Please keep your answers brief (75 – 125 words).
Teacher Issues:
- How many above average ability students am I likely to have next year?
- Are these students likely to need of some modifications of the grade level curriculum?
- Am I willing to allow students to participate in enrichment or acceleration activities as one way of dealing with their above average abilities?
- Am I willing to try pretesting and interest and strength assessment as a way of identifying the needs of above average students in the regular classroom?
- In which subject areas are my students likely to need compacting?
- In what subject areas will I compact?
____ Reading ____ Math ____ Spelling
____ Grammar ____ Writing - For which students will I compact?
____ Talent Pool students who are working on a Type III investigation.
____ Any Talent Pool students who need it.
____ Only Talent Pool students with work habits.
____ Any student who needs it.
____ Any student with independent work habits.
Pretest Issues:
- What are my grade level content objectives?
- Do I have pretests for these objectives?
- Where are these pretests? How will I create pretests?
- When will I administer the pretests?
- How often will I administer the pretests?
- To whom will I administer the pretests?
- What will the other students be doing while the pretests are being administered?
- Who will score the pretests?
- What is my criterion for mastery?
- How will I record the results?
- How will I share the results with students, parents, or other teachers?
Teaching Issues:
- What will I do with the pretest results?
- How will I provide instruction in skills and concepts pot yet mastered?
- Will I group my students for this instruction? If so, how?
(contracts, flexible groups, multi-age groups, student conferences, cooperative learning, etc.) - Can a student be in more than one group at a time?
- How will my teaching style differ for each group? (pacing, guidance, amount of practice, kind of practice, modeling application).
- Will I use large group teaching strategies? If yes, for what purpose.
- Will I teach skills and concepts that are not part of the grade level curriculum to students who have already mastered grade level skills and concepts?
- If so, would these skills and concepts be considered content enrichment or content acceleration?
Enrichment and Practice Activities:
- What will students be doing when they are not in these instructional group meetings?
Practice Worksheets
Enrichment Activities from the Textbook Series
Trade Books
Art Center
Writing Center
Journals
Math/Science Center
Learning Games
Building and Construction Center
Drama Center
Workjobs
Computer Software
Library Visitations
Interest Centers
Listening/Media Station
Individual or Small Group Projects
Challenge Projects
Type II1/2 Activities
Invent America
Science Experiments
Play Writing
Data Collection
Filmstrips
Murals
Dioramas
Graphs
Charts
Learning Modules
Student Research and Investigation - How will I physically arrange my classroom to accommodate these teaching and learning options?
- How will I introduce and explain these options to my students?
- How will I schedule the teaching groups, large groups and independent activities?
- Can my students work alone or in groups while I am occupied with small group teaching?
- If not, what skills do they need to learn so that they can work independently for 30-60 minutes each day?
- What provisions can I make to teach these skills to them?
Needs Assessment:
- What skills do I need to feel comfortable with curriculum compacting?
- What materials do I need to locate or purchase to this compacting process?
- What help do I need to implement this process in my classroom?
- What additional information do I need to begin this process?
- what problems might I encounter? How might I handle these problems?
A Timeline for Implementing Curriculum Compacting
- Decide on content area for curriculum compacting.
- Mind grade level objectives for this content area.
- Locate or create pretests that correspond to the objectives.
- Decide on mastery level for each objective.
- Duplicate pretests.
- Develop group and individual forms or data bases to record pretest results.
- Identify the curricular strengths of the students in the class.
- Decide which students will take the pretests.
- Decide how many pretests will be administered in one sitting.
- Decide how/when teaching groups will be formed.
- Decide on student options for independent activities.
- Draw a room plan to organize these activities.
- Purchase/locate necessary materials to support these activities.
- Administer and score pretests.
- Decide on teaching group strategies and schedule.
- Introduce students to optional activities.
- Teach management skills to students.
- Implement the plan.