Two feed back to the two peers below. Read the guide

1.       Organized around essential content goals- there are specific learning goals that every teacher has to present to assisting students to have more knowledge, skills and understanding of things especially of a particular study.

2.       Aligned with content goals, assessments, and learning experiences- this characteristic of a quality curriculum is very important to me because it helps student’s teachers and the content to be in such an alignment where they’re in sync about what needs to be taught and learned. I learned from our text that the goals, understanding and skills all have to be tied into one another for student success (Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. 2011).

3.       Focused on student understanding- student understand is very self-explanatory. Learning is all about understanding. Some students learn and obtain information differently. Chapter three says “Understandings are the glue that holds the pieces of the curriculum together”. (P.g 53. Para 3)

4.       Engaging for students- again another self- explanatory quality curriculum characteristic. Engaging for students is about completely catching the attention of your audience and increasing their desire to learn and take interest in the study of knowledge understanding and skill.

5.       Authentic- this characteristic is allowing the student to have more real life situations to better grasps knowledge, understand and skills. For example, becoming a doctor and having to write a paper about obtaining a Ph.D.

The Life Cycle of a Frog

How could you relate the unit topic you selected to the real world?

The frog is an egg, tadpole, froglet and then a frog. In the real world we are infants, toddlers, small children and then adolescence.

What meaningful question could you ask your students as you begin your unit to engage and motivate students to want to learn more about the topic?

1.       Does your body grow through stages like a frog?

2.       How many stages does the body and a frog goes through?

Create a brief learning activity where students are creators of knowledge based on the topic you selected as opposed to the consumers of knowledge. This would involve the students making discoveries of their own with regards to the content. How does this activity engage students in developing problem solving skills and help them to make meaning of what they are trying to learn? Consider how it extends understandings, builds neural networks, and creates different pathways to common goals

Student could create a 4-page book, drawing the pictures of the different stages of humans and frogs go through. Students should be able to tell me about the different stages for both frogs and humans. I would use lifecycle poster, flashcards, Jeopardy, and a quiz.

Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience supports the learner-friendly classroom. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Melissa Cagno  11/30/2016 6:45:55 AM

The five characteristics of a quality curriculum: 1)    “Organized around essential content goals (Sousa, Tomlinson,2011)”: the curriculum should be based on specific educational goals including the ones from the Common Core standards or others in your state. 2)    “Aligned with content goals, assessments and learning experiences(Sousa, Tomlinson,2011)”: Everything that is included in the curriculum should be focused on the content goals. The assessments and experiences should all aligned with these goals as well. 3)    Focused on student understanding- The curriculum should be based on the students understanding the material and able to utilize the material. 4)    “Engaging for students (Sousa, Tomlinson,2011)”:  The activities in the curriculum should be engaging and fun for the whole class. Doing this step will ensure the students have an interest in the material and retain it for the future. 5)    “Authentic (Sousa, Tomlinson,2011)”: - Your curriculum should be unique and reflect you as an educator instead of cookie cutter.  The unit topic I chose is “The Life Cycle of a Frog.” The best way to relate the life cycle of the frog to the students “real world” is to ask them questions about their experiences. Have they ever seen a frog? Where did they see it and what kind of environment was it in? What did the frog look like and sound like? Does anyone know what a baby frog looks like or is called? These questions will get the students thinking about the topic and engaged in the discussion. It also allows them to remember and discover where they have seen or can see frogs in their environment. Depending on the rules of the school I would be teaching at I would love for the students to get a be able to view the life cycle in the classroom. This activity would mean bringing a tadpole into class and having the children discover the changes that happen. If the students are old enough, I would like to have them build a journal. The journal could include a picture drawn by them of what the frog looks like that day, an explanation of how the frog has changed since the last cycle and what they think is going to happen next. This activity would allow the children to discover and learn the material through experiences.  Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C. A. (2011). Differentiation and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the learner-friendly classroom. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.