2nd+presentation+Group+3

**Analysis of a Curriculum Document **
 * Group 3 **
 * Scope and Sequence **
 * Harlandale Independent School District **
 * Third Grade **
 * Social Studies **
 * School year 2010-2011 **

**Introduction** Curriculum design and philosophy have a crucial role in schools’ improvement and it is significant to understand the goals of schools. Hlebowitsh (2005) stated that to understand and analyze the curriculum by looking the schools’ philosophy and theory provides to solve how the learner, society and subject matter take part in the curriculum. Therefore, in this study, Harlandale Independent School District Curriculum for 3rd grade social studies class was analyzed. This curriculum supports experimental philosophy. According to Hlebowitsh (2005) the aim of experimentalist philosophy is to reconstruct or reorganize the idea. Additionally, schools are the places where children are leaded to gain skills, values, and knowledge to have a good life in the society. When Harlandale Independent School District Curriculum was examined, it can be seen that children reconstruct the experience or idea. For example, the curriculum says that students should create a brochure and an essay to describe the community. Creating ideas provides students to reconstruct their ideas. Another example is that students are wanted to prepare thematic project according to activities that they do in the classroom. Problem- resolution method and producing solutions are the other parts of the experimentalism. Preparing a project is also included in this curriculum. This experimentalist philosophy promotes students being active and teachers are guidance for them. It is clear that this curriculum supports experimentalism. The curriculum also supports romantic naturalism which focuses child- centered education. The main point of romantic naturalism is “learning by doing.” In the curriculum, students perform a theatre which focuses immigration that is related their class activities. Students learn the subject by performing it. Additionally, the curriculum directs students to have free choice about how, when, and what they learn. At the end of the unit, students list their needs and wants. Therefore, romantic naturalism can support the curriculum by giving students free decision. Perrenialism and essentialism do not support the curriculum since it is not addressed teacher instruction and subject- centered knowledge. Even though cultural values and traditional issues are included in the curriculum such as cultural celebrations, holidays and traditions, class activities are focusing on creating, constructing, exploring, and performing the knowledge rather than teacher instruction. Therefore, perennialist and essentialist philosophy implicitly do not support the curriculum. The curriculum engages in academic- intellectual (e.g. comparing similarities and differences of characteristics of community), socio- personal (e.g. understanding belongingness of a community), and socio- civic elements (e.g. understanding a good citizenship) of a mission statement. However, it does not mention about vocational element of a mission statement. Thus, the mission statement of the school would include academic- intellectual, socio- personal, and socio- civic elements. **Curriculum Design and Clarity** The overall organization of the curriculum is increasing knowledge base and building on information. Students learn new knowledge and they relate them to previous knowledge that they have. Therefore, they can increase their knowledge and the build new information on it. Moreover, the design format appropriate for students level. When the students have an activity, they are drawing, coloring, interviewing or creating a brochure about the subject. Thus, it makes them more integrated to the class and concentrated on class. The context of the curriculum is also appropriate for students since they learn general issues about their communities, their histories, cultures, environments, rights and responsibilities. The social studies content components for third grade; history, geography, economics, civics and government are clearly stated in the document. The first column specifies what lessons and activities the students are going to participate for the each six weeks. The second column, resources, identifies the tools to be used by teachers and students to accomplish those activities. For example, in the first six weeks, the students have to draw and color a map of the US where they have to place a star on the city for places they have visited, and then they have label states using books, text chapters, maps and atlases. The third column is about the vocabulary that students must learn and master while working on a particular project or in different projects throughout the six weeks—map scale, NE, NW, SE, SW, location, state, geography, etc. The forth column; assessments, states what the students must complete by the end of the term. It specifies how their knowledge is going to be assessed. The assessment part builds on previous knowledge. For example, the first six-week students complete map, interviews, graphic organizers, etc. but by the end of the fifth-six-week period, the students must write full essays with accurate information, research, analyze definitions, etc. In other words it kind of follows Bloom’s taxonomy’s cognitive domains. The document also outlines the suggested order in which the material should be taught, but says nothing about the recommended number of lessons and amount of time that should be provided for instruction. The curriculum is a spiral curriculum because it allowed students and teachers to revisit the social studies content at the different levels of development throughout the year. The students have the opportunity to revisit the basic ideas repeatedly and building upon them as the year progresses and until they grasped the full concept. The document is of great use to help teachers plan lessons. It is a framework to follow as it  contents all the units and themes that have to be taught during the school year in social studies in third grade. Accuracy in curriculum content is a necessary consideration for teachers and students. The teacher must be sure that information provided in instruction, worksheets or other materials is based on current, credible resources; and that any information is transferred accurately to graphs, worksheets or charts. The students must be taught to utilize reliable resources and also learn how to use the internet, library, e- library and other resources. The curriculum plan in this case involves six 6-week lessons. During the first 6 weeks, for example, the students are required to use books and maps to accurately place stars on the correct position on the map locales they have visited in the U.S. This is a built-in component of the lesson plan to ensure accuracy as well as teaching the students how to use research tools. This is occurring throughout the remaining lesson plans. As the weeks progress the students are gradually required to learn social studies in more depth. While expanding to countries beyond the U.S., the students are learning by using worksheets provided to them, along with their books. They are also required to use correct spelling and punctuation which stresses the importance of accuracy. When taking part in hands-on activities, such as creating brochures, flip-books, diagrams, mobiles, etc., the students must accurately transfer the information in a comprehensive visual format. Toward the end of the lesson plans when students are discussing local vs. state government laws, it communicates to the students the importance of discerning the facts between two things that may seem very similar. The local government and state government are both governments, but if you accurately compare the functions and laws of these two types of government, they are different. **Relevancy** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">At the beginning of the lesson plans, the students are creating brochures and writing essays describing their communities with words and pictures that explain major aspects of their communities. They are asked to describe the unique features. Then, they are asked to research their own states. These activities are interesting, meaningful and relevant to the students’ lives. Curriculum must be developed with knowing who the students are in the classroom. In this case, the teacher is allowing the students to personalize the learning process of social studies by bringing in their own community experiences. They are also asked to interview a relative who has lived in another location and then report about that location. They are then asked to write about a restaurant they like that serves food from another country. These activities engage the students, allow them pride in sharing their own cultural experiences, and also teach social studies. These lessons are appropriate for 3rd graders. From the first 6-weeks to the last 6-weeks, there are many hands-on activities which do engage the students in meaningful learning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">** Coverage of Standards and Learning Objectives ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">The coverage of Standards for Harlandale Independent School District is based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). The content is developmentally appropriate because it provides the necessary framework for effective social studies instruction and assessment. The content is accurate due to methods of inquiry, involves public discourse and decision making, and provides opportunities for citizen involvement. The content does cover appropriate standards and learning objectives, students will receive instruction that allows them to think and act as historians, geographers, political scientists, and economists. The third grade scope & sequence consist of 6 weeks of curriculum: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">** 1st six weeks: ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;"> Focuses on The Map & Me, where students draw and color a map of the US, interview a local, create a brochure and an essay describing their community. Graphic organizers are used, while the strategies entail is a thematic project. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">** 2nd six weeks: ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">Wheel of exceptional explorers, where students create and explorer wheels using info gathered from the book, students write a composition and use library resources and/or internet to research an explorer. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">** 3rd six weeks: ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">Immigration flip book, constructed a flip book labeling the top “Immigration into the US”, students constructed a Venn diagram, read and performed a reader’s theatre focusing on immigration, along with a thematic project on people who shared our communities. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">** 4th six weeks: ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">Weather Pros and Cons, created a list of pros & cons for various types of weather. Students wrote a persuasive speech, and wrote essays explaining what the most important invention is and why? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">** 5th & 6th six weeks: ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">Created a product that would help the community, brainstormed a list of goods and services that are paid for with taxes, designed a public service poster explaining how taxes help support them.Harlandale’s Third-grade social studies standards focused on preparing students to become responsible citizens who can make positive contributions to their communities and world. Students were expected to demonstrate an elementary level of understanding. Students are able to understand how important individuals and events in these areas have shaped history, society and government as well as the importance of their roles in the success of their community and world. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">In conclusion, Harlendale Independent School District third grade social studies standards focused on preparing students to become responsible citizens who can make positive contributions to their communities. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;">Hlebowitsh, P.S. (2005). Designing the school curriculum. Boston, MA: Pearson. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;">Scope and Sequence, Harlandale ISD (2011). <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;">Texas Education Agency. Retrieved May 25, 2011 from www. tea.state.tx.us
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">Philosophy **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">Usability **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">Accuracy of Content **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 200%;">References **