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 teachers in their classroom 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 we’ve been doing for the past 15 years unless it is demonstrated to be in line with the standards, assessments and student learning styles!

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?

• The prioritizing curriculum process provides the means to deal with this abundance of standards and limited time.

• Every state’s curriculum has far too many standards to be learned in the time available.

Why Prioritize the Curriculum?

•All teachers that teach a common grade now will emphasize the same learning and understanding.

• Prioritizing the curriculum does not eliminate the curriculum, but rather ‘codes the curriculum’.

• Identifies what needs to be learned across individual grade levels as well as a vertical sequence from grade level to grade level.

• Prevents redundancies in instruction.

• Guards against gaps in student learning.

Why Vertical Planning?

Prioritizing the Curriculum• 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• Prioritize the Standards into Essential,

Important and Compact categories. Essential = 4-6 questions in the CST (Requires 70% of the Instructional Time)

Important = 4-6 questions in the CST

(Requires 25% of the Instructional Time)

Compact ≤ 1 question in the CST

(Requires 5% of the Instructional Time)

Prioritizing the StandardsCALIFORNIA CONTENT STANDARDS: WRITING

# of Items

%

1.0 WRITTEN AND ORAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS: Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level.

16 21%

1.1 Sentence Structure: use simple, compound, and compound-complex sentences; use effective coordination and subordination of ideas to express complete thoughts

4

 

1.2 Grammar: identify and properly use indefinite pronouns and present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect verb tenses; ensure that verbs agree with compound subjects

3

1.3 Punctuation: use colons after the salutation in business letters, semi-colons to connect independent clauses, and commas when linking two clauses with a conjunction in compound sentences

3

1.4 Capitalization: use correct capitalization 21.5 Spelling: spell frequently misspelled words correctly (e.g., their,

they’re, there)4

E

essential

I

important

I

important

I E

essential

STEP 2: Vertical Planning• Each teacher shares with team the

prioritized standards for his/her grade level.

• Look for redundancies and gaps between grade level.

• Discuss what students need know, understand, and be able to do upon entering each grade level.

STEP 3: Vertical Mapping• Cluster those Standards in the

three categories (Essential, Important, and Compact).

• Identify the CONCEPTS/SKILLS that need to be mastered by the end of each grade level.

• For EVERY standard in EACH grade level, list the vocabulary, Approaches to Learning (ATL), and resources needed to enhance learning.

SCIENCE 7

STANDARD AND 2BRIEF DESCRIPTION

SAMPLE EXIT SKILL QUESTION/ PROBLEM

TERM/S SAMPLE STUDENT

ENGAGEMENT/ CLASSROOM

ROUTINE/ NOTETAKING/

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

WHITEBOARDS

TXBK P.28

Step 4: THE VERTICAL MAP• Each group posts

their maps.

• Have a gallery walk to view all the different teams’ map.

• Based on all the teams’ outputs, create a final map for next school year.

GRADE 6

GRADE 8

GRADE 7

Curriculum Maps: Why are they so important?

Use as communication device

Conceptualize a unit

Enable consistent curriculum pacing and planning

Highlight important vocabulary

“Shows" students’ knowledge gained over time.

Step 5: Curriculum Map• Estimate how much time should be

spent on each topic and arrange them sequentially on your roadmap.

• The goal of the roadmap 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.

Where do we go from here?