 Welcome to the Bernards Township curriculum website. The
new site reflects a "living curriculum" which highlights the
continual effort to refine and incorporate best practices. The
formatting has been altered to allow for more ease of use in the
form of a curriculum map. A curriculum map is a tool for
organizing what Bernards Township expects students to know and
be able to do in each subject each year. Our maps are
continually evaluated and refined by teachers working with
administration and each other to ensure that our students are
challenged at appropriate academic and developmental levels. As
you can imagine, a two-dimensional map cannot capture the rich,
multi-dimensional curricula we teach. We hope, nonetheless, that
you will find these maps valuable as tools for understanding
what our students are learning.
Our maps will show the following information:
- Enduring Understandings - core concepts and processes
that are the focus of the curricular unit.
- Essential Questions - what we want students to think
about relative to the content area
- Content - what we expect students to know as a result of
studying a unit
- Skills and Application - what we expect students to be
able to do as a result of the knowledge gained from what is
taught in the unit/course.
Our curriculum maps are not lesson plans. Rather, they are
broad outlines of what students need to know and be able to do
each year. You are encouraged to view the curriculum and make
use of the wealth of information on each staff member's Oncourse
page as well.
When viewing our maps please keep in mind the ongoing nature of
our work. We periodically revise our curriculum as appropriate
and update our maps. We use our maps as a springboard for
discussion about student learning and teaching practices. Maps
also serve as a basis for aligning the curriculum vertically to
identify gaps and repetitions in units of study.
As educators we constantly strive to make our curriculum more
effective, meaningful and cohesive. Therefore, these maps
present a living curriculum, one that is dynamic and responsive
to the changing needs of students. They reflect our students'
recent experience and the scope and quality of the educational
program in Bernards Township.
Sean Siet
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
ssiet@bernardsboe.com |