New FREE Curriculum Resources Available through the MnPCC

Two years ago, Minnesota ABE joined the Minnesota Partnership for Collaborative Curriculum (MnPCC, online at http://oermn.org) and gained access to their collection of comprehensive digital curricula for math, English language arts, social studies, and science. At the time we joined, 18 curricula were available for printing classroom texts and materials, displaying in the classroom, or hosting as online courses on a learning management system. Since that time, a number of new courses have been released, and we now have access to 30 complete curricula! New offerings include: 8th, 9th, and 10th grade English Language Arts, High School Geography, and 8th grade science.

What is the MnPCC?

The MPCC is a grassroots initiative among school districts to create comprehensive open digital curriculum for grades 3-12 in core content areas (math, English language arts, science, and social studies). Over 200 Minnesota school districts have committed funding for the initiative.

Through grant funding from the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota Literacy Council was able to join the MPCC on behalf of Minnesota Adult Basic Education. All ABE consortia are included in the agreement, giving ABE teachers around the state access to MPCC curriculum materials.

What does the MnPCC make?

The MPCC uses funds from partner districts to train teachers to create open digital curriculum and pay them to create courses. Other teachers are paid a small stipend to review materials. During development the materials are only available to member organizations. After the courses undergo a thorough trial and revision process, they are ultimately released as open educational resources (OER), available to anyone. All courses are aligned to Minnesota K-12 educational standards and are designed to work on any device. The majority of MnPCC curriculum materials are in Google document format (quizzes are printable documents, for example, not meant to be taken online).

How can ABE teachers use the MnPCC curricula?

The Minnesota Literacy Council hosts 30 MnPCC courses on our online training site. ABE teachers can register for a free account on the online training site and enroll in any of the MnPCC courses using the enrollment key “coll@b0rate.” The key is only required for initial registration.

Once enrolled, teachers can view the entire curriculum, teacher notes, and answer keys for quizzes. Because the materials are openly licensed, teachers are free to print and copy materials for use in their classroom.

If you would like to host an MnPCC course on a learning management system of your own, the course files are also available for download. Contact Susan Wetenkamp-Brandt at [email protected] for more information.

Originally published 5/21/18