Scope and Sequence
A commercial curriculum may contain a scope and sequence, a graphic in chart form that represents how and when particular concepts and skills are developed over time when the curriculum is implemented as intended. For example, the website for the Success for All Curiosity Corner preschool curriculum includes an excerpt for the scope and sequence of the reading program for kindergarten.
Teachers may find a scope and sequence useful as a planning resource but must always keep in mind that the needs, characteristics, and interests of their students are the primary priorities in planning (Copple & Bredkamp, 2009). Knowledge and skills represented in a scope and sequence are developed from assumptions about children in general; they may or may not accurately reflect the actual children in your care.
Pacing Guides
Similarlyespecially in public schools, including kindergarten and primary classroomssome districts and programs are developing and implementing pacing guides. These documents, in effect, prescribe or schedule when and how state learning standards are to be addressed in planning for each academic content area over the course of a school year. Theoretically, when they are implemented in the strictest sense, a principal or administrator could expect to visit five first grade classrooms on a single day and see all the children in all the classes doing exactly the same thing at the same time.