A Story of Units- Curriculum Overview

Sequence of Sessions

Overarching Objectives of this May 2013 Network Team Institute

  • Participants will understand the focus of each module presented, the instructional path, and the student outcomes; and be ready to teach and/or prepare their colleagues to teach these modules.
  • Participants will examine the K–5 progressions documents and the sequence of standards foundational to developing an understanding of Number and Operations in Base Ten, thereby enabling participants to enact cross-grade coherence of NBT development in the classroom and to train their colleagues to do the same.
  • Participants will understand the purpose and implementation of Fluency, Worksheets, Student Debriefs, Exit Tickets, Application Problems and Conceptual Development within A Story of Units. They will be prepared to use these components as tools through which to meet the needs of diverse learners.
  • Participants will examine formal and informal assessment within the Modules and develop an understanding of how to use the data generated to make instructional decisions.

High-Level Purpose of this Session

  • Review the centrality of the Standards, Progressions and Instructional Shifts in the development of A Story of Unitsin order to understand the rationale for the curriculum and show the tight alignment to the Standards
  • Expand the understanding of thecoherence of the curriculum for effective implementation of the curriculum
  • Describe the workflow in developing the curriculum and the foundational decisions upon which it rests in order to develop the underlying philosophy of the curriculum
  • Establish the focus and theme of the May NTI in order for participants to understand what they will be learning and be able to train their colleagues

Related Learning Experiences

  • The February NTI presented key features about A Story of Units, how it is built on the CCLS, and key foundational documents for those standards which built background knowledge about the curriculum
  • This Curriculum Overview Session will be followed by asession on Assessment
  • After that there will be a session on how to implement Module 1 for each grade level K, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Key Points

•.A Story of Units is tightly aligned to the Standards, Progressions and Instructional Shifts

•There is a strong coherence across the P-12 curriculum

•The workflow in developing A Story of Units has been carefully designed torelate every arithmetic idea back to understanding the idea of a unit. The commonalities among form the interconnectedness of the math concepts, enabling students to more easily transfer their mathematical skills and understanding across grades.

Session Outcomes

What do we want participants to be able to do as a result of this session? / How will we know that they are able to do this?
Participants will understand :
  • The centrality of the Standards and their accompanying Progressions, as well as the Instructional Shifts, to the development of A Story of Unitsallowing participants to understand the framework of the curriculum
  • The vertical coherence within the P–12 curriculum in order to understand why the modules were developed in a certain sequence
  • The workflow of this curriculum’s development and the foundational decisions upon which it rests in order to see the coherence of the curriculum,
/ Participants will be able to:
  • Describe the role the Standards, Progressions and Instructional shifts played in the development of A Story of Units
  • Articulate examples of vertical coherence within the curriculum
  • Describe the curriculum’s workflow for development

Session Overview 9:30-10:30

Section / Time / Overview / Prepared Resources / Facilitator Preparation
Introduction / 9:30-9:40 /
  • Participate in sprint activity
  • Frame session, referencing workshop agenda.
  • Introduce objectives and sequence for this session.
/
  • Session PowerPoint
/
  • Review session notes and PowerPoint presentation

Overview of A Story of Units / 9:40-9:47 /
  • Review instructional shifts
  • Review Vertical coherence as reflected in curriculum maps
/
  • Session PowerPoint
/
  • Review session notes and PowerPoint presentation

Vertical Coherence of the P-12 Curriculum / 9:47-10:10 /
  • Discuss vertical coherence
  • Discuss alignment to standards
/
  • Session PowerPoint
/
  • Review session notes and PowerPoint presentation

Philosophy and Workflow of A Story of Units / 10:10-10:26 /
  • Discuss workflow and how the unit as the means of connection
/
  • Session PowerPoint
/
  • Review session notes and PowerPoint presentation

Framework for this NTI / 10:26-10:30 /
  • Review focus of remaining sessions
/
  • Session PowerPoint
/
  • Review session notes and PowerPoint presentation

Session Roadmap

Section:Introduction / Time:9:30-9:10
[10minutes] In this section, you will…
•Participate in a sprint activity in order to build knowledge and skills in leading sprints and to provide a high energy activity to engage the audience
•Frame session, referencing the agenda in order to orient the audience to what they will be learning
•Introduce objectives and sequence the session in order to provide expectations for what they are expected to learn / Materials used include:
•Session PowerPoint
Time / Slide #/ Pic of Slide / Script/ Activity directions / GROUP
30 secs. / Slide 1
/ NOTE THAT THIS SESSION IS DESIGNED TO BE60MINUTES IN LENGTH;
This opening session will be followed by a session on assessment in A Story of Units, Module Focus sessions on each of the first modules for grades K through 5, Module in Practice sessions emphasizing instructional choices in delivery of instruction, and a coherence session on Number and Operations—Base Ten / Whole Group
10 min. / Slide 2
/ Engage participants in Sprint routine, followed by short debrief of the activity.
2 min. / Slide 3
/ Our objective for this session is to ______
Section:Overview of A Story of Units / Time:9:40-9:47
[7 min.] In this section, you will…
  • Review instructional shifts to ensure that participants can articulate the changes required in instruction
  • Review Vertical coherence as reflected in curriculum maps in order to show the connectedness of the modules
/ Materials used include:
Session PowerPoint
Curriculm map
Instructional shift visul
Time / Slide #/ Pic of Slide / Script/ Activity directions / GROUP
1 min. / Slide 4
/ NOTE TO FAILITATOR: Assess how many in your audience are familiar with the Instructional Shifts.
In previous NTI meetings we have examined key features about A Story of Units and how it is built on the CCLS and key foundational documents for those standards. We are going to take a few minutes to go back over the history so that we all have a common understanding of where this started. As you can see from the agenda we are going to look at how P-12 flows and each grade prepares students for the next grade. We will then move into how A Story of Units was actually written so you can explain to your colleagues the deep thought by mathematicians and teachers that went into its development. / Whole Group
3 min. / Slide 5
/ Start with the standards… why…
The authors of the Common Core State Standards tell us that the “standards are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the next step.” (CCSSM, page 5) Student Achievement Partners , the writers of the Common Core State Standards, has described some examples of the “old ways of doing business,” articulating the kind of instruction to avoid.
In order to move away from these old ways, a new approach to mathematics education was needed. This new plan was articulated in the form of the Instructional Shifts, which describe how to implement the Standards as they were intended so that all students will be career and college ready when they leave high school.
NOTE TO FAILITATOR: If your audience is not familiar with these Instructional Shifts, take time to discuss each one.
These shifts have been a driving force in creating A Story of Units.
•Each grade-level focuses on the major work.
•Material is organized into coherent topics, emphasizing natural connections that exist both within and across grades.
•A balance of rigor is maintained in the daily lesson components as well as in the assessments.
Practice standards are meaningfully connected to the content standards.
3 min. / Slide 6
/ The curriculum map for A Story of Units shows the series of modules at each grade level, revealing the carefully designed coherence from PK through Grade 5. This coherence across the grades is derived from the learning progressions within the Standards.
We first shared this map in August, along with the accompanying grade-level descriptions and standards alignment. This overview/map was created as a framework from which to begin development of the curriculum. As you might expect, developing a comprehensive curriculum from this framework has been and continues to be a massive undertaking. It requires a tremendous effort from all stakeholders, including our collaborators at NYSED and SAP in addition to our own team that has grown to well over 100 people serving in various capacities to bring this curriculum to life. (Many of our team are here this week as we present sessions on the seven new modules that are now complete and are being posted on EngageNY. You know some of them from previous Institutes, and you may know others as colleagues here in New York. We invite them all to stand at this time.)
The overview/map and How to Implement are living and breathing documents. They were created initially as a framework within which to begin development of the curriculum, not to limit our direction. Just as the best trips are carefully planned, so are they left flexible for unexpected discoveries along the way. There are a few changes in module titles and a few instructional days have been shifted from one module to another in order to support the major work of the grade. The most noticeable change is that Grade 2 now has an additional module. The decision was made to break two-digit and three-digit addition and subtraction into separate modules in order to more clearly define the coherence within the grade. These are the types of changes that you might continue to see through the coming months as we work toward completion of the curriculum. We will provide updated versions of the Curriculum Overview and map.
Section:Vertical Coherence of the P-12 Curriculum / Time:9:47-10:10
[23minutes] In this section, you will…
•Discuss vertical coherencein order to understand connectedness of the modules within a grade and from grade to grade
•Discuss alignment to the standards in order to understand how all standards are covered within the modules / Materials used include:
•Session PowerPoint
•Curriculum map
•Video captured at May NTI
Time / Slide #/ Pic of Slide / Script/ Activity directions / GROUP
1 min. / Slide 7
/ Agenda / Whole group
5 min. / Slide 8
/ Slides 8-11, Facilitator will describe the tight alignment to the Standards, the progression of mathematics, and intentionality that support and unify the P-5, 6-8, and 9-12 curricula being developed by the Common Core, Inc. team.
Facilitate a discussion about this progression from A Story of Units to A Story of Ratios to A Story of Functions.
5 min. / Slide 9
/ Slides 8-11, Facilitator will describe the tight alignment to the Standards, the progression of mathematics, and intentionality that support and unify the P-5, 6-8, and 9-12 curricula being developed by the Common Core, Inc. team.
Facilitate a discussion about this progression from A Story of Units to A Story of Ratios to A Story of Functions.
5 min. / Slide 10
/ Slides 8-11, Facilitator will describe the tight alignment to the Standards, the progression of mathematics, and intentionality that support and unify the P-5, 6-8, and 9-12 curricula being developed by the Common Core, Inc. team.
Facilitate a discussion about this progression from A Story of Units to A Story of Ratios to A Story of Functions.
5 min. / Slide 11
/ Slides 8-11, Facilitator will describe the tight alignment to the Standards, the progression of mathematics, and intentionality that support and unify the P-5, 6-8, and 9-12 curricula being developed by the Common Core, Inc. team.
Facilitate a discussion about this progression from A Story of Units to A Story of Ratios to A Story of Functions.
5 min. / Slide 12
/ Consider a typical example problem and its connection among the standards.
Have the participants work the problem individually (1 minute). Then have the participants share at their tables the process that was used (1 minute).Facilitate a brief discussion of how this problem fits in the progression of standards
Section:Philosophy and Workflow of A Story of Units / Time:10:10-10:26
[16minutes] In this section, you will…
•Discuss takeaways and key points in order to summarize and cement particpants learning of key points / Materials used include:
•Session PowerPoint
Time / Slide #/ Pic of Slide / Script/ Activity directions / GROUP
1 min. / Slide 13
/ A Story of Units follows the focus of the Common Core Learning Standards by relating every arithmetic idea back to understanding the idea of a unit. It is the study of the commonalities among units that drives the focus of A Story of Units, so that the concepts learned are prioritized by the CCLS. The commonalities form the interconnectedness of the math concepts, enabling students to more easily transfer their mathematical skills and understanding across grades. / Whole group
6 min. / Slide 14
/ From the field of mathematics, learning progressions have been clearly defined for us in the Common Core Learning Standards. From those, we developed a framework for the P-5 curriculum. This is illustrated in the curriculum map and articulated in the accompanying grade-level descriptions of the Curriculum Overview. From this established sequence of modules, overview and assessments are created. Each topic is then fully developed to include daily objectives that describe a teaching sequence towards mastery.
3 min. / Slide 15
/ Take 2 minutes to turn and talk with others at your table. During this session, what information was particularly helpful and/or insightful? What new questions do you have?
Allow 2 minutes for participants to turn and talk. Bring the group to order and advance to the next slide.
Section:Framework for this NTI / Time:10:26-10:30
[4 minutes] In this section, you will…
•Review focus for the rest of the sessions in order to orient the participants to what they will be needing to learn / Materials used include:
•Session PowerPoint
Time / Slide #/ Pic of Slide / Script/ Activity directions / GROUP
1 min. / Slide 16
/ The sessions we have planned for this NTI are designed to provide you with the information you need to fully implement A Story of Units this September. Please keep track of your questions as they arise. If a question fits well with content as it is presented we, of course, encourage you to ask. However, if your question is of a more general or unrelated nature, please feel free to jot it on a post-it note and add it to one of the parking lots posted around the room. As always, we will do our best to respond to all your questions and needs.
We are going to take a few minutes now to discuss the focus of this NTI. / Whole Group
4 min. / Slide 17
/ The focus of this NTI is centered on the first module for each grade, K through 5. Listed here are the seven new modules that are now complete and are currently being posted on EngageNY. In your binder, we have provided material that will be useful in our discussions about preparing for implementation of A Story of Units. This includes the Module Overview, Assessments, and Topic Openers for each of these seven modules.
Review binder and agenda. We are going to spend a significant amount of time working with the content of each module and practicing how to implement each of the lesson components.
3 min. / Slide 18
/ Throughout the NTI, as you examine these modules, you will find the same careful and intense balance of rigor that you saw in previous modules.
You might recall that our sessions during both the November NTI and the February NTI were structured around rigor. Both times, we presented a three-part Rigor Breakdown series, where each session focused on one component of rigor and provided examples from the featured modules.
During this NTI our attention to rigor may be less explicit in that you will not see the familiar structure of the Rigor Breakdown series. While our explicit focus is on examining modules, attention to rigor is embedded in those sessions and will continue to be a natural part of discussion. We anticipate that you will recognize and share examples of rigor as they are uncovered.
THIS SESSION WILL BE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY A SESSION ON ASSESSMENT IN A STORY OF UNITS.

Use the following icons in the script to indicate different learning modes.

Video / Reflect on a prompt / Active learning / Turn and talk

Turnkey Materials Provided

  • PPT
  • Facilitators Guide
  • Handouts

Additional Suggested Resources

  • Progressions documents
  • How to Teach A Story of Units