Components & Features
Curriculum Components
Norwin's curriculum is published using a consistent framework called a Style Guide. This tool organizes learning plans into meaningful chunks called “units.” The Norwin School District curriculum Style Guide contains several sections that are universal among all K-12 courses:
- Unit Summary: Overview and description of the unit of study.
- Big Ideas: Larger concepts, principles, theories, and/or processes that are transferable and applicable to new situations within or beyond the subject.
- Essential Questions: Open-ended and thought provoking questions designed to uncover important ideas in the unit.
- Unit Objectives: The expected outcome of a unit in terms of what students will know and be able to do.
- Standards: Grade level learning targets derived from Pennsylvania Academic Standards, if available, or other commonly referenced standards (i.e., National, International, Professional Organization, A.P.)
Features of Each Course's Unit Calendar
Each year-long and semester course/subject is chronologically ordered in units that are aligned to instructional weeks. The length of each unit is presented as a colored bar that spans an estimated number of weeks with the understanding that the given unit may take less time or last longer depending on a multitude of situations that can affect instructional timing. Hovering over the colored bar associated with each unit will show the approximate number of weeks and dates.
Each unit title is hyperlinked to a page that summarizes and describes the unit of study, its goals, and its objectives. Using the back arrow, visitors can navigate among units within a course.