1. Unit/Lesson Planning 101

2. What is a unit plan?
A series of lessons generally related to a theme or having a common thread.

3. What is a lesson plan?
An outline or guide to help the teacher structure the learning experience.

4. Developing a unit and lesson plans
Start with the goals or objectives – what do you want the students to learn?
In North Carolina the Standard Course of Study (NC SCOS)specifies the goals and objectives for each grade and subject.
Visit LEARNNC for the NC SCOS

5. Developing a unit and lesson plans
Next outline the activities you will use
Consider the following as you are writing your activities
What do students already know?
How long do I have for the lesson?
What approach(es) might be best to use e.g. will students work alone, in groups, whole class?

6. Developing a unit and lesson plans
Determine/find resources you can use to teach the lesson.
Decide how you will assess the student’s learning – did the students learn what you wanted them to learn?
Formal (e.g. a test, a product)
Informal (e.g. discussion with students)
Link to a presentation on assessment
Note – this was a workshop I presented at the Florida Educational Technology Conference. You may find some of the information helpful.

7. Examples & Additional Resources
LEARNC has a database of unit and lesson plans correlated to the NC SCOS
The Educator’s Reference desk provides an overview and resources for lesson planning

8. Examples & Additional Resources
Thinkfinity (formerly Marco Polo) provides lesson plans and educational resources, many that align to national educational organization standards

9. Another approach ….
…. suggested by Wiggins and McTighe in Understanding by Design is backwards design.
Indentify results
Determine assessments
Design activities
Check it out from the ASU library