Follow These Steps To Design A Smart Curriculum. OR, Grab This FREE Full Year Scope and Sequence with Lesson Plans and A Smart Map!
SMART PLANS WITH DIGITAL RESOURCE BOOKSHELVES! A NEW WAY TO PLAN!
No more digging and searching for materials needed for your lesson plans. Keep everything in one place, at your fingertips! FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE
GUIDELINES FOR CREATING YOUR OWN YEARLY SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
1-Work backwards. Create a framework and rationale using the backwards design method. What do you want your students to know and accomplish before they leave your classroom at the end of the year? Consider your school’s calendar structure. Are you on a quarter, semester, or trimester system? Use this number of blocks to determine your major objectives. For instance, on a quarter system, you will have 4 overarching objectives. Creating a rationale is a great way to organize your thoughts and remind yourself and your colleagues why you chose this sequence. A Here’s an example.
2-Design your planning blocks around the most significant objective for that time period. Then, fit your minor objectives into these categories. For instance, the curriculum above was designed for quarters, but could easily be adapted to semesters or trimesters. I centered each quarter around one of the 4 major CCSS writing requirements: NARRATIVE/LITERARY ANALYSIS, ARGUMENTATIVE, INFORMATIONAL, RESEARCH. To modify this scope for semesters, my two main objectives would be FICTION AND NON-FICTION. I would then plug in activities accordingly, and build in spiraled reviews for each unit.
3-Align all of your minor tasks and objectives to support your major objectives and standards. In the curriculum above, every activity, resource, and reading selection for each respective quarter was chosen or created to support the overarching writing task. For example, the first quarter major objective is to write a narrative. Therefore, this quarter will be dedicated to reading fictional stories, studying literary elements through animated short films, short stories, and novels; writing summaries, retellings, alternate endings, and writing a literary analysis. This will prepare students for the culminating task of writing a narrative story.
4-Vertical Alignment Is Easy With CCSS. Consider vertical alignment if you are teaching multiple grade levels or are working with ELA content teachers for the grade level above and/or below you. This simply means that the classes within a particular grade band will be taught the same concepts, in sequence, with varying degrees of difficulties and modifications. This allows students to progressively build upon skills throughout the grade levels. Fortunately, CCSS makes this easy. Here are the 6th-8th vertical standards for quarter 1.
5- Select resources that support your objectives and standards and organize them for easy retrieval. Full disclosure. This is the tricky part. Frontloading this task is not easy, but worth the time and effort. If you complete this task at the beginning of summer, you can rest easy and enjoy the rest of your break more fully. Or, you can always plug in your resources as you go! I use Google Slides to create my lesson plans and built a handy bookshelves on each side to store my resources. This way, I can simply click a link and pull up any resource at any time!
These lessons plans are FREE! You can plug in your own resources that align with these plans. Also, there are suggested resources that you can quickly purchase.
LESSON PLANS FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR! OPTIONAL RESOURCES AVALABLE
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
CAN I USE THESE TOOLS IF I AM ON A DIFFERENT SCHEDULE SUCH AS SEMESTERS OR TRIMESTERS? YES! Since every school’s calendar year varies greatly, you will likely need to make this resource fit your calendar. Fortunately, you can follow the sequence regardless of your schedule, and even if you are on a semester or trimester system. If a particular quarter doesn’t line up with your school calendar, you can simply use all or parts of the the previous or following quarter.
CAN I USE MY OWN RESOURCES INSTEAD OF THE SUGGESTED RESOURCES? ABSOLUTELY! You can plug in any resources with this scope and sequence. These plans were designed to build skills in a logical order and spiral back frequently to previously learned skills so that knowledge is reinforced and retained.
WHY SHOULD I TRUST THIS RESOURCE? This scope and sequence is a result of trial and error and frequent revamping throughout the 14 years of my teaching career. I served on the Ohio state testing committee for 3 years and specialized in adherence to the standards. I learned a great deal about how standards interact and build upon each other. Additionally, I strive to create resources that kids ask for, such as 360 digital escapes and short film workshops. The suggested resources have been designed for authentic learning with rigorous application of CCSS.
ARE ALL 4 QUARTERS OF THE SCOPE AND SEQUENCE AND LESSON PLANS FREE? YEP! I want to help new teachers who aren’t sure where to start, experienced teachers who want to revise their plans, and all teachers who have not been given the resources they need, or want, to do their job.
ARE THE RESOURCES IN THE FULL YEAR BUNDLE DIGITAL OR PRINTABLE? BOTH! The resources in the full year bundle are a mix of both digital and printable. Students are more inclined to stay engaged if they have a variety of learning modes. Resource types were carefully selected to give the most benefit and engagement in terms of advanced tech enhancements and hands-on experiences.
WHAT IF I WANT TO SELECT MY OWN CUSTOM BUNDLE OF RESOURCES AND STILL GET THE DISCOUNT? Maybe you prefer a particular resource to be digital or printable, or you would like a different combination of resources. I can create a bundle with only the resources you want. Email me directly if you would like your own custom bundle at a discounted rate. jennywalker4rio@gmail.com
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