Curriculum Map

(Based on the work of Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Janet Hale)

Designer:

!MB"#$%

H&'($)*&' "D ./0 Skills Assessments Standards

Biology +nit on ,racing "-olution Month Content

September October November

TRACING EVOLUTION
Enduring Understandings
1. Genes can randomly change or mutate, causing changes in certain traits of the offspring. 2. Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely than others to survive and have offspring. 3. hanges in environmental conditions can affect the survival of populations and entire species. !. E"tinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival.

Essential #uestions
1. $hat allows some populations of organisms to change and survive while others cannot% 2. $hy are scientists concerned with the history of an organism% 3. In what ways would knowing the difference &etween an analogous and homologous structure serve when looking at an organisms evolutionary path% !. 'ow do fossil records provide evidence for evolution% (. 'ow will the lineage of a given animal &e different &ased upon the ancestor we are comparing it to%

Content A. Speciation

A.1. Identi ! traits that cause speciation

A1. Misconception 'o&er'oint A1. 'arent response essa! A". (ossil (ind Activit! A1. A". #)$e* +eb ,uest

A. %.1.B.C1

A.". #race a trait through generations o species

B. Natural Selection

B1. $esearch environmental actors that resulted in speciation due to natural selection B". Incorporate natural selection evidence in species lineage

B1. (ossil (ind Activit!

B. %.1.B.C"

B1. B". #ail and &ings structure lineage

C.1.Create cladistics diagrams C. Cladistics Diagram C.". $esearch lineage o ancestor animal C.% Create h!pothetical lineage bet&een t&o given animals

C1. Cladistics Diagram (oldable C". #race 'et Activit! C%. .ineage 'resentation

C. %.1.1/.C%

A.B.C - 1// point 0nit #est - Multiple Choice1 Diagram1 Short Ans&er

December

2anuar!

(ebruar!

March

April

Ma!

Curriculum Map 'arrati-e )ption & 1. Once the data are in the map, how will you [and others] use the data? Consider hypothetically your role as the Curriculum Coordinator (formal or informal position) for your grade level, department, uilding or district!agency. "erely adding data to a curriculum map is not enough to accomplish the changes that are necessary in the school system. # curriculum map should e a constantly evolving pro$ect. %he data in the curriculum map displays what students should e learning (&'(s and &)(s) as well as displays assessments used to determine if the students have learned the material. #s teachers, we should use this data to determine what areas need more emphasis in the classroom and what s*ills are necessary prepare students for the +1st century. #s a curriculum coordinator, it is necessary that you as* teachers to evaluate their pro$ects after each term. "any times, you will find students may have enough *nowledge from outside school that it is not necessary to spend a great deal of time teaching asics. #lternatively, you may find students need etter mastery of asic s*ills efore they can learn in depth material. +. ,iscuss how you would hypothetically facilitate the process in your conte-t. .n other words, how you would ma*e curriculum mapping come alive and e a worthwhile endeavor that encourages effective data/ ased decisions that ultimately focus on student achievement . elieve that once teachers learn the ideas ehind curriculum mapping and 'nderstanding y ,esign, there will not e much need to encourage teachers to use it0 the concepts outlined promote themselves1 &very teacher . have spo*en to e-pressed that he or she would li*e to *now what other teachers are doing and what students have learned in the past. Curriculum mapping is a great way to show that e-act information to teachers. %hey will no longer have to hear 2we learned this last year3 or 2why do . need to *now this?3 %he enduring understanding, essential 4uestions and ig ideas used during curriculum mapping and unit planning answer these 4uestions for the students.

%he *ey to getting curriculum mapping to come alive and e a worthwhile endeavor is getting teachers interested. 5o one li*es change and teachers tend to root themselves in their ehaviors, ut there needs to e change in the school systems and it needs to e a change that has data to ac* it up. Curriculum mapping and ' , can e that change. . elieve the teachers will really commit to this reform as long as it is real reform starting with the administration. %he reform will do nothing for the school system unless there is 1667 participation. %here also has to e time allowed for change. %his will not e an overnight success and li*ely students( performance will regress for a short while, ut teachers and administrators need to reali8e the potential increase that will come from the utili8ation of curriculum mapping. 9. # 2s*etch3 of the process you would use to initiate and implement the mapping process. Consider who would e involved, grade level(s) and!or su $ect area(s), and a se4uential discussion of the initiation and implementation steps.

#s a curriculum coordinator, the process of transferring material across multiple su $ects is the *ey to garnering student learning. #s schools egin the curriculum mapping process, their goal is to teach students to learn y understanding and go eyond simple memori8ation. %he use of a curriculum map across multiple su $ects will ensure every teacher has the ig ideas in mind and are teaching students to transfer the material and thin* more critically. # curricular coordinator must start at the top of the district and wor* their way down. %he first step is to decide what the ig ideas will e. :,& gives multiple e-amples of ig ideas to e-plore in :ennsylvania schools. #s a hypothetical curriculum coordinator, . would first have a staff meeting with all the teachers. %his would e an informative meeting on the attri utes of curriculum design utili8ing 'nderstanding y ,esign. #t this meeting, . will address any 4uestions the staff may have. %he ne-t step would e to gather the teachers according to discipline throughout the entire district. %his second meeting will encompass the process of choosing the ig ideas for each course. . will start the discussions with each school then go more specifically to each grade level. . reali8e this will ta*e time and a lot of wor* ut it is a necessary step toward high student

achievement. %he ne-t step will e to gather all the ig ideas for each su $ect and see where there is overlap and possi le cross over. ;ere is where . will then e-plore the aspects of cross/curricular mapping. #fter the teachers and . have molded the ig ideas around :,& standards and CC standards, we will move to the development of &'(s and &)(s. %he most important thing to remem er is, this is a never/ending process and will ta*e many revisions. <. :erformance data used to enhance decision/ma*ing= .dentify the types of performance data that would e used to assist with the interpretation of student academic strengths and gaps

%he performance data that used to enhance decision/ma*ing will include the scores from standardi8ed tests, evaluation of class assessments and enchmar* assessments administered y the district. %he most informative assessment will e students wor*. .t is necessary for the curriculum coordinator for each su $ect area to evaluate the highest and the lowest scores on meaningful pro$ects and analy8e the potential gaps that are present. .n reality if teachers are utili8ing curriculum mapping the way ;eidi ;ayes >aco intended, every teacher will e a le to loo* at the map after analy8ing student wor* and determine the areas that need more wor*. 'sing state tests to determine student(s scores is partially what got the education system in a mess to egin with. ;owever if teachers egin to teach for understanding and transfer y appropriately using 'nderstand y ,esign, students will e a le to perform etter on state tests ecause they will e a le to thin* critically a out the 4uestion and not try to memori8e the answers. %he implementation of standardi8ed tests is a great tool if used and taught properly. ?astly, the use of enchmar* testing will revamp the way schools separate students. .f a student does not move to the ne-t su $ect until mastery of the material is shown through enchmar* testing, we as educators will e a le to teach the material more thoroughly and the students will enefit. @. :ossi le decisions made as a result of the mapping process= .dentify the potential decisions that may result from the critical analysis of the data.

#fter critical analysis of the material, many things will change. %eachers and curriculum coordinators will e a le to see the areas that need more emphasis. Once

these areas ecome apparent the entire map may change. Aor instance, if the ma$ority of students are not doing well on the distri utive property of #lge ra ., teachers can loo* at the curriculum map used for :re/#lge ra and alter their instruction a out multiplication to give the students the necessary foundation in order to complete pro lems using the distri utive property. ,ata analysis can also e used on a single student asis. %eachers will e a le to loo* at what the students were supposed to learn in previous years, determine where their *nowledge is insufficient and then teach that material to an individual student. Curriculum mapping will e a great tool when utili8ing differentiated instruction.

C)$$"1" )2 "D+C&,!)' &'D H+M&' ("#*!C"( Curriculum De-elopment and "-aluation "D ./0 C+##!C+$+M M&33!'1 "*&$+&,!)' Degrees of 3erformance
3erformance !ndicators
57 (tandards

(ophisticated 4
&ppropriate 3D" (tandards are included and are aligned with the content8 skills8 and assessments by designating the concomitant upper case letter7 "nduring +nderstandings are labeled and included under the unit topic7 "ssential 9uestions are labeled and included under the unit topic7 'ame of the unit is written in all capital letters and highlighted in bold7 Content is written as a noun or noun phrase and a descriptor 7 & letter is assigned to each ma:or content area to denote alignment7

(killful 0

De-eloped /
&ppropriate 3D" (tandards are included but are randomly aligned with the content8 skills8 and assessments7

$iteral 5

'ot !ncluded 6
(tandards are not included in the map7

/7 "nduring +nderstandings

"nduring +nderstandings are not included in the map7 "ssential 9uestions are not included in the map7 'ame of the unit is written in lower case letters and;or not highlighted in bold7 Content is inade<uately written as a noun or noun phrase and a descriptor 7 ,oo much information is presented7 & letter is inappropriately ,he +nit ,opic and;or the Content is;are not included in the map7

07 "ssential 9uestions

47 +nit ,opic and Content

assigned to content areas to denote alignment7 .7 (kills (kills are written as a measurable -erb and content7 ,o denote alignment8 they use the same letter designations as the content7 & letter and number is used if more than one skill aligns with the content7 Summati-e assessments include a descriptor depicting the content in-ol-ed and the e=act nature of the t!pe of assessment7 ,o denote alignment8 the same letter designations as in the content and skills are used7 !f one assessment aligns with more than one content component and;or skill component8 multiple letters and numbers are used to show this alignment7 Clear and se<uential identification of the o-erall curriculum mapping process7 (e<uential identification of the o-erall curriculum mapping process7 (kills are not written as a measurable -erb and content7 &lignment is limited or does not e=ist due to the inappropriate use of or lack of a letter or letter and number designation7 Summative assessments do not include a descriptor depicting the content in-ol-ed and ;or the e=act nature of the t!pe of assessment7 &lignment is limited or does not e=ist due to the inappropriate letter and;or number designations7 (kills are not included in the map7

>7 &ssessments ((ummati-e)

(ummati-e &ssessments are not included in the map7

()ption &) ?7 (e<uential 3rocess ()ption B)

#easonable8 yet limited identification of the curriculum mapping process7

+nderde-eloped identification of the curriculum mapping process7

()ption B) ?7 ,hree &dditional Maps

,he unit topic8 content8 summati-e assessments8 and CC(( standards are included according to the specifications as listed abo-e for each item7

,he unit topic8 content8 skills8 assessments8 and CC(( standards are included but are lacking some of the specifications as listed abo-e for each item7 #ele-ant analysis of the potential performance data that may be used to support decisions7 #easonable8 yet limited analysis of the potential performance data that may be used to support decisions7 $imited listing of +nderde-eloped analysis of the potential performance data that may be used to support decisions7

()ption &) @7 3erformance Data

Comprehensi-e analysis of the potential performance data that may be used to support decisions7

()ption B)

Comprehensi-e

@7 &lignment

listing of the areas that were analyAed7 2or e=ample: Content;CC((8 (kills;CC((8 &ssessments;CC((8 1aps8 #edundancies8 etc7 Comprehensi-e identification of the possible decisions made as a result of the implementation of the e=isting data7 #ele-ant identification of the possible decisions made as a result of the implementation of the e=isting data7

the areas that were analyAed7 2or e=ample8 areas were not listed but were part of the analysis7 3lausible8 yet limited identification of the possible decisions made as a result of the implementation of the e=isting data7 +nderde-eloped identification of the possible decisions made as a result of the implementation of e=isting data7

()ption &) B7 Decisions

()ption B) B7 &nalysis

Cell de-eloped and inDdepth e=amination of the e=tent to which the Content8 (kills8 and &ssessments align with the CC((8 including any gaps8 redundancies8 etc &'D comprehensi-e recommendations to ameliorate any inconsistencies7

$iteral e=amination of the e=tent to which the Content8 (kills8 and &ssessments align with the CC((8 including any gaps8 redundancies8 etc &'D recommendations to ameliorate any inconsistencies7

3lausible8 yet limited e=amination of the e=tent to which the Content8 (kills8 and &ssessments align with the CC((8 including any gaps8 redundancies8 etc &'D rather superficial recommendations to ameliorate any inconsistencies7

+nderde-eloped analysis of the areas in relation to the CC(( including gaps8 redundancies8 etc8 and resultant recommendations7