PROFESSIONAL
Rigor, Relevance, & Relationships
Using Training Materials to Integrate Academic Rigor into Instruction
The materials you adopt for your classroom must connect student learning to language arts, math, science, and social studies. "Academic rigor," as it is referred to in the Perkins IV legislation, is vital for gaining additional funding. However, it's also necessary for improving your students' chances of success in the workplace.
One way to achieve academic rigor in the Computer Education classroom is to incorporate writing, reading, and math skills into your application-based projects. Here are a few suggestions:
- Before beginning a new chapter, have students preview the main ideas and discuss key concepts and new vocabulary. These are essential tasks for improving note-taking and reading skills.
- If the materials have photos, graphs, screenshots, or other images, use them to make inferences about the topics the unit will cover.
- Use graphic organizers to help students find and identify important concepts and relationships in the information they read.
- Create a quick writing activity at the beginning of every unit to encourage students to connect prior experiences with the topics/skills they're about to explore.
- Generate task checklists after students read through project instructions, and then have them check their progress as they proceed through the project.
- After the completion of a unit, encourage students to expand upon what they've learned by responding to writing prompts that require critical thinking.
Each Portfolio Project in Glencoe's Online Student Manuals directs students to complete math and writing activities relevant to the project. Click the thumbnail to view or print the project.
When you evaluate new training materials, look for programs that seamlessly integrate academic concepts, college and career readiness skills, and project-based learning with application-specific activities.
Glencoe's Introduction to Web Design program links the skills required to plan, develop, and maintain a Web site to academic standards. It also provides numerous visual prompts and activities that encourage students to recognize how the academic skills they learn in other classes have tangible, real-world applications. Click the thumbnail to view or print the page.
