COURSE PLANNING: THE BIG PICTURE

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Using the spiralled skill breakdown proposed below, select one of the course plans developed by the Ontario Association of Mathematics Educators (OAME) to follow as you plan your program.

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Collaborate with your school's MTH1W Itinerant Coach to develop a program based on the proposed skill breakdown, lesson studies, and demonstration classroom experimentation.

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Select and curate tasks and program plans that are responsive to your particular students unique experiences and needs, using your school's MTH1W Itinerant Coach as a resource and collaborator .

WRDSB SPIRALLED COURSE BREAKDOWN

We have organized expectations across three cycles with the intent of revisiting some concepts more than once, increasing difficulty and complexity with each subsequent cycle.

This breakdown can be used as a planning tool. Day-to-day instruction should be responsive to what is observed in class so that instruction is relevant, timely and appropriate for who students are, where they are at and what their needs are.

Access the breakdown as Google Document

Access the breakdown as a Google Sheet

CYCLE 1 (~20 periods)

WHY SPIRAL?

"Spiralling" as used here refers to an instructional approach in which concepts and skills are revisited several times throughout a learning period. This is also called spaced or interleaved practice. It also refers to making connections between concepts and skills as they are used to solve problems. Revisiting concepts throughout the course is an effective way to ensure that students develop long-term retention of understanding.

Some benefits of spiralling:

Spiralling leads to better long-term proficiency with facts, skills, and concepts.
Spiralling is effective with all learners, including struggling learners.

Effortful processing of the sort involved in spaced learning enhances long-term retention. Easy learning often doesn’t lead to the best retention; more difficult learning can lead to more robust encoding of information and better long-term learning (Schmidt & Bjork, 1992).
Spiralling helps learners make connections over time, which creates more robust pathways for recalling information.

Adapted from: TDSB Professional Learning Library

OAME COURSE PLANS

The Ontario Association for Mathematics Education (OAME) has designed three different course plans to consider in planning the MTH1W course. They employ a variety of approaches, including spiralling to revisit concepts throughout the courses.

COURSE PLAN 1

This plan is organized by application of concepts.

COURSE PLAN 2

This plan is organized by questions and topics.

COURSE PLAN 3

This plan is organized by clusters.

CURRICULUM RESOURCES FOR PLANNING

Overall and Specific Curriculum Expectations

Key Curriculum Changes for Educators (Comparison Chart)

Grade 7-8-9 Alignment Chart

EQUITABLE TEACHING PRACTICES:

By acknowledging and actively working to eliminate the systemic barriers that Indigenous, Black, racialized and marginalized students face, educators create the conditions for authentic experiences that empower student voices and enhance their sense of belonging, so that each student can develop a healthy identity as a mathematics learner and can succeed in mathematics and in all other subjects.

Adapted from Ontario Ministry of Education Curriculum - Mathematics: Grade 9

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING

design tasks that are relevant, authentic and offer individual choice
provide varying levels of challenge so all students have an entry point
design a program that fosters collaborative learning
focus on concepts, patterns and big ideas
vary ways in which students can respond and demonstrate their understanding of concepts