Curriculum Scope And Sequence

A Review of District's English Language Arts

At a recent Garden City board of education work session, English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum coordinator Bernadette Arnone presented a comprehensive review of ELA compiled by the district’s 29-member ELA curriculum review committee.

Part of the district’s goal of continuous improvement, each content area in the school district follows a cycle of curriculum review designed to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of what is being taught in the classroom in grades K-12. 

The ELA committee was charged with conducting the review of existing practices, analyzing ELA state testing data and drawing conclusions and making recommendations. The review included a close examination of changes to NYS learning standards for ELA including the adoption of the new Common Core State Learning Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, and Science and Technical Subjects. 

Mrs. Arnone explained how the district’s ELA curriculum is anchored in Understanding by Design (UbD), an instructional planning and delivery strategy that begins with the desired learning outcomes and, working backwards, guides lesson content and pedagogy. UbD emphasizes framing essential questions and “big ideas” for students. In the primary and elementary grades, students develop and establish reading and writing skills through the district’s Balanced Literacy initiative which is concentrated on three areas: Language Word Study, Reading Workshop, and Writing Workshop.

The secondary program (6-12) supports Balanced Literacy and initiates a robust research writing program where students are challenged in the spirit of open inquiry to research, write and present findings. In grades K-5, the district’s ELA program organizes writing in consistent units of study. In grades 6-12, quarterly writing benchmarks are embedded with research and research writing components, guided by an ongoing review of benchmark effectiveness. Vocabulary and grammar series have been implemented in grades 6-12 with Language Word Study initiating the same topics through the Balanced Literacy program in grades K-5.

K-12 reading support is available to students who need assistance beyond their regular instruction. The district utilizes Achieve 3000 (6-12) and Reading Horizons (9-12) software programs designed to assist and support reading development.

District-wide ELA initiatives implemented during the past few years include: Balanced Literacy; Research Writing; 6-12 quarterly benchmarks & units of study K-5; implementation of a new grammar series in grades 6-8 and a new 6-12 vocabulary series; development of curriculum guides and course outlines in grades K-1 and 6-12; and improved functionality of the high school Writing Center.

Curriculum | Asia Society

The task of creating a curriculum--especially for a new program--can be challenging. A good way to start curriculum development is to examine curriculum documents that are used by other Chinese programs, particularly if they have been around a while and are successful. We recommend you contact some of these programs and schools to request curiculum documents and to solicit advice as you plan a scope and sequence for learning.

Curriculum documents from existing Chinese programs were most likely written for the particularities of the local setting and will appear in a variety of formats and contain varying kinds of information. Schools or districts should ask the following questions as they assess whether borrowed curriculum documents are appropriate models for the new Chinese langauge program:

Here is a listing of known curricula from around the country:

Pre K-AP Curriculum at Chicago Public Schools. For more information, please contact the Confucius Institute in Chicago, at 773-534-0021 or by e-mail at confucius@cps.k12.il.us .

K-16 Curriculum at Portland Public Schools Chinese Flagship Program. Click here .

K-12 Curriculum at Glastonbury Public Schools. For contact information, click here .

K-12 Curriculum at Springfield Public Schools. Click here for more detail.

K-4 Curriculum : the Ohio Department of Education is developing a K-4 content enriched curriculum funded by the Foreign Language Assistance Program. The curriculum will be piloted in 2008-2009 school year, and expects to be completed for release during the 2009-2010 school year. For That's actually quite interesting, the fact that a good way to start curriculum development is to examine curriculum of other Chinese programs - it sounds like a good idea. It reminded me that I should try some Chinese medicine and also take bee pollen supplements in order to try and deal with my low blood pressure like a friend of mine had suggested to me. Anyhow, I found the information on this website very useful, so thanks a lot.

Curriculum scope and sequence, grades K-6

Curriculum for gifted and talented students

Safe dates, an adolescent dating abuse prevention curriculum

Meeting standards through integrated curriculum

Math trailblazers, a mathematical journey using science and language arts