Map in the Mandated Curriculum

The first step within this phase is determining which subject/s will be included in addressing the topic.  Think about:

  1. How much time is available to devote to the study.  If you have a month, you will make different choices than if you want to take the whole term.
  2. What are your priorities? Which subject(s) do you want to emphasize? What is your own level of knowledge in these areas?
  3. Which curriculum concepts do you need to address?
  4. Identify the topic area and the learning outcomes from the Program/s of Study your study will address.  
  5. Identify the specific concepts students will need to address if they are to truly understand the point of the study.

By the time teachers have decided whether the chosen topic is engaging for students and has strong curriculum ties, they are well on their way to being able to articulate the reasons for the study.  They should have a strong sense of how this topic connects to the world outside their classroom walls.  They are bound to find that a good topic is intriguing to people today--and that it has been intriguing to human beings all through the ages. 

When teachers can tell students what is intriguing, puzzling or genuinely unresolved in the area they are opening up, chances are students will also become enchanted to begin the adventure the teachers are charting for them.