Pivot. This word triggers a range of emotions that we could have never imagined when we were young and naive back in 2019. As a society, we have navigated many openings and closings, dos and don’ts, hopes and fears throughout the pandemic. There are countless areas that have been impacted by the changes to life as we know it, but one of these areas, one area that we may not actually see the full extent of the impact on for years to come, is education. We are in uncharted territory when it comes to determining the impact of pivoting from in-person to online schooling, or the disjointed timeline that learning has followed the past few years.

The long range plans that educators followed with dedication suddenly became a messy road map and many families found the monitoring of their children’s learning to be a responsibility that they needed to be accutely aware of. Most parents were not equipped or ready to take on this challenge. Meanwhile, educators have also been challenged to embrace versatility to meet the needs of their students and support learning both in-person and virtually. Being intentional and considering the development of a scope and sequence that makes sense is at the heart of how we are going to mitigate learning gaps that have occurred throughout the pandemic.

Scope and Sequence? What? Remember that road map I mentioned before? We do need a road map. Perhaps during the pandemic a strong road map has become more important than ever before. Why? Have you ever been on vacation and made a plan so you don’t miss any of the big attractions or important stops? That’s like the scope and sequence we need to have. We need an outline of how we are going to make sure we highlight the right stuff and not miss something important. A scope and sequence also has to be developmentally appropriate in order to highlight specific curriculum at the right time so learners will be able to take it in, understand it, and apply it. Since we at Eyewords focus on learning to sight read the high frequency words, considering the scope and sequence of when we teach what to optimize learning, gives us a map of how to achieve and maximize progress in language learning. What’s the plan that makes sense for your learner(s)? Different districts may have different road maps and Eyewords is a resource that fits into every scope and sequence, as well as having created our own. It is a tool that answers the how as you cover the when and what.