Designing Curriculum and Instruction in Elementary school Martin ...

Designing Curriculum and Instruction in Elementary school Martin Kozloff It's July. You just got a job at Mel and Ned's Elementary School! First
grade!! Woo Hoo!
"Mom. Dad. I got a job!!!" "Where, Sweetheart?"...... You say, "OMG! Now what? I have no idea how to design a whole school
year. I don't even know how to design a 5 minute task in a 30 minute
lesson! I'm gonna be a big flop!" Easy does it, Pilgrim. Let's take it one step at a time. We'll start with
the big picture and work our way down to exactly what you'll say in every
task in every lesson. Each day will be just like the days before, with new
material. FIRST, GET YOURSELF A TOOL KIT. (1) Materials to teach from or to
supplement your school texts, and (2) guidelines for designing curriculum
(what you teach and the sequence in which you teach all that stuff),
designing instruction (how you teach), and running a classroom. Resources for designing curriculum and instruction in elementary school. Go to the following websites.
Peck around for materials for teaching different subjects.
Download, copy, print, and put in a binder: product descriptions, sample
lessons, research, scope and sequence charts. Even if you don't USE all the stuff you get, you need to know what's OUT
there! http://sopriswest.com/ http://curriculumassociates.com/
http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.asp?title=SkillsSS
GET THESE. Elementary http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.asp?title=AdvSSS
GET THESE. Secondary. https://www.sraonline.com/ https://www.mheonline.com/discipline/tags/1/2/ Especially Language
for Learning and Language for Thinking. Reach System [!!!] https://www.mheonline.com/discipline/tags/1/3/ Especially Reading Mastery,
Corrective Reading (grade three and up), DISTAR Arithmetic
Language! http://www.fcrr.org/FCRRreports/PDF/Language.pdf Florida Center for Reading Research. http://www.fcrr.org/ Assesses lots
of programs! http://www.fcrr.org/science/pdf/Foorman/Foorman_Role_of_Instruction.pdf http://www.fcrr.org/publications/publicationspdffiles/critical_elements.pdf Mathematically Correct. http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com Tells you
how to teach math correctly. Tells you what to use and what NOT to use. DISTAR Arithmetic.
https://www.mheonline.com/program/view/1/3/224/0076020231/ http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/ http://www.singaporemath.com/Default.asp?Redirected=Y http://saxonpublishers.harcourtachieve.com/en-US/saxonpublishers.htm http://www.keypress.com/ http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Effective-Mathematics-Instruction-
Approach/dp/0131192442/sr=8-1/qid=1170731693/ref=sr_1_1/104-7061756-
3418364?ie=UTF8&s=books GET THIS BOOK!!! http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Like-Champion-Techniques-Students/dp/0470550473 GET THIS BOOK!!! http://coreknowledge.org/ Look up these.
http://books.coreknowledge.org/search.php?mode=search&page=1 http://coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/index.htm http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/reading.html http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/ http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/books.htm (reviews of materials) http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/booksy.htm http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Resources.html NEXT. Make sure your tools are adequate. (1) Programs and (2) textbooks
with supplements. A. Programs. Assess and improve.
1. Programs should teach a serious knowledge system, such as reading,
math, spelling, science. 2. Program features (e.g., what is taught, examples, formats for
communicating) (a) are consistent with experimental research on learning
and on the knowledge system; and (b) have been field-tested. 3. Program provides a comprehensive and varied sample of knowledge (e.g.,
equations to solve, poems to analyze, words to decode, stories to read
fluently and with comprehension). 4. The lessons are built consistently from knowledge items selected from
important strands (groups of knowledge). For example, each lesson includes
new vocabulary, big ideas, important facts, major skills. 5. Tasks in lessons focus instruction on specific objectives- what
students will do. 6. Knowledge items (facts, lists, concepts, rules/propositions/principles,
routines) are taught in a logical sequence: (1) elements are taught earlier
and continually before they are integrated in larger units; (2) progression
of formats from more to less scaffolded. 7. Lessons are a series of smaller, knowledge-rich units (chunks), such as
tasks, exercises, or paragraphs. Each chunk serves a clear instructional
function. Ask, "What is THIS task/section supposed to do? Review and firm
pre-skills, new, generalize, fluency, expand, summarize, review, integrate.
http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/SevenPointLessonPlan.doc 8. Programs teach new knowledge (acquisition) in a systematic and explicit
(focused) way, especially tightly coupled knowledge systems. a. Review and
firm pre-skills; b. gain attention; c. model/present small amount of new
information (fact, part of a list, definition or examples of concept, rule
or examples of rule, steps in a routine); d. lead (?); e. test to see if
they got the new material; f. more material; g. test all; h. integrate
earlier and new into larger whole (e.g., solve problems; write short
essay); i. review, firm, or reteach. 9. Program adequately covers (teaches, assesses) all phases of mastery:
acquisition, generalization, fluency, retention. 10. Program provides scaffolding; i.e., various kinds of assistance to
help teachers communicate information, and to help students acquire,
organize, retrieve, and apply information/knowledge: stated objectives,
highlighting, reminders and hints, wait time, big ideas, advance organizers
(lesson and unit outlines, guided notes, concept/proposition maps),
summaries, glossaries. 11. Program has (a) Placement tests; (b) Periodic mastery tests or check-
outs (e.g., every 10 lessons in a reading program; after every new skill in
a math program) to assess acquisition, fluency, generalization, and
retention; (c) Tests/checks after every task; (d) Tests/checks at the end
of every lesson (review and firming). B. Textbooks and supplements Unlike programs, when you teach from textbooks, original documents,
internet, and your own stock of knowledge, YOU have to.....
1. Look at the state curriculum and your district and school curriculum.
What are the objectives? Translate these into things students will
DO. Find out what research and experts in the field say students
should learn. Add objectives. Consider, too, what YOU think is
important. Add objectives. Bring them together. These are the
terminal objectives for the unit.
2. Now look at the textbook your school uses. Does it provide
information that adequately teaches all the objectives? If not, get
supplements from, for instance, the internet. Also think of how to make the presentations more interesting and
informative---pics, videos, maps, artifacts.
3. Now divide all your materials into chunks. For instance, (1) events
leading up to the Declaration of Independence; (2) analysis of the
Declaration; (3) the war; (4) writing the Constitution; (5)
ratification and Bill of Rights. Each chunk might be one or more
lessons/class periods.
4. Now arrange the chunks into a sequence. The sequence should tell a
story: the story of the American Revolution; the story of cells; the
story of the solar system. What's in a story?
a. You have to set the scene to evoke interest. "Here's why this is
important."
b. Introduce the characters; e.g., persons, concepts, big ideas---
freedom, cycles.
c. Narrate the plot: sequence of events in history; sequences of
cause and effect in
science.
d. Big finish, climax, lessons. "And that's why we're free----for
now!" "And now you see
that we ARE all stardust." "And so now you know that life is a
balancing act between
processes of creation and processes of destruction."
5. Identify information in each chunk that you want students to learn----
relevant to your objectives. What facts, lists (of facts, events,
persons, ideas, factors), concepts, rules or propositions (e.g., the
theory of representative government in the Declaration; rules/laws in
science); routines (e.g., steps in describing, explaining, analyzing,
building a case or argument for some conclusion).
What students will learn = What I will teach.
Chunk 1 Description of Greece and Persia facts lists concepts rules
routines Chunk 2 Timeline of battles facts lists concepts rules routines Chunk 3 Greek vs. Persian warfare facts lists concepts rules routines
Chunk 4 Examine each battle facts lists concepts rules routines
Chunk 5 Lessons learned facts lists concepts rules routines
6. Develop OBJECTIVES for each chunk of material (to be assessed with
mastery tests) and for the end of the unit (series of lessons) or
curriculum---the TERMINAL PERFORMANCE AND TERMINAL OBJECTIVES.
"Students will define the following concepts...." "Students will
list...." Students will state 4 rules that define "the good man" in
ancient Greece; e.g., "If a man....., then he....." "Students will
explain (give 5 reasons why) the Greeks defeated the Persians at
Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea."
7. Plan how many lessons or how many tasks in lessons it will take to
teach each chunk, and what you will teach/what objectives you will work
on in each lessons
Chunk 1 Comparison of Greece and Persia
Lesson 1.
Task 1. Map: location and extent of Greece; location of Athens, Sparta,
Thermopylae; Asia
Minor, location and extent of Persian empire, location of
Persepolis.
Objective: Teacher points to map and asks, "