Curriculum for Creators & Publishers

Chapter 1: Creating Curriculum Maps

Curriculum allows you to create organized unit plans in a centralized and collaborative way. Ensure alignment with multiple standards in your curriculum design across buildings and classrooms, and personalize your classroom instruction for outcome based education.

This learning guide will help familiarize you with the features of the Curriculum solution for users with Creator and Publisher privileges.

While this guide will cover many of the features available, please refer to our extensive support articles for specific questions or reach out to us at support@chalk.com or through our Live Chat service (available Monday through Friday, 8am-4pm EST).

The following chapter of our learning guide will go over how to:

Understand the different permission levels for Curriculum
Create and edit a curriculum map
Set unit duration or pacing in a curriculum map

What is the Curriculum solution?

Curriculum allows you to build a unified and digital curriculum that can guide teacher’s daily instruction. The benefit to using this solution is creating a consolidated, living curriculum that can automate standards coverage and create a collaborative, easy-to-use environment for your teachers to pull curriculum content and apply directly to lesson plans.

Your school’s first step will be to create and build your curriculum maps in Curriculum. You will be able to create maps that will help guide teachers with units, suggested unit duration, and unit content. Teachers will then be able to follow the maps as they create their lesson plans. You can work with your implementation team to create customized map templates that can include suggested standards, desired results, essential questions, assessments, and resources, just to name a few.

If you have also purchased the Instruction solution, teachers have the option to link the maps to their account and begin to add map content to their lessons to create rich and useful lesson plans.

What are the different roles for Curriculum?

This is part of our Curriculum Solution. You will not have this option if you are a free user.

In this article, we will cover the different roles that can be assigned to users within the curriculum platform. Assigning roles within a school or district can ensure content is not being published before it has been reviewed, or deleted accidentally.

Users can be assigned three different roles within Curriculum: Publisher, Creator, and Viewer.

Curriculum Publisher

The Publisher role has the ability to edit map content, create new maps/drafts and has the ability to publish, archive, and restore archived maps.
This role is recommended for administrators or subject area experts involved in the review and publishing process.

Curriculum Creator

The Creator role has the ability to edit map content, create new maps/drafts, but does not have the ability to publish, archive or restore archived maps.
This role is recommended for subject area experts and teachers actively involved in the curriculum development process.

Curriculum Viewer

The Viewer role can only view content in published curriculum maps. It does not allow for users to create/edit maps or enter drafts.
This role is recommended for teachers who are not actively involved in the curriculum development process but will access and utilize the curriculum content.

Note: It is important to identify these roles within your organization as it allows for improved organization, easier review processes, and accessibility.

For more information on how to set user roles as the institution admin for the Curriculum solution, click here.

What is the difference between a published and a draft curriculum map?

This is part of our Curriculum Solution. You will not have this option if you are a free user.

In this article, we will cover the difference between a Published map and a Draft map and show you how to create each.

Published vs Draft

When work on a map has been completed, the next step is to publish the map. The main difference between a Published and a Draft version of a curriculum map, is that when a map is published, it is made available to teachers in the school or institution to view-only. Once a map has been published, the published version can no longer be edited, and all comments made on the curriculum map will be removed.

Publishing a map will allow teachers to have an official resource to work off of throughout the year. They will be able to assign the map to their classes, which will assign units to lesson plans and allow them to insert unit content. Click here for how to assign a curriculum map to a class in the lesson planner.

Creating a new draft version will also allow for revisions throughout the year without making changes to the published version.

How do I publish a map?

Step 1:

Choose the map you wish to publish from the curriculum map list in the center. You can also search for the map by searching for the name or tags associated with the map. Click on the Edit Draft button.

Step 2:

To publish this map, click on the Options button in the top right corner, then click Publish.

Step 3:

The following warning will appear:

If you are ready to publish this version of the map and make it available to teachers, click Yes.

You will now see a Published version of your map on the curriculum map list in the center, with today’s date showing when it was published. This will allow teachers to attach the curriculum map to their subjects and lesson plans.

Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available on mobile.

How do I make a draft version of a published map?

If you want to make additional updates or edits to a published map, you will need to create a draft version. Here are the steps to do so.

Step 1:

Choose the published map from the curriculum map list in the center. You can also search for the map by searching for the name or tags associated with the map.

Step 2:

Click on the New Draft button on the right. This will copy the currently published version of the map, and allow you to edit it in a new draft.

Note: While you are editing the new draft version of your map, your published version will not change, and will remain available to teachers as a view-only map.

Once you are finished making changes to the draft, you can re-publish it following the above steps. This re-published version will automatically update for all teachers who are using this map to the newest version.

Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available on mobile.

How do I create a curriculum map?

This is part of our Curriculum Solution. You will not have this option if you are a free user.

Getting started is easy! Here's a step-by-step guide on how to start a curriculum map.

Note: In some cases, we will have worked with the admin team of your Institution to pre-populate all of your maps within the platform. You should always use the search at the top of Curriculum to see if the map you want to work on already exists. For example, if you are looking for the 6th Grade Math map, try searching for ‘math’ to see if it’s there. If/when you find your map, please refer to the How do I edit a Curriculum Map?

Step 1:

Start by navigating to Curriculum from the main menu.

Step 2:

Click the Curriculum Maps tab on the left, then click on the New Curriculum Map button on the right-hand side.

Step 3:

You will see the following window:

Add a name to your map following the naming convention set by your school. Typically this would include a grade and subject area.

Note: The Curriculum map name is how you and your colleagues will search for the map in the future. It is important to follow your school’s naming convention to make this as easy as possible (e.g. “5th Grade Math” instead of “Math 5”). You should be able to discern the naming convention by looking at the list of maps that already exist. Otherwise, speak with your school administrator for clarification. The name can always be updated in the future.

Step 4:

Click Add Standards to browse and add any standards that you wish to associate to your map. For more information on adding standards to your curriculum maps, read this article.

Step 5:

As an optional step, you may add Tags to your curriculum map. Tags make it easier to search for maps. Again, you should follow any naming conventions for tags that have been set by your school.

Step 6:

Select or confirm the owner of the map. This will determine who in your institution has access to edit or view this map. The map owner will default to the entire institution, but you can select a School or Group to limit its access to members of that School or Group.

Step 7:

Click Create! Now you are ready to start editing your curriculum map.

For more information on curriculum maps, take a look at these articles:

Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available on mobile.

How do I edit a curriculum map?

This is part of our Curriculum Solution. You will not have this option if you are a free user.

In this article, we will cover how you can edit a curriculum map once it has been created. If your curriculum map has yet to be created, click here for more information.

Note: Curriculum supports real-time collaboration for curriculum maps.

Step 1:

Once you have created a map, it will automatically take you to the platform where you are able to manage units and input content. If you wish to edit an existing map, select the map you wish to revise from the list in the Curriculum Maps page. You can also search for a map by searching for the name or tags associated with the map.

Step 2:

A course overview summary will pop up on the right-hand side of the screen. This summary lists the units within the map, the suggested teaching days, as well as the standards attached to the map. To proceed to revise the map click on the Edit Draft button.

Step 3:

Now it’s time to start building your map. This part of the platform will allow you to create units, input content, manage standards coverage, and publish/export your curriculum map.

To edit the settings for your map, click the Options menu in the top-right corner and select the Settings option.

In this window, you can edit the name and colour of the map, manage the standards and tags applied to the map, or change the map owner. You can find more information about how to search for standards in this support article.

To edit a Unit, select the Unit Settings button in the header.

In the Unit Settings modal, you can set your Number, Title, and the suggested duration of the unit. To learn more on setting the Unit Duration of your map, see this article.

You can also edit the colour of the unit, as well as manage the standards that are intended to be used in this unit. You can find more information about how to manage the standards for your unit in this support article.

Step 4:

Now that you edited or created your Unit, you are ready to add content to your map! To do so, hover over and click on the box you want to add content to. You can now type, or copy and paste your content into the box. Each box supports the ability to format tables, add images & video links to outside resources as well as integrate with Google Drive.

As you add content to your map, it will auto-save your content.

Note: To learn more about each type of content box and their attributes, click here.

Step 5:

To add standards to the multi-text fields in your unit, click on the Standards button at the bottom of any multi-text field.

This will show you all the standards sets that have been added to this map. Click on the Add button to add any standards you would like to this unit. As well, you can use the search feature at the top to search for any keywords associated with the standards you are looking for. All the standards will now be attached to your map. You can click on Remove to remove any standards you wish to remove from the unit. Once you are done, click Save.

When editing standards for a text field in your unit, it will display up to three types of standard lists:

Standards added to the "Standards" field in the Course Overview
The standards that were manually added to a "Standards" field in this section of the curriculum map
Any curriculum set(s) linked to this curriculum map in the map's settings

To learn more about how to edit the standards assigned to your unit, see this support article.

Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available on mobile.

How do I create learning targets in a curriculum map?

This is part of our Curriculum Solution. You will not have this option if you are a free user.

Creating learning targets can be a way to distill high-level curriculum standards into tangible learning outcome statements that are in student-friendly language.

Note: Your curriculum map template will need to have learning targets enabled in order for you to be able to create and assign learning targets. Here is how you can enable learning targets in the standards field when creating a template.

Step 1:

Assign the standards to a unit field for which you would like to create learning targets.

Click here for more information on how to do this.

Step 2:

Click on + Assign or Create Learning Targets next to the standard.

Step 3:

From the window that appears:

a) Select a colour for the learning target (Handy if you want to colour-code your learning targets)

b) Give a code name for these learning target (eg. A number or letter, etc…)

c) Add in the description for the learning target

When you are done, click Create.

Step 4:

You will see that the learning target for this standard has been created.

You can reorder the created learning targets by clicking on the Move icon to the right of the learning objective and dragging it into the position you want.

Click out of the window when you are finished.

Step 5:

Any learning targets created and assigned to the standard will show up here.

Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available on mobile.

How do I assign standards to units in a curriculum map?

This is part of our Curriculum Solution. You will not have this option if you are a free user.

This article is a guide on how to assign individual standards from a standard set to the units within a curriculum map. This can be useful for creating a shortlist of standards that you wish to target for a particular unit that you can use when assigning standards to multi-text fields.

Step 1:

Select a unit within your curriculum map. To add standards to your unit, click on +Standards button in the Standards field box.

You can also edit the standards assigned to your unit by clicking the Unit Settings button in the top-right corner of the unit, then clicking the Manage Standards button.

Step 2:

This will show you all the standard sets you have added to this map. If you have not yet added standards to this map, click the Browse Standards button to search our database; otherwise, you can skip to the next step.

Here you will be prompted to search our database for standards. All sets uploaded by Chalk are formatted as follows:

(state/province/common core) - grade # - subject

For example, if you're looking for the National Math Common Core standards for grade 2, you should search:

"National Common Core - Grade 2 - Mathematics"

You can use filters below the search bar to help narrow your search by country, region, subject or grade level.

Subject and grade filters will not be available until you select a country and region. You can type in the filters to help find options more easily.

Once you've set the desired filters, you will see results for all of the available standards that match the filters and search terms entered. Custom standards belonging to your institution will appear at the top of the results, indicated by the institution icon to the left of the titles.

These filters will be remembered the next time you browse for standards. Setting your filters can save you time for when you need to add standards to other maps.

If you're having difficulty finding standards, try editing your search terms or clearing your filters.

When you've found the standards you're looking for, click on the title of the standards and then click Select.

Step 3:

When editing standards in your unit, the modal will display up to three types of standard lists:

All standards that have been used anywhere in this unit or sub-unit
Standards added to the "Standards" field in the Course Overview
Any standards linked to this curriculum map in the map's settings

Simply click on one of the lists above and click the Plus + button to assign any standards you would like to this unit. You can also use the search feature at the top to search for any codes or keywords associated with the standards you are looking for. All the selected standards will be shown on the right-hand side of the window, and you can click on the ‘X’ to remove any standards you want to remove from the unit. Once you are done, click Save.

Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available on mobile.

How do I set unit duration or pacing in a curriculum map?

This is part of our Curriculum Solution. You will not have this option if you are a free user.

This article is a guide on how you can set the unit duration or pace of your curriculum map. Unit Duration, or Pacing, is the suggested amount of time that teachers will need to successfully teach each unit. It will also schedule the unit to that number of lessons when teachers assign the map to their subject. Click here for more information on how to attach a curriculum map to a class in your lesson planner.

You can edit from either Unit Content view or from Pacing Guide view. This article will cover both approaches.

Unit Content View

Step 1:

Choose the map you wish to edit from the curriculum map list in the center. You can also search for a map by searching for the name or tags associated with the map.

Click on the Edit Draft button.

Step 2:

Next, click on the Unit you want to set the suggested unit duration for and select Edit button.

Step 3:

In the Suggested Duration (Days) box, use the arrows to choose the number of days for this unit, or type the number into the box.

When you are done, click Save.

Step 4:

Continue the above steps for each unit of your curriculum map.

Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available on mobile.

Pacing Guide View

Step 1:

Within a curriculum map, click on the Pacing tab at the top of the page.

Step 2:

Click a Unit’s bar on the month or year calendar and click Edit Duration on the tooltip that appears.

Step 3:

From the window that appears, edit the suggested unit duration (number of lessons) and click Save.

Step 4:

The pacing guide will display the updated unit duration.

Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available on mobile.

How do I create a copy of a curriculum map?

This is part of our Curriculum Solution and is available for teachers with the "Curriculum Creator" or "Curriculum Publisher" permissions. You will not have this option if you are a free user.

When writing curriculum, a course may need to use a considerable amount of content from previous courses. For example, AP Algebra vs Core Algebra, or World Languages courses that contain content from various proficiency levels.

Rather than creating a new map and starting from scratch, you can create a copy of an existing map and edit or remove the unnecessary content, saving yourself time in the process. This support article will show you how to create a copy of an existing map in Curriculum.

Note: Copying individual units from one map to another is not yet available.

Step 1:

When viewing or editing the map you would like to copy, open the Options menu in the top-right corner and click on Copy Map.

Note: You can copy previous versions of the map by clicking the Select Version button in the top-left corner of the page, selecting a previous published version of the map, then clicking the Copy Map button.

Step 2:

You will see the following window:

Here you can edit the name and colour of the new copy of this map, as well as its assigned standards and tags.

When you have made all desired changes for your new map, click Copy.

Step 3:

On the Curriculum Maps page, you can view the state of the copy in progress. Maps with many units and attachments may take some time to copy. Feel free to navigate away from this page while the copy is in progress.

You will receive a notification when it has completed.