Curriculum Framework
This document serves as a brief overview of the curriculum framework planned for the W.E.B. Du Bois Academy Charter School. This is a working platform that will grow and change as more detailed curriculum planning takes place among a wide variety of stakeholders. Therefore, this document should be considered a “work-in-progress.”
We understand the broad theme of transformations as transformation of the self, transformation of the community, transformations of the United States, and transformations of the world. At the end of eighth grade our goal is to graduate students who understand that the world is in a constant process of change and that friends, neighbors, family, and citizens together can work collectively for positive social outcomes. Indeed, our curriculum is built around issues of social justice, helping students understand that throughout the history of humankind, people have united to create and sustain better lives for themselves and their communities.
Our curriculum places issues of social justice at the center and builds thematic connections across social studies, science, language arts, mathematics, technology and the arts. In this way, content and skills instruction is thematically integrated into approximately 15 social justice themes across the 6th, 7th and 8th grade year.
The teachers
The role of the teacher at the W.E.B. Du Bois Academy Charter School is facilitator, model, and questioner. As a facilitator, the teacher will foster individual knowledge, promote proactive problem solving, and engage in reflective teaching. The teacher must establish a warm, trusting environment in order to create a forum for the expression of multiple or conflicting views. The teacher must always focus on the students to ensure that their needs are promoted within the school community and within the classroom. Teachers must receive adequate support in order to prioritize their interactions with students. Teachers must model the educational process by continuing their own personal and educational development. Additionally, a high emphasis on group collaboration must be present among the faculty in order to provide an effective model for students (e.g. Critical Friends Group, Teacher Study Groups, Group Curriculum Planning). Within the context of the classroom, the teacher will incorporate the Socratic approach- constantly asking the question ‘why?’ to cultivate creative problem solving skills and to model an inquiry approach for students. The inquiry approach is guided by students’ questions, casting the students as valued contributors to the construction of knowledge. Instead of the teacher being the holder of the knowledge, an interaction among the student, the teacher and the community helps students negotiate, rather than receive, knowledge. This concept is commonly called constructivism and requires a partnership between the teacher and student.
The students
The role of student within the partnership can be described as constructivist as well. Through collaboration, teachers and students will address ongoing issues within the classroom and use daily interactions to gauge the pace of the curriculum. For example, students and teachers can clearly communicate with each other regarding their expectations and understandings of content, skill levels, limitations to the curriculum, and social issues that may arise in class. Since interactions such as these leave the teacher vulnerable, students are responsible for voicing an informed opinion, aiding in gathering materials, and suggesting activities and assessment criteria. We borrow these ideas from the concept of a negotiated curriculum. As partners in the curriculum, students will help in gathering resources, suggesting ideas for assessments, and planning activities. In this process, teachers and students dialogue in all aspects of the curriculum. They discuss the way the unit will be planned and implemented. In essence, students have more ownership in this process than in the traditional approach to curriculum design.
The students live in Southeast Queens where the population is multi-ethnic, and includes: African-American, Latino, Guayanese, Trinidadian, and other Caribbean backgrounds. Students will have very diverse academic skills and backgrounds and we anticipate that there will be a number of students who will require extra assistance in improving their academic skills.
Curriculum Organization
Social Studies/Language Arts
The curriculum for social studies and language arts will be organized thematically, using the New York State Standards and the New York State Frameworks as the starting point. By integrating social studies and language arts into a double period, we aim to provide students with a strong sense of connected learning. Possible themes of study include: local heroes (past and present; this links the study of New York City and State with contemporary issues); encounters (studying the meeting of the Native Americans in New York with the Dutch and British, and making a contemporary comparison to the local multi-ethnic community in Queens); New York workers (the history of jobs in New York City from early days to present days; providing vocational and post-secondary explorations for the students).
The above examples demonstrate how the W.E.B. Du Bois Academy Charter School curriculum is integrative; at each opportunity, students will be learning about the past and making explicit links to the present. In this way it is motivating and relevant to their daily lives. Additionally, using the social studies/language arts themes as the center point for curriculum work will allow the arts to be integrated thematically. Students will read and study a wide variety of texts to support the thematic units, including: primary source historical documents, poetry, plays, short stories, book length fiction, biographies, and autobiographies. Students will read common texts, but will also self-select material for daily, sustained silent reading.
We anticipate that many of our students will need much support to become proficient writers. Accordingly, we are organizing writing instruction as a separate class period to be called, "Writing across the Curriculum." This class will be designed to support students' writing in all subject areas, including math, science, and the arts. We will be working with teachers in all content areas to integrate writing pieces in which students learn to express their understandings in written form. In this way, we seek to provide students with a multiplicity of opportunities for both creative and technical writing.
The Arts
The visual, musical, and performing arts will play an integral role in the life of the school. We will forge partnerships with local community arts groups to bring local artists into the school on a rotating basis as Artists in Residence; these artists will work directly with teachers to integrate the arts into the thematic units of social studies/language arts.
Mathematics
The mathematics curriculum is also inquiry-based and draws upon the National Council for Teaching Mathematics standards, which articulate well with the New York State Learning Standards. However, we have selected the content focus of algebra as the primary area of study, and secondary studies of data analysis and statistics as the secondary area of study.
The Algebra Project will be our model for the approximately half of the 6th, 7th and 8th grade curriculum as we are convinced that success in algebra is both a gatekeeper to competitive high schools and a primary source of placement in high school classes. As we want to insure that our graduates are able to attend the very best New York City high schools, we believe that a strong foundation in mathematics will prepare them with a competitive edge.
The secondary focus on data analysis and statistics fits our thematic/inquiry approach to transformative learning. Specifically, we believe that in order to become effective at community and national civic action, the tools of mathematics are essential. By learning to collect data (through surveys, interviews, etc.) and analyze these data and existing governmental statistics, our goal is for graduates of the W.E.B Du Bois Academy Charter School to be aware of large issues that affect their community, and be able to analyze trends and patterns. The ultimate goal, here, is that such skills will serve as a foundation for future engagement with civic participation, or even an occupation that involves graduates in local community improvement.
Science
Our inquiry approach continues into the study of science and the work of local scientists and draws heavily upon the National Science Education Standards. As we do not anticipate having the financial resources to create state-of-the-art science labs most conducive to teaching science as a form of inquiry, we will be working in partnership with the Center for Urban Science Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. These educators/researchers have developed a series of middle school curriculum projects that utilize readily available materials for inquiry oriented science that is relevant to students daily lives, but are also based on the New York State Learning Standards.
In addition to the physical sciences that are typically a large portion of New York State middle school science curricula, the W.E.B. Du Bois Academy Charter School will provide a strong environmental/natural science foundation. This focus on urban environmental ecology will help connect the students to the natural environment in the nearby area. Through field trips and meetings with environmental workers, students will be introduced to a wide range of occupations they may never have considered.
Technology
It is essential that students in today's world be technologically literate and sophisticated. Our curriculum will use the New York State Learning Standards for technology as reference point for our work in critical media literacy. Although we want students to have all the skills needed to word process, use spread sheets to organize data, use graphic software packages to display knowledge, and use the Internet to find information, we also consider it essential that students also be taught to evaluate media and technology. Accordingly, we are integrating computer use and media/technology analysis into social studies, science, math and writing across the curriculum classes. Instead of a computer laboratory, classrooms will be outfitted with a number of computer stations and teachers will integrate technology into their subject area.
Health, Physical Education, Family and Consumer Science
A key component of middle school education must be attention to physical education and health. The personal health (nutrition, the body, etc.) curriculum will be infused into the science curriculum, as will family and consumer science.
Physical education will be organized toward the meeting the goal of life-long learning and the development of healthy recreational habits. Accordingly, physical education will be built around non-competitive activities, including, but limited to: New Games (large group, non-competitive games); aerobics and step classes; total body conditioning classes; swimming classes; and African dance classes. By utilizing facilities and instructors in the community on a rotating basis, our goal is to connect students with resources that exist in the community.
Advisory
Given the strong emotional needs of middle school students, and in order to help them forge deep relationships with adults and peers, all students will meet in cross-grade advisory groups for 20 minutes at the beginning of each day, and 20 minutes at the end of each day (other than on Monday). On Monday mornings, advisories will meet for a forty-minute period at the beginning of the school day in an effort to help students get organized for the week and decompress after the weekend. Advisories will be a time to teach targeted study and organizational skills, teaching conflict resolution skills, and engaging in community-building, non-competitive games.
Service Learning
As a school organized around issues of social justice, with a commitment to transformation, a central feature of the curriculum of the W.E.B. Du Bois Academy Charter School is community-based service learning. We are persuaded by current research on service learning that demonstrates the strongest involvement and sharpest outcomes for youth that work together with an adult on a community-based project. These projects do not initially have to be of their own choosing; in fact, students in 6th, 7th and 8th grade are typically unaware of the groups in their communities in which they may volunteer. Therefore, the service learning curriculum will be carefully organized to start with acquainting students with the multiple community service agencies and non-profits that operate near the school. Through careful scaffolding, advisory groups will eventually commit to a 3-month project with an existing group, or will formulate a plan to address and issue not being addressed by an existing agency. The advisory leaders will meet on a regular basis at staff meetings, working with a professor from Teachers College, Columbia University to fine-tune the W.E.B. Du Bois Academy Charter School service learning, community-based curriculum.
INFUSING SOCIAL JUSTICE INTO THE ACADEMIC DISCIPLINCES
I. English Language Arts: New York State Standards
Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.
Standard 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression
Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for self-expression and artistic creation.
Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.
Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.
1. Students will be able to use Language as a tool of expression, culture and skill development.
2. Students will be able to explain how language can be used as a tool for community-based building and empowerment.
3. Students will be able to identify and describe progressive, historical and contemporary writers, poets, etc.
4. Students will improve their listening, reading, speaking and writing skills.
5. Students will be able to
identify and discuss key pieces of literature with “social justice” and
“pluralism” as themes.
6. Students will be able to identify and discuss poems, short stories, and essays that offer a multi-cultural perspective.
7. Students will be able to
select and discuss poems, songs, etc. from their own lives that express issues of
social justice, equality, and unity.
8. Students will be able to
identify and explain the historical context of essays, poems, speeches, etc.
that have “social justice” and “multi-cultural” themes. They will be able to
express the motivation for these pieces of literature and how they influenced
the time period.
9. Students will be able to write diverse forms of literary expression (poetry, short stories, essays, etc.) in order to express social justice and multi-cultural issues that affect their lives, community and nation.
10. Students will be able to
develop a presentation expressing the history of the American struggle for
social justice and multiculturalism through the use of video.
11. Students will be able to identify and critique major national and international writers, and their expression of social justice and multiculturalism.
12. Students will examine how writers have used language in order to advance the cause of equality and unity.
I. Social Studies: NYS Standards
Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.
Standard 2: World History
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
Standard 3: Geography
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.
Standard 4: Economics
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and non-market mechanisms.
Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.
1. Students will be able to identify progressive and contemporary history, and the pursuit of democracy and equality, as well as how this pursuit has transformed the United States of America and the rest of the world.
2. Students will be able to identify and use leadership skills.
3. Students will be able to explain the importance of, as well as the need for elimination of non-inclusive systems.
4. Students will work within community based organizations i.e. homeless shelters, neighborhood youth groups, etc.
5. Students will examine theories and practice of social justice: from Gandhi in India to Martin Luther King in the United States.
6. Students will help develop and participate in school based conflict resolution proceedings.
7. Students will be able to compare and contrast mores, folkways and norms of people, social groups and nations domestically and internationally.
8. Students will be able to examine and critique different economic decisions and applications that exist throughout the world.
9. Students will be able to develop and critique theories and programs that increase the opportunity for people to develop.
10. Student will be able to
identify major geographical and topographical areas and formations along with
their affect on the history and development of people.
11. Students will be able to
identify major anthropological terms and ideas, and how they relate to peoples
of the world.
13. Students will be able to
identify the major world language groups, and how they correspond to the
location of people and ethnic groups.
14. Students will be able to identify the major contributions to world civilizations.
15. Students will be able to
identify the contributions and accomplishments of Ancient Civilizations.
16. Students will be able to
identify and describe major world religions and belief systems.
17. Students will be able to
compare and contrast major world civilizations.
18. Students will be able to explain the development and achievements of major
world nations and people.
19. Students will be able to explain Africa’s interaction with, and influence on other areas of the world prior to European contact.
20. Students will be able to
discuss and explain the historic and economic origins of the Transatlantic
Slave system and the affect it had on the continent of Africa and the Western
Hemisphere.
21. Students will be able to identify and draw a map of major areas in the Western Hemisphere where African slaves were exported.
22. Students will be able to identify the African cultural influence on the food, religion, music, etc. of the Western Hemisphere.
23. Students will be able to use multi-media in order to discuss and explain contemporary and historical expressions of social justice and multiculturalism i.e. videos, music, computer software, Internet, etc.
24. Students will be able to
identify speeches, articles, poems, etc. that express the theme of Social
Justice and multiculturalism.
25. Students will be able to
identify and critique key figures who have been involved in freedom movements.
26. Students will be able to
explain the economic and political change caused by social justice and freedom
movements.
27. Students will be able to
identify major historical time periods that illustrated how the fight for
social justice has transformed American society.
28. Students will be able to
compare and contrast major political, social and economic movements of the
1960s-1980s vs. contemporary movements.
29. Students will be able to
analyze and explain the ideological foundation of social movements, and their
influence on national ideas and issues.
30. Students will be able to compare and contrast movements for social justice that existed throughout the world in the last 20-30 years.
31. Students will be able to identify and discuss the development, ownership and operation of businesses; students will be able to compare and contrast early business models and trends along with their impact on community development with businesses of today.
32. Students will be able to compare and contrast the current governmental systems of nations throughout the world.
Standard 1: Analysis, Inquiry, and Design
Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seeks answers, and develop solutions.
Standard 2: Information Systems
Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.
Standard 3: Mathematics
Students will understand mathematics and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, by applying mathematics in real-world settings, and by solving problems through the integrated study of number systems, geometry, algebra, data analysis, probability, and trigonometry.
Standard 4: Science
Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
Standard 5: Technology
Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.
Standard 6: Interconnectedness: Common Themes
Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.
Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving
Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of
mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make
informed decisions.
II. W.E.B. Du Bois Academy Charter School Standards (objectives)
1. Students will learn how to use surveys to collect and analyze data from the social environment in order to comprehend the concept of the mean, median, mode, range and quartiles of data collection.
2. Students will be able to identify
and explain number systems of people of the world, and how they have influenced
each other.
3. Students will be able to
explain the origin of Geometry and its relationship to ancient world.
4. Students will be able to use data collection and presentation in order to examine demographics.
5. Students will be able to use the Federal and State census in order to examine trends and changes among communities of the United States.
6. Students will be taught to
work as groups, share ideas, and make connections to real world
situations/applications by analyzing and studying mathematical theories.
Students will also analyze how the theories are used to pose, critique, and
solve real world problems, e.g., angle of elevation and depression and scientific
notations.
Science
1. Students will be able to examine the scientific ideas and achievements of different nations and progressive groups of the world.
2. Students will be able to
identify and explain ecological problems and concerns from various parts of the
world.
3. Students will be able to
explain the relationship between ecological concerns and the pursuit for social
justice and pluralism in different parts of the world.
Technology
1. Students will be able to use the Internet, CD-ROMs, and other forms of technology in order to examine current issues regarding social justice and inclusion.
2. Students will be able to use e-mail in order to communicate with their teachers and fellow students.
3. Students will be able to effectively use the Internet as a research tool.
4. Students will be able to utilize technology for tasking, planning, and time management.
5. Students will be taught basic keyboarding skills.
I. Health, Physical Education, & Family and Consumer Sciences: New York State Standards
Standard 1: Personal Health and Fitness
Students will have the necessary knowledge and skills to establish and maintain physical fitness, participate in physical activity, and maintain personal health.
Standard 2: A Safe and Healthy Environment
Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment.
Standard 3: Resource Management
Students will understand and be able to manage their personal and community resources.
1. Students will be able to explain and exhibit physical education as a means of cooperation as opposed to competition.
2. Students will be able to explain the relationship between improper health care and poverty.
3. Students will be able to explain the relationship between Economics and people’s pursuit of freedom and justice.
4. Students will be able to
explain global health crises, and how they related to diverse groups throughout
the world.
5. Students will be able to
identify and explain the relationship between health and inequality in diverse
communities in the United States.
6. Students will be able to
examine and explain the consumer behavior in impoverished and wealthy
communities.
Standard 1: Communication Skills
Students will be able to use a language other than English for communication.
Standard 2: Cultural Understanding
Students will develop cross-cultural skills and understandings.
II. W.E.B. Du Bois Academy Charter School Standards (objectives)
1. Students will be able to identify and categorize world languages and dialects.
2. Students will be able to explain the formal and informal language spoken by people.
3. Students will be able to exhibit proficiency in one language other than English.
Standard 1: Creating, Performing, and Participating in the Arts
Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts.
Standard 2: Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources
Students will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources available for participation in the arts in various roles.
Standard 3: Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art
Students will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.
Standard 4: Understanding the Cultural Contributions of the Arts
Students will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and present society.
1. Students will be able to identify progressive artists both historical and contemporary from around the world. Students will be able to identify their major pieces of art.
2. Students will be able to identify progressive and contemporary art forms around the world.
3. Students will be able to
explain the use of music and other artistic forms to express the struggle for
social justice in America from the foundation of the colonies to present.
4. Students will be able to identify major artistic movements/artists that were expressions of social justice, multiculturalism and pluralism.
5. Students will be able to
identify and explain the music of the civil rights movement.
6. Students will be able to identify how dance, music and art have been used as expressions of culture, and how they have influenced each other.
7. Students will be able to
visually represent the theme of social justice and multiculturalism through at
least one artistic medium.
8. Students will be given the opportunity to study music, and learn to play an instrument.
Permission to use this document in whole or in part must be obtained from:
Mr. Frank Whelan Smith, President
The Friends of the W. E. B. Du
Bois Academy Charter School
244 Fifth Avenue, Suite L236
New York, New York 10001-7604
(212) 591-0544