11/30/2015
Thinking Big: Developing a
Scope and Sequence for ELA
Amy R. Trawick, Ph.D.
Center for Adult Learning Leadership
and Advancement
atrawick1@gmail.com
SESSION GOALS
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
• Critically analyze their program’s ELA scope
and sequence for the required features, degree
of integration/contextualization, and alignment
with the College and Career Readiness
Standards for Adult Education;
• Address the realities of the ABE field in the
design of their scope and sequence;
• Access key online and personnel resources,
including a state professional network, to
enhance their professional work.
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AGENDA
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Orientation to the Day
Why a Scope & Sequence?
MA’s Approach to Standards-Based Learning
Drafting Individual Units
Planning Units Across Time
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Why a
SCOPE AND SEQUENCE?
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Scope & Sequence
Program Support/Structure
Unit Plans
TEACHER
Specific Class Context
LESSON
Students’
specific skills sets
Students’ Goals,
Interests, and
Motivations
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WHY
INTEGRATED/CONTEXTUALIZED
LEARNING?
Research suggests benefits for: motivation, problem-solving,
critical thinking skills, collaboration, metacognition, selfregulation, and improved learning across a host of content
domains, such as
 Mathematics
 Economics
 Science
 Social science
 Clinical medical skills
 Careers in the allied health
occupations
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PROJECT-BASED LEARNING
“Project-based learning is an instructional approach that
contextualizes learning by presenting learners with
problems to solve or products to develop.” (Moss & Duzer,
1998)
“A project is an in-depth, hands-on exploration of a topic,
theme, idea, or activity, resulting in a product,
performance, or event for assessment.” (Ananda, 2000)
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TOPIC
TEXT
TASK
SKILL
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TOPIC
TASK
TEXTS
SKILLS
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EFFECTIVE UNITS…
• Have both immediate relevance and transfer power to
college and careers and/or other important
contexts/topics
• Involve culminating real-life or “rich” academic tasks,
ideally for an audience other than the teacher
• Utilize multiple, authentic texts, ideally provide (at
least some) student choice in reading material
• Embed scaffolded practice in using targeted
skills/standards
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SAMPLE UNIT TOPICS
• Researching Careers
• *Soft Skills
• Having a Healthy Heart
• Moments that Matter: Civil
Rights in the 60’s
• *Community Food Security:
What Part Do We Play In
Our Current Food Systems?
• *What’s Up With Our
Community?: Advocating for
Change
• Living Our Stories
(biographies)
*names of unit curricula from
Massachusetts (2013-2014)
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WHICH OF THESE WOULD BE A GOOD UNIT TOPIC?
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Having a Healthy Heart
Improving Vocabulary
Designing a Recycling Program
Poetry and Me
Fluent Reading
Finding the Main Idea
Discovering Our Culture
Comparing and Contrasting
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3 Components of a
Unit Goal Statement
1. We/Students will read/listen to (what kind of materials)
in order to _____________.
2. We/Students will show our learning by (end product /
project)
.
3. We/Students/The teacher will evaluate the learning by
(using a rubric, checklist, etc.)
.
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PURPOSE OF THE UNIT
• Think: “Rationale”
• Why is this topic important for students as
adults?
• Consider importance beyond the HiSET
SEE EXAMPLES
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ELA STRANDS
• READING
-Foundational Skills
• WRITING
• SPEAKING & LISTENING
• LANGUAGE
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PILLAR STANDARDS – reflect the
skills needed to prepare for the
culminating project; targeted,
explicit, and scaffolded instruction is
provided
BASE STANDARDS – previouslytaught standards that are being
practiced/reinforced but not
explicitly taught to the whole class
OR standards which are always
included (e.g., R1)
SECONDARY
OVERARCHING STANDARDS – 1-2
standards most closely tied to the
culminating product
PRIORITY
CONSTRUCTING A UNIT:
BUNDLING A SET OF STANDARDS
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When Building a Scope &
Sequence, Consider…
• Are there standards that need to be introduced
earlier/later? What topics/tasks might go naturally/easily
with these?
• Are there topics that need to be introduced at certain
times (e.g., elections in October/November)?
• How can students be exposed to a mix of social
studies/science/literature/career content?
• How can the S&S be designed to accommodate
fluctuating attendance?
• How can the S&S be designed to accommodate students
repeating a level?
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