1
Sample Deconstruction Project
The following is an example of a well-done deconstruction project submitted
by a student in the Fundamentals of Curriculum Development class. The following
points need to be considered:
1. Your project response will be different from this one. No two are exactly
alike because each curriculum selected to be deconstructed will different.
2. As a sample, this submission has strength in four important areas.
a. It follows the outline given for the project in a clear, well organized
manner.
b. The application of concepts, principles, and ideas from class are used
succinctly and appropriately.
c. It is well written in terms of grammar and syntax.
d. It is very cohesive in terms of what flows in the reconstruction from
the thoughtful deconstruction.
3. Make certain you use the cover sheet provided on the class materials web
site.
4. Make certain you follow my guidelines for graduate student writing
provided on the class web site.
5. If you have any questions or uncertainties about the assignment, please voice
them in class.
RH
2
Identifying and Explicating the Curriculum Construct
Curriculum Construct
My two week fifth grade unit plan is centered on the experiences of African Americans
under the institution of slavery. The primary purpose of this curriculum is for my students to
understand the sacrifice of personal freedom made by millions of African slaves for the
economic and political gains desired by European slave traders. The activities in this two week
unit are designed to intellectually empower the students by guiding them to think critically about
the mistreatment of African-American slaves. Through a variety of experience and interest
based activities, students will be empowered to examine what is acceptable or intolerable within
a particular society regarding human rights. In this unit, students will analyze slavery from the
perspective of all those involved in the slave trade, including African kings, European slave
traders, and southern plantation owners. Students will examine the moral issues of slavery from
each of these perspectives and the values that motivated such treatment, such as the desire for
personal wealth. While examining the experiences of slaves on each leg of the trade, students
will gain a deeper understanding of the complex moral issues that surround slavery.
Epistemological Assumptions
Terminal Knowledge:
Terminal knowledge found in the original unit plan would include tasks such as
requiring students to memorize exact dates, names of African villages, and specific names of
3
African kings. This information is composed of factoids and details that offer no opportunity
for connections to be made and ultimately deskills students. Students become easily bored with
this terminal knowledge, and solely memorizing facts is meaningless and irrelevant to the
student. Terminal knowledge stifles thinking and provides students no opportunity to make
connections to the real word or to think critically about slavery. Passively reading, taking notes,
and memorizing facts about slavery from a textbook allow no opportunity for students to
experience the knowledge first hand and use it to understand our world today. Terminal
knowledge contributes to covering material and teaching to the test, which is ultimately
deskilling. The reconstruction of this unit plan will seek to eliminate terminal knowledge.
Expeditious Knowledge:
Expeditious knowledge found in the original curriculum plan includes seat work that
keeps students occupied, but fails to creatively engage them. Examples of expeditious
knowledge would include students independently reading a non-fiction article on the slave trade
and answering related comprehension questions at their desks. This type of knowledge allows
students no opportunity to interact with their peers in cooperative learning, or to connect the
curriculum to their everyday lives. Other examples of this form of knowledge in the original
curriculum plan would include worksheets containing multiple choice, matching, and true-false
questions. The reconstruction of this unit plan will seek to eliminate expeditious knowledge.
Instrumental Knowledge:
Instrumental knowledge is the most powerful knowledge in an empowering curriculum.
The original curriculum plan had few examples of instrumental knowledge, which would be
4
detrimental to student learning. However, the reconstruction of the unit will include multiple
activities that will translate into usable knowledge to the student. For example, students will use
an interest-based think-tac-toe matrix that will grant them decision latitude and constructive
freedom to select three experience-based activities in which they will apply the knowledge
gained from the curriculum. Other experienced-based activities, such as a role play, will allow
students to employ the concepts of slavery and personal freedom. Instrumental knowledge will
be gained through a variety of interest-based activities, guiding students to experience first hand
the many hardships African-Americans endured under slavery for the economic and political
gains of Europeans. The interest based activities part of this empowering curriculum will seek to
guide students to determine what is acceptable or intolerable in regards to human rights in any
given society.
Types of Curriculum
Null Curriculum
Null curriculum is that which we do not teach, sending the message to students that it is
insignificant to their educational experience. An example of null curriculum in this unit plan
would include glorifying bold and brave European explorers and colonizers. It is true that white,
powerful, slave traders brought wealth and economic success to southern plantation owners.
They are credited with converting the poor “savage” African slaves to Christianity. They felt
they were called by God to convert Africans to this desired religion and change the slaves’ birth
names to acceptable English ones. Omitted from the curriculum is the fact that Africans had a
unique religion and culture that was sacred to them before European colonization. By its
5
absence, the curriculum may be sending the message to my students that African culture and
religion pre-European colonization was unappreciated and insignificant.
Hidden Curriculum:
Students will learn several things in this unit that is not intended by the teacher. Slave
traders exchanged guns for slaves, forcing most rival African villages to trade their people for the
advanced weaponry. The curriculum may indirectly be sending the message that violence is an
acceptable way to reach a desired goal, and that a society with limited defense mechanisms can
be no match for a more powerful one. Through the hidden curriculum students will identify the
values that motivated slavery, such as money. Another aspect of the hidden curriculum would be
that limiting one’s education is a way to keep a race underprivileged and ignorant to the unequal
treatment they are enduring. Southern plantation owners passionately used this tactic, as well as
powerful politically leaders in our society today. It is hoped this will indirectly lead students to
critically question the authority of the politically powerful and wealthy upper class. Other parts
of the hidden curriculum include students engaging in dialogue and discourse through activities
such as role plays and slave song analysis. Cooperative group skills, such as interdependence,
social interaction, and group processing are also part of the hidden curriculum. Letter writing
and first person point of view writing included in the final assessment are also part of this
curriculum.
Overt curriculum:
6
It is hoped that the written and open plan for the reconstructed curriculum will motivate
students to employ several concepts through experience and interest based activities to achieve a
deeper understanding of the following:

European motives for enslaving Africans (economic and political gains)

The multiple perspectives that slavery can be viewed from (slave traders, plantation
owners, African kings, African slaves).

The dreadful experiences of slaves on all three legs of the slave trade

What is acceptable or not in terms of human treatment in any given society
 Synthesizing information learned through creative first person point of view writing
while working cooperatively with peers
Identifying and Illuminating Counterstructures within the Construct
Parts of the curriculum may affect different groups in different ways.
Race/ethnicity: African-American students may be able to more personally connect with the
curriculum than non-African students. Some African-American students’ families may have
traced their ancestors’ history back to slavery. Consideration should be given as to which
students may need more background knowledge on the subject to more personally connect with
the curriculum.
Class: Students living in poverty may not have the background information or a thorough
understanding of the language used in the unit. Poor students may not possess general
7
knowledge referenced throughout the unit, such as the location of Africa or the states that
comprise the South in the United States. Special consideration will be given to these students
with limited background knowledge to provide them the opportunity to build this knowledge
throughout the unit.
Gender: Research shows that male students are more frequently called upon by teachers in
class. Special consideration will be taken so that all students of both genders will be called upon
equally.
Students with special considerations: Title students who may not have proficient reading skills
may be disadvantaged by the curriculum plan. Literature supplements used in the unit may not be
equivalent to their reading level. Providing reading passages on tape, allowing for partner
reading, and orally giving directions and assessments will be used when and if needed.
Hegemony/Ideology:
Hegemony is the process by which we acquire ideology, which is fictional knowledge we
use to understand our world. The original curriculum plan contains messages that support an
ideology that is detrimental and damaging to a democratic society. It may fuel the ideology that
it is acceptable for poor African-Americans to be mistreated by a wealthy, white upper class. The
message is that whites are superior to blacks, as their labor and bondage were used for personal
wealth and economic gain. Acquiring this belief may contribute to the spread of prejudices that
exist in our society today.
Another implication is that that the poor can be overtaken and ruled by a wealthy, more
powerful upper class. This would contribute to the ideology that by limiting education, the
8
wealthy are able to keep the lower class ignorant and passive. I do not want students to acquire
these false ideologies, for that would not encourage democratic citizenship. The reconstructed
curriculum would ultimately work to dissolve this ideology, for in a democracy nobody should
be disadvantaged or discriminated against regardless of race, ethnicity, or wealth. The purpose
of schools is to foster within students sound democratic ideals, and an empowering curriculum
must embody this.
Reconstructing the Curriculum
Benchmarks and standards used in the curriculum plan:
Social Studies, Grade 5:
Benchmarks
People in Societies B:
Explain the reasons people from various cultural groups came to North America and the
consequences of their interactions with each other.
Grade Level Indicator
People in Societies 3:
Describe the experiences of African-Americans under the institution of slavery.
Language Arts, Grade 5:
Benchmarks
Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies, and Self Monitoring Strategies Standard
C: Make meaning through asking and responding to a variety of questions related to text.
Writing Process Standard
A: Generate writing topics and establish a purpose appropriate for the audience.
Writing Applications Standard
9
B: Write responses to literature that extend beyond the summary and support judgments through
references to the text.
C: Produce letters that address audience needs, stated purpose and context in a clear and efficient
manner.
Communications: Oral and Visual Standard
F: Give presentations using a variety of delivery methods, visual materials and technology.
Original Curriculum
Reconstructed Curriculum
Days 1, 2, 3
Days 1, 2, 3
Objectives: As a class, students will read parts
of chapter 7 (Slavery) over the course of the
next three days and complete corresponding
notes in their student notebooks.
Conceptual Objective: Students will use the
concepts of slavery and personal freedom to
participate in an interactive role play of scenes
that might have been experienced by slaves in
West Africa, along the Middle Passage, or in
America.
Activities: The chapter sections will be read
aloud to students over the course of three days.
As the chapter is being read aloud in a wholeclass format, students will answer questions
and take notes regarding important information
in a student notebook that was assigned to each
student at the beginning of the year.
Assessment: Students will be graded on
accuracy and correctness of notes from chapter
7 in student notebook.
Activities: The class will be divided into three
cooperative groups: West Africa, Middle
Passage, and America. Each group will create
an interactive dramatization (role play) that
will recreate a scene that may have taken place
in each groups’ assigned sections. Roles
assigned to individual students in the group
include:
Historian: He or she will lead the group to
build background information about their
section of slavery through the non-fiction trade
books, supplemental literature, and illustrations
supplied to the group. He or she may also lead
the group in reading the assigned section of the
textbook if necessary.
Director: He or she will be responsible for
10
ensuring the dramatization includes all the
required elements and that all group members
are equally involved. He or she may also
choose to involve members of the audience in
the role play.
Set Designer: He or she will organize and
gather costumes, props, and scenery needed in
the dramatization. He or she will ensure the
dramatization is as realistic as possible.
Host: He or she will lead the group as it
rehearses its dramatization. He or she will
ensure that group members are incorporating
key vocabulary terms from group’s assigned
section into the role play.
Assessment: An observation checklist will be
used to assess student preparation and
performance in the interactive role play.
Teacher observation while circulating among
the groups will be the primary source of
determining whether or not the students have
met the learning objective. Students will
receive points based on the following:
*Student fulfilling assigned group role to the
best of his or her ability
*Cooperation and interaction within group
*Overall effort in role play and incorporating
key vocabulary terms into presentation
*Role-plays scenario with feeling and
expression
Day 4 and 5
Objectives: Students will read a non-fiction
article depicting life in slavery and answer
Day 4 and 5
Conceptual Objective: Acting as a slave
spiritual song writer, students will apply the
11
accompany comprehension questions in
complete sentences.
Activities: Students will independently read a
non-fiction article that depicts the lives of
slaves in America during the 1700s. Students
will complete questions in multiple choice,
true-false, and extended response format.
Assessment: Students will be graded on
accuracy and completeness of answers.
concept of passive resistance to write and
compose an original spiritual that depicts life
in slavery.
Activities: Students will listen to two slave
songs on CD sung by slaves as a form of
passive resistance, “Hoe Emma Hoe,” and
“Follow the Drinking Gourd.” The class will
discuss feelings slaves had while singing these
songs, why they sang them, and how it
represented a form of passive resistance. They
will analyze lyrics and determine their
meanings with a partner, then discuss in
whole-class format. On day 5, students will
compose an original slave song with a partner
that expresses feelings about being a slave and
a longing for freedom. Students may put their
song to music if they choose. They may
perform or orally present the song to the class.
Assessment: A scoring guide will be used that
will measure the following criteria in the slave
spiritual:
*The extent to which the slave song expressed
the speakers’ feelings about being a slave and
desire for freedom.
* The song is set to music and sung for the
class OR spoken orally.
*Cooperation and interaction with peer while
writing the slave song.
Days 6, 7
Days 6, 7
Objectives: Using a map of the United States,
students will trace the journey a slave may
have taken on the Underground Railroad and
list three facts learned about the railroad on
their map.
Objectives: Acting as an ex-slave living in
Canada, students will employ the concept of
active resistance to create a slave pamphlet for
supportive abolitionists and literate slaves
describing life in slavery, the escape, and the
path to freedom through the Underground
12
Railroad.
Activities: After listening to a trade book read
aloud on the Underground Railroad, students
will be given a map and asked to trace a
possible route that a runaway slave may have
taken on the Underground Railroad. They will
label states, rivers, and safe houses
encountered on that journey. Students will
include three facts about the underground
railroad learned from the read-aloud.
Assessment: Students will be given points for
labeling the escape route, states, rivers,
possible safe houses, and three facts listed
about the Underground Railroad.
Activities: Students will listen to a fictional
picture book read aloud outlining one girl’s
journey to freedom along the Underground
Railroad. Students will then examine assorted
examples of pamphlets written by AfricanAmerican slaves, including historic antislavery pamphlets. An example is the “Life of
James Mars, a Slave Born and Sold in
Connecticut.” Discuss with students that in the
early and mid 1800s, abolitionists encouraged
slaves to publish narratives to rally anti-slavery
supporters. In the learning activity on day 7,
students will imagine they are a slave who has
reached freedom in Canada via the
Underground Railroad. They will write a brief
pamphlet describing their life in slavery, how
they planned the escape, and their experiences
on the road to freedom. The pamphlet will be
written in first person as if the student is the
ex-slave. The pamphlet will be organized into
three bold headings, Life in Slavery, My
Escape, and The Path to Freedom. Students
will incorporate concepts learned through the
role play and slave song composure in this
pamphlet. Students will include a title for the
pamphlet and a colorful and appealing cover.
Assessment: Please see attached scoring guide
on page 17.
Days 8, 9, 10
Days 8, 9, 10
Objectives: The students, acting as a slave in
Africa, on the Middle Passage, or in America,
will write a first person point of view poem to
bring their slave to life through multiple
senses.
Conceptual Objective: Students will employ
the concept of personal freedom to complete 3
activities from the attached matrix that will
allow them to experience first hand a life in
bondage as a final assessment to the unit.
Activities: Students will write a first person
Activities: Working in groups of two, students
13
point of view poem acting as either a slave in
Africa, on the Middle Passage, or in America.
Students will place themselves in the context
of the slave and write a poem from his or her
perspective. They will write lines that depict
what the slave experienced on his or her part of
the slave trade. Student will be given a starter
that they may use to begin each line of the
poem. Assessment: A rubric will be used to
assess the poem.
will choose 3 activities to complete from the
think-tac-toe matrix in any acceptable tic-tactoe pattern. Working with a partner, each
student will complete one activity
independently, and the final activity they will
complete together. Please see attached thinktac-toe activity on page 15-16.
Assessment: The assessment is the three thinktac-toe activities completed by the students.
Teacher discretion will be used to determine
the extent to which the activity produced meets
the learning goals and conceptual objectives.
The teacher will take into consideration student
performance during the other unit activities and
note any improvements. Students will be
graded on the extent to which they show an
understanding of the material in the unit.
Curriculum Deconstruction-Reconstruction Summary
Fundamentals of
Curriculum
Development
What the
students have
the opportunity
to learn
Experience and
Original Curriculum
In the original curriculum plan,
students only have the opportunity to
learn unnecessary terminal and
expeditious knowledge. I was only
covering the material and teaching to
the test, which fuels the capitalist
ideals to mold each student into a
cookie cutter image.
Students learning under the original
curriculum plan would not see
knowledge as being shared. Activities
included reading and note taking,
which are filled with factoids and
details taught in isolation with no
connections to real life.
The original curriculum plan is
ineffective because it deskills students
Reconstructed Curriculum
The reconstructed curriculum allows
students to learn the conceptual
objectives while participating in
experienced-based and interest-based
activities, such as a role play and firstperson point of view writing, which
grants students constructive freedom
and decision latitude. Instead of
deskilling through memorizing factoid
knowledge, each student is looked at
differently and activities can be chosen
based on interest.
Dewey believes that students must have
dialogue and discourse in cooperative
14
Education
(Dewey)
by asking them to take notes and read
in isolation. There is no peer
interaction or opportunity to
personally connect with the material to
build experience. The original
curriculum plan offers little
opportunity for students to collaborate
and interact with one another.
Original Curriculum Plan
The Child and
the Curriculum
(Dewey)
Purposeful,
explicit,
outcomes-based
design
learning. All knowledge is socially
constructed, meaning we learn and share
with others. In the reconstructed
curriculum plan, students are given
several opportunities to interact with
peers through experienced-based
learning activities, such as a role play,
think-tac-toe matrix, slave spiritual
analysis, and slave pamphlet. Through
experienced based activities, the
students are able to connect the subject
with logic.
Reconstructed Curriculum
The teacher is more of a dictator in the
educational experience, rather than a
leader. The curriculum is not childcentered, as it provides no
opportunities for experienced-based
learning and dialogue and discourse
with peers. There are no interestbased activities present in the original
curriculum that allow for constructive
freedom and decision latitude.
The teacher takes on more of a
leadership role in the classroom, rather
than a dictator. The curriculum is both
subject and child center, as it grants
students decision latitude and
constructive freedom in the learning
activities designed to meet the
conceptual objectives. The student and
the subject matter are taken into equal
consideration, so the child can truly
experience the curriculum.
The original curriculum plan had no
purposeful learning since the activities
were not experience and interest
based. The mind will not learn
something it has no use for, such as
mindless reading and note taking. The
factoid knowledge the students were
exposed to provided no opportunity
for students to apply the knowledge to
make sense of their world. The
outcomes were simply based on
memorizing the terminal and
expeditious knowledge in the plan.
Therefore, the objectives were not
conceptual, purposeful, or outcome
based.
The original curriculum plan is highly
The reconstructed curriculum provides
an outcome-based design through the
restructuring of the objectives to be
conceptual. The first person point of
view creative writing allowed the
student to connect personally with the
material, allowing the subject to be
more meaningful and relevant. Students
are able to synthesize information
learned through creative first person
point of view writing while working
cooperatively with peers. They are able
to determine what is acceptable or not in
terms of human treatment in any given
society.
The reconstructed curriculum empowers
15
Empowering vs.
Deskilling
Curriculum
(Hoover)
deskilling because it only presents
students with factoid knowledge that
teaches to the test.
students to gain useable and relevant
knowledge through experience and
interest-based activities. The factoids
and details will be learned by default.
Students work with peers while
questioning motives that drive people in
our society, which leads to democratic
citizenship.
Think-Tac-Toe Final Slavery Assessment
Directions: Choose 3 assignments to complete in any tic-tac-toe pattern with your partner.
1. In your own words, define
freedom. Write this definition
on a large sheet of construction
paper.
Leaf through newspapers,
magazines and any other
sources to find images that
represent your definition of
freedom. Cut them out and
paste to make a collage.
2. You are a conductor on the
Underground Railroad.
Although you have already led
many slaves to freedom, there
are many more that can be
saved. You risk your life doing
this and may be caught and
killed at any time.
Design a secret advertisement
for the Underground Railroad
that can be given to slaves
wishing to escape. In your
advertisement, be sure to
include the railroad’s purpose,
the risks involved, and
directions on how to get to the
nearest safe house.
3. You are a writer for a popular
local newspaper in Georgia. Your
job is to write the obituaries of local
people who have died. Write an
obituary for a slave who recently
has died on a nearby cotton
plantation. In your obituary,
include where he was born,
information about his life, his
family, and how he died. You may
want to read some samples in our
local newspaper to use as a model.
16
4. You are a prominent
reporter who is known for
tackling tough moral issues.
Your newest assignment is to
interview the wealthiest
tobacco plantation owner in
Alabama who also has a
reputation for treating his
slaves very poorly. Make a list
of 6-10 questions to ask him on
his motives for slavery and
why he treats his slaves so
horribly. Your partner may
choose to answer them.
5. Throughout history, some
images, illustrations, and
photographs have captured
important moments and events
more vividly than words ever
could. Examine some of the
slavery photographs in the
“illustrations” bin in our
classroom library. Then, handdraw and color one illustration
that depicts life in slavery.
Your partner may write a
creative title for your
illustration.
6. For 15 years, you endured backbreaking labor on an indigo
plantation in Alabama. On your
16th birthday, you left your family
and risked your life to reach
freedom via the Underground
Railroad. You are now an old
man/woman, and you are writing a
letter to your grandchildren, who
have always only known freedom,
telling them of your bold escape
over 70 years ago.
7. As a slave child, you risked
your life to secretly teach
yourself to read and write. As
a result, you were able to keep
a diary during your adolescent
years about your life on the
plantation. After the Civil
War, your diary was
discovered and deserves
publication. Choose one of the
entries to send to the
publishing company.
8. Research to discover if there
are any forms of slavery
occurring in parts of the world
today (human bondage, child
labor). Then, create a Venn
diagram comparing and
contrasting this modern form of
slavery to slavery in the 1700s.
9. Write a poem portraying life on
any leg of the slave trade. You may
use any poem format you wish: free
verse, diamante, cinquain, Bio
poem, etc.
17