Curriculum Mapping with Rubicon Atlas

Why Electronic Curriculum Mapping ?

Facilitate the process of collecting and communicating data Provide an overview of what is actually happening in the classroom Context for looking at a student’s actual experience over time A way to see “The Big Picture” Electronic curriculum mapping promotes a smooth transition for students Source: Atlas Curriculum Mapping

Electronic curriculum mapping promotes a smooth transition for students Identifies Gaps and Repetition Promotes Accountability Aligns Curriculum with Standards Meets the Need to Share Highlights Best Practices Encourages Collaboration Facilitates New Course Design Orientation of New Faculty Capture Data One Time at the Source Source: Atlas Curriculum Mapping

Intended results Staff owns and explores their district’s curriculum, making informed decisions on what to teach and how to assess. Students who move from district to district would encounter similar methodology and assessment protocols. Teachers receive aligned professional development to meet personal, building, and district goals.

Intended results Communication improves through sharing of instructional and assessment strategies. Revenue for purchases are used more efficiently to meet the learning needs of all students. Assessment of student achievement will be documented more thoroughly to provide a fuller picture than MEAP results alone.

Authentic Academic Achievement

Construction of Knowledge producing meaning from prior experiences Disciplined Inquiry cognitive work for in-depth understanding Value Beyond School meaning apart from documenting competence Newmann, Secada, and Wehlage, “A Guide to Authentic Instruction and Assessment”, 1995

Mapping Categories Align to AAA Essential Questions Assessment Tasks Key Concepts Instructional Resources

Essential Questions Guidelines 1-3 questions to guide inquiry during the unit of study. These are not questions with predetermined answers scripted by the teacher. The questions are problematic to the learner; the question is open ended. Each question should require construction of understanding of key concepts rather than mere reproduction of information by students. The answer to a question would have to be expressed in sentences or even paragraphs.

Examples of Essential Questions How could we help people who have no money to meet their need for food? What makes one plant different from another? How can we protect the environment from urban sprawl? When it is appropriate to use a fraction, decimal, and percentage?

Assessment Tasks Guidelines Each assessment task within the unit of study should assess at least one benchmark in the Michigan Curriculum Framework. Using Atlas, benchmarks are matched to the assessment tasks by clicking a box next to the listed benchmark. A well-designed unit might have two or three authentic assessment tasks. Each task should be presented briefly, in one or two succinct sentences, and should be expressed as a task to be performed by students. Implicit in each task should be the actual product (discourse, performance, or tangible object) to be generated by students as a result of performing the task.

Examples of Assessment Tasks Discourse –speech, written report, essay, group discussion, letter to editor Performance –presentation, lab experiment, recital Tangible Object –portfolio, project display, model

Key Concepts Guidelines At most, six concepts would be listed during the unit of study. Each should be highly pertinent to the topic of the unit and appropriate to the developmental level of students. These concepts should be “powerful ideas” of major significance to a discipline, not merely new vocabulary terms. They are central ideas of the unit - the ones the teacher intends students to understand and use for a lifetime. Construction of an understanding of these concepts by students is a major learning priority of the unit. Students are expected to use these concepts when generalizing about the content of the unit.

Examples of Key Concepts natural resource culture nonviolence natural selection voice satire molecular structure rhythm harmony religious liberty equilibrium price genetic inheritance solar system electrical energy

Instructional Resources Guidelines This is a list of selected, high quality materials that would equip a teacher to teach the unit of study. A citation should furnish sufficient information to enable a teacher to identify and locate the resource being cited. Published works should be listed as bibliographic citations including, author, title, publisher, and copyright date. Actual pages or portions of a copyrighted work being recommended for use in teaching the particular unit should be specified. Unpublished works should be identified by author, title, and date.

Examples of Instructional Resources a portion of a textbook with its accompanying teacher’s manual a story a video a computer software program a CD ROM an Internet Web site a sand table costumes a microscope a script or musical score manipulatives photos maps field trips and speakers “homemade” teacher-produced materials

Questions? Stan Masters Coordinator of Curriculum, Assessment, and School Improvement Lenawee Intermediate School District 4107 North Adrian Highway Adrian, Michigan (phone) (fax)