Reflections+of+a+Curriculum+Map

I'd like to try to compare and contrast two different curriculum maps. First, let's look at what I would consider a more traditional curriculum map. The [|North Platte Public Schools Social Studies K-12 Curriculum] covers K-12 curriculum noting very specific knowledge of what students would be expected to know. Here are a couple of examples of outcomes and their components (which seem to be something like sub-outcomes - almost benchmarks). The first is from 2nd grade and the second example is from 8th grade:


 * S.S 2.6 Student will locate and identify on maps and on globes his/her local city and county, state, the United States, the seven continents and four oceans
 * SS2:6-1 identify the seven continents
 * SS2:6-2 identify the four oceans
 * SS2:6-3 identify the country in which we live
 * SS2:6-4 identify the state in which we live
 * SS2:6-5 identify the county in which we live
 * SS2:6-6 identify the city in which we live


 * AH8:9 Students will identify the major events of post war America and explain how they have changed how we live up to the present day.
 * AH8:9-1 describe the relationship between the US and the Soviet Union that caused the Cold War
 * AH8:9-2 explain the reasons for the Cuban Missile Crisis and how that crisis was solved
 * AH8:9-3 explain the causes, events and effects of the Korean War
 * AH8:9-4 explain the causes, events and effects of the Vietnam War
 * AH8:9-5 describe how and why the Cold War came to an end
 * AH8:9-6 explain the reasons for the Modern Civil Rights Movement
 * AH8:9-7 identify the major people and practices of the Modern Civil Rights Movement and judge their impact of the American culture
 * AH8:9-8 identify the events of the 1960’s and explain their impact of the culture of the US
 * AH8:9-9 describe the major people and events from 1970 to the present
 * AH8:9-10 evaluate how the events of recent years affects the lives of American citizens today

One of the mantra's I've heard repeated over and over again in regards to curriculum is that traditional curriculum is a mile wide and an inch deep. Teachers are focused on broad coverage at the sacrifice of deep understanding. By 10th grade, the North Platte curriculum consists of 7 main outcomes and **54** sub-outcomes. Assuming a typical 36 week school year, the 10th grade World History teacher will need to teach each sub-outcome in roughly 3.2 days. The class covers ancient civilizations through the Russian revolution. To put this in perspective, that teacher would need to teach students to "analyze early Portuguese and Spanish explorations and what the short-term and long-term effects were on the indigenous people of the Americas" in 3.2 days. Clearly this is a curriculum concern, but what about the impact this curriculum has on instruction and assessment?

If you needed to teach students to "analyze early Portuguese and Spanish explorations and what the short-term and long-term effects were on the indigenous people of the Americas" what would be the most effective means? Multiple readings and primary source documents? TeacherTube videos or even student created and posted videos to assess understanding? Maybe like this one:

media type="youtube" key="x9BK2698drM" height="344" width="425"

Or maybe work on a wiki like this, but with different pages for various explorers. Students could collaborate to research the real and theoretical impact each explorer had on North America.

But probably not in 3.2 days. In 3.2 days you would probably prepare a lecture to cover the most essential facts with a nice, neat study guide and half a dozen questions on the next unit test. Students may or may not develop true understanding, but you have to move on to the next sub-outcome, right?

Now, let's contrast this with a New York school districts take on "Curriculum Mapping." Explore the English Language Arts [|district site for North Greece, New York]. The K-12 curriculum is divided into two separate links, one for K-5 and one for 6-12. Let's look at the "[|Themes & Essential Questions]," and then look at the 10th grade list of essential questions under the theme "[|Social Justice]." Each unit or piece of literature taught must fall under one of those 20 main curricular themes. Assuming that each question is taught linearly (and one could argue that is not necessary) the teacher now has 9 days in a 180 day calendar to spend on each question relating to a single theme, social justice.

The Greece site is not as cut and dry nor as neat as the North Platte site. One could argue that it is not as familiar - it doesn't //look// like English curriculum. The North Platte site reflects what we all learned in social studies, right? Maybe that's why there is so much continued resistance to look at curriculum the way Greece, NY does. It allows for creativity, demands the use of unfamiliar tools such as literature circles and Socratic seminars - with 8th graders. What I appreciate about the Greece site is that it's tied into best practices, is rich with teacher resources and guidance and focuses not only on reading and writing, but //thinking// skills.

I can understand our continued loyalty to such cut and dry practices as the North Platte example. I fully appreciate that there are textbooks that likely follow that curriculum chronologically, and provide pre-made tests, activities and lectures. I appreciate that plowing through the content and leading students through each era or concept is what many social studies teachers signed up to do. I appreciate that language arts teachers love to explore the plots and settings of classic literature.

What I also appreciate, however, is that the Greece, NY practices, despite appearing lean on content area concepts, are rich with opportunities to build skills, construct understandings and make students, well, //smarter//. And isn't smarter students what we're all working towards?