Curriculum Mapping Category Definitions
Essential Questions: What we want students to think about.
This is the essence or core of the curriculum and frames the scope and sequence of the curriculum. It is at the heart of what students should examine and know. Similarly, chapter headings in a table of contents describe the range and order of a book. Asking what we want students to wrestle with intellectually helps us to organize our thinking, commit to investigation and inquiry, and approach curricular design through creative choice that highlights the focus of a course or a unit of study.
Essential questions are the parameters of a unit or course of study whether for two weeks a term, or longer.
Examples:
6th grade Civil War unit
How did the Civil War change 20th century American life?
Is the Civil War still going on today?
11th-12 grade Literature and Revolution:
Should literature have a political purpose?
What are the effects of literary production on revolution?
1st grade Community unit:
What makes a community?
How does community affect my life?
What do I owe my community?
Essential Questions such as these can motivate and focus students on what they really need to know, understand and be able to do.
Good essential questions:
Content: Declarative Knowledge
What we want students to know and understand.
This is what we want students to know, understand and store in long term memory. Declarative knowledge is the content of the curriculum, the facts, concepts, generalizations and principles. It is the content of the curriculum we want students to understand. Content is what we know and can explain to others; it is consciously understood factual information.
Examples:
:6th grade Civil War Unit
As a result of this study, students will know and understand
Key stakeholders in the Civil War.
The North's and the South's reasons for going to war.
Outcomes of the war in 1865.
Connection to present day civil rights issues
11th-12 grade Literature and Revolution:
As a result of this study, students will know and understand
Literature in translation from Chinese, Indian, and Mali including essayists, novelists, short story writers, and poets from the 20th century; basic events that affected Chinese, Indian, and Mali history
1st grade Community unit:
As a result of this study, students will know and understand
That families, neighborhoods and cities are communities.
That The School is a community.
Skills: Procedural Knowledge
What we want students to be able to do.
This is what we want students to be able to do at the completion of our unit or term. It is the processes, procedures and skills the students will possess which will enable them to form Procedural Knowledge. Skills are about how to do something - it includes the operational and practical skills and processes needed to learn.
Examples:
:6th grade Civil War Unit
As a result of this unit, students will be able to
Compare information from a variety of historical sources.
Take notes that reflect understanding of the texts.
Create timelines of the major events of the Civil War.
Write journals showing organization, word choice, personal voice, and historic perspective.
11th-12 grade Literature and Revolution:
As a result of this class, students will be able to:
Actively read 40 pages a night.
Use writing style effectively, including syntactical writing.
Make clear choices about the words used in writing.
Write in-depth textual explication.
1st grade Community unit
:As a result of this unit, students will be able to:
Identify and sort attributes of family, community.
Represent their families and neighborhoods through pictures
Organize a list of characteristics of communities.
Assessment: Culminating
The opportunities we provide students to demonstrate their understanding of our content and the skills they have acquired.
Assessments are observable and measurable. They may include demonstrated proficiency in the classroom through participation in discussion, presentations and completed projects as well as traditional test, quizzes and homework assignments.
What would be accepted as evidence that students understand the "BIG IDEA", broad topic, and/or concept?
What product or performance will the student produce?
Do the assessments allow students to demonstrate their learning or understanding in multiple ways?
Types of Assessments
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Resources: Materials we draw upon for our instruction.
Resources are the instructional tools we use in the classroom. They could include books, periodicals, teacher-generated handouts, web sites, audio-visual materials. Resources could also include items used for special projects, such as games, puzzles, resource kits, guest speakers, etc.