Curriculum overviews
The KSS Curriculum Maps summarise the
key concepts taught and assessed for our students as they progress through the
years of schooling. The overviews set the consistent high standards for what our
students will learn and what our teachers will teach.
The following links display the curriculum overviews for
each year level from Prep to Year 6:
Prep Curriculum Map
Year 1 Curriculum Map
Year 2 Curriculum Map
Year 3 Curriculum Map
Year 4 Curriculum Map
Year 5 Curriculum Map
Year 6 Curriculum Map
Explicit instruction
Teaching and learning at
Kenmore State School is developed around the Explicit Instruction model. Archer
and Hughes (2011) describe Explicit Instruction as ‘a structured,
systematic, and effective methodology for teaching academic skills. It
is called explicit because it is an unambiguous and direct
approach to teaching that includes both instructional design and
delivery procedures.’
Explicit Instruction at Kenmore
consists of 5 key components: Warm Up, I Do, We Do, You Do, Plough Back.
(Explicit Instruction:
Effective and Efficient Teaching by Anita L. Archer and Charles A. Hughes. Copyright
2011 by The Guilford Press. All rights reserved.)
Warm up
A warm up is a teacher
directed activity which essentially ‘warms up’ a student’s brain and prepares
them for the lesson. These activities are designed to be fast paced
responses to review and revise previously taught content whilst moving this
knowledge from a student’s short term to long term memory. Teachers at
Kenmore State School are consistently monitoring student participation
and engagement, whilst keeping students accountable for their learning.
I do
Teachers are explicitly
teaching a new skill or concept. They begin by explaining the intent of
the lesson and why the concept is being taught. Students are expected to
be 100% focused on the teacher.
We do
We do is a highly
collaborative part of the lesson where the teacher supports students with
guided practice of the new concept or skill. The teacher is constantly
giving feedback, checking for understanding and clarifying any misconceptions
the students have. They gradually withdraw their support as they move
students towards independent practice and mastery of the concept. At this
stage, students are actively participating, asking and answering questions, peer
modelling and self-monitoring to demonstrate their understanding.
You do
Students have the
opportunity to practice the new skill or concept. The teacher sets focused,
independent work and gives students the opportunity to apply what they’ve
learnt in I Do and practiced in We Do. Students monitor their own understanding
and the teacher is actively monitoring student progress, differentiating tasks
when needed, enforcing expectations and giving individual/group/whole class
feedback.
Plough back
At the end of the
lesson, the teacher may provide time to review the key skill of the lesson,
reflect on lesson intent and celebrate successes. Students are encouraged
to review and reflect on what they’ve learnt, whilst being accountable for
their learning.
Reading to Learn
Accelerating literacy learning and closing the achievement gap
Reading to Learn is one component of the Kenmore
State School Explicit Teaching Program. Our
school is a regional training hub for the Reading to Learn program. Reading to
Learn is a literacy strategy that enables all learners to read and write
successfully across the curriculum, at levels appropriate to their age, year
level.
The strategies apply cutting edge research in classroom learning, and
language across the curriculum, in a form that is accessible, practical and
meets the needs of teachers and students.
When using the Reading to Learn methodology, students are
explicitly taught how texts are structured and how language works across a
range of texts. They systematically deconstruct small passages of text to study
writing techniques of successful authors and use those techniques in their own
writing.
Independent evaluations of Reading to Learn have shown that it can
accelerate the learning of students across all schools and year groups and
among students from all backgrounds and literacy skill levels.
Many of our teachers have undergone extensive training in Reading to
Learn with Dr David Rose (Director of Reading to Learn, University of
Sydney) and are now implementing the strategy. For more information
please visit Reading to Learn.