Middle School Curriculum Project Overview

1
Middle School Curriculum Project Overview
1980
2000
2010
Plano Independent School District
2
Overview of the Middle School Curriculum
Development Process
3
Scope of Project

• Involves all district middle schools
• Will be a minimum 4 year project including
  some time in summers
• Overall goal is to improve academic
  challenge, articulation, coordination, and
  relevancy of the middle school curriculum

4
Definition of the Project

• Initial focus on core academic areas
• District commitment to project
• Adequate time to develop quality product
• Funding from special district revenues (Dr.
  Pepper Fund)

5
Planos Middle School Belief Statement
The Plano Middle School program will provide an
academically challenging and appropriate learning
environment. Curriculum and instruction will

• build upon prior experience and prepare students
  for the next academic level.
• prepare students to be independent learners.
• use varied strategies including interactive
  involvement to meet the needs of individual
  students.

6
Planos Middle School Belief Statement
Curriculum and instruction will

• provide instruction on relevant issues.
• connect knowledge and skills among the
  disciplines where appropriate.
• include multiple measures of student progress and
  mastery.
• provide opportunities for all students to be
  successful.
• provide opportunities for creativity and
  expression.

7
Development / Implementation Plan
8
Development / Implementation Plan
9
Backward Curriculum Design
Identify desired results.
Determine acceptable evidence.
Plan learning experiences and instruction.
10
What content to teach?
How do we determine what content to teach?
11
Establishing Curricular Priorities
worth being familiar with
worth being familiar with
important to know understand
important to know understand
enduring understanding
enduring understanding
12
Value beyond the classroom At the heart of the
discipline Long term memory Emotional
connection
Enduring understanding
13
Efficiency of Human Body Systems
structure of systems (excretory, circulatory,
digestive, respiratory)
substructures
Essential Questions
effect of foreign substances on systems
mechanics of unique structures
Scientists Beaumont, Harvey
1. Why do I get sick? 2. Do I have any control
over how body systems interact? 3. How can
structures be enhanced to increase efficiency? 4.
How does my health depend on the interaction of
body systems?
force as it relates to blood flow
surface area of unique structures
circulation, respiration, absorption rate
division of labor
blood composition
equilibrium/imbalance
lung capacity
difference between undigested and excreted matter
relationship of structure and function
relationship of circulation respiration
absorption of O2
exercise, stress, temperature
health/disease
CO2 O2 exchange dependency
blood pressure
relationship of digestion circulation
digestive enzymes
cold-blooded warm-blooded
nutrients absorption of water
feedback loops
Living systems demonstrate the complementary
nature of structure and function.
efficiency of systems
structure of systems
hunger thirst
responses to external and internal stimuli
survival
fever vomiting
The structure of systems allows them to work
efficiently.
Body systems work together to respond to stimuli
and maintain equilibrium.
6 Science 05/11/99 G/Human Body.ppt
14
Efficiency of Human Body Systems
15
Cultural Relationships focus Middle East/ North
Africa/ North America
relations between Israel Arab World
Essential Questions
US/Canadian relations
population distribution
terrorism
Christianity
1. What makes up a culture?
trade routes
political geography
Islam
Judaism
traditional vs. market economies
religious founders
2. Why do some cultures have conflicts?
physical geography
contemporary issues
totalitarianism
3. Why do some cultures cooperate?
renewable /non-renewable resources
comparative political systems
democracy
comparative religions
theocracy
geography
monarchy
comparative economics
language
cultural characteristics
fine arts
historical foundations
Culture is defined by interactions among complex
factors.
The unique confluence of cultures of the Middle
East or North America can result in conflict or
cooperation.
6 Social Studies 09/08/99 G/Cultural
Relationships
16
Cultural Relationships focus Middle East/ North
Africa/ North America
17
Why skills ? What do we do with skills ?

• content through skills
• content more ephemeral
• skills become vehicle to acquire, process,
  apply, etc. new content
• How do we systematically teach skills if
  another primary focus is content?

18
Content through Skills Model
Skills fabric or matrix (horizontal and
vertical)
19
Skills Categories

• Information Literacy Skills
• Communication Skills
• Thinking and Reasoning Skills
• Technology Skills
• Social Skills

20
Collect Information To gather information
through the process of making and
recording observations
Access Information To identify general
and specific resources relevant to the source
?
Evaluate Information To scrutinize and
screen potentially useful pieces of information
Organize and Manipulate Information To
categorize information and to clarify relationshi
ps into conceptual organizers
Integrate and Apply Information To
integrate fragments of information into a
comprehensible whole to create personal meaning
21
(No Transcript)
22
Locate print,
Locate resources
audiovisual,
within school
computerized
environment
resources,
microformats
?
?
Books,
Use on-line
periodicals
databases,
?
?
interlibrary loan,
Identify and
telephone and
Electronic
locate information
fax technology,
references
outside school
public and
?
environment
academic
?
libraries,
?
Listservers,
government
Select appropriate resources and tools
newsgroups,
Internet
offices
WWW, hypertext
link
Use internal
Indexes, tables
Access
organizers and
of content,
information within
electronic search
keywords,
resources
strategies
Boolean logic

23
Content through Skills Model
Skills fabric or matrix (horizontal and
vertical)
content
content
content
24
Horizontal Articulation and Repetition
physical education
art
language arts
theater arts
music
foreign language
social studies
25
Vertical Articulation and Repetition
science 8
social studies 8
language arts 8
access information
access information
access information
language arts 7
science 7
social studies 7
science 6
social studies 6
language arts 6
26
What does technology look like?

• 8 classroom computers (networked)
• mounted video projection device
• VID, VCR
• classroom Internet access
• standard MS Office software
• Inspiration software
• Various subject specific software

27
Curriculum to the Teachers

• custom designed database to input curriculum
  from various subjects
• delivery to teacher desktops via web browser
  interface (intranet)

28
Power in the MSP Approach

• curriculum designed for the student
• students receive horizontal repetition, not
  just vertical exposure
• skill development becomes overt and systematic
• relevant application of content and skills
• skills and content build with consistent,
  developmental articulation
• skills and content become enduring
  understandings for students

29
(No Transcript)