Distance Learning Ideas for Designing Curriculum

A compilation of ideas that we have been using for distance learning with success.

Whether we are teaching remotely or in the classroom, it is important to create a streamlined curriculum for the year. Mike Schmoker is one of our favorite educational writers and the author of the book Focus, which is a must read for all teachers btw.

In an article that Schmoker wrote for ASCD, he says that one of the impactful things teachers can do for students is to have them read for a minimum of 60 minutes and write for a minimum of 40 minutes every day in all subject areas. Unfortunately, many students spend class time in aimless group activities such as completing worksheets, cutting, coloring, and gluing. Additionally, reading assignments have been lowered several grade levels over the decades.

If there ever was a time to switch things up and do them differently, now is the time. Here is Schmoker’s minimalist standards framework:

A Simple Literacy Standard Framework

For each grade level, course, or grading period, school or district-level teacher teams should establish minimum, viable specifications for items like:

___ number of grade-level, knowledge-rich books, articles, poems, textbook excerpts, etc.
___ number of pages of actual text (minus illustrations) per year (for example, at least 1,000 pages per year)
___ number—and approximate length—of inquiry-based discussions of texts per week
___ number of brief, formative written assignments per week, in (ideally) every course
___ number—and approximate length—of formal, multi-paragraph/multi-page written assignments per course (taught in accordance with agreed-upon writing rubrics and exemplars).


This past school year, we have incorporated many of Schmoker’s ideas from his book Focus into our classrooms with very good results. This year, we will be implementing his minimalist framework for student learning. We hope to see that our students thrive during this time period and not incur any learning loss from this pandemic.

Let us know in the comment section below what you will be doing in your classroom to ensure that students are learning at high levels during distance and hybrid learning.

Happy teaching!