GUIDELINES FOR FLCS
Once the course blueprint has been developed, edited, and finalized, you will begin the
process of vetting educational content and then pairing those resources with the
blueprint to create a “fully loaded course” or “FLC.” We want our courses to be as
interactive, engaging, and creative as possible. With that in mind, we encourage you to
take advantage of the wide variety of high quality resources available. We suggest that
each course include resources from as many of the following categories as possible.
Resource categories:
1. Instruction:
This includes video lectures, textbook chapters, examples, powerpoint presentations, and
explanations (content that might be in a typical lecture or textbook).
2. Reading:
This includes books, short stories, poetry, literary non-fiction, articles, and informational texts.
This will generally be content used to meet Common Core literacy standards
3. Web Media:
This is an umbrella category for other multimedia content such as artwork, maps, images,
YouTube clips, math applets, music, movie clips, animations, guided tours, and Wordle
graphics.
4. Activity:
This is an interactive resource that requires students to produce something or participate in
something but that does not provide any formal feedback or measure learning outcome
mastery; for example: worksheets, study guides, journal entries, graphic organizers, writing
exercises, problem sets, vocabulary practice.
5. Did I Get This? Activity:
This is a resource that allows students to do a quick self-check to assess their own
understanding of the material before doing a graded activity; for example, practice problems
with step-by-step explanations of the answers, flash cards, matching exercises, or an activity
that requires the student to create a plot summary and compare it with a sample response. The
purpose of this resource is more important than the form, i.e. a resource of any media type that
is designed for students to do a quick self-check would go in this category.
6. Interactive Lab:
This includes any online lab, demo, or exercise that enables the user to directly manipulate or
interact with the website/applet as a learning tool. Generally, this would be an extended activity
requiring a student to work through a number of concepts across some distinct steps, as by
solving a problem through discovery.
7. Questions & Answers (Q&As):
These Q&As are intended to “stand in” for teacher-student “question and answer” sessions in
the classroom. Use these to address frequently asked questions or common roadblocks to
understanding.
8. Checkpoint:
This is an assessment to test/evaluate mastery of learning outcomes. Each checkpoint should
be accompanied by an answer key, grading rubric, guide to responding, or some other feedback
mechanism. Examples include end-of-chapter assessments, research papers, end-of-unit
projects, extended writing assignments.
Each unit should contain the following at minimum:
● An interactive activity
Examples:
● Graphing stories
● Problem sets
● Web activity
● Game
● Flash cards
● Simulation
● Guided Tour
● Instruction in at least two different formats:
Examples:
● Reading and a video lecture
● Graphic/illustration and an audio recording
● Reading and a graphical representation
● Checkpoint (Assessment)
Examples of each resource category:
1. Instruction
1.1.1. Subject-Verb Agreement
Instruction: Scott McLean’s “Writing for Success”
Link: Scott McLean’s “Writing for Success”
Instructions: Please scroll down and click on the link to “Chapter 2: Writing
Basics: What Makes a Good Sentence?” On the left side of the page, click on
section 2.2, “Subject-Verb Agreement.” Read this section in its entirety,
completing exercises 1–4 as you go. After reading, think about how subject-verb
agreement and inversion are related. Both involve the subject and verb of a
sentence, but one is a rule that cannot be broken and the other is an issue of
style. Which is which?
This exercise should take you approximately 1 hour.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Early Colonial Life and Values
Instruction: Henry A. Beers’ “A Brief History of English and American Literature”
Link: LibriVox Henry A. Beers’ “A Brief History of English and American
Literature”
Instructions: Please scroll down and listen to the entire audio lecture entitled
“Part 2, Preface & Chapter 1, 1607–1765.” As you listen, take notes on the
connections the speaker makes between the history of the Colonial Period and
the literature produced during this period. What does she say about the literary
significance of this early literature? How does she explain the lack of noteworthy
literature during this period? What adjectives does she use to describe the
literature that does exist?
In addition, take notes on how the speaker characterizes the life and values of
the early settlers. What kinds of people were the Puritans, according to the
speaker? Make a list of traits. Keep these notes handy as you proceed through
the rest of this unit.
This activity should take approximately 30 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.3
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Review of Mean, Median, and Mode
Instruction: Khan Academy’s “Statistics Intro: Mean, Median and Mode"
Link: Khan Academy’s “Statistics Intro: Mean, Median and Mode"
Instructions: Please click on the link above, and take notes as you watch the
video (9 minutes). Note any steps or terms that are unclear.
Viewing this lecture and taking notes will take approximately 10 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-ID.A.2
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Composing Functions
Instruction: Lippman and Rasmussen’s “Precalculus: An Investigation of
Functions”
Link: Lippman and Rasmussen’s “Precalculus: An investigation of Functions”
Instructions: Please read section 1.4, which is on pages 49–56. As you complete
the reading, use pencil and paper to work through the examples and do the Try It
Now problems. (Answers are on page 56.)
This reading and example problems should take approximately 40 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-BF.A.1c
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
2. Reading
1.1.1. “Here Follow Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House”
Reading: Poetry Foundation: Anne Bradstreet’s “Here Follow Some Verses Upon
the Burning of Our House”
Link: Poetry Foundation: Anne Bradstreet’s “Here Follow Some Verses Upon the
Burning of Our House”
Instructions: Please read the full version of Anne Bradstreet’s “Here Follow Some
Verses Upon the Burning of Our House” two or three times until you are able to
recount the events detailed in the poem. Take note of how the speaker’s
perspective changes during the course of the poem. What does she realize at the
end? Then, think about this poem in light of what you have learned about Puritan
values. How is it representative of the Puritan culture?
This exercise should take you approximately 30 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.5
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Macbeth
Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s version of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Links: The Saylor Foundation’s version of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
(PDF)
Also available in:
HTML (play)
eText format on the Kindle
ePub format on Google Books
Instructions: Please read the first act of Shakespeare’s play. Note any elements
of tragedy that you can find evidence for in the first act.
This reading should take approximately 1 hour.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.2
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the
webpages above.
1.1.1 Euclid’s Elements
Reading: John Casey and Euclid’s “The First Six Books of the Elements of
Euclid”
Link: John Casey and Euclid’s The First Six Books of the Elements of
Euclid (PDF)
Instructions: Please read Book 3 and take notes on the properties of circles that
are explained in the text. How are these properties similar or different than
properties of circles you are already familiar with?
This reading should take approximately 1 hour.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSG-GMD.A.1
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the
webpages above.
3. Web Media
1.1.1 “Beowulf” in Old English
Web Media: Dr. Wheeler’s “Beowulf: An Online Exercise”
Link: Dr. Wheeler’s “Beowulf: An Online Exercise”
Instructions: Please click the link for the original manuscript of “Beowulf” in Old
English. Look at the image of the manuscript carefully. Try to find words on the
manuscript that you could translate to modern English. Next look through the
images on the page “Modern English translation of Beowulf.” Even though many
of these words look different than the ones we use today, Shakespeare’s
language is Modern English—the same category as the English we use today.
This resource will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.6
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyrights and terms of use displayed on the
webpages above.
1.1.1 Waves
Web Media: Math Images’ “Sinusoid Implicit Flame” and “Sinusoidal Waves”
Link: Math Images’ “Sinusoid Implicit Flame” and “Sinusoidal Waves”
Instructions: Please click on the first link and observe the image. Brainstorm
some ideas about the formula that this graph might be illustrating. Then click on
the second link and read the explanation, paying attention to the different types
of waves.
This resource will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-TF.C.8
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-TF.C.9
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Interpretations of Romeo and Juliet
Web Media: Musopen: Skidmore College Orchestra’s “Romeo and Juliet
Overture by Tchaikovsky”
Link: Musopen: Skidmore College Orchestra’s “Romeo and Juliet Overture by
Tchaikovsky”
Instructions: Please click on the link and listen to the recording. What type of
mood does this music set for the story? Please support your answer by
referencing specific portions of the recording. For example, even though the
music starts off quiet and sweet in the first 30 seconds, you can hear low,
mournful tones in the background that let you know the story might not have a
happy ending.
This resource will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
4. Activity
1.1.1. Paraphrasing
Activity: Connexions’ “How to Paraphrase: Writing in Your Own Words”
Link: Connexions’ “How to Paraphrase: Writing in Your Own Words”
Instructions: Please read the first section of the webpage entitled “How to
Paraphrase.” Then, follow these steps to paraphrase Anne Bradstreet’s “Here
Follow Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House” (see unit 1.2.1).
This exercise should take you approximately 30 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Modernist Poetry
Activity: Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”; Thirteen
Ways of Looking: Introducing Modernist Poetry; Thirteen Ways Graphic
Organizer
Links: Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”; “Thirteen
Ways of Looking: Introducing Modernist Poetry”; Thirteen Ways Graphic
Organizer
Instructions: Please click on the first link and read the full text of Wallace
Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” Then, click on the second
link and scroll down to Activity 2. Read through the last bullet point of the activity,
which lists, stanza by stanza, the characteristics of modern poetry as they are
demonstrated throughout the poem. Finally, click on the third link and follow the
directions to complete the graphic organizer.
This activity should take you approximately 45 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Graphing Linear Inequalities
Activity: GeoGebra: Terry Lee Lindenmuth’s “Linear Inequalities N1v2 y<=,>= mx
+ b”
Link: GeoGebra: Terry Lee Lindenmuth’s “Linear Inequalities N1v2 y<=,>= mx +
b”
Instructions: Please click on the link above. This page contains an interactive
graph that allows you to change the y-intercept and slope to adjust the line and
change from <= to >= in order to affect the shading. This is good practice for
using the comparison method of solving inequalities.
This activity should take approximately 15 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.B.3
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
5. Did I Get This? Activity
1.1.1Determining Membership in a Function
Did I Get This? Activity: Khan Academy’s “Domain of a Function”
Link: Khan Academy’s “Domain of a Function”
Instructions: Please click on the link. This page provides a series of practice
problems that you can answer and check online. Each question has solutions
worked out step-by-step if you need hints along the way.
This activity should take approximately 15 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-IF.A.1
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Linear Equation Forms
Did I Get This? Activity: GeoGebra: David Cox’s “Linear Equation Mixed Forms”
Link: GeoGebra: David Cox’s “Linear Equation Mixed Forms”
Instructions: Please click on the link above. This page contains an interactive
graph that allows you to plot points for equations of different forms. Once you
have the x and y intercepts of the line plotted correctly, by dragging and dropping
the two points they provide, the line appears. By clicking on the refresh icon in
the top right corner of the graph, you can get a new equation to practice.
This activity should take approximately 15 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-LE.A.2
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1. Adding and Subtracting Mixed Numbers
Did I Get This? Activity: Khan Academy’s “Adding Subtracting Mixed Numbers 1”
Link: Khan Academy’s “Adding Subtracting Mixed Numbers 1” (HTML)
Instructions: Please click on the link above and complete the assessment that
tests your knowledge on adding and subtracting mixed numbers. This quiz
incorporates concepts from adding and subtracting mixed numbers with like and
unlike denominators. You can review the concepts associated with the questions
with the Khan videos in sub-subunit 3.2.2. Compute the answer to the given
problem, and input your response into the answer box. Then, click on “Check
Answer” to see if you were correct or if you need to try again.
Completing this activity should take approximately 45 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.4.NF.B.3c
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
6. Interactive Lab
1.1.1. Slope Intercept Form of a Line
Interactive Lab: GeoGebra: Matt Huttenlock’s “Exploring Slope and Y-Intercept”
Link: GeoGebra: Matt Huttenlock’s “Exploring Slope and Y-Intercept”
Instructions: Please click on the link above. This interactive graph has a wealth of
information to it. It allows you to change slope and y-intercept with slide bars to
see how other values and the graph change. Find the blue slope line legend in
the middle of the graph. Slide the circle left and right, and notice how the line
changes when the slope is 1 or -1. For an explanation of some of the items seen,
“A” is the y-intercept, “B” is the point on the line when x = 2, “a” is the standard
form of the line, “f(x)” shows the slope-intercept form, and “m” is the slope.
This resource should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-LE.A.1a
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1. Word Problems and Percentages
Interactive Lab: Larry Green’s “Money and Mixing Word Problems”
Link: Larry Green’s “Money and Mixing Word Problems” (HTML)
Instructions: Please click on the link above. This website will help you solve
various mixture problems (including the ones involving percentages) one step at
a time. Try to solve at least five problems or more, if necessary. You can also
click on “More information on Money and Mixing Problems” at the bottom of the
page to see more examples of mixture and percentage mixture problems.
Solving the practice problems should take approximately 45 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-SSE.A.1
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
7. Question & Answers
[Note: Q & A’s “pop” out of the website and are more informal, so we don’t need the
resource framing that we use for the other resources.]
Q: Why do we have leap years?
A: The reason is that the length of the year (the time it takes for Earth to make exactly
one complete revolution around the sun) is not exactly a whole number of days. The
length of a year is 365.2422 days, or about one-quarter of a day more than 365 days.
To keep the calendar matched with the seasons, one day is added to the calendar
every four years—February 29. The years in which there is a leap year are those
divisible by four without a remainder. Thus, 2012 was a leap year and 2011 was not.
However, this is a slight overcorrection, because it would keep the calendar matched
with the seasons only if the length of the year were 365.2500 days. Therefore, even
though century years are divisible by four, only every fourth century year is a leap year.
1700, 1800, and 1900 were scheduled to be leap years but were skipped. 2000 was a
leap year. 2100, 2200, and 2300 will be skipped, and 2400 will be a leap year.
Q: Why do scientists tend to use metric units rather than the British units?
A: There are several reasons. For one thing, the basic units, such as the meter and the
kilogram, are much better calibrated than the corresponding units in the British system.
This allows for much greater precision in comparing data. Also, the metric system is
based only on the number 10. In this way, large amounts of a fundamental unit, prefixes
denoting factors of 10, can be used (e.g., millimeter, centimeter, and kilometer). The
English equivalents, inch, foot, yard, and mile, are not related in any way that is easy to
express one in terms of another.
8. Checkpoint
1.1.1 “Anglo Saxon Chronicle”
Checkpoint: The Online Medieval & Classical Library’s “The Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle: Original Introduction to Ingram’s Edition [1823]: Online Medieval and
Classical Library Release #17”
Link: The Online Medieval & Classical Library’s “The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
Original Introduction to Ingram's Edition [1823]: Online Medieval and Classical
Library Release #17”
Instructions: Please click on the link above, and read the first four paragraphs of
the “Anglo Saxon Chronicle” introduction. Using your paraphrasing skills,
paraphrase each paragraph.
Read your paraphrase. By reading only your paraphrase, are you able to answer
the author’s two questions he poses in the second paragraph: "What does it
contain?" and "By whom was it written?"
If you can, that’s great! You did well with your paraphrasing.
If you cannot answer both of the author’s questions, read the paragraphs again
and then redo your paraphrase. Try answering the two questions again using
only your paraphrase.
This resource will take approximately 40 minutes to complete.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.3
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Algebraic Expressions
Checkpoint: Siyavula’s “Everything Maths Grade 10 Mathematics: Algebraic
Expressions: End of Chapter Exercises”
Link: Siyavula’s “Everything Maths Grade 10 Mathematics: Algebraic
Expressions: End of Chapter Exercises”
Instructions: Please click on the link above and complete problems 1–19. After
you have completed the exercises, check your answers using the answer key at
the bottom of the page.
This checkpoint should take approximately one hour.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.A.2
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-SSE.B.3
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.
1.1.1 Solving Linear Equations and Inequalities
Checkpoint: Connexions: Wade Ellis and Denny Burzynski’s Solving Linear
Equations and Inequalities: “Proficiency Exam”
Link: Connexions: Wade Ellis and Denny Burzynski’s Solving Linear Equations
and Inequalities: “Proficiency Exam” (HTML)
Instructions: Please click on the link above. You can read the HTML webpage or
download a PDF version of the text by clicking on the appropriate link at the
bottom of the page. Complete exercises 13–16 and 24. This exercise set will
allow you to assess your mastery of concepts from Unit 4. Click on the “Show
Solution” link next to each problem to check your answer.
Completing this assessment should take approximately 30 minutes.
Standards Addressed (Common Core):
● CCSS.Math.Content.HSA-REI.B.3
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the
webpage above.