Back to School 25-26

Agenda - Caitlin

9:00-9:15 - Introductions
9:15-10:30 - Curriculum Changes and Updates
10:30-10:45 - Break
10:45-11:15 - 3-5 Synergy Assessments and Typing Club
11:15-11:30 - Generative AI in Elementary CS

Welcome Back!!! - Caitlin

Introductions
- Share who you are, where you teach
Small Group Chit Chat -- What did you do this summer? What are you excited about this year?
Here to help - Susan and Jason and Caitlin

Curriculum Changes & Updates: Changes at Glance - Jason & Susan

Check CS Google Sites for revisions and additions to essential lessons

Changes at Glance

Code.Org Updates For First Quarter - Jason & Susan

4th Grade: Mini Project - Career Journeys
Updated Teacher Dashboard
Additional updates for quarters 2-4 will be provided during our October Professional Learning Session

Genially Resources - Jason & Susan

New supplemental resources using the tool, Genially.
These are linked throughout the CS Google Site with the corresponding lessons.
See the Curriculum Changes at a Glance Document linked above to see when these resources are available throughout the year.
Thank you, Jason and Susan for creating these resources!

Lesson Closures and Formative Assessments - Jason & Susan

New lesson closures and formative assessment opportunities are included on the CS Google Site.
These were created for grades 3-5
These have similar style questions that students will see on the new quarterly summative assessments for grades 3-5. More information on that below.
Thank you, Jason and Susan for creating these resources!

Experience CS Update For First Quarter - Jason & Susan

At the end of last year CS First was discontinued by Google. Experience CS is the recommended replacement tool for CS First according to Google.
However, at this time they still do not have a secure way for students to login and create accounts.
Do not have students create accounts on Experience CS at this time. We are hopeful that they will make improvements to their student accounts as they continue to develop their product.
If you want students to create a project using Scratch they can use the Experience CS Scratch Editor linked below or students can use a blank (not logged in) editor in Scratch (from MIT) linked below.
If you want students to be able to save their work, they will have to download and upload their projects. There is a video tutorial linked below.
There are no required Scratch lessons in the Essential CS lessons for first quarter.
Additional information and updates will be provided at our October Professional Learning Session.

Accessing a Scratch Editor 2025-2026

Experience CS Scratch Editor

Scratch Online Editor

Video Tutorial on Saving/Opening Scratch Projects

3-5 Synergy Assessments - Caitlin

There is currently a district initiative for all courses offered to have DCAs. In the past, we did have a Synergy assessment focused on CS vocabulary, but that was only for fifth grade students. Last school year, a team of CS teachers developed DCAs for grades 3-5 based on the concepts covered at that grade level. This school year, we will be implementing these quarterly assessments.

Why DCAs?

The primary purpose of a DCA is to provide a useful assessment tool for teachers. DCAs are built in cooperation with teachers of specific courses to measure some of the most important learning goals in the LPS curriculum. DCAs need to provide information that is useful for teachers as measures of what students know and can do (and are useful parts of classroom assessment systems/gradebooks).
DCAs should also be useful tools in teaching conversations about how to plan further instruction, increase equitable access to learning, and provide students feedback on how to improve their knowledge and skills.
Student work on DCAs is often collected at the district level to help develop scoring advice for teachers, to check whether DCA items are measuring what they are intended to measure, and inform planning.
DCAs provide examples of student work that allow teachers of the same course and curriculum specialists to have important conversations about learning goals in these classes, and how to increase access to these important learning opportunities for all students.

Things to know about DCAs for this school year?

10 questions on each assessment (6 questions assess Computational Thinking, 2 questions assess Creative Computing, and 2 questions assess Digital Literacy)
Third grade will have one assessment for each quarter. Fourth and fifth grade will have an assessment for quarters 1, 2, and 3. There is not an assessment for fourth and fifth grade for fourth quarter.
DCAs are just for grades 3-5.
You will need to authorize students to complete the assessment. Directions on how to do that can be found on the resources and directions document linked below.
Do not base a student's grade off of how they perform on the summative assessment. It can be a tool to help you with grading.

Thank you, to the following teachers who helped with making these assessments:

Carie Copley

Susan Prabulos

Matt Rinne

Jason Rushing

Michele Sleight

Synergy District Assessment Resources and Directions

Typing Club Reminders - Caitlin

Typing Club

2nd-5th grade (required)
- 2nd grade will not have classroom support during Homeroom
Student access through LPS Portal (do not bookmark in browser)
- Accounts are managed by LPS at District level
- There should be NO advertisements. If you see ads, students have logged in incorrectly.
- Email Caitlin when you see teacher created accounts
District Typing Club Information

Generative AI in Elementary Computer Science - Caitlin

Gemini and NotebookLM are approved AI tools for Lincoln Public Schools.
Generative AI can be used to enhance and personalize instruction for your students. However, content created using generative AI does not replace our guaranteed and viable curriculum.
Access for teachers only right now, not for students.
Who has used these tools? How have you used them?

Artificial Intelligence In LPS Webpage

Announcements and Final Questions/Comments - Caitlin

Don't forget to use the Elementary CS Zoom chat if you have a question or concern -- many times it's one of the fastest ways to get information.

Always feel free to reach out to Jason or Susan (zoom or email) if you need guidance or ideas or input on something.

Jason: jrushing@lps.org

Susan: sprabul@lps.org

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Back to School 25-26

Agenda - Caitlin

9:00-9:15 - Introductions

9:15-10:30 - Curriculum Changes and Updates

10:30-10:45 - Break

10:45-11:15 - 3-5 Synergy Assessments and Typing Club

11:15-11:30 - Generative AI in Elementary CS

Welcome Back!!! - Caitlin

Introductions

Share who you are, where you teach

Small Group Chit Chat -- What did you do this summer? What are you excited about this year?

Here to help - Susan and Jason and Caitlin

Curriculum Changes & Updates: Changes at Glance - Jason & Susan

Check CS Google Sites for revisions and additions to essential lessons

Code.Org Updates For First Quarter - Jason & Susan

4th Grade: Mini Project - Career Journeys

Updated Teacher Dashboard

Additional updates for quarters 2-4 will be provided during our October Professional Learning Session

Genially Resources - Jason & Susan

New supplemental resources using the tool, Genially.

These are linked throughout the CS Google Site with the corresponding lessons.

See the Curriculum Changes at a Glance Document linked above to see when these resources are available throughout the year.

Thank you, Jason and Susan for creating these resources!

Lesson Closures and Formative Assessments - Jason & Susan

New lesson closures and formative assessment opportunities are included on the CS Google Site.

These were created for grades 3-5

These have similar style questions that students will see on the new quarterly summative assessments for grades 3-5. More information on that below.

Thank you, Jason and Susan for creating these resources!

Experience CS Update For First Quarter - Jason & Susan

At the end of last year CS First was discontinued by Google. Experience CS is the recommended replacement tool for CS First according to Google.

However, at this time they still do not have a secure way for students to login and create accounts.

Do not have students create accounts on Experience CS at this time. We are hopeful that they will make improvements to their student accounts as they continue to develop their product.

If you want students to create a project using Scratch they can use the Experience CS Scratch Editor linked below or students can use a blank (not logged in) editor in Scratch (from MIT) linked below.

If you want students to be able to save their work, they will have to download and upload their projects. There is a video tutorial linked below.

There are no required Scratch lessons in the Essential CS lessons for first quarter.

Additional information and updates will be provided at our October Professional Learning Session.

Accessing a Scratch Editor 2025-2026

3-5 Synergy Assessments - Caitlin

Why DCAs?

DCAs should also be useful tools in teaching conversations about how to plan further instruction, increase equitable access to learning, and provide students feedback on how to improve their knowledge and skills.

Student work on DCAs is often collected at the district level to help develop scoring advice for teachers, to check whether DCA items are measuring what they are intended to measure, and inform planning.

DCAs provide examples of student work that allow teachers of the same course and curriculum specialists to have important conversations about learning goals in these classes, and how to increase access to these important learning opportunities for all students.

Things to know about DCAs for this school year?

10 questions on each assessment (6 questions assess Computational Thinking, 2 questions assess Creative Computing, and 2 questions assess Digital Literacy)

Third grade will have one assessment for each quarter. Fourth and fifth grade will have an assessment for quarters 1, 2, and 3. There is not an assessment for fourth and fifth grade for fourth quarter.

DCAs are just for grades 3-5.

You will need to authorize students to complete the assessment. Directions on how to do that can be found on the resources and directions document linked below.

Do not base a student's grade off of how they perform on the summative assessment. It can be a tool to help you with grading.

Thank you, to the following teachers who helped with making these assessments:

Carie Copley

Susan Prabulos

Matt Rinne

Jason Rushing

Michele Sleight

Typing Club Reminders - Caitlin

Typing Club

2nd-5th grade (required)

2nd grade will not have classroom support during Homeroom

Student access through LPS Portal (do not bookmark in browser)

Accounts are managed by LPS at District level

There should be NO advertisements. If you see ads, students have logged in incorrectly.

Email Caitlin when you see teacher created accounts

District Typing Club Information

Generative AI in Elementary Computer Science - Caitlin

Gemini and NotebookLM are approved AI tools for Lincoln Public Schools.

Generative AI can be used to enhance and personalize instruction for your students. However, content created using generative AI does not replace our guaranteed and viable curriculum.

Access for teachers only right now, not for students.

Who has used these tools? How have you used them?

Announcements and Final Questions/Comments - Caitlin

Don't forget to use the Elementary CS Zoom chat if you have a question or concern -- many times it's one of the fastest ways to get information.

Always feel free to reach out to Jason or Susan (zoom or email) if you need guidance or ideas or input on something.

Jason: jrushing@lps.org

Susan: sprabul@lps.org