Impact on Student Learning

The impact that a curriculum map would have on a student's learning is not seen directly. In fact, the student may not even be aware of the map at all. The curriculum map will impact the student by forcing his or her teacher to be very cognizant of everything that is being taught and how. The teacher has to complete a task analysis of the standards to discover what needs to be taught in order for the student to reach the desired end result. The students are going to be taught better because the teacher will be reviewing what has worked successfully for a subject and making any necessary alterations. The students just get the benefit of knowing that their teacher is going to be working at helping them to know the most important aspects of the content and will be teaching them broader concepts, which will lead to more knowledge.

Master of Program Competencies

In completing a curriculum map, I have showcased two of the program competencies set out by the Kaplan University curriculum designers. Depending on which phase of the mapping process a teacher is in, a curriculum map requires that a teacher know the content to be taught, commit to making creating the best possible learning environment for the students, and to reflect over what has been successful and unsuccessful. In showcasing competency #1, as dictated from the Kaplan University Conceptual Framework, the curriculum map requires that a teacher study their content standards very carefully. One method that forces teachers to look carefully and create a strong map is by using the backward design model. They must find how different standards in different content areaa fit together and they must discover the essential questions that will lead the students into a greater understanding of the content material (McTigue and Thomas). An appropriate, successful map cannot be created by a teacher that is not committed to his or her students' learning.
Another way that a curriculum map showcases the competencies in the framework through competency #2. This dictates that the teacher must know the content that is being taught. Without knowledge of the content, a teacher would not be able to create a map that would lead to success in the classroom. The essential ideas and key questions that McTigue and Thomas suggest are based on the idea that the map developer knows how the standards of the content fit together. If there is no connective tissue between standards, students will not be able make the learning connections rendering the map useless.

Reflective Journaling on a Curriculum Map

As a student of Kaplan University, I gain knowledge of ideas that are extremely helpful to myself and the students that I teach. One idea that has been brought to my attention again after a few years is the idea of curriculum mapping. When you curriculum map, you look at the "content, skills, and assessments for every course taught"(Udelhofen, 2005, pg. 28). With this curriculum map, you strive for the goal of not only improving test scores, but developing critical thinkers. As I began my curriculum design course, I did not think about just how important deciding on an exact curriculum was for students, and for all teachers in the school. By creating a curriculum map at the school site, teachers can ensure that they don't repeat the same content year after year, and that there are no holes in necessary content standards. Relearning about curriculum mapping excited me into looking into how I can better teach my students. The goal, after all, of curriculum mapping is to "create an authentic, consistent, standards-aligned, and student based curriculum" (Udelhofen, 2005, pg. 40).

Reference:
Udelhofen, S. (2005). Keys to curriculum mapping: strategies and tools to make it work. Corwin Press. Thousand Oaks, California.

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

In a departure from the great read alouds, I would like to suggest two books that can be kind of fun to read out loud, but really teach a lesson in grammar. The first book I found in the book store and just had to find out what its message was. The book is Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: Why Commas Really Do Make a Difference. This book shows how the placement of a comma in a sentence can change the entire meaning of the sentence. The first example is that a panda bear eats shoots and leaves. This is illustrated nicely with a panda bear eating some shoots and leaves. On the adjoining page, you see the exact same sentence, but with some commas thrown in. Instead of a panda bear eating shoots and leaves, you have a panda bear that eats, shoots, and leaves. This sentence is illustrated with a panda holding a bazooka who has just eaten, shot someone, and is leaving. There are many more zany examples throughout the book. I recommend the book for a laugh, but also for a good lesson on commas.

Woe is I, Jr.

In another departure from read alouds, I suggest using Woe is I, Jr. This is a great tool to teach the concepts that are harder to chew on by many students. It is just like a grammar textbook without all of the tedious exercises, and with more fun. I have used parts of this book with my students to help them understand when to use me and when to use I in a sentence. In order to figure out the correct word to use they play a game of hide and seek. Ask yourself: would I say Jason and I went to the park or Jason and me went to the park? Play hide and seek with Jason's name + and. You would be left with I went to the park and Me went to the park. Which sounds correct? Simple little tips like this will help any student, young or old, to have a better command of the English grammar rules.

Peak

In a slight change for me, I would like to recommend a realistic fiction story.
Peak, by Roland Smith, is a story about a teenage boy who lives in New York City with his mom, stepdad, and twin sisters. The story starts out as Peak is scaling a very tall building to leave his mark at the top. Just as he reaches the top, police enter the picture and haul him off to jail. When it comes time for the court to rule what to do with this juvenile delinquent, an offer is made for Peak to go with his biological father to climb Mount Everest.

Peak has never met his father before. He doesn't understand why his father has come to see him and is untrusting at first. Peak sadly has to say goodbye to his family, but it winds up being all for the best. Now he will have to serve no jail time. In order to get up Mount Everest, Peak must get acclimated to how to climb and endure some horrible weather. He begins learning from a Tibetan monk who will be climbing with Peak and his father. Alongside Peak is Sunjo, who will be like Peak's sherpa. Many challenges face the group as they begin to climb the mountain. One challenge that the group keeps meeting is a Chinese general who will stop at nothing to eliminate any unauthorized people from climbing the mountain.

In this book, you find out that the climb up Everest is not a straight climb up, but a treacherous journey that involves climbing up the mountain part way, then climbing back down before you can continue up. The other thing is that to get to the peak is not an easy task. The conditions have to be just right, and those conditions do not last for very long. Peak is an enjoyable book about a person's experience climbing Mount Everest. You could read it at 3rd grade, but expect to explain a lot of what is happening to your kids.

The Wizard of Oz

In a step back to the good old classics I next suggest The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. I read this every year to my students with the warning that they cannot think of it as the movie. I tell them to listen for similarities, but we compare and contrast the movie with the book. This year I have mostly boys, so to get them excited with the idea of reading The Wizard of Oz I told them to be looking for all of the death and head chopping. This is not your classic Judy Garland film. It is a much darker story with a similar message.

This is a great book to share with anyone. One thing that you may want to be aware of is the vocabulary difference from when the story was created and present day. You'll have to explain what bondage is. Happy reading as you follow the yellow brick road!