Standards alignment at a glance
Use the alignment documents to see how state standards connect to instructional targets, lessons, and differentiated tasks across Unique Learning System and News2you.
Connect core and supplemental instruction
Core and supplemental instruction are most meaningful when they are intentionally connected. Use the Unique Learning System core curriculum as the instructional foundation, then identify opportunities to extend learning with News2you and strengthen access, communication, and engagement with Symbolstix.
Planning tools and resources can help educators connect these components to instructional goals, standards, classroom activities, and student needs. News2you can provide real-world content and additional opportunities to apply and reinforce learning, while Symbolstix can support communication and participation throughout instruction. Bringing these resources into the same planning process helps educators create a more cohesive instructional sequence rather than treating each solution as a separate activity or resource.
Each solution plays a distinct role in the plan:
Unique Learning System (Core)
- Sets the instructional targets, standards, and sequence of skills through thematic units or learning pathways
News2you (Extend and Apply)
- Gives students real-world, high-interest texts and activities to practice and generalize those same skills
Symbolstix (Access and Communicate)
- Provides the visual supports students need to take part, respond, and express what they know across both
Planning with teacher resources
Before anything is assigned, start with the planning documents each solution provides. These resources show what students are learning and where the natural connection points are between core and supplemental content.
Standards alignment documents
Standards-alignment resources are provided for core content areas, as well as preschool and transition. Each document connects academic standards, instructional targets, News2you activities, and differentiated tasks. Because Unique Learning System alignment tools follow a similar structure (standards → instructional targets → lessons and activities → differentiated tasks), you can place the two side by side to find shared standards and targets.
Suggested weekly plan at a glance
Each News2you issue includes a Weekly Plan with daily routines and activities. The numbered call-outs show where each day connects to Unique Learning System and Symbolstix.
Connect News2you to your core plan
Follow these five steps to connect News2you with your Unique Learning System plan and turn supplemental activities into meaningful skill practice.
Quick tips and supporting resources
- Set it and match it. When you create a current events class in the Planner, turn on News2you auto-assignment so newspaper issues and breaking news appear on student dashboards automatically. Then pair activities with your core lessons, such as an aligned skills practice activity.
- Find the right issue and level. Past issues stay available for one calendar year, so search by keyword to find one that connects to your current unit theme. For students building sight-word reading, turn off symbols in breaking news so they focus on the text itself.
Symbolstix communication templates
Symbolstix provides the universal visual language used throughout Everway solutions, so the symbols students see in Unique Learning System lessons and News2you articles are the same symbols on the boards you create.
Start with solution collections
- Unique Learning System: Filter by grade band and thematic unit so boards align directly with core skills and vocabulary.
- News2you: Browse collections by newspaper issue to build boards that support class discussion about current events.
Build with board wizard templates
- Browse template categories such as Communication, Schedules, English Language Arts, Math, Science, Sequences, Sorting & Matching, Classroom Management, and AAC and Device Support.
- Pre-populate the board templates with symbols from a Unique Learning System, News2you, or created collection.
Align boards to instructional moments
Use these five board ideas to connect Symbolstix with your Unique Learning System and News2you plans, and give students meaningful ways to communicate and take part throughout the week.
Use symbols with intention
Symbols work best when they support communication and comprehension without adding extra visual load. Keep these four practices in mind as you build boards and choose symbol settings.
Quick tips and supporting resources
- Personalize without starting over. Need a similar board for another student? Duplicate it in My Boards and edit the copy. Upload student photos or images of familiar places to My Images Library to make boards more meaningful, and change the search language in settings to find symbols in 11 languages for multilingual learners.
- Keep supports consistent. Send boards to speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and paraprofessionals so every setting uses the same communication supports. For Spanish-speaking students, pair boards with Unique Learning System Spanish materials.
Adding student activities within the Planner
Once connection points are identified, the Planner turns that plan into assignments. It brings Unique Learning System, News2you, and Symbolstix content into one place, where you can assign, launch teacher-led instruction, and monitor completion.
Using the suggested unit pacing guide with the Planner
Thematic units support a spiral approach, where key concepts are revisited repeatedly at increasing complexity. Each unit's Suggested Unit Pacing Guide covers four weeks of instruction across phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, math, science, and social studies.
Suggested unit pacing at a glance
The Suggested Unit Pacing Guide organizes each thematic unit into daily literacy and math blocks. Use the call-outs to find natural points each week to add News2you and Symbolstix.
One connected week at a glance
A sample week showing how core instruction, supplemental activities, and communication supports can work together each day.
Quick tips and supporting resources
- Keep your data together. The student activity export only includes assignments made in the Planner, so assign core and supplemental activities there.
- Reach students outside the dashboard. Copy an assignment's URL to add it to Google Classroom or your district's LMS.
Using the pathways scope and sequences with the Planner
Learning pathways support a sequential approach, where one skill is built before moving to the next. Math, Science, and Social Studies Pathways are sequential, while ELA pathways are built with a spiral approach. Pathway scope and sequence documents outline the units, topics, concepts, and suggested number of weeks for each pathway.
Learning pathway at a glance
Learning pathways build skills one unit at a time. Use the call-outs to find where News2you activities and Symbolstix boards can reinforce each unit's skill focus.
Reinforce the pathway skill focus
Learning pathways keep students focused on one skill over several weeks. Connect News2you activities and Symbolstix boards to that skill so students can practice it in new, meaningful contexts.
Quick tips and supporting resources
- Plan five days at a time. You keep a predictable routine while leaving room to adjust each week, and you can use skip, extend, or merge for schedule changes. Leave the continuous planning toggle on when you assign so the next five days pick up where you left off.
- Plan as a team. Add collaborators to a custom pathway so everyone supporting the student can edit or assign it. Archive pathways you no longer need rather than deleting them, because deleted pathways can't be restored.