CURRICULUM PLANNING GUIDE

This guide was adapted from the NC DPI, Science, “Workshop Guide and Sample Unit Planning Template: A Handbook for Developing Standards-basedCurriculum and Instruction, strategic conversations on achieving alignment from Content into Knowledge” and Mathematics, “Getting Started with Implementation of CCSs” and “Instructional Planning Model.”

Curriculum mapping refers to thealignmentoflearning standardsand teaching—i.e., how well and to what extent a school or teacher has matched the content that students are actually taught with the academic expectations described in learning standards—but it may also refer to the mapping and alignment of all the many elements that are entailed in educating students, includingassessments, textbooks, assignments, lessons, and instructional techniques.

Generally speaking, acoherent curriculumis (1) well organized and purposefully designed to facilitate learning, (2) free of academic gaps and needless repetitions, and (3) aligned across lessons, courses, subject areas, and grade levels. When educators map a curriculum, they are working to ensure that what students are actually taught matches the academic expectations in a particular subject area or grade level. (Glossary of Educational Reform, 2014)

Rick and Becky DuFour (2006), noted experts on the positive impacts of Professional Learning Communities, have offered a variation on this theme. The DuFours suggest that there is a caveat to the mantra “all kids can learn” and offer the following twist:

All kids can learn…

  1. based on ability
  2. if they take advantage of the opportunity
  3. and we will accept responsibility for ensuring their growth
  4. and we will establish high standards of learning that we expect all students to achieve.

Going further, the DuFours suggest, if the purpose of school is truly to ensure high levels of learning for all students, schools will ensure that there is a system in place to make this a reality. In order to accomplish this task, organizational patterns and practices generally used in the past must be reexamined.

Thus, if we believe “all kids can learn”, schools will…

  1. clarify what each student is expected to learn
  2. monitor each student’s learning on a timely basis
  3. and create systems to ensure students receive additional time and support if they are not learning.

Finally, the DuFours suggest that systemic education reform efforts must be grounded in 4 powerful points for growth:

IF WE BELIEVE ALL KIDS CAN LEARN…

1. What is it we expect them to learn?

2. How will we know when they have learned it?

3. How will we respond when they don’t learn?

4. How will we respond when they already know it?

In order to truly ensure that every school is yielding the success envisioned in the notion that all kids can learn, the DuFours offer another premise for success – there must be a systematic, non-invitational school-wide response that begins with ensuring every child is taught by a highly qualified and effective teacher.

Dr. Lorin W. Anderson (2005) proposes that the local curriculum must be based upon a written plan developed by teachers that will enable them to answer the following guiding questions:

  1. The Learning Question: What is important for students to learn in the limited school and classroom time available?
  2. The Instruction Question: How does one plan and deliver instruction that will result in high levels of learning for large numbers of students?
  3. The Assessment Question: How does one select or design assessment instruments and procedures that provide accurate information about how well students are learning?
  4. The Alignment Question: How does one ensure that objectives, instruction, and assessment are consistent with one another?

Dr. Anderson’s standards-based unit development process requires a clear understanding of:

  1. Standards: the NC Standard Course of Study and Essential Standards;
  2. Content: (including materials, activities, and estimated instructional time to be devoted to achieving standards);
  3. Relationship between the conceptual goals of the unit and the standards being addressed in the unit; and
  4. Process for measurement of objectives (formative and summative assessment).

Virtually all educators welcome high standards and believe in “high levels of learning” for all students, but the goal should not be at the expense of addressing the needs of the whole child. Deep curriculum mapping using lesson study model provides educators with the skills and insights needed to make the data driven decisions required to change practices into culture.

THE LEARNING QUESTION

What is important for students to learn in the limited school and classroom time available?

The Standards represent the big ideas and the clarifying objective, clarifies how students may demonstrate those big ideas. The Standard provides context for the clarifying objective; therefore, teachers are encouraged to always read the clarifying objective in the context of the Essential Standard and to teach them in that manner as well.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF STANDARDS

All standards are not the same. Evaluate the following standards and determine similarities and any implications with regards to:

Scope Time needed to learnPurpose or Function

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

  1. The student will draw upon a variety of strategies to comprehend, interpret, analyze, and evaluate what he or she reads [Reading Strand Goal].
  1. Integrate various cues and strategies to comprehend what he or she reads [Topic Standard].
  1. Demonstrate the ability to make connections between a text read independently and his or her prior knowledge, other texts, and the world.

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MATHEMATICS

  1. The student will understand numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems [Standard].
  1. Work flexibly with fractions, decimals, and percents to solve problems [Expectation].
  2. Write and use the appropriate equivalent forms of whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percents [Content Standard].

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SCIENCE

  1. The student will understand the structure of the Earth System.
  1. Water, which covers the majority of the Earth’s surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the “water cycle.” [National standards]
  1. Identify, investigate, and explain the processes of condensation, evaporation, precipitation, and runoff using a model or diagram [Know and be able to do to demonstrate competency.]

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SOCIAL STUDIES

  1. Contemporary Cultures: 1600 to the Present [Topic]
  1. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the colonial expansion of European powers and their (sic) impact on world government in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries [Standard].
  2. Summarize the characteristics of European colonial power and explain its effects on the society and culture of African nations, including global trade patterns and the spread of various religions [Indicator].

THE INSTRUCTION QUESTION

How does one plan and deliver instruction that will result in high levels of learning for large numbers of students?

THE KNOWLEDGE DIMENSION

(The knowledge dimension is the alignment of the standards and instruction.)

A. Factual Knowledge

  1. Knowledge of terminology (e.g., technical vocabulary, musical symbols)
  2. Knowledge of details & elements (e.g., major nature resources, reliable sources of information)

B. Conceptual Knowledge

  1. Knowledge of classifications & categories (e.g., periods of geologic time, forms of business ownership)
  2. Knowledge of principles & generalizations (e.g., Pythagorean theorem, law of supply and demand)
  3. Knowledge of theories, models, & structures (e.g., theory of evolution, structure of Congress)

C. Procedural Knowledge

  1. Knowledge of subject-specific skills & algorithms (e.g., skills used in painting with watercolors, whole-number division algorithm)
  2. Knowledge of subject-specific techniques & methods (e.g., interviewing techniques, scientific method)
  1. Knowledge of criteria for determining when to use appropriate procedures (e.g., criteria used to determine when to apply a procedure involving Newton’s second law, criteria used to judge the feasibility of using a particular method to estimate business costs)

D. Metacognitive Knowledge

  1. Strategic knowledge (e.g., knowledge of outlining as a means of capturing the structure of a unit of subject matter or a textbook, knowledge of the use of heuristics)
  1. Knowledge about cognitive tasks (e.g., knowledge of the types of tests particular teachers administer, knowledge of the cognitive demands of different tasks)
  2. Self-knowledge (e.g., knowledge that critiquing essays is a personal strength, whereas writing essays is a personal weakness, awareness of one’s own knowledge level

THE ASSESSMENT QUESTION

How does one select or design assessment instruments and procedures that provide accurate information about how well students are learning?

THE COGNITIVE PROCESS DIMENSION

(The cognitive process dimension is the alignment of the standards and assessment.)

1. Remember – Retrieve relevant knowledge from long-term memory.

1.1 Recognizing (identifying)

1.2 Recalling (retrieving)

2. Understand – Construct meaning from instructional messages, including oral, written, and graphic communication.

2.1 Interpreting (clarifying, paraphrasing, representing, translating)

2.2 Exemplifying (illustrating, instantiating)

2.3 Classifying (categorizing, subsuming)

2.4 Summarizing (abstracting, generalizing)

2.5 Inferring (concluding, extrapolating, interpolating, predicting)

2.6 Comparing (contrasting, mapping, matching)

2.7 Explaining (constructing causal models)

3. Apply – Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation.

3.1 Executing (carrying out a procedure with a familiar task)

3.2 Implementing (using a procedure with an unfamiliar task)

4. Analyze – Break material into its constituent parts and determine how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose.

4.1 Differentiating (discriminating, distinguishing, focusing, selecting)

4.2 Organizing (finding coherence, integrating, outlining, parsing, structuring)

4.3 Attributing (deconstructing)

5. Evaluate – Make judgments based on criteria and standards.

5.1 Checking (coordinating, detecting, monitoring, testing)

5.2 Critiquing (judging)

6. Create – Put elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganize elements into a new pattern or structure.

6.1 Generating (hypothesizing)

6.2 Planning (designing)

6.3 Producing (constructing)

Note. The terms in parentheses are synonyms of the primary cognitive processes. For example, hypothesizing is a synonym for generating.

THE ALIGNMENT QUESTION

How does one ensure that objectives, instruction, and assessment are consistent with one another?

Ten Good Things to do when…

Teaching Students to "Remember Factual Knowledge"

  1. Focus attention on important facts and terms (e.g., verbal markers, study guides)
  2. Structure the information to be remembered (e.g., outlines)
  3. Use repetition (e.g., flash cards, paired associates)
  4. Use mnemonic devices & acronyms
  5. Use of songs and rhythm activities (clapping, chanting, cheering)
  6. Use distributed practice
  7. Make connections and associations with familiar things (verbal then visual)
  8. Use different colors to highlight different things
  9. Uses pictures, charts, cartoons (visual images)
  10. Teach memory strategies (e.g., rehearsal, method of loci)

Teaching Students to "Understand Conceptual Knowledge"

  1. Emphasize defining features or key characteristics; ask "what makes X X?"
  2. Give examples, non-examples, and near examples.
  3. Teach concepts in relation to one another; show connections -- similarities and differences.
  4. Use hands-on activities (e.g., coins to teach division) and manipulatives; build models.
  5. Use metaphors and similes.
  6. Use visual imagery.
  7. Use "webs," concept maps, and other graphic organizers.
  8. Engage students in practical applications.
  9. Have students teach other students the conceptual knowledge.
  1. Use literature circles

Teaching Students to "Apply Procedural Knowledge"

  1. Use visual displays to focus on the entire procedure (e.g. flow charts)
  2. Emphasize each step in the procedure.
  3. For branching procedures, help students make proper decisions by engaging them in "if- then" reasoning.
  4. For behavioral procedures, engage in "shaping behaviors."
  5. Demonstrate (model) application for students, stopping periodically to "see where you are" and making adjustments as needed (promote self-regulation). (Incorporate independent study and/or long term research.)
  6. Discuss limits and extent of application (e.g., real world examples; "this applies here but not there").
  7. Give students worked out examples of the application of procedural knowledge.
  8. Work with partners; in teams.
  9. Engage students in guided, then independent practice (cooperative learning).
  10. Move students toward automaticity using a combination of massed and distributed practice.

A Few Good Things to Do When Teaching Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating

ANALYZING

  1. Teach students how to determine what is important and relevant within a larger context.
  2. Teach students how to examine the structure of various things (e.g., sentence, paragraph,
  3. logical argument, geometric proof, human body).
  4. Discuss ways in which things can be organized, giving examples.

EVALUATING

  1. Make explicit the criteria to be used in evaluating.
  2. Emphasize both checking (as you go) and critiquing (of finished product/performance).
  3. Use modeling and show models.

CREATING

  1. Structure task properly (what to create, for what purpose, and to what specifications).
  2. Provide constructive feedback.
  3. Share criteria/rating scales/rubric that will be used to evaluate the process or product.

Why Units?

  • Units provide a larger context for making sense of daily objectives, activities, and assessments.
  • Units provide more flexibility in the use of available time (e.g., for re-teaching something numerous students failed to learn).
  • Units provide the time needed for more meaningful, holistic learning. In this context, meaningful means the new learning is connected with what students already know and can do; holistic means students can see the connections and linkages between things they are learning.
  • Units provide sufficient time for instructional activities that allow for the development and assessment of the learning of more complex objectives (e.g., objectives involving creating, metacognitive knowledge, etc.).

TEN CHARACTERISTICS OF UNITS

  1. Units are organized around topics, themes, or projects and clusters of appropriate, related standards.
  2. Each unit generally takes from three to five weeks to complete.
  3. Units are written by teachers for teachers.
  4. Units are written in narrative (story) form.
  5. Units must balance direct instruction with student activity and exploration.
  6. Units must incorporate information technology resources (either for teacher, for students, or both).
  7. Units must include at least one formal, comprehensive assessment (e.g., unit test, project, a culminating performance).
  8. Units must be complete (including all necessary handouts, except those in text. For text material, page numbers should be identified).
  9. Sufficient detail must be provided so that teachers are able to implement them without assistance or interpretation from others, with the amount of detail depending on the level of experience of the teachers.
  10. All units must be formatted in the same way to promote widespread use.

Understanding and Using an Instructional Alignment Chart

Planning a Standards-based Unit

THE LEARNING QUESTION:

What is important for students to learn in the limited school and classroom time available?

Step 1:Decide on a unit theme. The theme may serve as a centering topic for the study. This is very important for integrated or interdisciplinary units of study.

Step 2:Identify a major concept to serve as a suitable conceptual lens for your study. (Important for interdisciplinary or intra-disciplinary unit planning)

Step 3:Identify the Standards and Big Ideas. Map your standards on page 5 of the template.

Write the Essential Standard, which emphasizes the context, or big idea, for each clarifying objective. Refer to national and local documents to align unpacking to the clarifying objectives.

Step 4:Brainstorm some of the enduring understandings [generalizations/essential understandings] that you would expect students to derive from the study, address possible misconceptions.

Examples of generalizations may be found in national documents such as the AAAS Benchmarks, 2009 NAEP Framework,The College Board Standards for College Success. Or, teachers may choose to write their own generalizations.

Examples:

  1. Organisms have structures and functions that facilitate their life processes, growth and reproduction.
  2. The flow of energy and cycling of matter links organisms to one another in an ecosystem and defines interdependent relationships of the living and non-living components.

Step 5:Brainstorm “guiding questions” to facilitate the student’s study toward the enduring understanding.

THE LEARNING QUESTION:

What is important for students to learn in the limited school and classroom time available?

Step 6:Identifying Clear Learning Targets and Sequencing Instruction /Deconstruct the standard to better identify instructional learning targets and embed formative assessment strategies.

Purpose: “Stated simply, when we teach, we want our students to learn. What we want them to learn as a result of our teaching are our objectives.”(Anderson, Krathwohl, et al., 2001. p.3)

Identifying clear learning targets and sequencing those targets to guide instruction are vital steps to maximizing student outcomes. While all standards will not require extensive “unpacking”, many will. Begin by asking, can this standard stand alone as an instructional learning target – meaning it will only take 1 to 2 hours of instruction to achieve mastery. Regardless of the response, all standards should be written in clear, manageable learning targets that guide the progression of instruction. Once targets are clearly identified, meaningful instruction will be achieved by properly sequencing the targets, assessments and the activities. Sequencing properly means concepts and activities are arranged in a manner that facilitates a progression from what students already know and are able to do to what they need to know and be able to do to demonstrate mastery of the clarifying objective.

Process: Identifying Learning Targets

In order to make learning targets clear to students, teachers must have a clear understanding of the standard. The best way to reach clarity and consensus on what students must learn is by having a conversation with a group (horizontal and vertical) of other teachers or “experts” who are well-versed in the content presented in the standards.

To begin this process, choose one clarifying objective for your group to discuss. Review the clarifying objective in the context of the associated Essential Standard to ensure everyone has a clear understanding of the full intent of the clarifying objective. Once everyone is clear on the intent of the standard, deconstruct the standard into smaller segments that, when properly sequenced, will allow students to focus on one key concept at a time. In order to attain mastery of a standard, students must see the target and have a clear understanding of what success with the target looks like. Thus, learning targets must always be accompanied by success criteria.