Curriculum Writing: Essential Questions & Rubrics

Kinds of Writing

Do you want to spicen up the kinds of writing that you assign to your class? Do you want to give your students a list of choices from which they can choose? Here’s a fabulous list to get your juices flowing:A ads (for magazines, newspapers, yellow pages) advice columns allegories anecdotes announcements answers anthems appendices apologies assumptions autobiographies awardsB ballads beauty tips bedtime stories beginnings billboards bloopers blurbs books book jackets book reviews broadsheets brochures bulletins bumper stickersC calendar...

Open-Ended Questions

Research has shown time and time again that if we pose a close-ended question, our students will elicit a minimal amount of answers. However, we can draft the same question using the following question starters that provoke higher level thinking coupled with brainstorming.In the beginning, you will find that it is hard to draft an open-ended question. However, with time, it will become easier and easier until it becomes a habit. So, how do you break the habit? Use this simple...

Essential and Guiding Questions

Using essential and guiding questions certainly binds a unit of study together, bringing a clearer focus to the lesson. Originally introduced by Heidi Hayes Jacobs, we modified the practice and infused it into our Exploring History series back in 2000. We are finding that more and more people ask for a clear explanation of how to draft these questions for each unit of study.The Essential QuestionWhat is an essential question? Simply put, the essential question:is a definition question, serving as...

Creating Rubrics Through Negotiable Contracting and Assessment

What would happen if students were invited to help decide how their work should be evaluated? Would they exploit the opportunity, designing standards so ridiculously low as to guarantee a glut of effortless good grades?Surprisingly, the answer is no. Experience in Mrs. Martha Polin's class at Robert Wagner Middle School in Manhattan shows that students who are given a role in the assessment process of a mural from a historical novel lesson can and do rise to the occasion....

Bridging the Standards Across the Curriculum with Portfolios

From the Middle School JournalThose of us who are involved in education, in whatever capacity, can sense the stirrings. Parents are voicing concerns about the adequacy of their children’s education. The business community and American industries question whether the quality of education will prepare youngsters for the realities of the workplace. Corporations question whether schools are preparing America’s youth to cope with the demands of an increasingly technological environment. It is now imperative that the next several generations of...

Students and Teachers Alike Can Benefit from Rubrics

Joyce Kasman Valenza from The Philadelphia Inquirer Interviews Dr. Andi StixDid you ever wonder why your school paper got an 85 when Suzie’s got a 94? Did you ever ask your teacher exactly why? Was the answer a little vague? And did that grading process really help you understand how you might improve your work next time around? and benefit from rubrics?Five years ago, if you had asked me what a rubric was, I would have been puzzled. Now...

The Art of Negotiable Contracting

It may have the sound of being more than it really is, but negotiable contracting is indeed an art. While not immediately evident to the casual observer, it is practiced with a deftness and precision comparable to an artist applying a brushstroke to a canvas. We already know that students perform at higher levels if they have ownership of their work. But the finishing touch to this grand design is to create an atmosphere of achievement and accomplishment where...

Thematic Guiding Questions Pertinent to Adolescents

from Social Studies Strategies for Active LearnersOftentimes teachers struggle with whether or not to teach Social Studies chronologically or thematically. Well, the teacher can easily do both, using their sequential course of study as a primary strategy coupled with a thematic study as a support strategy! We examined different themes that are pertinent to adolescents and generated a list of choices from which teachers can choose. A teacher may decide on one or two themes that are addressed throughout...

Reality-Based Integrated Instruction

Paper presented at the Annual Conference and Exhibit of the National Middle School Association Abstract: A teacher wants to help her middle school students who already hate poetry to appreciate Williams’ poem “This Is Just to Say,” but her approach is ill-focused. This article outlines how to properly plan a unit using brainstorming techniques; essential and guiding questions; and hands-on, engaging activities that motivate students.Part I: A Traditional Poetry Lesson Mary Reynolds, a language arts teacher, has always been especially fond...