Currituck County’s Curriculum Mapping Project

1. Currituck County’s Curriculum Mapping Project Project Overview

2. Housekeeping Items • Sign-In each day • Contracts • Restrooms • Lunch • Introductions • Name, School, Something you’ve done/will do this Summer

3. Why are we doing this? • Focus on Developing Professional Learning Communities • Research by Rick DuFour and Robert Eaker • Practice embedded in School Reform Models • Practice embedded in NC Teacher and Principal Standards and Evaluation • Research on Best Practices http://www.allthingsplc.info/articles/articles.php

4. Professional Learning Communities Essential/Guiding Questions • What do students NEED TO LEARN? • What evidence will we gather to monitor student learning—how will we know WHEN THEY HAVE LEARNED IT? • What will we do if/when students EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTY IN THEIR LEARNING? • What will we do to ENRICH THE LEARNING OF THOSE WHO DEMONSTRATE PROFICIENCY? • How can we use our SMART goals and evidence of student learning to INFORM and IMPROVE OUR PRACTICE?

5. PLC ESSENTIALS • COMMON Curriculum Goals (Aligned with SCOS) • COMMON Assessments • COMMON Planning and Collaboration Common Goals + Common Assessments = Team Approach to teaching and learning

6. WHY DISTRICT MAPS and ASSESSMENTS? How can we use our SMART goals and evidence of student learning to inform and improve our practice? This critical question has implications for grade level improvement, school level improvement, and DISTRICT LEVEL IMPROVEMENT….

7. DESIRED OUTCOMES • Create DRAFT District Curriculum Pacing Guides for Core Subjects K-12 • Create DRAFT Unit Plan Frameworks • Create DRAFT Common Assessments for Benchmarking Student Attainment of Goals • Begin the process for Continuous Improvement of Teaching and Learning

8. How Will We Get There?

9. What’s the GOAL? • With a partner or others at your table, discuss the question: WHAT IS THE GOAL OF TEACHING? and WHAT DOES THE END PRODUCT LOOK LIKE?

10. Understanding by Design Beginning with the END in mind…

11. Each element is found behind a menu tab when designing units Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 L Learning Plan U Understandings T Task(s) R Questions Rubric(s) Q Content Standards OE Other Evidence CS Knowledge & Skill K

12. Why “backward”? The stages are logical but they go against habits • We’re used to jumping to lesson and activity ideas - before clarifying our performance goals for students • By thinking about the essential learning and assessments upfront, we ensure greater alignment of our goals and means, and that teaching is focused on desired results

13. Standard(s): Unpack the content standards and ‘content’,focus on big ideas Understandings Essential Questions s t a g e 1 Assessment Evidence Performance T ask(s): Other Evidence: s Analyze multiple sources of evidence, aligned with Stage 1 t a g e 2 Derive the implied learning from Stages 1 & 2 Learning Activities s t a g e 3 The “big ideas” of each stage: What are the big ideas? What’s the evidence? How will we get there?

15. Stage 1 Identifying: the Big Ideas/Themes Key Understandings Essential Questions

16. “Big Ideas” are typically revealed via – • Core concepts • Focusing themes • On-going debates/issues • Insightful perspectives • Illuminating paradox/problem • Organizing theory • Overarching principle • Underlying assumption • Key questions • Insightful inferences from facts

17. Big Ideas in Literacy: Examples • Rational persuasion (vs. manipulation) • audience and purpose in writing • A story, as opposed to merely a list of events linked by “and then…” • reading between the lines • writing as revision • a non-rhyming poem vs. prose • fiction as a window into truth • A critical yet empathetic reader • A writer’s voice

18. Some questions for identifying truly “big ideas” • Does it have many layers and nuances, not obvious to the naïve or inexperienced person? • Can it yield great depth and breadth of insight into the subject? Can it be used throughout K-12? • Do you have to dig deep to really understand its subtle meanings and implications even if anyone can have a surface grasp of it? • Is it (therefore) prone to misunderstanding as well as disagreement? • Are you likely to change your mind about its meaning and importance over a lifetime? • Does it reflect the core ideas as judged by experts?

19. SCOS GOALS • What are the BIG IDEAS or THEMES for this content area K-12? Activity-- • Come up with 5 (or more) Big Ideas

20. BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMYCreatingGenerating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing thingsDesigning, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.EvaluatingJustifying a decision or course of actionChecking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judgingAnalyzingBreaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationshipsComparing, organizing, deconstructing, interrogating, findingApplyingUsing information in another familiar situationImplementing, carrying out, using, executingUnderstandingExplaining ideas or conceptsInterpreting, summarizing, paraphrasing, classifying, explainingRememberingRecalling informationRecognizing, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding Higher-order thinking

21. SCOS GOALS • What are the BIG IDEAS or THEMES for this content area K-12? • Come up with 5 (or more) themes • For one theme, create a question that addresses each area of Bloom’s as it relates to the theme

22. Gallery Walk View the Questions Posed for each level and comment or post questions regarding the alignment with Bloom’s.

23. From Big Ideas to Understandings about them An understanding is a “moral of the story” about the big ideas • What specific insights will students take away about the the meaning of ‘content’ via big ideas? • Understandings summarize the desired insights we want students to realize

24. Understanding, defined: They are... • specific generalizations about the “big ideas.” They summarize the key meanings, inferences, and importance of the ‘content’ • framed as a full sentence “moral of the story” – “Students will understand THAT…” • Require “uncoverage”because they are not “facts” to the novice, but unobvious inferences drawn from facts; easily misunderstood

25. Essential Questions To Guide Our Work • What is ESSENTIAL to Understanding? • How can the this be organized to maximize understanding? • How can we assess them?

26. Essential Questions used in teaching Essential – (To Hitting the Target) • Asked to be argued • Designed to “uncover” new ideas, views, lines of argument • Set up inquiry, heading to new understandings

27. Essential Questions What questions – • are arguable - and important to argue about? • are at the heart of the subject? • recur - and should recur - in professional work, adult life, as well as in classroom inquiry? • raise more questions – provoking and sustaining engaged inquiry? • often raise important conceptual or philosophical issues? • can provide organizing purpose for meaningful & connected learning?

28. Sample Essential Questions: • Who are my true friends - and how do I know for sure? • How “rational” is the market? • Does a good read differ from a ‘great book’? Why are some books fads, and others classics? • To what extent is geography destiny? • Should an axiom be obvious? • How different is a scientific theory from a plausible belief? • What is the government’s proper role?

29. Working on the Work…. • For each Theme/Big Idea created in the first stage activity: • Determine the Essential Understandings • List the Curriculum Goals associated with the Theme/Big Idea • Create Essential Questions • Identify Essential Skills and Vocabulary

31. Debrief Day I • 3-2-1 Activity • List 3 things that you were expecting when you came in today • List 2 “pleasant” surprises • Write 1 question that you may have

32. Day 2 Thanks for Coming Back!

33. Day 1 Reflections Positives Things to Reconsider ∆ • Partners • Time to work uninterrupted • Template • Lunch • Time flew • More representatives • Clarifying task at beginning • Space at computers

34. 3-2-1 Reveals Pleasant Surprises Points to Clarify • Layout of work • Time to work and organize • Relaxed environment • Questions answered • Review of Blooms’ • Shared frustrations • Common Assessment creation? • Do this again when curriculum changes? • Finished product placement? • Am I doing this right?

35. You’ve got to go below the surface...

36. to uncover the really ‘big ideas.’

37. From Big Ideas to Understandings about them An understanding is a “moral of the story” about the big ideas • What specific insights will students take away about the the meaning of ‘content’ via big ideas? • Understandings summarize the desired insights we want students to realize

38. Understanding, defined: They are... • specific generalizations about the “big ideas.” They summarize the key meanings, inferences, and importance of the ‘content’ • framed as a full sentence “moral of the story” – “Students will understand THAT…” • Require “uncoverage”because they are not “facts” to the novice, but unobvious inferences drawn from facts; easily misunderstood

39. Understandings: Examples... U • Great artists often break with conventions to better express what they see and feel. • Price is a function of supply and demand. • Friendships can be deepened or undone by hard times • History is the story told by the “winners” • F = ma (weight is not mass) • Math models simplify physical relations – and even sometimes distort relations – to deepen our understanding of them • The storyteller rarely tells the meaning of the story

40. Essential Questions What questions – • are arguable - and important to argue about? • are at the heart of the subject? • recur - and should recur - in professional work, adult life, as well as in classroom inquiry? • raise more questions – provoking and sustaining engaged inquiry? • often raise important conceptual or philosophical issues? • can provide organizing purpose for meaningful & connected learning?

41. Samples of Essential Questions for Social Studies • History/Historical Analysis and Interpretation §    What happened in the past? §      How can we know if we weren’t there? §      Why study history? §      What can we learn from the past? • Civics/Government §      How are governments created, structured, maintained, and changed? §      What are the roles and responsibilities of government? §      How do the structures and functions of government interrelate? §      What would happen if we had no government

42. Samples of Essential Questions for Social Studies Economics §  Why do we have money? §      What is the difference between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’? §      How does something acquire value? §      What is it worth? §      How much should it cost? Who decides? §      Who should produce goods and services? Geography §      Why is "where" important? §      Why is/was ________ located there? (e.g., capitol, factory, battle, etc.) §      What makes places unique and different? §      How does geography, climate and natural resources affect the way people live and work? §      How does where I live influence how I live?

43. Pass the Paper Feedback Working as partners/teams, examine some of the units designed during yesterday’s session. Provide feedback through questioning— • Does this understanding match the goal? • Is/Are the essential question(s) broad/deep enough to spark inquiry? • Will the timeframe be sufficient? Pass the paper to the next team.

45. Work on the Work Complete and/or Revise: Big Ideas/Theme Curriculum Goal/Objective Essential Questions Essential Skills/Vocabulary

46. Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence Template fields ask: • What are key performance tasks indicative of understanding? • What other evidence will be collected to build the case for understanding, knowledge, and skill? • What rubrics will be used to assess complex performance?

47. The big idea for Stage 2 The evidence should be credible & helpful. The assessments should – • Be grounded in real-world applications, supplemented as needed by more traditional school evidence • Provide useful feedback to the learner, be transparent, and minimize secrecy • Be valid, reliable - aligned with the desired results of Stage 1 (and fair)

48. Assessment of Understanding via the 6 facets i.e. You really understand when you can: • explain, connect, systematize, predict it • show its meaning, importance • apply or adapt it to novel situations • see it as one plausible perspective among others, question its assumptions • see it as its author/speaker saw it • avoid and point out common misconceptions, biases, or simplistic views

49. For Reliability & Sufficiency:Use a Variety of Assessments Varied types, over time: • authentic tasks and projects • academic exam questions, prompts, and problems • quizzes and test items • informal checks for understanding • student self-assessments

50. Scenarios for Authentic Tasks Build assessments anchored in authentic tasks using GRASPS: • What is the Goal in the scenario? • What is the Role? • Who is the Audience? • What is your Situation (context)? • What is the Performance challenge? • By what Standards will work be judged in the scenario? G R A S P S