MAPPING THE CURRICULUM

1
MAPPING THE CURRICULUM
Refining Maps Through the Incorporation of
Essential Questions Session 6
The power to question is the
basis of all human progress. --Gandhi
2
Essential Question How does inquiry
effect knowledge?
Supporting Questions How may curriculum
mapping aid in improving
student learning and performance? How may
designing learning based on
conceptual questions effect student
learning over time? How may essential and
support questions influence instruction practices
including instructional delivery
and assessment methods?
3
MAPPING THE CURRICULUM
Refine is defined as
to use
precise distinctions in
thought, speech, or text. Refining Maps
Equals Refining Current Curriculum Design There
are a variety of ways that curriculum can
become distinctive.
In this session the
refinement focus pertains to
the distinctive features of essential and
supporting conceptual-based questions.
4
Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs has a chapter dedicated to
Essential Questions in
Mapping the Big Picture Integrating Curriculum
and Assessments K-12. ASCD, 1997.

Chapter 4 Refining Maps Through Essential
Questions The key word here is refining!
Beginning mapping does not ask for or include EQs
unless teachers have been extensively trained in
this type of unit design and are all ready using
EQs to curriculum, instruction, and
assessments.
5
EQs
CAUTION !
Just because Essential Questions
appear on maps,
it does not mean that the
questions are truly essential!
6
Recommended Reading
Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction
Teaching Beyond the Facts
--H. Lynn Erickson
Corwin Press Concept-Based Curriculum and
Instruction for the Thinking Classroom
--H. Lynn
Erickson Corwin Press Stirring the
Head, Heart and Soul Redefining Curriculum and
Instruction
--H. Lynn Erickson Corwin
Press Understanding by Design
--Grant Wiggins
Jay McTighe ASCD
If you do not have time to read,
you do not have time to lead!
Phillip Schlechty
7
Essential questions are meant to serve as Mental
Velcro for the learner

• EQs define concept-based big ideas
  or enduring understandings
• EQs set direction for a unit of
  studys content-skill sets and
  intra-aligned assessments
• EQs create depth rather than
  breadth given time constraints
• EQs increase interaction and retention of what
  students must know, be able to do, and how
  the various cognition levels (Bloom) and
  perspectives (Wiggins/McTighe) of learning are
  accurately measured

Mental Velcro Analogy, Jacobs, H. H.,
Curriculum Mapping Institute,
Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2006.
8
Big Ideas / Essential Questions
are broader, global,
concept-based
questions that are not
answered easily.
One must synthesize
multiple facets of understanding
to adequately answer
Essential and Supporting Questions. Understand
ing by Designs
Six Facets of Understanding
?
1998
9
Understanding By Design Grant Wiggins/Jay McTighe

Well-designed Essential/Supporting Questions
causes students to experience/explore/evaluate
learning via the
Six Facets of
Understanding A multi-faceted view of what
makes up understanding (p. 44) Can
Explain
Can Interpret
Can Apply
Have
Perspective
Can Empathize
Have Self-Knowledge
UbD
10
EQs serve as a framework
for a unit of studys learning

• Similar to a Table of Contents informing readers
  of what is yet to come, EQs (and SQs) inform
  learners of what the conceptual focus or focuses
  will be in the unit learning.
• The wording of EQs greatly impact the conceptual
  focus(es) and the factual, topic-based learning
  (SQs) in a given unit of study. For example,
  think of the variety of learning that could take
  place given the slight wording changes below by
  (a) using how versus why, and (b) by switching
  the two nouns within the EQs

How does water effect motion? Why does water
effect motion? __________________________ How
does motion effect water? Why does motion effect
water?
Jacobs, H. H. Curriculum Mapping Institute,
Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2006.
11
So, I want to make certain I am getting this
right . An well-written Essential
Question is not simply a question. It is
a question based on broad concepts (big ideas)
and can be answered quite differently based on
personal viewpoints and
perspectives
Get ready for a light bulb
moment! 1. Find a blank of paper and a writing
utensil. 2. Listen for the verbal directions
12
Consider yourselves divided! LEFT
RIGHT
Simple tools are found in the kitchen.
Draw illustrations
13
Consider yourselves divided! LEFT
RIGHT
Simple tools solve problems.
Draw illustrations
14
Do both statements have nouns or noun phrases
and connecting verb
or verb phrases?
Simple tools are found in the kitchen.
Simple tools solve problems.
Fact/ Topic-Based
Concept- Based
15
Concept-Based
Big Ideas
Cause Your Brain To
"GENERALIZE !"
16
Technically, there is great variety to the
types of questions
asked in the classroom
Isolated Questions
Foundation Questions
Yes or No/ Factual
Isolated-Answer Learning
Supporting Questions Unit-Specific Factual
Concept-based Related Learning
Essential Questions Concept-Based Big Ideas /
Enduring Learning
17
Concept-Based Learning
A concept is an
organizing idea a mental
construct that is

• Universal
• Timeless
• Abstract Broad

18
GENERALIZATION
Enduring Understanding

• Two or more concepts combined to
  make a relationship...

Concept
Concept
CONCEPTUAL BIG IDEAS CAN TRANSFER TO DEVELOP OR
EXPAND GENERLIZATIONS
H. Lynn Erickson ? lynnerickson.net ?
www.corwinpress.com
19

• An big idea or enduring learning has embedded
  generalized concepts. Most often two concepts
  form one relational statement.
• Facts relate directly to the concepts to support
  meaning and understanding. Therefore, relational
  supporting questions aid in students ability to
  combine the foundational questions knowledge
  gained to independently address the EQ and SQs.
• Concept/Big Idea A countrys geography has a
  direct impact on its economy.
• Essential Question How does geography impact
  an economy?
• Supporting Questions (Foreign Trade)
• How does Japans land and sea trade routes impact
  global economies?
• How may changes in United States trade routes
  impact global economies?

20
Essential questions and supporting questions must
be written with consideration for
the unit of study and the student
population
Grade 3 EQ How does direction affect movement?

• --Age group or groups and interests
• --Stage of maturational and cognitive development
• --Language acquisition
• --School and local community connections
• --Personal and collective aspirations

Grade 5 EQ How does movement affect lifestyle?
Grade 7 EQ How does lifestyle affect movement?
21
Essential questions and supporting questions must
be written with consideration for
the unit of study and the student
population
Grade 3 EQ How does direction affect movement?

• --Age group or groups and interests
• --Stage of maturational and cognitive development
• --Language acquisition
• --School and local community connections
• --Personal and collective aspirations

Did you notice the previous slides concept-based
EQs have a variety of possible discipline
directions regarding specific learning? This is
intentional. A units EQ needs
support questions (SQs) that are specific to a
learning topic.
22
Concept-based big ideas or enduring learnings
(generalizations) can be translated into
essential questions

• DO NO USE PAST
• PAST PERFECT
• PRESENT PERFECT
• TENSE VERBS

DO NOT USE PROPER OR PERSONAL NOUNS

• For Generalization Statements
• Culture exhibits both change and continuity
  through time.
• Properties distinguish living and non-living
  things.
• Line defines shape and adds meaning.

H. Lynn Erickson ? lynnerickson.net ?
www.corwinpress.com
23
What can we do to improve students
retention and desire to
learn? Big Ideas/Essential Questions are
design based on one or a
combination of standard statements.
Standards
Curriculum Content-Skill Sets
Assessments/Evaluation
24
What can we do to improve
students retention and
desire to learn?
Standard Statement
Essential Question
Students investigate (observe, record, describe)
characteristics in daily weather and seasonal
cycles.
Standards
Why do people dress in different ways? SQ
Why do families dress in
different ways in different seasons?
Curriculum Content-Skill Sets
Assessments/ Evaluation
Grade 1 Earth Science
25
How can we truly improve our
students quality of learning?

Standard Statements
Essential Question
How do trends influence production? SQ
How can mathematical statistics influence
Arizonas economy?
1. Represent quantitative relationships
graphically and use the graphs to solve
real-world and mathematical problems. 2. Generate
a table of values from a formula and graph the
resulting ordered pairs on a grid.
Grade 8
Patterns, Functions, and Algebra
26
What can we do to improve
students retention and desire to learn?

Standard Statement
Essential Question
Analyze and explain the impact on American
society and culture of the new immigration
policies after 1965 that led to a new wave of
immigration. (Individuals, Society, and Culture)
How does equality generate
policy? SQ
How do formal and informal leaders generate
immigration policies?
High School US History Unit
The United States in Troubled Times 1960 to
1980
27
How Many EQs Per Unit?One to Three

• In order to make a unit of study manageable given
  need for depth rather than breadth, it is
  recommended there be no more than two essential
  questions per unit.
• Beyond the units essential question(s), it is
  recommended that there are two to four
  unit-specific supporting questions to aid
  students topic-specific learning.
• The wording of both the essential questions and
  supporting questions should written with respect
  to the language acquisition of the students.
  (Note There may be one word in a question that
  will be a part of the unit learning.)

28
A Visual Reminder!
Essential Questions and
Supporting Questions should be clearly
posted at the beginning and throughout a unit of
study!

• Post EQs and SQs where all students can see them
  easily
• Refer to them often during every day or every
  periods learning experiences
• Include them textually on handouts and
  assessments
• Review learning in
  relationship to EQs and SQs

29
Essential Question How does text influence
readers?
Unit Focus Leisure
Reading Supporting Questions Some teachers prefer
to design topic-based, open-ended SQs, but
not using a noun-verb-noun pattern.
What makes a book a book?
What makes a good book good?
If you owned a children's bookstore and could
only carry five genres of books,
which would you carry and why?
30
Unit Supporting Questions Literally SUPPORT EQs!
Physical Science Standard Proficiencies
Recognize basic Earth
materials. / Observe and describe rocks, soils,
water and air.
How can attributes
define cycles?
EQ
Do rock cycles have to have sequential changes or
steps?
How can rock cycles be inter-related?

SQs
What causes attributes in rocks?
Foundational Lesson Questions
How are rocks officially classified?
What does the term attribute mean?
What does a geologist study?
31
Physical Science Standard Proficiencies
Recognize
basic Earth materials.
Observe and describe rocks, soils,
water and air.
Culminating assessment(s) and periodic formative
assessments incorporate the EQ and SQs relational
knowledge based on foundational learning and
prior knowledge.
How can attributes define cycles?
Lesson Plans
How can rock cycles be inter-related?

Activity 4
Activity 5
Activity 6
Activity 2
Activity 3
What causes attributes in rocks?
Activities include Foundational Questions
(Yes/No/ Isolated)
Activity 1
What does the term attribute mean?
32

• In learning environments where Interdisciplinary
  Units are the norm for instructional pedagogy
  teachers from different disciplines may choose
  to not only plan a unit of studys based on the
  same EQs, SQs based on one or a combination of
  the disciplines content-skill statements, but
  also design a final or culminating assessment
  for the unit that measures
  learning involved
  in all disciplines!
• Shakespeare
• Language Arts
• Social Studies
• Math

• Science
• Art
• Music

33
A Unit of Study
Remember that a unit of studys
EQs and SQs must directly connect
to the specific learning within the unit.
Students must be able to cognitively see and
experience a direct correlation between
a units content, skills, and assessments
in relationship to the posed EQs
and SQs.
34
4 Ps For Writing EQs/SQs
Based on standard statement(s), design learning
based on desired depth of knowledge 6 Facets of
Understanding appropriate for student population.
1. Plan
Write/rewrite questions so that they accurately
reflect the desired conceptual focus (EQs) and
topic-focus (SQs) given the planned
content-skills-assessments.
2. Practice
A units Essential Question needs Supporting
Questions and Foundational Questions. Plan
lessons and resources accordingly.
3. Prepare
Activities (Lesson Plans) must be realistic given
the time allotted
for the unit of study and EQ/SQs.
4. Perform
35
EQs
A Conceptual Learning Model
Hmm
How do you perceive your learning organizations
desire to refine current or future learning
expectations and pedagogical practices to reflect
a commitment to student learning
based on conceptual
essential and supporting questions?
36
EQs
A Conceptual Learning Model
If it seems overwhelming Start slow and small!

Begin by studying one current units
intra-aligned content-skills-assessments-resources
-standards to determine a big idea/key concept
within the learning that can serve as a
generalized essential question. Next, design one
or two related topic-based supporting questions.
Based on the conceptual demands, revise the
mapped units current elements, as well modify or
create lesson plans to properly reflect the newly
defined student expectations. Now give the unit a
try! Meet regularly as a small group to
monitor/adjust as the concept-based unit unfolds.
37
Recommended Reading
Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction
Teaching Beyond the Facts
--H. Lynn Erickson
Corwin Press Concept-Based Curriculum and
Instruction for the Thinking Classroom
--H. Lynn
Erickson Corwin Press Stirring the
Head, Heart and Soul Redefining Curriculum and
Instruction
--H. Lynn Erickson Corwin
Press Understanding by Design
--Grant Wiggins
Jay McTighe ASCD
Learning is not attained by chance,
it must be sought for with
ardor and
attended to with diligence. --Abigail Adams
38
We have not succeeded in answering all of your
problems. The answers we have found
only serve to raise
a whole set of new questions.
In some ways we feel we are
as confused as ever, but
we believe we
are confused on a higher level and
about more
important things.
--OMNI Magazine
39
Optional Exercise The following seven slides may
be used to practice the writing of essential
questions based on big ideas (generalized
statements). The next slide provides two
standards statements that contain potential
learning that lend themselves to concepts.
40

• Earth and Life Science Standards Student
  Expectation Grade 5
  Topic Changes in Earth and Sky
  History, Origins of Earth
• 5.4.3.1. Measure weather conditions (i.e.,
  temperature, wind direction and speed, and
  precipitation
• ELA - Understanding Media
  Student Expectation Grade 5
  Topic Using Media for a Purpose
• 5.5.2.1. Produce samples of different media
  genres to inform, entertain, advertise, or
  persuade i.e., memoir, factual persuasive,
  poetry, narrative

41
BIG IDEAS EQs FORMULA

• Prepare to use the framework
• ____________ ___________ _____________
• conceptual verb
  conceptual
  noun/noun
  noun/noun
  phrase
  phrase
• Think about the specific (fact/topic-based)
  terms used in the standards and
  translate them into conceptual
  lens terminology.
• Brainstorm all possible conceptual noun or noun
  phrases related to the fact/topic terms.
• Brainstorm all possible relational verbs.
  
  
• Note This process is best done on sticky notes
  that you can move aroundone noun or verb word or
  phrase per note.

42
Earth Life Science / ELA Standards
Some Sample
NOUNS
VERBS
Concepts
Action
Change Result Inform Cause
Condition Behavior Outcome Observation
43
BIG IDEAS EQs FORMULA
Try different combinations (by manipulating the
sticky notes) in the framework ____________
___________ _____________ conceptual
verb conceptual
noun/noun
noun/noun
phrase
phrase Record the big-ideas
combinations that you believe fit well given
the facts and topics. (Note You may need to add
s to your nouns or verbs and/or additional
words.) Quality Control If a Big Idea is truly
conceptual, you can generalize and easily think
of learning beyond the current key facts and
topics!
44
Earth Life Science / ELA Standards
Note With any of the combinations, learning
can extend outside a science discipline.
45
The bridge to cross over from a
Conceptual-based Big Idea Statement (Noun Verb
Noun) to an
Conceptual-based EQ is the introduction terms
BI
EQ
How Why
46
Translating C-B BIs Into EQs
Try your Conceptual-based Big Idea(s) with
the both of the introduction terms How ___ and
Why ___ in front of the big ideas. How ____
___________ _____? Why ____ _____ _____
_____? Important Notice the use of
how versus why will often times
change direction of learning! How
does conflict create change?
Why does conflict create change?

47
Once you choose the desired EQ
How do conditions change outcomes? Why do
conditions change outcomes? How does media inform
behavior? Why does media inform
behavior? How do outcomes influence information?

Why do outcomes influence information?
Next steps include designing topic-specific
Supporting Questions, Foundational Questions,
Summative and Formative Assessments, Lesson
Plans, and gathering Resources and Instructional
Methods.