Reorganizing the Program of Studies

"The task is to reorganize curriculums more than to add or subtract from them"  
(Wiggins, 1989, p. 48).

Currently, Alberta's curriculum is developed in a disciplinary way.  I believe there is great possibility for changing the way that students approach the curriculum.  I suggest that there are some clear ways that we could reorganize the curriculum.  Beane (2005) proposes that the existing subject curriculum is a good source of themes because it lends legitimacy to the approach, for teachers feel better that they are teaching what they are supposed to.  Moreover, resources are often more readily available for themes drawn from within the existing curriculum.

Schools in Alberta provide students with a broad educational program that helps them:
- develop knowledge, skills and attitudes in a variety of subject areas
- demonstrate critical and creative thinking skills in problem solving and decision making
- demonstrate competence in using information technologies
- know how to learn and work independently and as part of a team
- develop desirable personal characteristics and the ability to make ethical decisions
- demonstrate initiative, leadership, flexibility and persistence
- have the desire and realize the need for lifelong learning (Alberta Learning, 2004).

With these broad goals in mind, I propose that the following essential questions could form the basis for the current Grade 8 curriculum.  The essential question is written in bold.  I have used the Curriculum Handbook for Parents 2004-2005, Grade 8 to demonstrate how outcomes from each subject area might be met in the pursuit of each question.  By no means is this meant to be an exhaustive list - not all of the outcomes are listed for each subject area.  Instead, I hope this provides a useful starting point for teachers interested in revising units or the way they approach parts of the existing Grade 8 Program of Studies.

How did Canada become a bilingual and multicultural nation? 
English Language Arts Outcomes
- seek out and consider diverse ideas, opinions and experiences to develop and extend own ideas, opinions and experiences
- acknowledge the value of the ideas and opinions of others in exploring and extending personal interpretations and perspectives
- exchange ideas and opinions to clarify understanding and to broaden personal perspectives
- identify and trace the development of arguments, opinions or point os view in oral, print and other media texts
- communicate ideas and information in a variety of oral, print and other media texts, such as interviews, minilessons and documentaries
- compare ways in which oral, print and other media texts reflect specific elements of cultures or periods in history

Mathematics Outcomes
- develop and implement a plan for the collection, display and analysis of data, using technology, as required

Science Outcomes
- investigate and interpret linkages among landforms, water and climate

Social Studies Outcomes
- understand that colonization was one result of competition between nations for new territory
- explain the process of Canada's growth and expansion
- construct a timeline of major events and contributions of individuals to shaping the political development of Canada
- read and interpret historical maps to uncover the relationships between human and physical geography on the development of the Canadian nation
- develop respect for democratic principles
- consider divergent opinions and interpretations

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes
- evaluate the authority and reliability of electronic sources
- describe the impact of communication technologies on past, present and future workplaces, lifestyles and the environment
 
What is diversity?  Does diversity make our world a better place?
English Language Arts Outcomes
Novel study: The Giver by Lois Lowry; Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Film study: Planet of the Apes
- use knowledge of authors, forms and genres developed during previous reading, to direct and extend reading experiences
- discuss various ways characters are developed and the reasons for plausibility of character change
- choose forms or genres of oral, print and other media texts for the particular effects they will have on audiences and purposes
- plan and facilitate small group and short, whole class presentations to share information
- use inclusive language and actions that demonstrate respect for people of different races, cultures, genders, ages and abilities

Mathematics Outcomes
- apply the concepts of rate, ratio, percentage and proportion to solve problems in meaningful contexts
- evaluate and use measures of central tendency and variability

Science Outcomes
- describe areas of scientific investigation leading to new knowledge about body systems and to new medical applications
- analyze the social and environmental contexts of science and technology as they apply to the development of mechanical devices

Social Studies Outcomes
- understand that all places have special human and physical characteristics that distinguish them
- explain how immigration and settlement patterns have shaped the historical and cultural development of Brazil
- understand how the culture of Brazil reflects the variety of origins of its people
- appreciate the ways different economic systems meet the needs of people

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes
- create multimedia presentations that take into account audiences of diverse size, age, gender, ethnicity and geographic location

Physical Education Outcomes
- be able to identify and evaluate specific strategies and tactics that coordinate effort with others: e.g. team/fair play, in order to achieve a common activity goal
- demonstrate etiquette and fair play

Health and Life Skills Outcomes
- describe and explain the positive and negative aspects of conformity and dissent as they relate to individuals in a group or on a team

What systems affect the way we live?
English Language Arts Outcomes
- select the most appropriate information sources for topic, audience, purpose and form
- assess the research process, and consider alternative ways of achieving research goals
- choose an effective format for documents, depending on the context, audience and purpose
- use knowledge of spelling generalizations and how words are formed to spell technical terms and unfamiliar words in own writing

Mathematics Outcomes
- demonstrate a number sense for rational numbers, including common fractions, integers and whole numbers
- apply arithmetic operations on rational numbers to solve problems
- create and analyze design problems and architectural patterns, using the properties of scaling, proportion and networks

Science Outcomes
- investigate living things and their general structure, function and organization
- investigate and describe the role of cells within living things
- interpret the healthy function of human body systems, and illustrate the ways the body reacts to stimuli
- describe the distribution and characteristics of water in local and global environments, and identify the significance of water supply
- analyze factors affecting productivity and species distribution in marine and freshwater environments
- analyze human impacts on aquatic systems

Social Studies Outcomes
- appreciate the ways different economic systems meet the needs of people
- understand that people are constantly interacting with their physical environment to meet their needs
- understand that the environment is constantly being changed by human and physical forces
- understand the effect human settlement has had on Brazil's physical environment
- appreciate interdependence as a common feature of life

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes
- explain how the need for global communication affects technology around the world

Physical Education Outcomes
- select, combine and perform specific locomotor, nonlocomotor and manipulative skills, by using elements of body and space awareness, effort and relationships, to improve personal performance
- analyze personal effects of exercise on body systems before, during, and after exercise

Health and Life Skills Outcomes
- evaluate personal food choices, and identify strategies to maintain optimal nutrition when eating away from home; e.g. eating healthy fast foods

What are patterns?  How do patterns impact our lives?
English Language Arts Outcomes
- take notes, make outlines and use such strategies as read, recite, review to comprehend and remember ideas and information
- make notes in point form, summarizing major ideas and supporting details; reference sources
- choose and use strategies for word identification, vocabulary development and spelling that either build on specific strengths or address areas for improvement
- use verb tenses consistently throughout a piece of writing
- anticipate the organizational pattern of presentations, and identify important ideas and supporting details

Mathematics Outcomes: Patterns and Relations, Shape and Space
- use patterns, variables and expressions, together with their graphs, to solve problems
- solve and verify one-step and two-step linear equations with rational number solutions
- apply indirect measurement procedures to solve problems
- generalize measurement patterns and procedures, and solve problems involving area, perimeter, surface area and volume
- link angle measures and the properties of parallel lines to the classification and properties of quadrilaterals
- compare theoretical and experimental probability of independent events

Science Outcomes: Mix and Flow of Matter
- describe fluids used in technological devices and everyday materials
- describe the composition of fluids, and interpret the behaviour of materials in solution
- investigate and compare the properties of gases and liquids
- identify technologies based on properties of fluids

Social Studies Outcomes
- what settlement patterns are evident in the history of Canada and Brazil?  What similarities and differences exist between the two nations?
- understand the effect human settlement has had on Brazil's physical environment
- construct maps demonstrating use of symbols, location, direction, distance, scale and physical geography
- categorize information to develop concepts - regions, location, place, movement, environmental interaction

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes
- articulate clearly a plan of action to use technology to solve a problem

Physical Education Outcomes
- select, combine and perform activity-specific skills in a variety of games
- explain fitness components and principles of training, and formulate individual plans for personal physical fitness
- develop a personal plan that encourages participation and continues motivation

Health and Life Skills Outcomes
- evaluate the relationship between risk management and stress management; e.g. managing risks effectively reduces stress, managing stress can reduce impulsive behaviours

How is the world we live in reflected in our society's oral, print and media texts?
English Language Arts Outcomes
- seek out and consider diverse ideas, opinions and experiences to develop and extend own ideas, opinions and experiences
- compare and contrast the different perspectives provided by first and third person narration
- record key ideas and information from oral, print and other media texts, avoiding overuse of direct quotations
- present information to achieve a particular purpose and to appeal to interest and background knowledge of reader or audience

Social Studies Outcomes
- identify and define the terms regions, location and movement
- categorize information to develop concepts - regions, location, place, movement, environmental interaction

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes
- explain issues involved in balancing the right to access information with the right to personal privacy
- recognize that the ability of technology to manipulate images and sound can alter the meaning of a communication

Physical Education Outcomes
- discuss performance-enhancing substances and how they can affect body type in relation to physical activity
- discuss positive active living role models

Health and Life Skills Outcomes
- develop strategies for maintaining healthy relationships

Has technology improved our lives?
English Language Arts Outcomes
- exchange ideas and opinions to clarify understanding and to broaden personal perspectives
- organize and complete tasks cooperatively by defining roles and responsibilities, negotiating to find the basis for agreement, setting objectives and time frames, and reviewing progress

Science Outcomes: Mechanical Systems
- describe and compare mechanical devices that have been improved over time
- analyze machines by describing the overall system, the subsystems and the component parts
- describe the transmission of force and energy between parts of a mechanical system
- analyze the social and environmental contexts of science and technology, as they apply to the development of mechanical systems
- analyze human impacts on aquatic systems

Social Studies Outcomes: Case Study of Brazil's Environment
- identify the major physical features of Brazil
- understand the effect human settlement has had on Brazil's physical environment

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes
- develop a process to manage volumes of information that can be made available through electronic sources

Health and Life Skills Outcomes
- identify potentially unsafe situations in the community and begin to develop strategies to reduce risk

What does it mean to communicate?
English Language Arts Outcomes
- choose forms or genres of oral, print or other media texts for the particular affects they will have on audiences and purposes
- revise by adding words and phrases that emphasize important ideas or create dominant impressions
- vary handwriting style and pace, depending on the context, audience and purpose

Mathematics Outcomes
- develop and implement a plan for the collection, display and analysis of data, using technology, as required

Science Outcomes
- investigate the nature of light and vision
- investigate the transmission of light, and describe its behaviour
- investigate and explain the science of image formation and vision

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes
- use advanced word processing menu features to accomplish a task; for example, insert a table, graph and text from another document
- design, create and modify a database for a specific purpose

Physical Education Outcomes
- describe, apply and practice leadership and followership skills related to physical activity
- identify and demonstrate positive behaviours that show respect for self and others

How can we make our world a better place?
English Language Arts Outcomes
- examine and reflect on own growth in effective use of language to revise and extend personal goals
- acknowledge the value of the ideas and opinions of others in exploring and extending personal interpretations and perspectives
- use opportunities as a group member to contribute to group goals and extend own learning
- evaluate the quality of own contributions to group process, and offer constructive feedback to others; propose suggestions for improvement

Science Outcomes
- describe areas of scientific investigation leading to new knowledge

Social Studies Outcomes
- identify environmental issues (land, water, and air) that will impact future generations

Information and Communication Technology Outcomes
- describe the impact of communication technologies on past, present and future workplaces, lifestyles and the environment

Physical Education Outcomes
- evaluate different ways to achieve an activity goal, and determine personal and team approaches that are challenging for both the individual and the group
- analyze community programs that promote a physically active lifestyle

Health and Life Skills Outcomes
- begin to develop goals and priorities related to learning and future career paths, based on personal interests, aptitudes and skills
- update a personal portfolio to show evidence of a range of interests, assets and skills; and relate evidence to knowledge and skills required by various career paths
- relate personal knowledge and skills to potential opportunities for volunteering and providing service to others in the community