Critique 3

CurriculumPlanCritiqueAssignmentInstructions.pdf

EDUC 872

CURRICULUM PLAN CRITIQUE ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

OVERVIEW The purpose of this assignment is for you to critique a curriculum plan based upon what you have learned in this course by describing the strengths or weaknesses of the curriculum plan. You will evaluate and critique one curriculum plan three separate times using three different articles or e-chapters provided during the assigned module. Each article or e-chapter focuses on a single topic or portion of a lesson. You will only need to critique that topic or portion of the lesson through the assigned article or e-chapter. INSTRUCTIONS The paper will include a title page and be divided into two main sections. The first section shall have a 200-250 word summary of the assigned article or e-chapter. The second section, the critique, shall have 100-125 words comparing the article/e-chapter to the curriculum plan and 100-125 words contrasting the article/e-chapter to the curriculum plan. In your critique, you should provide suggestions to improve the curriculum plan based upon what’s been learned in this course. This assignment must include a title page, have a 400–500-word limit, and adhere to current APA format. Title page and citations are not included in the word limit. Articles or e- chapters must each be summarized and analyzed individually, followed by a comparison and contrasting between the article/e-chapter and the curriculum plan. A Curriculum Plan Critique Template has been provided to assist you with this assignment. For each Curriculum Plan Critique Assignment, please use the following curriculum plan provided by the Massachusetts Department of Education. (You are welcome to use your own lesson plan or unit to critique for these assignments instead of the one provided. If you decide to use your own lesson or unit to critique, please upload it with your assignment in Canvas).

• Sample Curriculum Plan: Plants Make Their Own Food: Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science, Grade 5

You will notice in the above sample plan that the Massachusetts Department of Education utilizes the Understanding by Design template which you will also use for your Curriculum Design Project in Module 7: Week 7. Below you will find the critique topic and the corresponding article or e-chapter assigned for each module that a Curriculum Plan Critique is due. You will only need to critique the portion of the sample curriculum plan based upon the assigned topic:

• Module 2: Week 2 – Topic: Standards o Chapter 2: Alignment to Standards (Lalor, 2016)

• Module 3: Week 3 – Topic: Educational Objectives o The Tyler Rationale (Kliebard, 1970)

• Module 5: Week 5 – Topic: Differentiation o Good Curriculum as a Basis for Differentiation (Tomlinson, 2014)

CurriculumPlanCritiqueTemplate.docx

1

CURRICULUM CRITIQUE 2

School of Education, Liberty University

Author Note

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to

Email:

<Insert Title of Curriculum Plan Critique Here>

Use this section to summarize the assigned article or e-chapter. This should include the main points of the article/chapter. Do not summarize any additional sources, just the assigned reading here. Make sure you properly cite the assigned reading in this section. This section should be 1-2 paragraphs max. It definitely should not exceed one page. No direct quotes. There shouldn’t be any other citations or sources in this section other than the assigned reading. You will need to follow all APA guidelines for citations. Citations should include the author’s last name, comma, and the year of publication. Example: (Smith, 2010). You do not need page numbers in the in-text citations.

Compare

In this section, you will compare the curriculum plan to what you learned in the required reading. What does the reading have in common with the curriculum plan? Focus on the content of the reading and see how the curriculum plan exhibits points from the reading. The very first sentence should explain how the two items are the same. You must use compare transition words in each sentence to ensure this is written clearly (Similar, Alike, The Same, Likewise, Similarly, etc.). Without transition words, it will be assumed that the two items are not compared to one another. Be sure to include in-text citations for the lesson and the reading, both are required. The two items are similar because they both have x (citation, year; citation, year). Another similarity is the text states x (citation, year) and the lesson includes this same practice by x (citation, year). Do not include any additional information that does not explain how the two items are similar. Please be concise. No direct quotes. No additional sources are needed. You are only focusing on the lesson and the required reading.

Contrast

In this section, you will show how the curriculum plan differs from the content of the required reading. What does the reading state that isn’t shown in the curriculum plan? Focus on the content of the reading and see how the curriculum plan differs from it. The very first sentence should explain how the two items differ. You must use contrast transition words in each sentence to ensure this is written clearly (In contrast, a key difference, unlike, while, on the other hand, etc.). Without transition words, it will be assumed that the two items haven't been contrasted . In-text citations are needed for the lesson and the reading. The two items differ because x has x (citation, year), while x does not cover x (citation, year). Another key difference is x states x (citation, year), but the x document states x (citation, year), which doesn’t align with the reading. Do not include any information that does not explain how the two items are different. Please be concise. No direct quotes. No additional sources are needed. You are only focusing on the lesson and the required reading.

Application

You should provide one suggestion to improve the curriculum plan based upon what’s been learned in this course and/or the required reading. What could you add to the lesson to make it better? Provide an example. To be aligned more to the text, I would add a written component to the lesson because x. For example, students could write a paragraph about x to show x. Include in-text citations if you refer to any source, the text, or the lesson. This section should not be more than one paragraph. Do not include any additional information besides an answer to the one question above. Your paper should not exceed two pages of content (not counting the title page and reference page).

References

There should be citations for the lesson and the reading. Clickable working hyperlinks are required for web links per current APA guidelines.

CurriculumDifferentiationExample.pdf

Differentiation 1

Curriculum Differentiation

Differnetiation is essential when trying to meet the needs of all students. However,

differentiation is not simply changing how you teach, but making adjustments that make

connections to prior knowledge for all students. According to Tomlinson (2014), when teachers

lack a clear understanding of what students should know and understand, it is difficult to create

solid lesson as well as differentiate the material.

There are two key elements needed for students to have a clear and concrete learning

experience: engagement and understanding (Tomlinson, 2014). When students truly understand

and have the ability to make connections, they own their learning. It is difficult for this to happen

if students are not abe to make connections – the revelance aspect is missing. There is no staying

power when students are not engeaged or lack enthusiasm about what is being presented to them

in the lessons. Students do not and will not ever reach their fullest learning potential without

proper engagement and understanding (Tomlinson, 2014).

Accoring to Tomlinson (2014), all curriculum have key concepts and prinicples which

impact learning. Teachers have to identify what students have to know, understand, and do. Once

teachers have a clear take on all of those things, they should have the ability develop and create

activites at different levels. These activites should open the door for students to make sense of

essential concepts and have the ability to implement the skills. Furthermore, the deeping of

knowledge is not done through standards but the ability of the teacher to implement experiences

that create meaningful and relevant ideas to be tranfered to other learning opportunities.

Compare

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CURRICULUM CRITIQUE 2

Tomlinson (2014) and the grade 5 unit plan on Plants Make Their Own Food, both

acknowledge the importance of transference of knowledge through engaging activities.

Similarily, Tomlinson (2014) and Massachusetts unit plan (2018) explained that every lesson

should have essential phases in order to maximum sudent learning. Alike, each writer recognizes

the activities should be relevant and relatable to daily life. Furthermore, teachers should have the

autonomy to make changes to the curriculum-differentiate to optimize student learning and

achievement (Tomlinson, 2014; Massachusetts Department of Education, 2018).

Contrast

Although Tomlinson (2014) and Massachuetts Department of Eduation unit plan (2018)

have similarities, they boast differneces as well. While Tomlinson (2014) explained standards are

not the curriculum, the Massachusetts Department of Education (2018), relies heavily on the

standards for the curriculum implementation. Furthermore, they differ as it pertains to

assessments. While Tomlinson (2014) speaks the necessity of going assessment, the

Massachusetts Department of Education (2018) just mentions a culminating activity with little to

no assessments throughout the lessons.

Application

After reviewing the unit plan and reading Tomlinson, there are some changes that are

necessary. For example, the unit plan only offers a formative assessment at the end of the

lessons. These assessments are remedial and only tap into the skills aspect of learning. In order to

truly assess what students have learned, there should be formative assessments which include

higher order questioning through each lesson. Furthermore, the culimanting activity should allow

students to transfer the information they have learned to something that is relevant to real world.

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CURRICULUM CRITIQUE 3

References

Massachuetts Department of Education (2018). https://ebookcentral-

proquestcom.ezproxy.liberty.edu/lib/liberty/reader.action?

ppg=31&docID=4742653&tm=1534759643234&_ga=2.176789990.253935873.1667009045-

2092363528.1659488433

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners.

Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. https://ebookcentral-proquest-

com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/lib/liberty/reader.action?docID=1709534&ppg=71

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