buy custom Curriculum Guides on Writing, Spelling, Reading and Mathematics essay

buy custom Curriculum Guides on Writing, Spelling, Reading and Mathematics essay A curriculum guide is a plan on what subjects will be taught, how they will be taught and by whom they will be taught. It may be general or specific and is a determinant on what ways materials are taught to diverse groups of students (Tannehill Lund, 2010). In most cases, public schools setup curriculum guides for every individual subject and the guides are used as a trajectory of the expected standards of performance in the school. That is, the performance levels that are expected of students. The guides may specify the core concepts that must be taught within a given time limit and provide recommendations on the teaching method s that will appeal to a given group of students. Curriculum guides should embrace objectivity and proper goals if academic excellence is to be achieved (Glass Strickland, 2009). They should consider the students educational and social needs based on the age group. In addition, they should be based on content standards, thinking skills and mind habits as well as promote collaborative teaching, learning and assessment opportunities that enable all students to achieve high standards. This paper develops curriculum guides for reading, writing, spelling and mathematics in a way that promotes learning in the classroom situation. In the context of curriculum guide development, the teacher has the responsibility of teaching and following up on the pupils through mentorship sessions so that specific student needs are taken care of (Mattison, OShea Rowe, 2002). The teacher also has the responsibility of building students based on individual student assets. Assessment is done on a continuous basis to find out how much is being learnt. Apart from periodical assessments of written and oral tests, the teacher will provide end of lesson assignments which the students must do and submit results within a given timeline. There will also be end of year exams which will examine students strengths and weaknesses (Malloy, 2006). Curriculum Guide on Reading, Spelling and Writing for Grade One Pupils Objective: At the end of the learning year, the pupils are expected to be in a position to write a large proportion of correctly spelt high frequency words. In addition, the pupil should be able to write text that is readable by others regardless of the spelling of words. There should also be phonetic representation in the text. The pupil should also be able to draw a range of resources for deciding on how to spell unfamiliar words such as matching familiar words and word parts. The pupil should automatically and correctly spell words that are used commonly. Presentation of what is to be learnt within the clarified periods Class: Grade one period activity One week Letter formation of single letters Three days Students use magnetic letters to build words Three days Students sort words in a pocket chart Two days Writing and checking of spellings Two days Friends check on what others have done Four days Spelling Two days syllables Three days Name building To days Matching of names and pictures Three days Sorting names by categories Two days Sorting names by gender Two days Sorting names on a chart Two days Identifying consonants Four days Sorting names by how they end Three days Sorting of names that have double consonants One week Introduction to vowels Two weeks Syllables and their separation by line Ten days Naming of objects One week Sorting of attributes Two weeks Writing of words Two and a half weeks Word building One week Making of syllable breaks Curriculum Guide for Mathematics This guide provides direction on what a grade one student should know at the end of the academic year of doing mathematics (Maxwell, Mendez, Goldsmith Sorenson, 2001). At the end of the teaching period, the student should be able to have basic knowledge on addition and subtraction, measurements, place value and spatial understanding of geometry. The student should also know weights in terms of what is heavy or light and build number sense. Objective: The student is expected to have all rounded information on numbers, basic algebra, basic geometry, measurement and introductory probability. Given that grade 2 students are relatively young, the curriculum will engage the children in hands on activities. They will use manipulative aspects such as identification of numerals, writing of the memorized numerals, understanding one to one correspondence, describing positional words, sequencing events, completing simple patterns and addition and subtraction among other things. Here is a diagrammatic presentation of what is expected of students in Grade 1 in Mathematics as adopted from Team (2008). Time Objectives 4 weeks Number sense: count forward and backward, connect numerals and number words represented. 5 weeks Foundations of addition and subtraction, number words and ordinals: represent real life number stories, describe addition and subtraction using manipulatives, use two or three addends 3 weeks Fluency in addition and subtraction and introduction to geometry: solve addition and/or subtraction problems using one or two digit numbers, develop an understanding of fractions by dividing objects into equal parts. 3 weeks Spatial understanding of geometry, place value, counting: describe characteristics andd properties of two and three dimensional geometric shapes, explain similarities and differences in plane and solid shapes, recognize and name environmental shapes 4 weeks Measurements and operational extensions: use the calendar to identify the day, month and year as well as the day before, the day after among other things. Collect data from the environment. Rubric of Assessment and Evaluation A rubric is a tool that is used to assess several types of assignments including written work, projects and speeches among other things (Harrison 2001, 12). Rubrics are an excellent way to grading assignments that can lead to subjective grading. Rubrics ought to be given to students before the completion of course work so that they have knowledge on how they will be assessed (Bondi Wiles, 2011). In both the above subjects: mathematics and writing, spelling and reading there will be two continuous assessment tests and one final examination. The continuous assessment test will all account to 40% of the overall grade whereas the final exam will contribute to 60% of the final grade. For mathematics, the grades will be auto summed to a hundred percent mark. In the languages (reading, writing and spelling) however, there will be both oral presentations and written tests. Oral presentation in the two continuous assessment tests will amount to a total of 15% of the total grade. Oral presentations in the examinations will also contribute to 15% of the overall grade. In essence, oral presentations contribute to 30% of the overall grade in writing, spelling and reading tests. The following is a breakdown of the distribution of grades across the subjects covered with a basis on the guidelines provided by Soven McLeod (1992). Breakdown of Distribution of Marks for Grading subject nature Contribution Overall effect Reading, writing and spelling Continuous assessment tests NB: these are grades for two continuous assessment tests Oral presentations:15% Written work: 15% 30% Final examination Oral presentation:15% Written exams: 55% 70% Mathematics Continuous assessment tests NB: these are grades for two continuous assessment tests Counting and symbols: 20% Written arithmetic: 10% 30% Final examination Counting and identification of symbols: 20% Written arithmetic:50% 70% Conclusion A curriculum should be purposeful, rigorous and related to the real world. It should focus on developing complex and critical thinking skills of individual students thereby helping them develop deeper creativity in the subjects of study. In addition, it should integrate themes, essential questions and standards into the daily work of students. It should also be class specific and coherent both in writing and implementation. 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Knowledge Encyclopedia - DK and Smithsonian Institution

Knowledge Encyclopedia - DK and Smithsonian Institution Summary Knowledge Encyclopedia is a large (10† X 12† and 360 pages) book from DK Publishing that benefits from big, colorful computer generated images, including 3D images. The book, developed with the Smithsonian Institution, provides detailed information for each of its many illustrations.   While the publisher recommends the book for ages 8 to 15, I think younger children and adults will also find the book full of fascinating illustrations and facts and I recommend it for age 6 to adults. The Illustrations The emphasis throughout Knowledge Encyclopedia is on visual learning.   Beautifully constructed and detailed illustrations are used to present information and the text is used to fully explain the visual images. The illustrations include photographs, maps, tables and charts, but it is the computer generated images of animals, the human body, planets, habitats and much more that make this book spectacular.   The illustrations are fascinating, making the reader anxious to read all the text in order to learn more. The Organization of the Book Knowledge Encyclopedia is divided into six major categories: Space, Earth, Nature, Human Body, Science and History. Each of these categories has a number of sections: Space The 27-page long Space category has two sections: The Universe and Space Exploration. Some of the topics covered include: The Big Bang, galaxies, the sun, solar system, astronomy, space mission to the moon and exploring the planets. Earth The Earth category has six sections: Planet Earth, Tectonic Earth, Earth’s Resources, Weather, Shaping the Land and Earth’s Oceans.   Some of the topics covered in the 33-page section include: the Earth’s climate, volcanoes and earthquakes, rocks and minerals, hurricanes, the water cycle, caves, glaciers and the ocean floor. Nature The Nature category has five sections: How Life Began, The Living World, Invertebrates, Vertebrates and Survival Secrets.   Among the topics covered in the 59 pages are dinosaurs, how fossils form, plant life, green energy, insects, the life cycle of the butterfly. fish, amphibians, Frog life cycle, reptiles, the crocodile, how birds fly, mammals and the African elephant.   Ã‚   Human Body The 49-page Human Body category includes four sections: Body Basics, Fueling the Body, In Control and Life Cycle. Some of the topics covered include: the skeleton, how food moves from the mouth to the stomach, blood, air supply, the nervous system, brainpower, the sense, life in the womb, genes and DNA. Science There are four sections in the Science category, which is 55 pages long. Matter, Forces, Energy and Electronics include 24 different topics. Among them are atoms and molecules, the elements, laws of motion, gravity, flight, light, sound, electricity, the digital world and robotics. History The four sections of the History category are The Ancient World, The Medieval World, The Age of Discovery, and The Modern World. The 36 topics covered in the History categorys 79 pages include: the first humans, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, The Roman Empire, Viking raiders, religious wars and faiths, the Ottoman Empire, The Silk Road, voyage to the Americas, the Renaissance, Imperial China, the slave trade, The Enlightenment, wars of the 18th-21st Century, The Cold War and the 1960s.   Ã‚   Additional Resources Additional resources include a reference section, a glossary and an index. There is a wealth of information in the reference section, which is 17-pages long. Included are sky maps of the night sky, a map of the world, with information about time zones, continent size and continental populations; flags of countries around the world, an evolutionary tree of life; entertaining charts and statistics on remarkable animals and their feats and a variety of conversion tables, plus wonders, events and people throughout history. My Recommendation While I recommend Knowledge Encyclopedia for a wide range of ages (6 to adult), I also especially recommend it for reluctant readers, kids who love to collect facts and kids who are visual learners. It’s not a book you’ll want to read straight through. It’s a book you and your kids will want to dip into again and again, sometimes in search of specific information, sometimes to see what you can find that looks interesting. (DK Publishing, 2013. ISBN: 9781465414175) More Recommended Nonfiction Books The Scientists in the Field series is excellent. The books include: Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot, Digging for Bird Dinosaurs, The Snake Scientist and The Wildlife Detective.   I recommend the series for ages 9 to 14, although I have also found that some younger kids who favor nonfiction enjoy the books as read alouds. I recommend the following nonfiction books for kids with an interest in weather and natural disasters: Inside Tornadoes, Inside Hurricanes and Tsunamis: Witness to Disaster.   For more nonfiction resources, see my directories Tornadoes: Recommended Nonfiction Kids’ Books and Tsunamis: Nonfiction Kids’ Books.