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A Guide to Curriculum Mapping - Book Cover

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Bestseller!

A Guide to Curriculum Mapping

Planning, Implementing, and Sustaining the Process

By: Janet A. Hale

Foreword by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

A step-by-step guide to successful curriculum mapping initiatives!

This comprehensive text for teachers and administrators with varying levels of curriculum-mapping experience provides step-by-step guidelines for developing a teacher-designed curriculum that is coherent, consistent, and aligned with standards. The author explores the stages of contemplating, planning, and implementing curriculum mapping across all grade levels to help improve student learning and create systemic change. This practical resource includes advice from teachers and administrators who have used curriculum mapping, and features:

Samples of four types of curriculum maps
Assistance for selecting a Web-based mapping system
Reflective questions in each chapter
A glossary of terms

Full description

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Product Details

Grade Level: PreK-12
ISBN: 9781412948920
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2007
Page Count: 328
Publication date: December 13, 2007

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Description

"With imagination and serious reflection, the author has generated a detailed resource with exercises, worksheets, staff development activities, and sample maps to assist any staff developer or curriculum designer. This book particularly connects to those who are at the beginning levels of their mapping journey."
—From the Foreword by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

A step-by-step guide to successful curriculum mapping initiatives!

While curriculum mapping is recognized as a highly effective method for serving students' ongoing instructional needs and creating systemic change, the means for putting this data-based decision-making process into practice may not always be clearly understood. This in-depth resource speaks to teachers and administrators with varying levels of curriculum-mapping experience and describes how teacher groups drive the process by engaging in collaborative inquiry as they review one another's curriculums for gaps, redundancies, and new learning. The collected data assist in designing month-to-month instructional plans for all grade levels and subjects, resulting in a curriculum that is coherent, consistent, and aligned with standards.

Drawing on her experience in working with thousands of educators across the country, Janet A. Hale offers specific steps for coordinating and sustaining strong mapping efforts that become embedded in school culture. The author explores the stages of contemplating, planning, and implementing a curriculum mapping initiative and helps the reader examine critical components that affect a learning organization's progress through each phase. The book presents powerful tools and features that significantly enhance curriculum mapping efforts:

Samples of four types of curriculum maps—Diary, Projected, Consensus, and Essential
Guidelines for deciding what type of map to use to begin the process
Assistance for selecting a Web-based mapping system
Reflective questions at the end of each chapter
A complete glossary of terms

A Guide to Curriculum Mapping includes extended coverage of the challenges of curriculum mapping, offers encouragement and advice from educators who have successfully implemented a mapping initiative, and provides the necessary clarity to put curriculum mapping into action.

Key features

Breaks the complex curriculum mapping process down into manageable steps
Presents examples of different kinds of curriculum maps
Offers flowcharts, figures, and a glossary to help explain the mapping process
Includes encouragement and advice from actual teachers and administrators

Author(s)

Janet A. Hale

Janet Hale is an educational consultant and trainer who is passionate about supporting educators in making curriculum decisions that ensure, enhance, and enrich learning and teaching experiences. She works with schools, districts, and higher-ed programs in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. She specializes in curriculum mapping; standards literacy and alignment; and documenting learning.

Her Masters in educational leadership and curriculum development; elementary, secondary, and special education classroom experiences; and working alongside teachers and administrators for over 20 years enable Janet to provide unique insights that aid the learning organizations she has the pleasure of assisting.

She has written an assortment of educational resources, including three titles for Corwin, and enjoys presenting at national and international conferences.

Janet resides in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, Johnny, and their four-legged Schnauzer children. Visit Janet’s consulting website: CurriculumDecisions.com and documenting learning website: documenting4learning.com. You can follow her on Twitter @janet_hale, as well as @doc4learning. She can be contacted via e-mail at teachtucson@aol.com or by phone at 520.241.8797.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Foreword by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

Preface

A Resource for Teachers and Administrators

Overview of the Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Author

1. How Do We Need to Think, Act, and Meet Differently?

Thinking Differently: Planned Versus Operational Curriculum

Acting Differently: Verification Versus Speculation

Meeting Differently: A Collegial Forum

Conclusion

Review Questions

2. What Are the Four Types of Curriculum Maps?

Four Types of Curriculum Maps

Curriculum Map Elements: An Overview

Conclusion

Review Questions

3. What Should We Consider Before Developing Curriculum Maps?

First Consideration: Exploring Personal and Collaborative Understanding of Curriculum Design

Second Consideration: The Ongoing Nature of Mapping Reviews

Third Consideration: A Mapping Sequence That Is Right for Your Learning Organization

Conclusion

Review Questions

4. What Elements Are Commonly Included in Curriculum Maps?

Curriculum Map Alignments and Elements

Writing the Elements

Conclusion

Review Questions

Descriptive or Not Descriptive? That Is the Question! (Math Focus)

Descriptive or Not Descriptive? That Is the Question! (Language Arts Focus)

Skill Versus Activity (Math Focus: Primary Grades)

Skill Versus Activity (Various-Discipline Focus: Upper Grades)

Assessment Versus Evaluation

5. What Should We Know Before Creating Diary Maps or Projected Maps?

Points to Ponder

Implementation Considerations

Conclusion

Sample Projected/Diary Maps

Review Questions

Conducting an Initial Read-Through: Facilitator Explanation and How-To Guide

Conducting an Initial Read-Through: Team Member Explanation and How-To Guide

Initial Read-Through: Collaborating to Create Quality Maps

Initial Read-Through Card Shuffle Debrief

6. What Should We Know Before Creating Consensus Maps and Essential Maps?

Map Type Differentiation

Developmental Considerations

Conclusion

Sample Consensus Maps and Essential Maps

Review Questions

7. How Should We Be Using Our Created Curriculum Maps?

Conducting Data-Driven Reviews

Investigating the Curriculum

Conclusion

Review Questions

8. What Data Is Often Incorporated When Refining Curriculum Maps?

Additional Map Data

Essential and Supporting Questions

Conclusion

Review Questions

9. How May Standards Influence Our Curriculum Design?

Standards and Curriculum

Breaking Apart Standards

Determining Power Standards

Conclusion

Review Questions

10. What Should We Consider Regarding Technology?

Commercial Online Mapping Systems

Mapping System Considerations

Conclusion

Review Questions

11. What Should We Focus on When Planning Our Implementation?

Systemic Change and Curriculum Mapping

Vision

Skills

Resources

Incentives

Action Plans

Conclusion

Review Task

12. What Roadblocks and Brick Walls May We Encounter Along the Way?

Practical Advice From Practitioners

Glossary of Terms

Curriculum Mapping

Types of Maps

Map Elements

Alignments

Seven-Step Review Process

Common Review Focuses

Curriculum Mapping Intra-Organizations

Miscellaneous Terms

References

Index

Reviews

"Curriculum mapping has been a stepping stone for our faculties to become professional learning communities. It has provided a vehicle for our teachers to engage in professional conversations for the benefit of our students. Janet Hale has given us the road map for this journey."

David Woolwine, Associate Superintendent
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO

"Janet Hale has captured the layered foundation of curriculum mapping. She makes the journey through the how’s and what’s of mapping an easier and more understandable experience. This book is a great resource for teachers beginning or already on the path of developing individualized maps."

Donna Bateman, Teacher
Fowler Elementary School District #45, Phoenix, CA

"Provides very practical strategies for designing and implementing a successful curriculum mapping initiative. Hale offers specific illustrations to help move teachers away from writing activities to designing curriculum. The concrete examples included throughout are easy to understand and will be used as guides by our teachers as we move forward with consensus map design."

Jeffrey Dolce, Curriculum and Staff Development Coordinator
Orchard Park Central School District, NY

"An essential, easy-to-follow guidebook. Hale has done an excellent job in outlining the step-by-step process of curriculum mapping. As a classroom teacher, I couldn’t imagine a better tool for planning and implementing my lessons. Curriculum mapping has helped me better plan for instruction and make certain that I have covered the necessary state standards. As I continue my journey on the road to developing more effective maps, this book will be a resource I will refer to and recommend to my colleagues."

Monica Duvall, Fifth-Grade Teacher
Sunridge Elementary School, Phoenix, AZ

"An excellent guide for schools and districts interested in implementing curriculum mapping. The author was honest in her approach, emphasizing that this process is not a 'quick fix' and that key components must be in place for it to be successful. After reading the book, I am ready to 'saddle up' and start preparing for a prologue year."

Vanessa Eugene, Administrator
Dibert Elementary School, New Orleans, LA

“An outstanding survey for putting data-based decision practices into real-world teaching experiences. Hale’s work with thousands of educators offers steps for mapping efforts that can fuel school cultures.”

The Bookwatch, May 2008
Midwest Book Review

Other Titles in: Instructional Leadership | Standards & Accountability | Teaching Methods & Learning Styles

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