Nancy Lubarsky Mountainside School District March 19, 2018
Curriculum Analysis Goal To utilize the newly formed Professional Development/ Curriculum Committee to assist all teachers in comparing/contrasting both the NJ Common Core Standards and the new NJ Learning Standards existing curriculum documents in 4 curriculum areas with an emphasis on writing – Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies – to identify at least 3 gaps between standards and current implementation.
Process Date Activity September 5 Project introduced September 6 Teachers met in grade level or subject area teams to complete the work (half day) 22 (full day), January 29, February 15 September 13, Professional Development/ Curriculum Committee met to plan, review progress November 15, and develop final analysis January 10
Language Arts K-4 Topic Gap Recommendation • Phonics Foundations in the Identify developmental sequence that is compatible with lower grades the developmental sequence of reading skills in R/W workshop • Purchase supplemental materials to support this. • Spelling/Word Study (spelling Books at higher levels Need additional spelling and phonics study compatible patterns) transition spelling with Readers/Writers workshop • patterns to vocabulary Purchase supplemental materials to support this. (Latin/Greek routes); May not be ready • Grammar and Usage No developmental Develop chart, based on state standards, of the non- sequence negotiable grammar/usage skills that should be taught at each grade level. • Assign these to compatible reading/writing activities in a logical, developmental sequence. • Purchase supplemental materials to support this.
Language Arts Grade 5 Topic Gap Recommendation • Grammar No developmental Develop chart, based on state standards, of the non-negotiable sequence grammar/usage skills that should be taught at each grade level. • Assign these to compatible reading/writing activities in a logical, developmental sequence. • Teach grammar/editing(usage) in centers during Writing Workshop as well as in between units of study. • Use online tools such as Moby Max to supplement. • Interactive grammar/usage notebook • Practice Greek/Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes • Purchase supplemental materials to support this. • Spelling Books at higher levels Add a homework component to Words Their Way for additional study • in Words Their Way Need additional spelling and phonics study compatible with Readers/Writers transition spelling workshop • patterns to vocabulary Purchase supplemental materials to support this. (Latin/Greek routes); May not be ready
Language Arts 6-8 Topic Gap Recommendations Vocabulary acquisition Multiple-meaning Integrate instruction about parts of speech, and Greek and Latin and use words, Greek and roots to support students’ understanding of vocabulary and proper Latin roots, figures usage with their own writing. of speech • Conventions of Standard No developmental Develop chart, based on state standards, of the non- English (Grammar/Usage) sequence negotiable grammar/usage skills that should be taught at each grade level. • Assign these to compatible reading/writing activities in a logical, developmental sequence. • Teach grammar/editing(usage) during Writing Workshop as well as in between units of study. • Use online tools such as Moby Max to supplement. • Interactive grammar/usage notebook • Practice Greek/Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes • Purchase supplemental materials to support this
Math K-5 Topic Gap Recommendation • Fact Fluency Expectations in standards in one Create flashcards grade create lag for the next • Word Problems/ Thinking Many children don’t have the Create consistent language across grade and Reasoning prerequisite reading skills levels to use to solve word problems (i.e. key words and phrases) • Addition and Subtraction Need more practice with Provide more practice time for fluency in addition/subtraction facts practice • Properties of operations Students struggle with these Teach these chapters later when students have more practice with fact fluency • Modeling Understanding of fractions Increase the amount of modeling. For example: visual fraction strips; base ten blocks; measurement cubes; 2/3 dimensional figures.
Math 6-8 Topic Gap Recommendation • Rearrange order in which the curriculum is taught in both 6 th Statistics and Summarizing and describing and 7 th grade to ensure exposure and continual review of Probability distribution; summarizing numerical data sets in analyzing statistics. relation to their context • Scientific Notation Operations with numbers Math teachers will meet with science teachers to discuss expressing in scientific increased use of scientific notation calculations notation 7 th Grade curriculum has been rearrange to introduce the topic • Similarity Understanding congruency prior to 8 th grade. This section of the 8 th grade curriculum has Transformation of 2-dimentional figures been moved to later in the year so that students can better conceptualize, grasp, and understand the visual aspects of geometry.
Social Studies K-5 Note: SS is under review beginning this year Topic Gap Recommendation • Civics, Government, Understanding the many facets of family Need to develop a clear sequence of and Human Rights member roles, traditions and family heritage; instruction to eliminate gaps and immigration; Organization of the US redundancies Government and government functions • Geography People Compare and contrast the similarities and Need to develop a clear sequence of and the Environment differences between cities, suburbs and instruction to eliminate gaps and towns. redundancies • Economics, Explain differences between goods and Need to develop a clear sequence of Innovation and services; identify community helpers; instruction to eliminate gaps and Technology understand economics as a driving force redundancies • History, Culture and Understand the importance of the Need to develop a clear sequence of Perspectives government in history; Americans and their instruction to eliminate gaps and ancestors; American identity redundancies
Social Studies 6 Note: SS is under review beginning this year Topic Gap Recommendation • Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras Migratory patterns Locate supplementary resources regarding migration • Incorporate map skills • Geography and Map Skills Compare/contrast political and More frequent assessment of physical maps of ancient and modern maps and locations to understand civilization why certain civilizations interacted more • Legal Systems and Classical Compare/contrast American legal Build a scaffold approach between grade level: 6 th – Greek Civilizations system with classical civilizations Democracy, 7 th Roman Republic, 8 th American Democratic Republic
Social Studies 7 Note: SS is under review beginning this year Topic Gap Recommendation • Economics, Innovation, and How classical civilizations used Add military development and its impact Technology technology and innovation on urban areas with the development of an increased division of labor • Civics, Government and The influence of medieval English Introduce legal system by adding a new unit – scaffold: 6 th Greek, 7 th Roman, 8 th Human Rights legal and constitutional practices American • History, Culture, and The influence of the Byzantine Introduce the role of the Byzantine Perspectives Empire on the Islamic world and Empire in relation to the Islamic World Western Europe
Social Studies 8 Note: SS is under review beginning this year Topic Gap Recommendation • Expansion and Reform How major technological Develop/expand research writing (DBQ’s) • developments revolutionized Students should engage in more presentations and transportation and the economy; lead instruction • Shift instruction of westward expansion to 5 th how the concept of the Manifest Destiny influenced the acquisition grade. of land • CivilWar and The role of multiple factors that Consideration of truncating other topics to cover Reconstruction affected the course and outcome the Civil War in more depth. of the Civil War
Science 6-8 (Curriculum underwent major revision 2016-17. This is a fine tuning.) Topic Gap Recommendations • Forces and Interactions Not included in the written document Incorporated into curriculum document • Engineering Components in Engineering projects were done but not Aligned to the specific standard Each Unit necessarily linked to a specific standard • Forces and Interaction vs. This is included in both grades 6 and 8. Identified Newton’s Laws, kinetic and Energy Needed specific topics. thermal energy in grade 6 • Kinetic and potential energy relationships and energy changes in grade 8
Science K-5 This is the first year of full implementation for K-5 so gaps and recommendations will be determined at the end of this year.
Questions 15
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