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Administrative Procedure

AP-841 — Planning Document

Section Eight: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Effective Date: March 13, 2017 Last Reviewed: February 9, 2021

Background

Purposeful planning is one of the most important aspects of exemplary instruction and assessment. In order to assist teachers with planning and to clarify division expectations this administrative procedure has been developed. This AP acknowledges that teachers engage in a range of planning activities and that personalization of planning format is important.

It is intended to be reviewed regularly, and revised if necessary, in order to enhance teacher planning and clearly identify expectations for purposes of teacher supervision and evaluation.

Procedures

  1. Teachers shall prepare plans that utilize the Grasslands Instructional Framework for Exemplary Teaching (Appendix B) and meet all standards given in Appendix A.

  2. Long-range plans shall be submitted to the principal for each course within a month from the commencement of the course, and shall be provided by the principal to a substitute teacher for any absence longer than two weeks.

  3. Unit plans shall be available to a supervisor on request and applicable unit plans shall be provided to a substitute teacher for absences longer than 5 days.

  4. Lesson plans shall be available to a supervisor on request. If the unit plans are detailed, the lesson plans can be quite brief; if a teacher knows that he/she will be absent, the plans left for a substitute teacher will need to be more detailed. Please see your school administrator for advice on planning for a substitute teacher.

Appendix A - Planning in Grasslands – Expectations

Planning – Purpose – The Grasslands Instructional Framework for Exemplary Teaching (Appendix B) forms the foundation for teacher planning in Grasslands. Teachers are expected to plan for each stage of learning and teaching:

  1. What do we want students to know and be able to do? (Curriculum, Essential Outcomes)
  2. How will I know if each student has learned? (Assessment, Essential Outcomes)
  3. What instructional practices will I choose?
  4. How will I respond when a student is not learning, or has already learned it? (Differentiation, Intervention, Assessment, Essential Outcomes, School Intervention Plan)
  5. How will I include the Alberta Cross-Curricular Competencies (Appendix C) in instruction and learning?

Long Range Plans (This could be the course outline for high school and junior high school students and parents) for each course will include:

  1. Synopsis of Curriculum (Key topics and general learning outcomes)
    1. Assessment Overview - This might be different at different grade levels or subjects.
      1. Formative (What assessment methods will I use to assist learning and inform my instruction?)
      2. Summative (How will I evaluate learning to determine what will be reported?)
  2. Reporting - How will evaluation be reported? (Grasslands report cards) Whether reporting with percentages, letter grades, a four-point scale, or outcomes-based, the teacher must determine and communicate the relative importance of various units based on time allotted, emphasis and importance for future learning.
  3. Resources
  4. Projected time frame for completion of various units
  5. Grasslands Essential Outcomes
  6. Changes to assessment within the long range plans need to be communicated to administration, in particular, course unit weightings. Significant changes will require informing both students and parents.

Short Term (Unit) Plans for each subject will include:

  1. Key Topics – Specific Outcomes, Essential Outcomes to be covered
  2. Skill outcomes covered
  3. Cross-curricular competencies
  4. Assessment Plan – Assessment of Prior Learning, Formative and Summative Assessment of Learning within Unit
  5. Student Learning Activities - Consideration of opportunities for Application, Analysis, Evaluation, and Synthesis.
  6. Teaching Strategies
    • Differentiation (Awareness of differences in students' abilities, interests, and optimum learning methods obtained from pre-assessment, parents, IPP's, previous teachers, cum file, and observation.) Curriculum, planning, and teaching are contingent on the needs of the students in the classroom.
    • References to pedagogical methods used
  7. Resources and Materials (Including plan for purposeful technology use)
  8. Projected time frame

Lesson Plans will include:

  1. Date, Time
  2. Outcome(s) to Cover – Objectives – Knowledge and Skills/Competencies
  3. Introduction – Connection to previous learning and/or hook to new learning – Interesting Ideas
  4. Lesson Sequence – Variety of Activities
  5. Questioning – Prepared questions to encourage higher level thought and elicit responses from all students.
  6. Closure – Check for understanding to inform next steps - Summary and foreshadowing of next learning.

The following could be from the Unit Plan and may not be included in every single daily lesson plan, though they should appear with some frequency throughout your daily planning:

Appendix B – Grasslands Framework for Exemplary Instruction

Grasslands Framework for Exemplary Instruction, shown as a set of concentric rings. At the centre is Student Learning. The inner ring divides into four quadrants: Essential Outcomes, Instructional Practices, Assessment and Reporting, and Intervention Strategies. The next ring reads Inclusive and Healthy Environments and School and Community Relationships. The third ring carries the competencies: Collaboration, Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Citizenship, Personal Growth and Well-Being, Communication, and Research and Managing Information. The outer ring poses the four planning questions: What do we want students to know and be able to do? How will we know if each student has learned? How do we respond when a student is not learning or has already learned it? What instructional practices will I choose?
Grasslands Framework for Exemplary Instruction.

Appendix C – Blooms Taxonomy

Blooms Taxonomy, shown as a pyramid of six bands from the highest level of thinking at the apex to the lowest at the base. Create: produce new or original work (design, compose, construct, generate, plan, develop, brainstorm, synthesize, formulate). Evaluate: justify a stance or decision (criticize, reframe, judge, defend, appraise, value, prioritize, plan, assess). Analyze: draw connections among ideas (compare, contrast, differentiate, examine, categorize, deconstruct, infer, investigate). Apply: use information in new or novel situations (calculate, demonstrate, solve, model, execute, use, illustrate, modify, implement). Understand: explain ideas or concepts (explain, describe, summarize, interpret, classify, paraphrase, discuss, express, relate). Remember: recall facts and basic concepts (identify, recognize, list, name, state, label, match, define, locate, recall).
Blooms Taxonomy. From Vanderbilt University Centre for Teaching.

Appendix D – Alberta Cross Curricular Competencies

Alberta Student Competencies, shown as a wheel of eight equal segments around a central hub. Reading clockwise from the top right: Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Managing Information, Problem Solving, Personal Growth and Wellbeing, Cultural and Global Citizenship, and Creativity and Innovation. Each segment carries an icon for the competency.
Alberta Student Competencies. From ARPDC.