Curriculum Writing 101

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Curriculum Writing 101

• Translating the CCPS Library Media Scope and
  Sequence into Meaningful Instruction

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Instructional Design Models

• The CCPS curriculum framework has been designed
  to focus the attention of curriculum writers on
  the big picture before any individual lesson
  plans are designed. It incorporates two
  instructional design models
• Understanding by Design
• Dimensions of Learning

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Instructional Design Model UBD

• Understanding by Design
• is sometimes called backward design because it
  starts with what students should know or be able
  to do at the end of a unit of instruction and
  ends with the actual learning activities.
• directs our attention beyond the indicators to
  the big picture or enduring understanding that
  students should carry with them for life after a
  unit of instruction.

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Instructional Design Model UBD

• The enduring understanding can be difficult to
  define at first. However, if you think of what
  is important to remember about a concept, topic
  or skill after 10-20 years, you will be
  describing an enduring understanding.

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Instructional Design Model UBD

• For example, what does the following Library of
  Congress call number represent?
• QA117

Q Science QA Mathematics 117
Fractions, decimals and percents
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Instructional Design Model UBD

• Did you ever use a library that was organized by
  the Library of Congress classification system?
• Were you able to use the library successfully?
• How? Thinking about how you transferred your
  understanding of the Dewey system to the LOC
  system helps to identify the enduring
  understandings that you developed about call
  numbers and library classification systems.

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Instructional Design Model UBD

• An enduring understanding about call numbers is
  that they point to a specific location on a shelf
  where you can find information you need. As long
  as you can count sequentially or know the
  alphabet, you can find the book you are looking
  for.
• An enduring understanding about the Library of
  Congress system or the Dewey Decimal system is
  that it is a form of classification. It groups
  like objects together, so once you find the shelf
  location, you can browse for books with similar
  topics.

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Instructional Design Model UBD

• An essential question is developed from an
  enduring understanding.
• The essential questions about the Library of
  Congress system or the Dewey Decimal system could
  be
• How does a classification system help you to
  locate information efficiently?
• How can you use the classification system to
  browse for information?

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Instructional Design Model UBD

• Once you have identified what it is important for
  students to know or be able to do at the end of a
  unit of instruction, UBD requires that you design
  an assessment through which students can
  demonstrate their mastery of the material.

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Instructional Design Model UBD

• Formative assessments are used to ascertain
  student comprehension in the midst of a unit of
  instruction in order to make instructional
  decisions such as re-teaching or differentiation.
  They are sometimes referred to as assessment
  FOR learning.
• Summative assessments are used to ascertain
  student mastery at the conclusion of a unit of
  instruction. They are sometimes referred to as
  assessment OF learning.
• !!!! When the term assessment is used
  within UBD, it is referring to a summative
  assessment.

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CCPS Curriculum Framework UBD

• Our curriculum framework begins with a section
  labeled Desired Results. The first page in
  this section asks for the major concepts,
  generalizations and essential questions that will
  be developed through the unit.
• The major concepts come from the indicators in
  the CCPS Library Media scope and sequence.
• The generalizations are the enduring
  understandings developed from the indicators.
• The essential questions are developed from the
  enduring understandings.

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CCPS Curriculum Framework Standards

• The second page of Desired Results asks for the
  content standards that will be addressed during
  the unit of instruction. These come directly
  from the CCPS Library Media skeletal units.
• These skeletal units for each grade are available
  on the website at
• http//media.ccps.org/curric/curriculum.html

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CCPS Curriculum Framework UBD

• Having identified the indicator(s) to be
  addressed, the essential question(s) and the
  enduring understanding(s), the curriculum
  template next asks for the assessments that will
  occur within the unit.
• The summative assessment should be developed
  before any learning activities are planned.
• The formative assessments will be developed as
  individual lesson plans are created.

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Instructional Design Model DOL

• Dimensions of Learning is a comprehensive,
  research-based framework that describes five
  essential types of thinking which play an
  integral role in the planning and delivery of
  instruction.

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Instructional Design Model DOL

• Dimension 1 Positive attitudes and perceptions.
• Dimension 2 Acquiring and integrating knowledge
  (declarative and procedural knowledge.)
• Dimension 3 Refining and extending knowledge.
• Dimension 4 Using knowledge meaningfully.
• Dimension 5 Productive habits of mind.

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CCPS Curricular Framework DOL

• After defining the enduring understandings,
  content standards and summative assessment, the
  curriculum template asks planners to turn their
  attention to the Dimensions of Learning.
• Specifically, the template asks planners to
  define the declarative and procedural knowledge
  that students will develop. This is Dimension of
  Learning 2.

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CCPS Curricular Framework DOL

• In the context of the media program, the other
  Dimensions are addressed as follows
• DOL 1 - fostering positive perceptions of the
  media center
• DOL 3 - creating lessons which focus on critical
  thinking skills such as comparing/contrasting,
  classifying, inferring etc.
• DOL 4 - creating units which require students to
  apply knowledge and skills to develop creative
  solutions to information problems.
• DOL 5 - encouraging metacognition by having
  students articulate their thinking and reflect on
  their own performance.

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Lesson Planning Philosophical Approaches

• There are three major philosophical approaches
  that inform instruction
• Behaviorism defines learning as observable
  changes in behavior. It focuses on repeating a
  new behavioral pattern until it becomes
  automatic. It uses rewards and punishment to
  reinforce desired behavior/understanding.
• Worksheets
• Homework
• Programmed learning
• Behavior modification programs

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Lesson Planning Philosophical Approaches

• There are three major philosophical approaches
  that inform instruction
• Cognitivism focuses attention on the thought
  process behind the behavior. Changes in behavior
  are observed and used as indicators as to what is
  happening inside the learners mind. Learning is
  defined as a change in schema.
• Schema
• Mental maps
• Information processing

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Lesson Planning Philosophical Approaches

• There are three major philosophical approaches
  that inform instruction
• Constructivism focuses on the ways in which we
  construct our own perspective of the world
  through individual experiences and schema. It
  promotes learning by exposure to open-ended
  problems that must be solved.
• Problem-based learning
• Proximal Zone of Development
• Scaffolding

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Lesson Planning Philosophical Approaches

• The best instructional planning makes use of all
  three approaches, tailoring the approach to the
  specific learning need or situation.
• When students need to develop new understanding,
  the constructivist approach works best.
• When prior knowledge needs to be assessed, the
  cognitivist strategy of drawing a mental map can
  be very useful.
• When students need to practice skills, the
  behaviorist approach makes more sense.

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Lesson Planning Grouping Decisions

• Teachers usually group students in one of three
  ways for instruction and performance
• Whole group instruction
• Small group instruction or performance
• One-on-one instruction or individual performance

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Lesson Planning Grouping Decisions

• Whole group instruction is often used to
  introduce the entire class to something new. It
  helps to activate prior knowledge and to build a
  common foundation for future exploration or
  learning .

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Lesson Planning Grouping Decisions

• Small group instruction encourages more active
  participation by all students and works well with
  constructivist learning activities. It is often
  used to set up cooperative learning structures or
  to differentiate instruction based on student
  needs for reinforcement or enrichment.

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Lesson Planning Grouping Decisions

• Individual instruction or performance allows
  students to work independently, which some
  students prefer and all students need to
  experience. It is closely aligned to assessment.
  While carefully constructed small group projects
  can be used to assess performance skills,
  individual assessments are typically used for
  assessing mastery of content.

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Lesson Planning Instructional Strategies

• Instructional strategies are the methods used to
  design learning activities that promote active
  learning, enhance engagement and deepen
  understanding. A few of the numerous strategies
  that teachers can choose to use include
• Think-pair-share
• Numbered heads together
• Jigsaw
• Gallery walk
• Four corners
• Concept attainment
• Concept anchoring

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Lesson Planning Learning Styles

• Good teachers make sure that their plans address
  different learning styles. These are the
  modalities that students use to take in
  information.
• Visual learners need to see body language and
  facial expressions. They gravitate toward
  pictures and movies and prefer to sit in the
  front of the class.
• Auditory learners enjoy lectures, discussions,
  and are very sensitive to verbal nuances such as
  tone, pitch and speed.
• Tactile/kinesthetic learners need a hands-on
  approach and find it hard to sit for extended
  periods of time.

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Lesson Planning Multiple Intelligences

• Multiple intelligences complement the concept of
  learning styles. They are different ways in
  which students can demonstrate or express their
  intellectual ability. Good planning requires
  that you provide activities that address
  different intelligences as frequently as
  possible.
• Bodily-kinesthetic Interpersonal
• Verbal-linguistic Musical
• Logical-mathematical Intrapersonal
• Visual-spatial Naturalistic

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Curriculum Writing Putting It All Together

• Identify a grade-level curricular focus that you
  can use as an anchor for a research project.
• Select one of the skeletal units.
• Analyze the library media indicators to see what
  the most important thrust of the unit will be.
  Remember, while we may be tying into the Farms
  unit from the kindergarten curriculum, we are not
  teaching about farms. We are developing an
  understanding of library indicators.

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Curriculum Writing Putting It All Together

• Develop an enduring understanding and essential
  question for the unit.
• Based on the enduring understanding, develop a
  summative assessment for the unit. In many
  cases, this will be the final project.
• From the indicators, identify the declarative and
  procedural knowledge that students will develop
  through this unit.

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Curriculum Writing Putting It All Together

• Begin to develop the individual lesson plans,
  using the same backward design method (UBD) used
  for the unit as a whole.
• Identify the objective(s) or indicator(s) for the
  lesson.
• Imagine the way in which a student could
  demonstrate 100 mastery of that objective or
  indicator.
• Create an assessment that will measure complete
  proficiency.

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Curriculum Writing Putting It All Together

• Now you are ready to start designing the learning
  activities that will allow students to develop
  mastery
• Make decisions about grouping patterns within the
  lesson.
• Vary the instructional strategies used in lessons
  as frequently as possible.
• Consider individual learning styles and multiple
  intelligences as you write plans.

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Curriculum Writing Putting It All Together

• Make sure that you include technology wherever
  possible so that our lesson plans help students
  to develop 21st century skills.
• Include potential correctives and extensions that
  address the needs of all students.
• Identify skills and processes that could form the
  basis for centers back in the classroom.
• Create a letter home to parents describing the
  unit that students will be experiencing. Include
  suggestions for how parents can support and
  reinforce concepts and skills developed.