Teachers have so much on their plate! A typical day consists of classroom management, communication with parents, lesson planning, meetings and giving feedback on assessments. We feel tired just thinking about it!
So it’s no wonder that when teaching to Grade-Level Standards is added into the mix, they may quickly become overwhelmed and frazzled.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! An easy-to-use Coherence Map from Lumos Learning makes Grade-Level Standards intuitive and user-friendly for teachers.
Every stage of the teaching and learning process, from planning to assessment, can be quickly and conveniently aligned to the standards using this visual and interactive tool.
Math and ELA standards for each Grade Level from 3rd grade up through high school are represented on a grid. Teachers simply click on the Grade Level/Content Area that they need to bring up a pop-up list of all the standards connected with it.
It’s also possible to navigate to individual Standards by typing them manually into the search bar.
Opening up an individual Standard brings you to a visual representation of its connection to other standards as well as the percentage of your students who are proficient.
It also brings up links to resources that can be easily incorporated into classroom activities to support the standard.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to what this process might look like in your classroom.
Identify the standard you want to work on
When teachers are given a list of standards, it can be confusing to incorporate them in a logical sequence in the curriculum. With so many standards which must be covered, it’s difficult to prioritize.
The best place to begin is with your students! What concepts and skills have they already mastered?
Clicking on any of the standards in the Coherence Map brings up a helpful visualization of the answers to these questions. It shows the percentage of proficiency that your students have demonstrated. Even better, you can also see your students’ level of proficiency on the standards directly preceding or following it. This gives you a wonderfully graphic representation of where your students are, and exactly what they need.
Create a lesson
Once you’ve identified the next standard to work on, it’s time to create a lesson. Just click on the “Create Custom Lessons” button to get started.
The Map will then bring up a directory of helpful resources that support the Standard.
These resources include apps, books, videos, games, practice questions, and infographics which can all be incorporated into your lessons.
Once you’ve added the resources you want, you’re ready to provide meaningful instruction, activities and assessments to your students.
Decide where to go next
Once your students become proficient in the identified standard, it’s time to move on to the next one! But how do you decide on a logical sequence? Which standard flows most naturally from the one your students have just completed?
The visual representation of your standard makes it easy to navigate from one standard to the next.
When you click on the Standard you’ve just completed, a blue arrow indicates which Standard is directly linked as the next. It also gives you a percentage of student proficiency in that Standard.
A red dotted line shows indirect links to other Standards, which gives you other options to explore.
For example, if your 5th or 6th Grade students have just attained full proficiency in ELA Standard RI.5.8, you can see that there is a direct link to the next standard, RI.6.8. If the percentage number shows that your students are not yet proficient in RI.6.8, this would be a great one to work on next! In addition, a red dotted line to Standard SL5.3 indicates that it would be a suitable accompaniment to your students’ work toward proficiency.
In short, the Coherence Map is a valuable tool for teachers to navigate their Standards in a way that flows naturally for their students…and saves valuable time and energy in the process.
