of August 4, 2018. The work group is reconvening at the end of August and may make additional changes to the recommendations before finalizing.
TEA is accepting feedback on the drafts prepared by the social studies TEKS work groups throughout the streamlining process. Comments on the drafts will help to inform future work group recommendations. Additional information and instructions for submitting feedback are also available on the Social Studies TEKS Streamlining Work Groups Drafts web page through the link provided above.
The State Board of Education (SBOE) is scheduled to discuss proposed streamlining of the social studies Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for first reading and filing authorization at its September meeting, which is scheduled for September 11–14, 2018. A public hearing on the social studies TEKS streamlining revisions will also be scheduled during the SBOE meeting. Updates will be provided through the social studies bulletin and on the TEA website at https://tea.texas.gov/sboe/.
Distinguished Texas Teacher and Principal Recommendations
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) would like to invite the education community to recommend distinguished classroom teachers and/or principals to be included in the Texas talent pool.
We invite you to recommend distinguished classroom teachers and/or principals who have demonstrated the following:
- Exceptional educational talent as evidenced by effective instructional practices and student learning results in the classroom and school;
- Exemplary educational accomplishments beyond the classroom that provide models of excellence for the profession;
- Contributions to education that are largely unheralded yet worthy of the spotlight;
- Strong long-range potential, as an early- to mid-career educator, for professional and policy leadership; and
- An engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues, and the community.
Please complete a Talent Pool Recommendation Form for each individual, including a one-page letter explaining how this person meets the criteria outlined in this letter, and a resume for each recommendation. All nominations must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 7, 2018.
We look forward to working with you as we continue our efforts to recognize the distinguished teachers and/or principals in the state. For more information, please contact Allison Friedlander by email.
Christy Brewer, Curriculum Coordinator
Supports ELA, Social Studies, Fine Arts, ELA Electives
AP Coordinator
Email: cbrewer@k12.com
Phone: 907-726-1664
Rachel Smith, Curriculum Coordinator
Email: rasmith@k12.com
Phone: 682.233.5723
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