Adapting a Curriculum Project. Profiles of Promise 43.

One method of adapting a social studies curriculum project to meet the specific needs of a school is demonstrated in this document. The curriculum package used is People and Technology developed by the Educational Development Center (EDC). The first part of the document gives an overview of the original curriculum product as developed by EDC, including its content focus, objectives, and teaching strategies. The second section illustrates how the curriculum is adapted for use in a New Jersey school. An interdisciplinary approach of social studies and language arts through a team teaching situation is used. The content of People and Technology provides a good vehicle for teaching language arts skills; inturn, the language arts activities help to reinforce social studies concepts. One major adaptation of the program is the addition of four study units which the teachers feel are necessary to incorporate concepts not included in the basic curriculum. The key to the success of the curriculum adaptation is continual revision, providing a better curriculum suited to the needs of individual students, and a fresh classroom experience each year for teachers. (Author/JR)