Curriculum and Instruction
Curriculum and Instruction (GTET 2) tests alignment: whether objectives, activities, and assessments target the same standard at the same cognitive demand. Expect items on backward design, Bloom's taxonomy, instructional models, and questioning.
Core rules
- Backward design (Wiggins & McTighe): identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence, then plan learning experiences.
- Revised Bloom: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create. The objective verb should match the standard's demand.
- Alignment means the task and the assessment measure the same verb and content, not merely the same topic.
- Gradual release: modeled ("I do"), guided ("we do"), collaborative, independent.
- Universal Design for Learning: multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression.
- Direct instruction suits foundational and procedural skills; inquiry suits explanation, investigation, and argument.
Worked example
A standard says: "Analyze how an author's word choice shapes tone." A teacher plans a matching worksheet of tone-word definitions. The misalignment is cognitive demand: the worksheet assesses recall, not analysis. A better task gives two short passages with contrasting tone and asks students to cite word choices that create each tone, then justify the effect. Reasoning: "analyze" requires breaking text into parts and explaining relationships, so the task must require that reasoning.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing an activity with an objective.
- Planning engaging tasks that never touch the standard.
- Writing "understand" objectives when the assessment demands application.
- Treating Bloom's taxonomy as a strict hierarchy every lesson must climb.
- Using group work without individual accountability.