Writing Scope and Sequence

I have learned that several smart, well-trained, and knowledgeable teachers can look befuddled and feel bewildered when told to create a scope and sequence based on the standards. It is a very broad task that can seem overwhelming. I am interested, though, in whether using the standards as a starting point is the source of much of the confusion. As I grappled with how to approach the task, I allowed myself to put the standards aside, seeing as how I could not decide how to use them as a starting point. Instead, I allowed myself to think in objectives, lesson plans, and units. As the standards-fog lifted, I could see clearly how to proceed. I would use my training and supporting curricular materials as a reference to determine what students were to learn in second grade general music. When I had decided the best order in which to present this material, how deeply the instruction would go, and how much I should expect students to accomplish, I realized that this seemed like a scope and sequence to me. The standards would be added afterward. If I then discovered that I was missing any of the standards, I would go back and include them if necessary.

Such a scope and sequence is technically not based on the standards. It is my belief that standards do not seem to be a natural starting point for teachers. They state what students should learn, but not what teachers should teach. I have to think through my knowledge of the discipline and its pedagogy, then connect this back to the standards of what students should learn. Somehow, I always manage to incorporate all the standards this way. It seems to me that if a teacher is prepared with the necessary content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, the standards will take care of themselves. If the teacher does not possess this prerequisite knowledge, the standards can provide no assistance; teachers must learn the discipline and how to teach it. Standards do, however, attempt to capture what the ideal curriculum should look like. If I had not read the music standards, or if they did not exist, I would be free to set up my music curriculum however I chose. I might end up emphasizing very different concepts from other teachers. I might even leave out critical elements. The standards can serve as a framework for what should be included in the curriculum. Ideally, proponents of standards would like them to have this amount of influence upon classrooms, if not more.