Prioritizing and Mappingthe Curriculum with the
Learning-Focused Toolbox
A Process for Developing Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
Created by LEARNING-FOCUSED SOLUTIONS
Essential Questions
What process was used to create the curriculum documents?
What do the documents look like?
Where are they now?
Where do we go from here?
What is it?
Curriculum
What is it like?A path or course to run in small steps.
What is the Purpose?To focus and connect the work of classroom teachers in school to the standards, assessments and classroom practices in order to raise student achievement.
What isn’t it?Curriculum is NOTNOT the textbook or program you purchased from a publisher.
Curriculum can no longer be what you’ve been doing for the past 15 years unless it is demonstrated to be in line with the standards and assessments!
Any document or plan that defines: •the work of teachers•the content to be learned by the students •the methods to be used in the process.
Why ‘Prioritize’ the Curriculum?
Every state’s curriculum has far too many standards to be learned in the time available.
In the past, teachers have had to independently prioritize their curriculum - which has provided an uneven “taught” curriculum that results in inconsistent achievement.
Why Prioritize the Curriculum?
The prioritizing curriculum process provides the means to deal with this abundance of standards and limited time.
Prioritizing the curriculum does not eliminate curriculum, but rather ‘codes the curriculum’.
All teachers that teach a common grade or course, now will emphasize the same learning and understanding rather than emphasizing “coverage”!
Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
As referenced by Bob Marzano in his book:
What Works In Schools
“the single most important initiative a school or district can engage in to
raise student achievement..”
Guaranteed Curriculum
EVERY STUDENT is provided the opportunity to learn a core curriculum which provides them with the probability of success in school.
Viable Curriculum
Schools make sure that the necessary time is available and protected so students will be able to learn the guaranteed curriculum.
Quality Curriculum:
Provides teachers with a guide for what students need to learn in order to be successful.
Prevents redundancies in instruction.
Guards against gaps in student learning.
Quality Curriculum
Provides a sequence of what needs to be learned across individual grade levels or courses as well as a vertical sequence from grade level to grade level or from course to course.
Provides teachers with a correlation to the standards and assessments in an attempt to assure students are as well prepared as possible.
Exemplary Practices in High Achievement,High AccountabilityDistricts andSchools
Organization-- Multiple Options for Acceleration-- Vertical AND Grade Level Teams-- Large Blocks of Time-- Literacy & Math Blocks
Planning-- Priority, Time Allocated-- Data & Results Driven-- Team-Based & Individual Planning-- Linked to Staff Development
Curriculum-- Prioritized Curriculum-- K-12 Benchmarks/Maps-- Curriculum Maps With Vocabulary Focus
Instruction-- K- 12 Reading Comprehension -- K- 12 Writing in Content-- Advance Organizers, Scaffolding, Preview-- Differentiated Cognitive Strategies-- Schools With Instructional Coaches
Assessment-- Focus = Assessment for Learning-- Continuous Formative Assessment-- Benchmark Assessments That Direct Instruction-- Continuous Use of Rubrics
Best Curriculum
The highest quality curriculum is developed by utilizing a wide range of resources during the development and subsequent monitoring of the curriculum. Standards Benchmarks Performance Objectives/Standard Statements Assessments Teacher experience
Prioritizing
Not all content is equal! Standards contain a range of
performance objectives and standard statements.
Some performance objectives are more important than others in helping students succeed!
How do we do it? STEP 1
Teachers prioritized the PA Academic Standards into Essential, Important and Compact categories.
Essential = 50% of the Content Requires 70% of the Instructional Time
Important = 30% of the Content
Requires 25% of the Instructional Time
Compact = 20% of the Content
Requires 5% of the Instructional Time
Differences
Essential refers to the “Big Ideas” or concepts that you want your students to understand at a greater depth.
Important refers to the key knowledge and skills that lead to student understanding of the essential knowledge.
Compact: refers to the less important stuff that students can usually get by without or will be acquired as a result of other instruction.
Prioritizing in Toolbox
Vertical Teaming
After grade level teams and course teams prioritized their Standards, they met in vertical teams.
Here they reviewed and discussed their rationale for how they prioritized each Standard.
They looked for redundancies and gaps before returning to their teams to make revisions.
STEP 2:
They clustered those Standards in the three categories into TOPICS that will be used to guide instruction.
Then they identified the CONCEPTS that are contained in each topic.
For every topic, they created a Curriculum Map including all the necessary elements.
Mapping in Toolbox
Creating Curriculum Map in Toolbox
Printed or publishedversion of the Curriculum Map
Key Learning (Enduring Understanding):
Unit Essential Question(s):
Instructional Tools:
Concept: Concept: Concept:
Lesson EssentialQuestions (LEQs):
Vocabulary:Vocabulary: Vocabulary:
Topic: Course:
Lesson EssentialQuestions (LEQs):
Lesson EssentialQuestions (LEQs):
Assessment(s):
Curriculum Map Components
KEY LEARNING: A full statement of what is essential for students to know and do, representing significant concepts key to understanding the content.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S): Written as a thought provoking and engaging question about the content that provides a view of the ‘Big Picture’ and acts as the ‘Mental Velcro’ for students to make connections.
Concepts: The ‘heart’ of the unit’s content.
Concepts: ‘Big Ideas’ that connect the skills or knowledge to the overarching topic.
Concepts: Nouns in the ‘Performance Objectives’ of each state’s standards.
Lesson Essential Questions: Concept specific but link to and support unit EQ(s).
Lesson Essential Questions: Frame the study of the topic and guide the learning. HOTS
Lesson Essential Questions: Used to activate & summarize key ideas.
Vocabulary: Words that are critical and essential to understanding the content being taught.
Vocabulary: Multiple meaning words & words that are easily misunderstood.
Vocabulary: Words related to “Big Idea” concepts and skills being taught.
Topic: First Grade Writing
Key Learning: Spoken words, illustrations & print convey meaning.
Unit Essential Question: How can I be a good writer?
Instructional Tools: Story Maps Writing Process Writer’s Workshop
Animated Literacy Word Splash
Organized Word Walls D-Nelian Handwriting
Letters & Words Directionality Capitalization/Punctuation
Concepts:
LEQ(s): (1) How do I form letters correctly? (2) How do I make words that say what I mean?
Vocabulary: middle left around right bottom top down
LEQ(s): (1) Where do I start writing? (2) Where do I go when I reach the end of the line?
Vocabulary: return sweep left top
right bottom
LEQ:
(1)What does a sentence look like? How would I know one if I saw one?
Vocabulary: question period space capital letter sentence lower/upper case letters exclamation mark question mark
Curriculum Map
Key Learning: All living organisms are made up of cells with specialized parts and functions. Each type of cell has a characteristic structure.
Unit Essential Question: If you were a cell, would you have more or less mitochrondria to party?
Topic: Cells & Their Environment (Cell-e-brating life on a microscopic level.)
Cell Anatomy Physiology
Key Vocabulary: ribosomes chromatin centrioles Golgi Bodies endoplasmic reticulum lysosome
The Cell & It’s DNA
Key Vocabulary: DNA RNA nucleotides nitrogen bases complementary bases Double helix
The Cell’s Environment
Key Vocabulary: osmosis solutions diffusion hypotonic plasmolysis hypertonic permeable isotonic
LEQ(s): (1) How are a cell’s parts related to function? (2) What causes varieties in cells?
LEQ(s): (1) Why would you call a nucleus “the central center” of a cell? (2) How is your DNA similar to the DNA of bacteria?
LEQ(s): (1) How is a fence and a cell membrane similar? (2) What happens when a cell changes environment?
Instructional Tools Egg Osmosis Kit
DNA magnetic board Cookie Cell
Model Rubric
Topic: Persuasive Writing (10th Grade American Literature)
Key Learning: Persuasive writers use reason, emotion & credibility to influence our thinking & motivate readers to action.
Unit Essential Question: How do persuasive writing techniques influence & motivate a reaction from readers?
Instructional Tools: Essay Rubric
Persuasive Writing Graphic Organizer Literature Suggestions:
Equiano, Paine, P. Henry, Jefferson, popular media &
political documents
Logic & Reason Emotional Appeal Clarity
Concepts:
LEQ:
(1) What are the differences between fact and perception?
Vocabulary:
refute opposition
deduction qualify
induction logos
LEQ(s): (1) How do the words a writer chooses influence his audience? (2) How does popular belief persuade a majority?
Vocabulary: diction tone pathos attitude spin rhetorical purpose
LEQ:
(1) How do I connect the individual parts of an essay in order to unify it?
Vocabulary: structure organization emphasis pace coherence transitions unity rhetorical question
Sample Curriculum Map3rd Grade Math: Multiplication
Key Learning: Multiplication is a more efficient way of adding.
Essential Question: How do we use multiplication?
Meaning
LEQ(s):1. How can arrays help you understand multiplication?2. How is multiplication repeated addition?3. How can you use skip counting to find a product?
LEQ(s):1. How do you multiply factors to get a product?2. What patterns can help you remember the multiplication facts?3. How can we find errors in multiplying?
Real-Life Application Process
LEQ(s):1. Where is multiplication used in real-life?
Vocabulary:large lotsbudgetingfinding areashoppingIndustry
Vocabulary:arraysrepeatedproduct digitvalue
Vocabulary:factorsproductreversinglattice methodpatternserrors
Instructional Tools:Graph Paper
Multiplication ChartsCalculator
Real Life Problems(finding area)
Sequence Chart of Steps
8th Grade Social Studies: The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Key Learning(s): Exploration is motivated by political, economic, scientific, & social factors. Individuals and theirvalues impact history. Patterns in one historical event can be found in other historical events.
Unit Essential Question(s):The Lewis and Clark Expedition: What’s the big deal?
Lesson Essential Questions:
Students will be able to:
• Primary Sources• Time Line• Persuasive Writing Graphic• Persuasive Writing Rubric• Word Splash
Lesson Essential Questions:
Vocabulary:
Lesson Essential Questions:
MotivationThe Corps of
DiscoverySignificance
Why did you send them, Thomas Jefferson?
How can you support Jefferson’sdecision?
Who were they andwhy were they chosen?
What were the contributions
of the expedition?
How can we find patternsin historical events?
How is the Lewis and ClarkExpedition like other events in history?
Vocabulary:• Expedition• Louisiana Purchase• Northwest Passage• economic• political
• corps• adventurous• leadership• teamwork• perseverance
Vocabulary:• impact• accomplishment• significance
Instructional Tools:
Curriculum Maps: Why are they so important?
Use as communication device
Conceptualize a unit
Enable consistent curriculum pacing and planning
Highlight important vocabulary
Enable students to "see" the knowledge gained over time and their learning
Visual representation Vocabulary term
Arms race
Definition
A competition between countries for the most and most powerful weapons
Personal association
Swans and peacocks
Step 3: Course Map
Teachers estimated how much time should be spent on each topic and arranged them sequentially on a course map.
The goal of the course map is to assure that all the content is taught before it is tested!!!!
Revisions are expected to be made to the content maps and to the course maps as ALL teachers experience them.
Pacing and Prioritizing Time
Clicking on the Topicin the timeline opensthe Curriculum Map forthe unit.
Revise the priorities and edit the Curriculum Maps as needed – based on current assessment data and experience.
Step 4: A Work In Progress
Benefits for Teachers… The instructional “WHAT” has been shared,
making it quick and easy to develop plans Many instructional factors have been decided
and developed for teachers, making their planning time much more efficient
Lessons are directly connected to the school/district prioritized curriculum
Planning and sharing with peers is easier and more efficient
Benefits for Students…
Mobility has much less impact on achievement
Instruction is directly connected to what is tested
Consistency of strategies and formats raises their performance
How do you use your ‘Curriculum Maps’?
The ‘Curriculum Maps’ are not meant to create more work for teachers but to act as guides as they plan instruction!
In grade level/course teams, preview the maps and discuss what content you are already addressing in your instructional program.
At this point, you can assess what needs to be added or deleted from your current program to assure student success
What to do with it?
2. Using Toolbox, your Curriculum can be automatically published to your district/school Curriculum website …
School/District Use Complete the rest of the unit decisions and develop
the lessons in Toolbox Saves teacher planning time More school/district input into instruction Allows for consistency of assessments and learning
strategies Easily shared and distributed to teachers
Decision 1 Decision 2 Decision 4 Decision 5 Decision 6
Decision 8 Decision 9 Decision 10 Decision 11Decision 7
Decision 3 – part of Decision 2 in Toolbox
Where do we go from here?
July 11-12, 13-14, 18-19, 20-21, 2006 First draft –Prioritization and mapping Document “published” but not “shared”
(http://publish.learningfocused.com/304886) September 12
First review, revisions by volunteer members of Review Committee
Document “shared” within Toolbox Summer 2007
Second review, revisions by Review Committee
Where do you go from here?
Questions to ask at district level: Who do you give access key code to?
Who gets ‘Read Only’? Who gets ‘Edit’ rights?
How does the sequencing of the units on the Timeline correlate to the text book series used in the district?
Who will introduce the maps to the staff? When? How will exemplary lessons/units be attached to
the map? Who will create lessons/units? Who will approve and save lessons/units? How will staff be informed of new lessons/units?