Diana Noonan on Scope and Sequence in Denver Public Schools:
We (DPS) don’t necessarily have a curriculum but we do have a Scope and Sequence based on the top 100-200 vocabulary structures.
What is essential to understand is that we don’t just pull obscure non-high-frequency structures out of a hat because we want our students to acquire the language that is the most useful to them when understanding and communicating. And that there exists a “list of high-frequency” structures necessary for basic communication.
The underlying principle is that using all forms of the verb structures, i.e. ‘natural language’ is super important. Here is what is says in our S & S…on all pages: Vocabulary and Structures — Use present, past, future, and conditional tenses with a variety of subjects.