Unpacking the Standard Course of Study

Steve MolinariK-12 Social Studies Consultant Department of Public Instruction

Dal EdwardsK-12 Social Studies Consultant Department of Public Instruction

Essential Question

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

Session Outcome:

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

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.

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

Step 1: Code the Goal Highlight or circle the Verbs (skills), Highlight or Underline the Nouns (facts and concepts)

Original Goal Coded Goal Unwrapped Goal Big Ideas Essential Questions

The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

11th Grade U.S. History

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.

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

Original Goal Coded Goal Unwrapped Goal Big Ideas Essential Questions

The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the economic reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the political reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the social reforms of the Progressive Period.

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.

Step 3: Determine the Big Ideas

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?

Larry Ainsworth, “Unwrapping” the Standards, 2003.

Step 3: Determine the Big Ideas

Original Goal Coded Goal Unpacked Goal Big Ideas Essential Questions

The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the economic reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the political reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the social reforms of the Progressive Period.

Rapid change, often associated with scientific and technological advances, benefits some, at the expense of others.

Reforms initiated by both government and individuals address economic, political andsocial problems associated with a rapidlychanging society.

Reform movements do not always benefit everyone equally.

Over time, government has become more responsive to the needs of its citizens.

11th Grade U.S. History

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.

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

Step 4: Write Essential QuestionsOriginal Goal Coded Goal Unwrapped Goal Big Ideas Essential Questions

The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

The learner will analyze the economic, political, and social reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the economic reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the political reforms of the Progressive Period.

•The learner will analyze the social reforms of the Progressive Period.

Rapid change, often associated with scientific and technological advances, benefits some, at the expense of others.

Reforms initiated by both government and individuals address economic, political andsocial problems associated with a rapidlychanging society.

Reform movements do not always benefit everyone equally.

Over time, government has become more responsive to the needs of its citizens.

How did Americans of this period define progress?

Why is there a need for social, economic, and political reform during this time period?

To what extent did progressive political reform successfully combat the social and economic ills created by a rapidly industrializing society?

How were the social, political, and economic standing of labor, women and African Americans impacted by progressive efforts?

11th Grade U.S. History

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?

Step 5—Identifying Facts, Concepts, Skills

11th Grade U.S. History

Essential Questions Facts (What students should know) Concepts:(What students

should understand)

Skills: (What students should be able to do)

How did Americans of this period define progress?

Why is there a need for social, economic, and political reform during this time period?

To what extent did progressive political reform successfully combat the social and economic ills created by a rapidly industrializing society?

How were the social, political, and economic standing of labor, women and African Americans impacted by progressive efforts?

Muckrakers Jane Adams Hepburn Act Alexander Graham BellIda Tarbell Meat Inspection ActJacob Riis Pure Food & Drug ActUpton Sinclair Plessy v. FergusonLincoln Steffens Newlands ReclamationTriangle Shirtwaist Fire Booker T. WashingtonCarrie Nation Atlanta CompromiseWCTU W.E.B. Du BoisAnti-Saloon League Ida B. WellsFrederick Winslow Taylor Henry Ford Robert La Follette Niagara MovementCharles B. Aycock NAACPLouis Brandeis Theodore RooseveltFlorence Kelley William H. TaftLewis Hine Woodrow WilsonMuller v. Oregon Payne-Aldrich TariffNorthern Securities v. U.S. Election of 1912Initiative, referendum, recall Eugene V. Debs16th 17th 18th 19th Amendments Clayton Anti-Trust Act Commission system FTCcouncil-manager system Federal ReserveSusan B. Anthony Thomas EdisonSherman Anti-trust Act Frederick Olmstead1902 Pennsylvania Coal Strike YMCA

PowerStrikeTechnologyInnovationSystemReformProgressProgressivismInterpretationIdentityLeadershipSocial gospelMass cultureProhibitionConservationSegregationAccommodationFranchise/ DisenfranchisementCitizenshipIndustryDiversityConflict

Describe and interpret political, economic, and cultural ideologies.

Compare and contrast perspective and biases evident in primary source documents.

Generate expository and creative writing to express insights and conclusions of key aspects of the time period.

Debate and defend personal interpretations of key events and issues including reflective and expressive writing, class discussion and seminars.

Analyze historical political cartoons and illustrate reflections of the time period.

Original Goal Coded Goal Unwrapped Big Ideas Essential Questions

The learner will analyze the impact of interactions between humans and their physical environments in Africa, Asia, and

Australia.

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

Original Goal Coded Goal Unpacked Big Ideas Essential Questions

The learner will analyze the impact of interactions between humans and their physical environments in Africa, Asia, and

Australia.

The learner will analyze the impact of interactions between humans and their physical environments in Africa, Asia, and Australia.

-The learner will analyze the impact of interactions between humans and their physical environments in Africa.

-The learner will analyze the impact of interactions between humans and their physical environments in Asia.

-The learner will analyze the impact of interactions between humans and their physical environments in Australia.

Human-environment interaction can have both positive and negative results.

The physical environment can impact where and how people live.

Human attempts to modify their environment can have long-term impacts.

Cultures either adapt to their environment or adapt their environment to their needs.

How can human actions both positively and negatively impact the natural environment?

How significant is the physical environment of a place in defining how people live?

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

Reflection