Homework

Homework Assignment
Having used assessment as a starting point for curriculum design, you now are prepared for the next step in the “backward planning” curriculum design process: developing sequence and content for your lesson plans.

Consider these key elements as you continue to develop lesson plans and write notes in your journal:

• Content: The knowledge and skills you intend to measure through your performance task represent what you must teach in this unit. How many lessons will it take for students to learn what they need to successfully complete the task?
• Instruction: As you develop content, consider various ways students could learn it, including both traditional and inquiry-based methods of instruction. If most of the instructional strategies you plan seem traditional, try more inquiry-based methods. What methods help your students learn most effectively? A daily lecture? A hands-on activity? A combination of approaches?
• Integration of subjects: Integrate a variety of subjects only if each subject plays an essential role in the learning that is desired. If you took one of the intended subjects out, would students still get what they should out of the lesson or unit?

If possible, apply the ideas from Program 6 in your own classroom. For example, create a lesson plan integrating the arts based on the knowledge and skills that you want to assess. Design a performance task that would enable students to show that they have achieved the relevant objective.

Reading Assignment

The following required readings will support your understanding of Program 6 for the for-credit workshop:

• Criteria for Planning Multi-Arts Instruction (PDF)
• "Arts Assessment Guide" by Ray Wilkins, Pennsylvania Department of Education. This guide is intended to assist teachers in matching challenging curriculum and instruction with authentic assessment strategies that mirror the teaching/learning experience.
• "Assessment in the Arts" This is an online discussion of arts assessment with sample learning outcomes and indicators.

To prepare for Program 7, review these readings:

• Roles of Arts Specialists and Classroom Teachers (PDF)
• Comprehensive Arts Education (PDF)