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District panel recommends Gibbs Smith’s Colorado Story as fourth‑grade social studies resource
Summary
An instructional selection team recommended adopting The Colorado Story, Third Edition (Gibbs Smith Education) for fourth‑grade social studies, citing alignment with Colorado standards, digital and print supports and a six‑year license cost estimate of about $185,500 plus professional learning.
An Instructional Resource Selection Team (IRST) recommended the district adopt The Colorado Story, Third Edition, from Gibbs Smith Education as the fourth‑grade social studies core resource.
The team, led by K‑12 social studies specialist Sean Seams, reviewed six candidate programs and focused on Colorado‑specific standards, the return of the statewide CMAS test in fourth grade and teacher requests for resources that support inquiry and primary‑source analysis. Seams said the panel valued both print and digital access and the resource’s alignment to the district’s curriculum units.
Rationale and supports: The panel highlighted three areas: student and teacher supports (digital and print options, teacher guides, pacing and differentiation); social‑studies content and skills (primary and secondary sources, map skills, inquiry units); and cross‑curricular connections (ELA literacy integration, career connections and museum partnerships).
Cost and implementation: The IRST estimated a six‑year digital license plus teacher and student access and physical copies at about $185,500, with professional learning and an implementation/negotiation package bringing the total near $200,000. The team proposed summer orientation, classroom‑level rollouts during the first quarter and ongoing learning communities and quarterly deep dives to support teachers.
Public input: Seams said the team hosted a community open house and gathered positive feedback on text features, differentiation and supports for struggling readers and multilingual learners.
Board response and next steps: CRGC (the district’s curriculum resource governance committee) has approved the recommendation and the IRST presented it to the board for consideration and negotiation. If the board approves, the district will negotiate final pricing, plan summer professional learning and schedule classroom rollout for the upcoming school year.
Ending: The recommendation was informational at the work session; the board will consider formal adoption after negotiation and budget approval.
