Structured Sequencing in Middle School Common Core-Based History Units Allen Guidry – East Carolina University Taylor Moore, Thomas Loftin, and Chris Lane.

Structured Sequencing in Middle School

Common Core-Based History Units

Allen Guidry – East Carolina UniversityTaylor Moore, Thomas Loftin, and Chris

LaneGreene County (NC) Schools

The impending crisis…O Fall 2012 – CCSS fully implemented in

GCSO Wide-scale district curriculum mapping

ensued – conceptual vs. chronologicalO 2012-2013: 6 of 7 GCMS social studies

teachers within first 3 years of teaching and 5 of 7 teachers new to the school

O 2013-2014: 7 of 8 GCMS social studies teachers within first 3 years of teaching and 3 of 8 teachers new to the school

Perceived needs – 2012-2013

O New teachers struggling with traditional issues (classroom and time management, school policies and demands, etc.)

O New teachers struggling with developmental needs of middle schoolers – 4 of 7 teachers teaching out of grade level in which they were trained

O All teachers struggling with pacing of content and role of content vs. literacy

O All teachers struggling with conceptual nature of the curriculum

Moment of truthO Teachers severely behind on pacingO Teachers not linking content

appropriately from unit to unitO Teachers over-correcting on “literacy

push” to the exclusion of some integral content needed to understand texts

O “Teachers on the brink” – overwhelmed and exhausted

The deal…O “If I develop a unit pacing map for you,

that allows you to teach the same concepts in the same order from unit to unit with you merely changing the examples based on the time period, will you promise to use it exclusively and not to stray from it?”

O The desperate, yet hesitant reply, “Yes.”

The method behind the madness

O Carefully sequenced and tiered units are crucial to teaching social studies (Guidry & Carson, 2010; Duplass, 2007; Marzano, 2006; Wilson &Litle, 1992)

O “The tendency for novice teachers to teach without an organizational structure is perhaps a result of the broad scope of goals in the social studies curriculum that make it difficult to sequence content.” (Guidry & Carson, 2010, pg. 109)

Structuring a unit using the framework

O Review content standards and extract key social studies concepts/themes

O Organize those social studies concepts/themes logically (see flow of disciplines in Guidry & Carson, 2010)

O Turn concepts/themes into daily essential questions that will be used in each unit cycle to guide each lesson each day

O Build in opportunities for objective (content) and performance (literacy skills) assessments

O Repeat the sequence from unit to unit to assure material is presented in increasingly complex ways

Bruner and “spiral curriculum”

“…I was struck by the fact that successful efforts to teach highly structured bodies of knowledge like mathematics, physical sciences, and even the field of history often took the form of metaphoric spiral in which at some simple level a set of ideas or operations were introduced in a rather intuitive way and, once mastered in that spirit, were then revisited and reconstrued in a more formal or operational way, then being connected with other knowledge, the mastery at this stage then being carried one step higher to a new level of formal or operational rigour and to a broader level of abstraction and comprehensiveness. The end stage of this process was eventual mastery of the connexity and structure of a large body of knowledge…” (The Process of Education, 1960, p.3-4)

The outcome…O Resistance and apprehension at firstO Initial thoughts of feeling limited

O But after two units…O Planning in advanceO Seeking opportunities to extend

contentO More time to be creativeO Team planning

And then, they took it to the moon!!!

Structured Sequencing Units

Loftin, Lane, MooreGreene County Middle School

2014

Benefits of Sequencing

● Lesson Concepts are already laid out.

● Decreases planning time● Focus lesson planning on

the concept for vigourous lessons

● Concepts go from simple to complex

● Taught from known to unknown● Supportive Relationship (previous

concepts support future concepts)● Cause to Effect

Sequencing Framework

Top Down Concept Web




Classroom Website

Classroom Website

Classroom Website

Framing the Unit

Essential for ensuring that students understand:●Objectives●Itinerary of lessons●Essential Questions●Criteria for Success

Prepares students for instruction:●activates prior knowledge●avoids confusion about upcoming content

TNT/ACE Strategy

Students use a deliberate method for unpacking and answering daily essential questions.

●Allows the student to identify the concept covered in the lesson●Teaches how to develop proper constructed response answers

Framing Examples

Framing Examples

Framing Examples

Interactive learning

Shapes the the classroom by providing:●increased student engagement●guides lessons in an explicit sequence●centralizes focus on each component of the lesson●decreases risk of lost assignments●allows all resources to be available at anytime●offers a platform for absent/homebound students to stay up to date

Interactive Examples





Formative Assessment

Useful for teachers of sequenced units by:●Allowing for daily reflection of lessons●Provides student samples during IEP meetings●Prioritizing planning future units/lessons●Helping keeping students accountable






Use of Data in a Sequenced Classroom

Data is analyzed to:●Direct the pacing of the next unit●Steer focus towards standards that show deficiency●Measure the effective effort of the students●Create conversations with students about their learning

Effective Effort

2013-2014 EOY EVAAS Data

Structured Sequencing in Middle School Common Core-Based History Units Allen Guidry – East Carolina University Taylor Moore, Thomas Loftin, and Chris Lane.

Documents

o new teachers

pacing o teachers

school o

literacy o

texts o teachers

madness o

chronological o

trained o