Planning Points in Curriculum Compacting

Borrowed from http://gifted.uconn.edu/schoolwide-enrichment-model/semglc12/

 

Teacher Issues:

1. How many above average ability students am I likely to have next year?

2. Are these students likely to need of some modifications of the grade level curriculum?

3. Am I willing to allow students to participate in enrichment or acceleration activities as one way of dealing with their above average abilities?

4. Am I willing to try pretesting and interest and strength assessment as a way of identifying the needs of above average students in the regular classroom?

5. In which subject areas are my students likely to need compacting?

6. In what subject areas will I compact?
   ____ Reading ____ Math ____ Spelling
   ____ Grammar ____ Writing

7. For which students will I compact?
   ____ Talent Pool students who are working on a Type III investigation.
   ____ Any Talent Pool students who need it.
   ____ Only Talent Pool students with work habits.
   ____ Any student who needs it.
   ____ Any student with independent work habits.

 

Pretest Issues:

1. What are my grade level content objectives?

2. Do I have pretests for these objectives?

3. Where are these pretests? How will I create pretests?

4. When will I administer the pretests?

5. How often will I administer the pretests?

6. To whom will I administer the pretests?

7. What will the other students be doing while the pretests are being administered?

8. Who will score the pretests?

9. What is my criterion for mastery?

10. How will I record the results?

11. How will I share the results with students, parents, or other teachers?

 

Teaching Issues:

1. What will I do with the pretest results?

2. How will I provide instruction in skills and concepts pot yet mastered?

3. Will I group my students for this instruction? If so, how?
   (contracts, flexible groups, multi-age groups, student conferences, cooperative learning, etc.)

4. Can a student be in more than one group at a time?

5. How will my teaching style differ for each group? (pacing, guidance, amount of practice, kind of practice, modeling application).

6. Will I use large group teaching strategies? If yes, for what purpose.

7. Will I teach skills and concepts that are not part of the grade level curriculum to students who have already mastered grade level skills and concepts?

8. If so, would these skills and concepts be considered content enrichment or content acceleration?

 

Enrichment and Practice Activities:

1. What will students be doing when they are not in these instructional group meetings?
        Practice Worksheets
        Enrichment Activities from the Textbook Series
        Trade Books
        Art Center
        Writing Center
        Journals
        Math/Science Center
        Learning Games
        Building and Construction Center
        Drama Center
        Workjobs
        Computer Software
        Library Visitations
        Interest Centers
        Listening/Media Station
        Individual or Small Group Projects
        Challenge Projects
        Type II1/2 Activities
        Invent America
        Science Experiments
        Play Writing
        Data Collection
        Filmstrips
        Murals
        Dioramas
        Graphs
        Charts
        Learning Modules
        Student Research and Investigation

2. How will I physically arrange my classroom to accommodate these teaching and learning options?

3. How will I introduce and explain these options to my students?

4. How will I schedule the teaching groups, large groups and independent activities?

5. Can my students work alone or in groups while I am occupied with small group teaching?

6. If not, what skills do they need to learn so that they can work independently for 30-60 minutes each day?

7. What provisions can I make to teach these skills to them?

 

Needs Assessment:

1. What skills do I need to feel comfortable with curriculum compacting?

2. What materials do I need to locate or purchase to this compacting process?

3. What help do I need to implement this process in my classroom?

4. What additional information do I need to begin this process?

5. what problems might I encounter? How might I handle these problems?

 

A Timeline for Implementing Curriculum Compacting

1. Decide on content area for curriculum compacting.

2. Mind grade level objectives for this content area.

3. Locate or create pretests that correspond to the objectives.

4. Decide on mastery level for each objective.

5. Duplicate pretests.

6. Develop group and individual forms or data bases to record pretest results.

7. Identify the curricular strengths of the students in the class.

8. Decide which students will take the pretests.

9. Decide how many pretests will be administered in one sitting.

10. Decide how/when teaching groups will be formed.

11. Decide on student options for independent activities.

12. Draw a room plan to organize these activities.

13. Purchase/locate necessary materials to support these activities.

14. Administer and score pretests.

15. Decide on teaching group strategies and schedule.

16. Introduce students to optional activities.

17. Teach management skills to students.

18. Implement the plan.