Developing a Common Language about Curriculum Academy 2012

Agenda Developing a Common Language about Curriculum Activity: Working with Curriculum Standards Reading: A Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum Activity: Using Curriculum to Guide Instruction Reflection Tools for Facilitating Discussions 2

Activity With your table groups, discuss the following question: WHAT IS CURRICULUM? 3

4 Differences Between Curriculum and Instruction How What Why Content Standard Performance Standard Instruction

The “WHAT” – Content Standards…“the stuff” 1. Conceptual Knowledge 2. Procedural Knowledge Cognitive Curriculum 3. Factual Knowledge 4. Metacognitive Knowledge 5

The “WHY” – Performance Standards—the result, outcome, objective, etc. The verb and its modifiers. What we want students to do with the “stuff”. The complexity or sophistication with which we want students to do something with the “stuff”—the Application / Analysis / Synthesis / Evaluation of Bloom’s. 6 Why are the Performance Standards so important?

Student Expectations The student is expected to: Performance Standard Content Standard WHY? WHAT? “verb” “some stuff” analyze characters, including their traits, motivations, conflicts, points of view, changes, and relationships 7

Curriculum Belongs to the System and is Non-Negotiable WHY? Complies with the Law Assures Equity Provides a Rational System Reduces Gaps and Unproductive Redundancies Reduces/Refocuses Teacher Planning Time 8

Working with the Curriculum Standards Circle the Performance Standard Put a box around “including” and “such as” clarifications. The remaining text will be the Content Standard underline the Content Standard 9

Working with the Curriculum Standards On the chart paper, record the TEKS in this format: 10 Science 1.9A Sort, Classify LIVING AND NONLIVING THINGS Including, but not limited to: Whether they have basic needs Whether they produce offspring Performance Standard (verbs, the WHY) Content Standard (nouns, the WHAT) Clarifications & Specificity

What’s Wrong With The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills As A Curriculum Document? The TEKS are a framework for curriculum development—NOT the curriculum. 1.The TEKS lack specificity. 2.The TEKS are not organized into rational, coherent units of instruction with recommended time lines 11

Specificity in the TEKS The content standard for student expectations is articulated in the “such as…” and “including…” statements ◦ This clarifies the specific academic content (the “What”) that students will learn. “Such as…” means that the given content is negotiable. “Including…” means that the given content is non-negotiable. 12

Next Steps: Develop Specificity in all TEKS and Vertical Alignment Define/give specific examples of the TEKS content standards, sufficient that a teacher new to the profession or to your school district would know precisely what to teach and a test item writer would know what to test. Ensure that content is vertically aligned without gaps and unnecessary overlaps. 13

14 Differences Between Curriculum and Instruction How What Why Content Standard Performance Standard Instruction

The “HOW” – Instruction The instruction ◦ What the teacher will do to teach ◦ What the students will do to learn Instructional activities & materials The processes through which the students will learn the curriculum. 15

Using Curriculum to Guide Instruction Sit with your grade level team. Log into Pinterest. Search “designteam” under the search tab of “people”. Each content area has a board. Select a content area board to begin. Preview the pinned activities in that content area and select one that you might consider using with your grade level. 16

Using Curriculum to Guide Instruction Guiding Questions: What is the content standard of the activity? What grade level content does it match? What is the performance standard of the activity? How would you adjust the activity to meet the performance standard of the TEKS for your grade level? 17

Reflections What were the big aha’s during this process? What implications does this have for your grade level planning sessions? 18

Tools for Facilitating Discussion What are some phrases you can use to promote alignment of activities to the curriculum? 19

Assessing our Learning Target 20