Curriculum in DCSD:

The DCSD Board of Education defines the official curriculum, or course of study, for all students in Douglas County School District Re-1.  The current DCSD Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum (GVC) includes provisions for specific content knowledge (Colorado Academic Standards), Essential Skills (i.e. 21st Century Skills/4C’s), and higher-order thinking skills at each grade level.

Each school within DCSD has the flexibility to choose the curriculum resources/tools they will use to help teachers and students meet the intended outcomes of the GVC (site-based decision). At Soaring Hawk, we have carefully selected nationally-recognized, research-based resources to implement school-wide in both English Language Arts (reading/writing) and Math that align with our school mission, and help us to to meet the needs of the whole child--with a focus on engaging students in meaningful work that fosters both rigor and joy in learning.

iReady Math

Ready Common Core Mathematics helps teachers create a rich classroom environment in which students at all levels become active, real-world problem solvers. Through teacher-led instruction, students develop mathematical reasoning, engage in discourse, and build strong mathematical habits. The program’s instructional framework supports educators as they strengthen their teaching practices and facilitates meaningful discourse that encourages all learners. DCSD Ready Classroom Math Courses

• Encourages students to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics concepts through the embedded Standards for Mathematical Practice

• Builds on students’ prior knowledge with lessons that make connections within and across grade levels and directly address the major focus of the grade

Benchmark

 

Benchmark Phonics & Word Study Workshop has a research-based scope and sequence that covers all grade-level standards, but also has a built-in review and repetition cycle to accelerate students’ mastery. It has a defined scope and sequence provides the spine on which all the phonics instruction rests. It’s a roadmap for teachers, making clear the pacing of instruction, the skills to teach in each grade, and the amount of instructional focus. 

It includes a systematic and explicit instruction in which students are directly taught letter-sound connections (e.g., introduction, modeling, blending) and guided to apply those skills in reading and writing (word building, dictation, reading and writing about decodable text) using common structured literacy techniques—both multisensory and multimodal.

It is also organized around three-week knowledge strands (science, social studies, literacy) that deepen students vocabulary and content knowledge as students read multiple texts in these strands. Weekly read alouds offer additional opportunities to build these skills.

Science and Social Studies

Our main resource for Science is Generation Genius.  Generation Genius  is an inquiry-driven curriculum aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the NGSS adapted 2020 CAS for Science. 

Furthermore, at least one EL Literacy Module at each grade level has a science content focus, including accompanying hands-on labs, investigations, and/or in-depth case studies. 

At SHE, we use a wide variety of resources/tools to help our students master the Colorado Academic Standards in Social Studies. Our K-6 students participate in a variety of teacher-developed lessons, as well as interactive lessons, field trips, and simulations generated through community partnerships, to bring geography, history, economics, and civics to life. Furthermore, several of the EL Literacy Modules emphasize content from various domains of social studies, allowing our students to immerse themselves in compelling thematic units of study over time.