Standards for Curriculum Development
When planning and developing curriculum in any subject area, the first place to start is state, local or Common Core standards. Standards vary from state to state, and teachers are expected to know which standards to teach and how to teach them. Every lesson and unit should be tied to standards, and every grade level standard should be addressed at some point during the course of the school year. Standards should be presented sequentially, so students can build on previously learned skills.
Each subject area has specifically defined standards, but many times multiple standards are addressed within one project. For example, if a sixth grade student writes a research report on Thomas Jefferson, that student could be addressing reading, writing, research and history standards, all within the same assignment. Such opportunities are beneficial for students because they demonstrate the overlap in various subject areas and give students the chance to synthesize their learning. The example below shows how a history research report could hit six or more standards at the same time.
One report may address several standards at the same time.
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('Social Studies,' 2014) and ('English Language Arts,' 2014)
Annual Lesson Plans
Planning curriculum has many layers and can be tedious at times. It's best to look at the standards that are required and start with a yearly plan. Students are expected to master several standards in every subject area, so having a general plan for the year that outlines the order in which skills will be introduced, instructed and repeated is important.
It would be helpful to have a calendar available to set up a timeline as a visual aid. Teachers who instruct all core subject areas and those who teach only specific subjects will likely approach this task differently. An elementary school teacher might find opportunities to hit standards in multiple subjects at once more often than a high school math teacher. With that said, there are often opportunities for cross curricular instruction in all subject areas.
To begin designing a yearly plan, an elementary teacher could start by looking at an individual subject, such as math, and sort through the resources provided by the school district. Oftentimes, teachers are given a textbook to use as a guide for instruction. However, textbooks are written for use in dozens of states and districts, so it's important for a teacher to examine the textbooks provided and look for which standards are addressed and which standards will require supplemental materials. Then, teachers can begin to plan accordingly.
Let's consider Mr. Nelson, a third grade teacher. As he is developing an annual plan for his math class, he would read through the standards and curriculum provided and plan his instruction from there. An example is shown below.
This displays a sample annual plan for third grade math.
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Unit Lesson Plans
Once an annual plan has been established, the next step is to break the annual plan into units. If Mr. Nelson has established an annual plan, he can begin to look at each concept and determine how to approach each individual unit. In designing his units, Mr. Nelson will look at the individual strands that need to be taught. At this point, he will line up his units with standards to ensure every standard is touched on at some point during the school year. If he notices gaps in the curriculum, this is the point at which he will determine which materials he will need to supplement the textbooks.
Also, when developing units, Mr. Nelson will look for areas in which he may need to allow additional instructional time. Some topics are more complicated than others and might require additional repetition and opportunities to practice. If Mr. Nelson plans appropriately, he will provide a little bit of flexibility within his annual and unit plans. An example of a unit breakdown for the first several months of the year, using the Everyday Math curriculum, is shown below.
Planning units helps teachers see where there are gaps in the curriculum.
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('Grade 3: Introduction,' 2015) and ('Third Grade Math,' 2015)
Individual Plans
After an annual plan has been broken down into units, the next step is to write individual lesson plans. Lesson plans should include a summary of specific skills to be addressed, materials needed, an instructional plan and standards covered by the lesson. For example, Mr. Nelson needs to teach his students about multi-step word problems utilizing all operations. The following is an example of a simple lesson plan he could create.
Mr. Nelson will create lessons for each unit instructed in order to ensure his students are exposed to all standards over the course of the year. When designing lessons, it's important that Mr. Nelson understand his students' needs and learning styles. Every classroom, particularly at the elementary level, has students with a variety of different skill levels.
For example, Mr. Nelson, who we mentioned is a third grade teacher, could have a student who is completing math work at a first grade level and another student who can work at a fifth grade level. Both of these students are in the same classroom as Mr. Nelson's other students, the majority of whom are performing on grade level for the third grade. Mr. Nelson needs to differentiate instruction in order to meet the needs of all of his students.
Lesson Summary
Curriculum planning and development can be tedious, but it is absolutely necessary for teachers in any type of classroom. This is a process of looking at the standards in each subject area and developing a strategy to break down those standards so they can be taught to students. The best place to start is an annual plan. In this stage of curriculum development, teachers look at individual subjects and available resources and determine the order of instruction.
Once a yearly plan is in place, teachers can start developing individual units to address broad concepts. After units have been established, teachers begin to plan individual lessons in order to teach and assess specific skills related to standards. Teachers need to be prepared to differentiate instruction and maintain a degree of flexibility in their plans to address the needs of every student in each individual class.
