Crafting Learning: A Curriculum Design Podcast

Beginners 3/4 Outdoor Curriculum

Liz Unger and Kristin Keneally return to the podcast to share their design work to create more opportunities to teach and learn in our outdoor spaces for our youngest learners. Their intentions for outdoor learning include building a strong sense of connection to our natural environment, additional sensory experiences, gross motor skill development, creative and curious exploration, growth in social emotional skills including empathy, gratitude, and collaboration. 

Beginners - Grade 9 Spanish

A conversation with World Language teachers Catherine Mendoza, Sean Robb, Abby Cali, and Loren Chavez who are all currently teaching Spanish from Beginners through Grade 9 at NCCS. The entire WL team had attended a conference recently and we got to learn about those experiences as well as other elements that are experienced by students throughout our program.

Upper Level Latin Redesign

Two of our Upper School World Languages teachers collaborated over the summer to make sure the Latin 2 program at NCCS allows a student to move to any Latin 3 program and be successful in any Latin 3 classroom. This can be challenging considering Latin programs can really vary school to school. Since students are now getting farther in Latin curriculum, we can cover more topics with students that should prepare them for Latin 3 including Participles, Comparatives, Superlatives, and the Subjunctive while also experiencing updated topics around culture.

Physical Education & Athletics: Beginners Motor and G5-9 Interscholastic Sports

In this episode we hear from NCCS' Physical Education and Athletics team as they share recent curricular design work in two areas: beginners (preschool) motor and coaching. Our guests are: Kendall Cornine, Cherie Corchard, Jay Thornhill, Keri Kern, Byron Reding, and Steve Willson.
On the Beginners Motor curriculum design work: This curriculum promotes physical, motor, and emotional development for ¾ the early childhood program through weekly structured activities. Each week focuses on a specific skill set;  with guidance from Shape America guidelines. Skills such as locomotor skills, object control, balance, and spatial awareness. These skills can be used in engaging games and activities like obstacle course tag games and creative movements. Students will also enhance their social skills, cooperation, and self-confidence through fun, interactive exercises that progressively prepare them for advanced tasks.
On the Coaching curriculum design work: This will serve as a reference or seasonal plan for coaches, as they can follow along day to day, week by week for practice goals, drills, skill milestones we would like to hit. This curriculum is easily accessible and can be given to a new coach with little experience as a guide for the season, or it can be referenced as needed by experienced coaches, ensuring coaches are covering in practice what is outlined in the full curriculum.

Social-Emotional Curriculum in Beginners Program

Madeleine Ker, Claire DeLaurentis, and Daley Avery shared about their summer work. The focus of their work was to review the Beginners Social and Emotional Learning curriculum by looking closely at the history of what they have included.They took a closer look at “The Color Monster” unit and differentiated lessons to provide students with a more scaffolded experience.

Beginners 3/4 Curriculum

Beginners 3/4 Teachers Liz Unger and Kristin Keneally share about their work documenting early childhood curriculum

Special Episode: Job Search Tips Panel

In this special episode you will hear from a panel of our school's division leaders and the head of school who shared perspectives on job search processes. This panel happened live for our Apprentice Teacher Training Program cohort and is being made available on the podcast. Thanks for tuning in and please enjoy!

K-4 Social Emotional Practices

In this episode (recorded on Leap Day - February 29, 2024) we learn from Kelly Siegrist and Cindy Thom about the Social Emotional resources they developed for K-4 teachers.
They created a guidebook for teachers around SEL/Responsive Classroom strategies and practices with targeted goals based on recent classroom observations. Supplemental materials were provided around specific tools to increase classroom autonomy and self-regulation. These experiences and goals are being presented in divisional meetings with corresponding paper copies of the guidebook added throughout the year.
Please contact the Crafting Learning hosts for access to the guidebook.
 

Music and Movement in Early Childhood and Lower School

Lindy Bourque and Jennifer Thiemann join us to share about their curriculum design work for Music and Movement in the lower grades (Beginners - 4th grade) at NCCS.
Summary from the Guests
In the 2021-2022 school year, we combined what had previously been a Lower school “Creative Dramatics” class and a Lower School “Music” class into one course called “Music and Movement”. In the 2023-2024 school year, we made that sameintentional shift to “Music and Movement” in EC. We reviewed and made adjustments to the curriculum based on a year of living the program. Then we worked backwards to create the new EC “Music and Movement” curriculum:
Skill development, from B3/4 to Grade 4, was defined.
Learning objectives and grade-level summaries were written.
Connections to external learning standards were identified and recorded.
Basic pacing guides were created.
 

9th Grade Capstone Project

Upper School faculty members Elizabeth Carroll, Lauren Romeo, Marshall Johnson, and Lacey Ramsey share about their newly designed Capstone project for the oldest students in our school.
Curriculum Description
9th Grade Capstone Project
This curriculum design project was centered around brainstorming and developing a culminating, interdisciplinary experience for departing ninth-grade students. In recent years, the 9 Capstone has consisted of a public presentation on current events run through the 9 Modern World History course. This new iteration of the 9 Capstone, however, looks to shift the focus back towards the personal interests and experiences of graduating ninth graders, centering on the basic question: “How can you [the student] make a positive impact on the greater world, and/or the NCCS community?” 
This design project team outlined the various project steps, determined scheduling, and created a basic project outline for students. Using an inquiry-based approach, students will brainstorm an issue about which they feel personally passionate; develop a guiding question around which they will research, collect, and analyze data; create a plan of action; and implement it within the community at large and/or NCCS. All ninth graders will then present their research to the school and their families in a special capstone showcase event in the spring. Finally, students will reflect on their capstone experience and how it relates to their time at NCCS in the final days before graduation.
Examples & Resources
Project Overview
Ninth-Grade Community Action Project