SCoPE: A Model Core Curriculum for Michigan Schools (Elementary)Presented by:

Dr. William J. Devers III

Elements of Schools That WorkStructures that Support Teaching, Learning and CaringTeachers that know the subject matter and know how to teach it in age appropriate waysCurriculum that is clear, coherent and promotes depth of understandingAssessment that informs instructionContinuous professional development

The Purposes of CurriculumFocus - Identifies what is essential and significant

Connect - Reinforces complex learning within and across grade levels and schools

Equity - Ensures that every student has access to the curriculum

Purpose of the SCoPE Site ProjectTo provide a model K-12 local core curriculum in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies based on the Michigan Curriculum Framework and the Grade Level Content Expectations including units of study and lesson plans that are accessible to Michigan teachers via the Internet.

What Makes the MCC unique?Grade Level Content Expectation DrivenResearch Based

Assessment TasksFREE!

Sample Curriculum and Plans for Education (SCoPE)

The Grade Level Content ExpectationsCoding R.WS.01.01

Grade LevelContent ExpectationGrade LevelSubtopicTopic

Criteria for Authentic Academic AchievementConstruction of Knowledge

Disciplined Inquiry

Value Beyond School

CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGEStudents construct or produce, rather than merely reproduce, meaning or knowledge by interpreting, evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing, or organizing information. They express this knowledge in written and oral discourse, by making and repairing things, and in performances for audiences.

Criteria for Authentic Teaching

Criteria for Authentic TeachingDISCIPLINED INQUIRY

Students use an established knowledge base, strive for in-depth understanding for a major concept, problem, or issue pertinent to an academic or professional discipline, and express conclusions through elaborate communication.

Criteria for Authentic TeachingVALUE BEYOND SCHOOL

Students achievements have practical impact apart from documenting the competence of the learner. They have meaning beyond being an indicator of success in school.

CONSTRUCTIONOFReflective KNOWLEDGEThinking

DISCIPLINEDCoherenceINQUIRYDepthAlignment

VALUE Knowledge BEYONDApplicationSCHOOLCriteria for Authentic Achievement with Standards for Curriculum

The Purpose of the Subject Area

Grade Level Content Expectations

Sequence of Study

Grade Level and Course Overviews

Units of StudyComponents of a Subject Area Curriculum

Unit PlanAbstractFocus QuestionsBenchmarksAssessment TasksConnections / Career PathwaysInstructional Resources

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Focus Questions1 to 3 maximumUse to guide inquiryProblematicOpen endedRequires construction of understanding

Grade Level Content Expectations4 to 8 maximumIntegrates knowledge with skillsContextualized to the content of the unit

Assessment TasksAssesses more than one Grade Level Content ExpectationMeets the Criteria for AuthenticityExpresses a task and identifies a product

Key ConceptsA maximum of sixHighly pertinent to the topicPowerful ideas of significance to the discipline

ConnectionsLinks the unit of study to other subject areasIdeally linked units are studied at the same timeLinks to Career Pathways

The Product - Part IISCoPE Site Lesson PlanOn average, there will be 10 lessons associated with each unit of study in the SCoPE Curriculum. Instructional time for each lesson will last between 1-3 days.When the project is completed, there will be approximately 3,840 lesson plans available to teachers online.

SCoPE Site Lesson Plan

Title: Lesson 13 The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

Abstract

The purpose of this lesson is for students to make an informed decision whether the United States should have used the atom bomb as a weapon against Japan during the Second World War. Students analyze primary and secondary documents and consider the thinking of both proponents and opponents of the decision to drop the bomb. They participate in an informed discussion of the issue and express their position on it in a persuasive essay.

Subject Area: Social Studies

Grade Level and Course Title: Ninth or Tenth Grade/Twentieth Century American History

Unit of Study: The Second World War

Benchmarks

Identify major decisions made by the United States government during World War II and consider alternative courses of action (I.4.HS.1).

Participate in discussion that deeply examines whether the United States should have dropped the atomic bomb (VI.2.HS.1).

Evaluate the decision of the United States to use the atomic bomb in light of core democratic values and the resulting costs and benefits as viewed from a variety of perspectives (I.4.HS.4).

Key Concept: Manhattan Project

Instructional Resources

Choices: Truman, Hirohito, and the Atomic Bomb. The Bill of Rights in Action. Summer 1999, Volume 15, Number 3, pp. 5-8.

Enola Gay Perspectives (Search for McCracken, Carolyn The War in the Pacific: A Brief History and Timeline) http://www.glue.umd.edu/~enola/hist/history.html (May 1999)

Evans, R.W. and D.W. Saxe (Eds.), Performance Criteria for a Public Issues Discussion of Assessing Discussion of Public Issues. Handbook on Teaching Social Issues. National Council for the Social Studies, 1996, pp. 289-295.

Hersey, John, Hiroshima. Vintage Books, 1989.

King, Michael B. Why America Was Right to Drop the Bomb: Shock Treatment. National Review. 3 April 1995.

Future ExpansionsElaborated Performance Assessments with samples of student workSpecial Needs AccommodationsDesign and Technological Studies AdaptationsProfessional Development Learning CommunitiesOnline forums, streaming video clips

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Contact InformationDr. William J. Devers III, Oakland Schools, K-12 ELA Consultantbill.devers@oakland.k12.mi.us(248) 209-2510

Kelly Burklund-Carey, Oakland Schools ConsultantKelly.Carey@oakland.k12.mi.us(248) 209-2016

Focus or identification of what we want children to know and be able to do

Connections within and across grades so that teachers can build on students prior knowledge

Equity a childs opportunity to learn should not be limited merely the luck of the teacher they get that year.

CURRICULUM STANDARD 1: REFLECTIVE THINKING The curriculum poses problems which challenge studentsto figure out possible answers, solutions, or results bythinking for themselves.

Curriculum standard 2: Coherence: Elements of a unit plan cohere within a single topic.All elements are related to one another and comprisea unified whole.

Curr Std. 3 Depth The scope of knowledge within a unit of study is limitedso that learning can be deep rather than shallow.

Std 4: Alignment Benchmarks are aligned with external contentstandards recognized within a field of study, andassessment tasks correlate directly to the benchmarks.

STd 5: Knowledge Application The curriculum includes knowledge that has use beyondsuccess in school.

Kelly