The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) describe learning science as a process of developing, refining and using knowledge to construct causal accounts for phenomena. Accordingly, chemistry courses should support students in linking molecular behavior to events they can see and touch. This symposium will describe an ongoing NSF-funded collaboration between teachers and researchers aimed at creating sensemaking-focused chemistry learning spaces. Audience members will have the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts from high school chemistry teachers designing and enacting reformed curricular materials, discuss the theory underpinning our curricular design, and ask questions of the researcher-practitioner team.