Hardin County Schools shared their Preschool writing curriculum map and the description below.
Hardin County Schools
Preschool Writing
Why did your school/district decide to develop curriculum maps?
To identify when and how often standards are taught with the goal of teaching standards through a spiral approach.
To ensure that instructional gaps are identified and addressed.
To facilitate vertical and horizontal communication in order to create continuity and continuous progress.
How did your school/district begin?
With preschool, we started with our standards based Units of Study, developed by our preschool teachers, and organized the identified standards into the months taught. These were then placed on curriculum maps by content area.
What were the stages in the process?
In the Hardin County School District, our preschool teachers have developed Units of Study that embed all of our district standards (Exit Expectations) into the daily routine and lessons taught. All Units of Study have an Overview Outline, Unit Extension Map, Small Group Map and Specific Lesson Plans. The Overview Outline lists the month the unit is to be taught and all content standards to be addressed in each unit. The Overview Outline was used to complete the following mapping process:
1. The month that each content standard is addressed was listed beside each standard on our Exit Expectations (standards) document.
2. Standards that were not addressed at all or were addressed less than 3 times were highlighted.
3. Highlighted standards were inserted into appropriate units to ensure standards were addressed multiple times throughout the year.
4. Standards that are embedded continuously and naturally through the daily routine were identified with (E) (embedded).
Where is your school/district in the development of curriculum maps?
Various schools in our district are in different stages of development regarding curriculum mapping. Preschool has completed curriculum maps for every content area.
What are your next steps in the development of curriculum maps or after completion of maps?
The curriculum maps are based on the Units of Study and actually show the standards that are proposed through the instruction of that unit. Our teachers will use these maps as a self-checking system. They will check or highlight the standards within each month as they are addressed. As they proceed through the year, they will be creating a "diary map" of what was actually taught in their classroom.
If you have questions or comments about this map or process, please contact Nannette Johnston at Hardin County Schools.