Unit planning page (free printable)

About this sheet

A lesson plan holds a day. A unit plan holds the shape of three or four weeks, and the shape is where good teaching starts. This page begins with the big question, the one the unit will answer, then asks for the goals and the key words side by side, and moves to a week-by-week table with a focus, the main activities and a check for understanding for each week. The foot of the page holds the final assessment and the materials to gather. It is deliberately one page, so that a teacher can pin it above the desk and see the unit as a whole. The weekly table has six rows for a six-week unit, and fewer rows can be left blank.

Best in: August, September, January.

How to use it

1. Write the unit, the grade or course and the number of weeks at the top, then the big question the unit will answer.
2. Fill in the goals and the vocabulary, then plan the weeks in the table, starting with the final assessment and working back.
3. Pin it above your desk and cross off each week as it passes. Write what you would change in the margin as you go.

Five ideas for class

1. Plan backwards: write the final assessment first, then fill the weeks with what students need to do it well.
2. Write the big question in a form students can understand, and put it on the wall at the start of the unit.
3. Keep the vocabulary list short, six to ten words, and plan when each will be taught, and not only listed.
4. Plan a check for understanding in each week, and note beside it what you will do if it shows that the class is not ready.
5. Share the page with a teaching partner, and compare it with theirs. Two plans for the same unit always differ in useful ways.

Related

• Weekly teacher reflection
• Meeting agenda
• Weekly lesson plan grid
• School year planner