FINDING THE PATH AND STAYING ON IT

Sue HowellAugust 12 & 13, 2010

Calendar-based curriculum mapping is a procedure for collecting and maintaining an operational data base of the curriculum in a school or district. Curriculum mapping provides the basis for authentic examination.

Module 1, Figure 1

•One side is the Documentation--the maps themselves

•One side is the Review Process--the collaborative examination and revision of the maps by the teachers

Mapping: A Two-Sided CoinModule 1, Figure 2

OLD Curriculum Terms

New Terms Curriculum Mapping

1. Goal 2. Lesson Plan 3. Scope & Sequence Resource Guide 4. “Understands…” 5. Materials 6. Objective 7. Collaboration 8. Test/Quiz

1. Essential Questions 2. Activities 3. Curriculum Map 4. Higher Order Thinking Verbs 5. Resources 6. Benchmark and Critical Skills 7. Collaboration 8. Assessment

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONSDefinition: Overarching questions that provide

focus for the unit and are aligned to the “Big Ideas,” concepts, or themes

 Criteria: •Encourage higher level thinking

•Help students make connections beyond content being studied

•Focus on “Why is this important?” •Include different levels of questions

(fundamental, situational, authentic) •Written in question form

CONCEPT/CONTENTDefinition: Key concept, targeted facts, and core content

Criteria: •Start with key concept, “Big Idea” or Enduring Understanding•Can be discipline, interdisciplinary, student-centered•Written in noun form—targeted facts and information points

SKILLSDefinition: What students need to know or be able to do in order to demonstrate mastery or understanding of the content

Criteria:•Begin with action verbs

•Are specific ,observable, and measurable--precise, not generic•Include benchmark and critical skills•Reflect an expectation of higher levels of thinking •Include integrated skills included in teaching of the concept• Include additional skills that support

ASSESSMENTSDefinition: Evidence of Learning

Criteria:•Are demonstrations of learning•Include integration of multiple skills•Are tangible products or observable performances•Include multiple types of assessments to give a more complete picture of learning•Written in noun form•Are demonstrations of learning

ACTIVITIESDefinition: Practice opportunities to master skills

Criteria:•Hands on•Engaging•Incorporate different learning styles•Included in lesson plans on mapping software

Textbook as Curriculum

Essential Curriculum

Curriculum Maps

Benchmark Skills

Critical Skills

Assessments Aligned to a

Program

Assessments Aligned to Essential

Curriculum?

Assessments Aligned to

Benchmark and Critical Skills in Curriculum Map

Instruction Focused on a

Program

Instruction Focused on Teaching Strategies

Instruction Focused on a

Curriculum Map: K-12

(Based on work with Dr. Bena Kallick)

Consistent and

Standardized

Professional Developme

nt

Customized and

Responsive Professional Developmen

t: Training, Coaching, Leadership

From... To… (sample)

• Mapping is intimate work. It is not generic. Mapping is transparent, and it has to be electronic.

• “Choose your century.”—Heidi Hayes Jacobs

• 35-40% of all achievement test errors are reading errors.

InternalCumulativeExternalTo StudentsGlobal

Having maps won’t help us at all. Using them will!

VERTICAL TEAMS ARE VITAL!

1. Laying the Foundation –the reasons,purposes, terms, types of maps

2. Launching the Process/Getting Started

3. Sustaining, and Integrating the System

4. Advanced Mapping Tasks

Maps are data!

Handout—commonly used terms Which fit your grade-level TEKS?

Handout Which fit your grade-level TEKS?

What do we expect students to learn? How will we know when they have learned it?How will we teach it?What do we do if they already know it?How will we differentiate?How will we respond when they don’t learn?What do we do if they continue not to learn?What do we do if they still aren’t learning?How does this connect to other subjects?