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Streamlining the Curriculum: Using the Storyboard Approach to Frame Compelling Learning Journeys
A game-changing resource for educators looking to elevate their unit and lesson plans, increase student engagement, and improve home-school communication. With so many standards to address and templates to fill out, curriculum design and lesson planning can be cumbersome and overwhelming. And every teacher knows the struggle of trying to cover all the required content, which may or may not resonate with their students. In Streamlining the Curriculum , experts Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Allison Zmuda take a hard look at our overburdened, dated curricular practices and offer a better way—one built on the power of narrative. Their storyboard approach casts students as the heroes of the learning journey. Instead of passive recipients, they become protagonists, activity engaged in exploring new ideas, solving problems, finding connections, enlisting allies, and acquiring new skills and understandings to apply to both present and future challenges. This innovative book teaches you how to * Decide what to cut out, cut back, consolidate, and create in your lessons and units.
* Find the throughlines in your required content and approach lesson design and teaching as storytelling, no matter what subject area or grade level you teach.
* Apply genre lenses to make courses, units, and lessons more compelling.
* Communicate clear learning targets to your students and their families.
* Create space for exploring essential questions, investigating intriguing ideas, and conducting projects that feel relevant and important.
* Determine purposeful and authentic evidence of learning. Filled with examples and insights, this book shows educators how to break free from the tyranny of templates and start streamlining curriculum, assessment, and planning to make learning experiences more immersive, interesting, and emotionally resonant.
* Find the throughlines in your required content and approach lesson design and teaching as storytelling, no matter what subject area or grade level you teach.
* Apply genre lenses to make courses, units, and lessons more compelling.
* Communicate clear learning targets to your students and their families.
* Create space for exploring essential questions, investigating intriguing ideas, and conducting projects that feel relevant and important.
* Determine purposeful and authentic evidence of learning. Filled with examples and insights, this book shows educators how to break free from the tyranny of templates and start streamlining curriculum, assessment, and planning to make learning experiences more immersive, interesting, and emotionally resonant.
- GenresTeaching
189 pages, Paperback
Published September 18, 2023
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Heidi Hayes Jacobs
81 books15 followersDr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs is an author and internationally recognized education leader known for her work in curriculum mapping, curriculum integration,and developing 21st century approaches to teaching and learning.
Jacobs is President of Curriculum Designers, Inc. and Executive Director of the Curriculum Mapping Institute. She works as an education consultant with schools and districts K–12 on issues and practices pertaining to: curriculum reform, instructional strategies to encourage critical thinking, and strategic planning.
Jacobs is President of Curriculum Designers, Inc. and Executive Director of the Curriculum Mapping Institute. She works as an education consultant with schools and districts K–12 on issues and practices pertaining to: curriculum reform, instructional strategies to encourage critical thinking, and strategic planning.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 12, 2023
Excellent resource, especially as we work to streamline the revised Language curriculum in Ontario. Very practical strategies and excellent examples and charts. My principal and I used this as one of our mentor texts to evaluate and refine our School Equity & Improvement Plan. The inclusion of neuroscience and narrative approaches allowed this professional resource to be even deeper, and be more impactful. Highly recommend for all school leaders and those who are interested in modernizing learning.
February 1, 2024
Some helpful ideas in this book but some not so helpful. It is a little gimmicky in places. But it was a good sounding board for exploring ways to shape a curriculum. Here are some highlight quotes.
“Most companies have mission, vision, and value statements as part of their business plans. They refer to them from time to time and might use them to motivate the employees, investors, suppliers, or customers…For alignment to happen in an organization, this is essential. Mission, vision, and core values have to be front and center.” -Khadem and Khadem, quoted on pg 25
“Students acknowledge this truth with their plaintive query, Is this going to be on the test? And their instincts are correct; we should not feel despair about such a view. The test always sets the de facto standards of a school despite whatever else is proclaimed. A school should ‘teach to the test.’ The catch is that the test must offer students a genuine intellectual challenge, and teachers must be involved in designing the test if it is to be an effective point of leverage.” -Grant Wiggins (1989), quoted on pg. 90
“An assumption is worth challenging here, that the connections among the units are evident to the learners.” -author, pg. 104
“For a curriculum to be a narrative, the connections in the storyline must be explicit.”-author, pg. 104
“Put students at the heart of the journey.” -author, pg. 105
Unit Planning:
Stage 1: Identify the desired results: What are the goals for learning?
Stage 2: Determine Valid Evidence: How will we know students have achieved the desired results? What do we accept as evidence of student understanding and proficiency?
Stage 3: Plan learning Experiences and Instruction: What will students need in order to perform effectively and achieve desired results? What activities will equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills? -author, pg. 121
Family Letters:
“Curriculum writers developed Family letters for each unit that provided clarity about the expectations and approach.” -author, pg 161
“Family members may want to see which compelling questions their child is exploring or the kinds of assessments teachers will ask students to do.” -author, pg 165
“Most companies have mission, vision, and value statements as part of their business plans. They refer to them from time to time and might use them to motivate the employees, investors, suppliers, or customers…For alignment to happen in an organization, this is essential. Mission, vision, and core values have to be front and center.” -Khadem and Khadem, quoted on pg 25
“Students acknowledge this truth with their plaintive query, Is this going to be on the test? And their instincts are correct; we should not feel despair about such a view. The test always sets the de facto standards of a school despite whatever else is proclaimed. A school should ‘teach to the test.’ The catch is that the test must offer students a genuine intellectual challenge, and teachers must be involved in designing the test if it is to be an effective point of leverage.” -Grant Wiggins (1989), quoted on pg. 90
“An assumption is worth challenging here, that the connections among the units are evident to the learners.” -author, pg. 104
“For a curriculum to be a narrative, the connections in the storyline must be explicit.”-author, pg. 104
“Put students at the heart of the journey.” -author, pg. 105
Unit Planning:
Stage 1: Identify the desired results: What are the goals for learning?
Stage 2: Determine Valid Evidence: How will we know students have achieved the desired results? What do we accept as evidence of student understanding and proficiency?
Stage 3: Plan learning Experiences and Instruction: What will students need in order to perform effectively and achieve desired results? What activities will equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills? -author, pg. 121
Family Letters:
“Curriculum writers developed Family letters for each unit that provided clarity about the expectations and approach.” -author, pg 161
“Family members may want to see which compelling questions their child is exploring or the kinds of assessments teachers will ask students to do.” -author, pg 165
March 17, 2025
Excellent! I'm excited to start this work with my faculty! I am looking forward to working with Alison this year.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews