The following is an update of the activities of the curriculum committee for Wednesday, July 30, 2008.Language Arts: Andrea Canonico and Vincent Casessa revised the assessments for the 5th grade and began writing the curriculum and adding the assessments for the 4th grade. They also aligned the curriculum with standardized testing requirements. Jenissa Wilson and Kathleen Kelly worked on Grade 9 units 3, 4, and 5. They also developed a list of supplementary teaching resources/materials. Gabriela Garcia and Marty Shannon typed the 4th grade PYP and are now beginning to add the assessments and align the CCCS. Kate Kezmarsky and Denise Toles completed the second unit for 10th grade and nearly completed the third unit.
Language Arts (Primary)- Today's Accomplishments- Met with Jen Lopez and discussed the Reading First Program, reviewed Houghton Mifflin Program and discussed Curriculum Writing.; Completed rubric for units 7, 8, 9, 10; Completed unit 11; Began unit 12 & 13. Tomorrow's Goals; Review and update Curriculum Map; Begin working on second grade units for Language Arts
Physical Ed/Health- Our team finished the first and second grade curriculum today in both Physical Education and Health. Tomorrow we are scheduled to make corrections on the mapping. Melanie Alberto will be working on the mapping while the rest of our group will continue on working on the third grade curriculum. We also plan on beginning adding assessments to the primary years Curriculum.
Science- Accomplishments: Completed fifth grade units and assessments based on NJCCCS; Completed typing 12th grade units and assessments; Made corrections to eleventh and twelfth grade units; Initiated third grade units; Finalized first to fifth grade time concept maps; Read and analyzed Jared’s IB report. Our Plan and Goals: Complete third grade units; Type fourth grade units; Type eleventh grade units; Discuss assessment options.
World Language- Things that were accomplished today:We revised and updated the hard copy of the curriculum mapping for grades k-12. The world Language/ Language B curriculum is ready to undergo the editing process that is to take place tomorrow as per the schedule that we received from Dr. Petrosino; In addition, after reading the document that Mr. Jared Ramos sent us on the development of MYP Units, we discussed the changes that will be made to the units that were finished for the Middle Years Program; Also, we developed the curriculum for the months of September, October and November for the 5th grade and we were able to put units 1-9 in the PYP planner; Furthermore, units 1-3 for grade 5 are now typed in the PYY format.
Language Arts (secondary)- Kate Kezmarsky and Denise Toles completed unit 3 for the 10th grade and nearly completed unit 4. We also revised units 1, 2, 3, & 4 as per Jared Ramos' email. Tomorrow, we will complete unit 4 by aligning the CCCS and begin working on unit 5 for the 10th grade.Kathleen Kelly and Jenissa Wilson completed units 5 and 6 for the ninth grade curriculum and nearly completed the 7th (final) unit. Tomorrow, they will continue unit 7 and develop summative assessment projects. Gabriela Garcia, Andrea Canonico, Vincent Casessa, and Marty Shannon revised the 6th grade curriculum as per Jared Ramos' email.Language A is scheduled to revise/edit curriculum map tomorrow at 11am-12pm.
Arts/Music- Today we reviewed the notes from the Austin Conference, specifically going through the process of brainstorming units through the lenses of the Areas of Interaction. In addition, we reviewed our vertical alignment and made some adjustments to the mapping in grades K-5.
Specifics
• Visual Arts established the mapping for grades 6-10
• Drama established the mapping for grades 9-10; Ideas for a possible 6-8 Drama class are also in place.
• Music began mapping for grade 6
General Accomplishments
• Finalized planned structure for the delivery of MYP Arts in the Hoboken Public Schools:
o In grades 6-8…
All students will take a Visual Arts course entitled
• Visual Arts 6
• Visual Arts 7
• Visual Arts 8
Course will be offered for the entire school year and be grade specific
All students will take a Music course entitled
• Music 6: General Studies
• Music 7: Instrument and Voice I
• Music 8: Instrument and Voice II
o In grades 9…
Students will be given the option of choosing the course to fulfill the mandatory Arts component to the MYP from the following courses
• Visual Arts 9
• Drama 9
Students opting for one course must continue with that specific course into their 10th grade year to build upon skills and achieve mastery
MUSIC will not be offered as an MYP class, but rather we are proposing that several musical electives be offered for the following reasons:
• It allows the music program to offer specialized classes in instrumental music that meet the interests of the student
• It allows for a class on vocal training that would be “audition only” for the students who are serious about singing
• It is allows students from multiple grade levels to participate in the courses offered, building a core of musical performers who can participate in such extracurricular activities such as the Band and Vocal Ensemble/Chorus.
o In grade 10…
Students continue their studies into their specialized art field chosen in grade 9 in the following courses:
• Visual Arts 10
• Drama 10
It is ESSENTIAL that these courses remain grade specific. The current practice of structuring arts classes as general electives in which students from any grade level are placed will not be acceptable for the following reasons:
• It does not comply with the standards for continuity set out by the IB MYP: Arts is not an elective but an equally weighted subject in the MYP Model
• It does not build upon skills acquired in previous years
• It does not consider vertical articulation in preparing students for the Arts DP classes offered: Art and Theatre Arts
