Unpacking the Standard Course of Study

1. Unpacking the Standard Course of Study Steve Molinari K-12 Social Studies Consultant Department of Public Instruction Dal Edwards K-12 Social Studies Consultant Department of Public Instruction

2. Essential Question • How can unpacking the North Carolina Standard Course of Study guide your teaching and the learning of your students?

3. Session Outcome: Participants will work collaboratively to unpack course goals from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

4. Overview and Endorsements “Unwrapping” the academic content standards is a proven technique to help educators identify from the full text of the standards exactly what they need to teach their students. Unwrapped standards provide clarity as to what students must know and be able to do. Larry Ainsworth, Unwrapping the Standards, 2003.

5. Unpacking Process • Step 1—Code the Goal • Step 2—Unwrap the Goal • Step 3—Determine Big Ideas • Step 4—Develop Essential Questions • Step 5—Identify Facts, Concepts, Skills

6. 11th Grade U.S. History Step 1: Code the GoalHighlight or circle the Verbs (skills), Highlight or Underline the Nouns (facts and concepts)

7. Step 2: Unwrap the Goal • Identify the concepts and skills found in the goal to determine what students need to understand and do • Organize or list the goals graphically in a way that makes them stand out in “high relief” • This list will unwrap the various concepts as they relate to a particular time period or category in social studies.

8. 11th Grade U.S. History Step 2: Unwrap the Goal

9. Step 3: Determine the Big Ideas Attributes of Big Idea Statements • Conceptual—goes beyond content to inference; Cannot be justified with a yes/no response • Open-ended—allows for multiple perspectives; no one “right” answer • Enduring—a “timeless” idea that may apply to other fields of learning modified from Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” Essential Standards, 2003.

10. Filtering questions: Will this Big Idea apply to more than one content area of learning? Will this Big Idea apply to more than one grade in school? Will this Big Idea endure? Will it be as important in the future as it is now? Will this Big Idea be one that students remember long after instruction ends? Step 3: Determine the Big Ideas Larry Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” the Standards, 2003.

11. 11th Grade U.S. History Step 3: Determine the Big Ideas

12. Step 4: Write Essential Questions Attributes of Essential Questions • No ordinary questions. Derived from the “unwrapped” standards/objectives and Big Ideas, which makes them standards-based questions • May be used to drive both instruction and assessment • When posed to students at beginning of unit, teachers are advertising upfront the learning goals they expect students to meet • Ultimate goal would be for students to answer the Essential Questions with their own big idea statements Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” the Standards, 2003.

13. Step 4: Write Essential Questions Filtering Questions: • Are my essential questions open-ended? • Will they be engaging for students? • Will they take students beyond the “who, what, where, and when” recall of information to the “how” and “why” applications and extensions of learning? • Do my big ideas effectively answer my Essential Questions? Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” the Standards, 2003

14. 11th Grade U.S. History Step 4: Write Essential Questions

15. Step 5—Identifying Facts, Concepts, Skills • What facts, concepts, and skills should students be able to respectively know, understand, and do to demonstrate an understanding of this particular goal?

16. 11th Grade U.S. History Step 5—Identifying Facts, Concepts, Skills

17. Unpacking The Standard Course of Study 7th Grade Africa, Asia, Australia Example

18. Unpacking The Standard Course of Study 7th Grade Africa, Asia, Australia Example

19. Reflection