1. Creating a Curriculum Map
Grade 6 ELA WRITING
BY
PREMILA ASHOK
I.S.52

2. Aligning curriculum, instruction and
assessment to Common Core State
Standards
This supports 21st century learning where
students get a chance
to integrate cross-curricular skills (reading,
writing, science or social
studies, research, higher order thinking,
technology, etc.)

3. STEP 1: Selection of Common
Core Writing Standard
Writing:
• W.6.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey
ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and
analysis of relevant content.
• Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies
such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect;
include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and
multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
• Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations,
or other information and examples.
• Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and
concepts.
• Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or
• explain the topic.

4. Writing Standards 6.2
RED-SKILLS (Verbs)
BLUE-(Nouns) TASKS
W.6.2. Writeinformative/explanatory texts to examine
a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information
through the selection, organization, and analysis of
relevant content.
• Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and
information, using strategies such as definition,
classification, comparison/contrast, and
cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings),
graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia
when useful to aiding comprehension.

5. Step 2: Create a summative task built on the
standards
This task empowers students with choices
in selection of topic and builds
ownership and needs to be authentic
Essay showing a process
of change or
development over time

6. WHAT ARE AUTHENTIC
TASKS?
• They integrate subject/content areas
• Require disciplined inquiry asking students to research
information
• Taps various levels of thinking (summarize, analyze,
evaluate, create) and different types of knowledge
(factual, conceptual, procedural, metacognitive)
• Provides explicit criteria for quality like models, or rubrics
• Provides flexibility in Content or Strategies or
• Products for student choice

7. You are an explorer or scientist or an expert in your
chosen field. You are asked to trace the development
of something in the process of change. You can use
something natural or not natural. Possible range of
subjects include the growth of a child, life cycle of an
insect, bird migration, growth of a penguin or other Arctic
animal, creation of a painting, progress of a sunset, or the
coming and going of a thunderstorm, an earthquake, a
tsunami, change in a habitat/city, development of fashion or
type of music or sport over the ages, development of an
invention, (ex. present computer) process of learning a skill,
the process of how a firefighter responds to a fire, the
breaking of a record, the launch of a shuttle/satellite, the life
of an artist, scientist etc. (The topic should show five or
more developmental steps indicating change) You will
present your work to the class using appropriate
eye contact, adequate volume and clear
pronunciation.

8. Step 3: FRAMING AN
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
This is a doorway to get
students start thinking about
big ideas and the reason why
they are studying the content.
What is change and how does it
happen?

9. STEP 4 – ADDING GUIDING
QUESTIONS
• Guiding questions are the bridge
between the standards and the
lessons and performance tasks.
• They point the direction in which
the teacher takes the student on
the learning journey.

10. Step 5 – Creating a weekly
calendar
The week by week
progress is charted
which includes guiding
questions, lesson topics,
assessments and
vocabulary.

11. SAMPLE WEEKLY CALENDAR
WK Guiding Lessons Assess- Voca-
5 questions ments bulary
How do you Students Graphic All time order
organize will select a organizer of transition
topic with words-first,
information timelines next, after,
five or more
logically? develop- with details meanwhile,
then, until
mental filled while, during
steps
indicating
change

12. SAMPLE WEEKLY CALENDAR
WK Guiding Lessons Assess- Voca-
5 questions ments/Perf. Bulary
-How do you -Students analyze
Tasks All time order
include relevant the process of transition
facts, definitions development or Graphic words-first,
and concrete change in a topic organizer of next, after,
details? of choice meanwhile,
timelines then, until
-How do you -Students will with details while, during
summarize select key filled
/paraphrase information to
include in their
-information? final product.

13. STEP 6- CREATE
PERFORMANCE TASKS
• 5 Interim PERFORMANCE TASKS are created to
build up student skills and lead to the final
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT.
• A RUBRIC is created to grade each of these
PERFORMANCE TASKS so that students know
what is expected of them and get a chance to
correct areas in need of improvement before
they write their final essay.

14. SAMPLE RUBRIC for PERFORMANCE TASK-
TIMELINE FOR ESSAY
4 3 2 1
Ideas: - The different-The - Some of - The
Shows stages of the different the stages of
understanding process are different
stages of the the process
of unit precisely and
process are are
stages of
specific task clearly the
clearly presented in
and text presented to
indicate what described a process
will be and mechanical are
written in the presented way missing or
paragraph
unclear
Organization: - Uses a - Uses a - Attempts a
Shows how
- Fails to
logical logical logical
the structure sequence sequence but establish a
sequence
builds direction
and coherence
through
through there may be logical
distinct and an overlap in sequence
specific
specific steps the stages
steps.

15. STEP 7- CREATE RUBRIC FOR
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Exceptional - Capable - Ah Developing - Emerging -
WOW! ha! Mm mm! OOPS!
Ideas: - Ideas make clear - Ideas make - Ideas are reasonably - Ideas are unclear or
connections beyond connections beyond clear incomplete
the task and text the task and text
Development - Supports ideas with - Supports ideas clearly - Develops ideas briefly - Fails to develop ideas
elaboration and and fully
thorough analysis
Organization: - Uses a logical - Uses a logical Attempts a logical - Fails to establish a
sequence through sequence through sequence through logical sequence
sophisticated and appropriate transition words,
varied transition transitional words, phrases or clauses
words, phrases and phrases and clauses
clauses
Language use: - Varies structure and - Varies structure and - Exhibits some - Sentences lack
length of sentences to length of sentences to attempt to vary variety in structure or
enhance meaning and enhance meaning sentence structure or length
hold reader interest length, with uneven
success
Mechanics Shows control with no Shows control with Shows some control Shows little control
errors in grammar, essentially no with occasional errors with errors that make
spelling etc. errors in grammar, that hinder comprehension
spelling etc. comprehension in difficult
grammar, spelling etc.

16. STEP 8-IDENTIFYING
RESOURCES
– Journey Across Time: The Early Ages by Glencoe: p.
37-42; 1-23; esp. p 1, p 31 & chapter 1
– Time for Kids
– Wildlife Explorer
– Excerpt from Predator by Bruce Brooks
– The Writer’s Craft (WC) by McDougall, Littell
– http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/pyra
mids.html
– http://www.vangoghgallery.com/
– Frozen Man by David Getz (Pages 28-35)
– www.jason.org

17. Next steps
• The curriculum is a living, dynamic
document. Once implemented in the
classroom, data from student work
will be used to refine maps.