In Mapping the Big Picture, Heidi Hayes Jacobs describes a seven step process for creating and working with curriculum maps, from data collection to ongoing curriculum review. She discusses the importance of asking essential questions and of designing assessments that reflect what teachers know about the students in their care. She also offers a viable alternative to the curriculum committees that are part of almost every school district in the United States. Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum Assessment K-12
This text would be well served by a second edition reflecting the entrenchment of state standards throughout the country. It also utilises dated references to technology. That being said, the heart of this book is still true: teachers need to know what they are teaching, how they are teaching, when they expect to teach, why they are teaching, and how they will know the level of understanding of their students. If you are in a building or district without a clear understanding of these components, I suggest you give curriculum mapping a go! 9780871202864 This was required reading for the next school year at the school I teach at. Interesting perspective on the curriculum development process. It requires a change of view on the way we view curriculum. Instead of set and external from our classrooms decided by the ever unengaged curriculum committee, it is an ongoing process integral and designed by ever educator in the building. The resulting progress is a solid curriculum that better suits the needs of children and accounts for the volume of knowledge that is added to certain contents on a regular basis, i.e. science and new discoveries or English and newly published books. 9780871202864
