Silos to Spirals

We (AKA Katie McLeod & Tracy Grace) have created Long-range plans known as Connected Curriculum Pathway Plans. These plans are updated for the new 2020 Ontario Curriculum. These plans have proven to dramatically increase student achievement in many schools. Currently, we have completed the Grade 3 and 6 plans as well as the Grade 7 and 8 plans to support de-streamed Grade 9 mathematics in Ontario.

Why are the plans so effective in increasing Student Achievement?

They front-load numeracy to ensure that students have the proper foundational skills with number and operations to handle the other ‘application’ parts of the curriculum.
They separate out all of the “representations” that exist in every grade level. For example, a square-based pyramid is a representation that is introduced in early grades so that we can do stuff with it in later grades like find the surface area and volume.
They provide opportunities for continuous spiraling of concepts throughout the entire year.
They include the concrete tools and visual models that you need alongside the curriculum.
They connect the concepts in the curriculum together so that you are always teaching multiple strands. The colour-coding helps to see the connections!
They allow students who are struggling to get caught-up to grade level while providing students who require a challenge to develop greater number flexibility.
They just make sense! Trying to solve complex math problems without foundational numeracy skills is like trying to build a house without the ability to swing a hammer. If we don’t give students a chance to ‘catch up’, they will just fall further and further behind!

If you would like to create these pathways for your curriculum, we can adapt what we have done for the Ontario 2020 Curriculum to help you support your teachers!