Unit Planning

Soua Lor
Grand Canyon University
EAD – 520: Introduction to Strengthening Curricular Programs
Professor James Russo
November 17th, 2021
Importance of Planning

 Why is unit planning important?

 Helps to organize all important topics within the unit in a

sequence that will make sense for students to grasp better
information
 Thorough planning of all the needed materials, including books
and small group activities, to ensure effective and intentional
teaching
 Lays out a plan for students to meet short-term goals
How is curriculum organized?

 Curriculum Mapping
 A visual layout to align expected skills and standards to grade
levels

 A Unit of Instruction
 A segment of the curriculum map that lasts 2-4 weeks and covers
a big topic

 A Lesson Plan
 A learning session within the unit to include specific goals and
objectives (Davenport and Clarkson, 2021). 
How do you effectively unit plan for
your classroom?
Instructional units that embody high
expectations
 Study and familiarize yourself with the school’s standards for the grade
level that you teach
 Know the different learning tiers to support student individualization
 Communicate with families on a student’s areas of struggles, collaborate
with special education teacher to implement similar strategies and goals in
the classroom learning environment
 Instructional units could be based on students’ interest with a correlation to
the school’s standards

 What are other ways to set high expectations for students?

Expectations to align with academic
standards

 Preschool and 4K classrooms - Ensure that goals meet the

“School Readiness Goals” (SRG) under specific domains
 Share the SRGs with families at the beginning of the school
year to introduce the learning focuses

 Kindergarten and elementary classes - Goals should align with

the common core standards
School Readiness Goals
Differentiated Instructional Strategies

 Understand the needs of each student

in your classroom
 Thoroughly read the implemented
actions and next steps for students
with an IEP
 Work closely with Special Education
Teacher or Early Learning and Inclusion
Specialist to implement those
strategies in the classroom
 Create different teaching approaches
and intentions to match the different
tiers of student learning
Process for Differentiated Instruction

 Use tiers to appropriately teach students to ensure they all receive

the goals and objectives of the activity
 Allow a variety of materials for students to explore and open-up
discussions
 Create individual learning plans (ILP) per student to meet their
academic learning needs
 Be flexible with the classroom schedule and time for completion or
engagement in an activity (Tomlinson, 2019). 
Technology to Maximize High-Quality
Instruction
 Present short videos of academic
learning opportunities that may
benefit student learning and
understanding of a lesson plan or unit
 Providing individual student tablets for
academic games
 Computer lab for students to seek
outside sources and learning
 Smartboard for further engagement
during whole group activities
 The use of science tools – microscope
Culturally Inclusive Curriculum and
Instructional Practices
 Curriculum should involve the use of different languages as necessary
to support dual language learners in the classroom
 Visual picture cues
 Curriculum and instruction should be general to eliminate celebrating
only one culture or offend others
 For example, the unit could focus on “family” during the month of
November without teaching Thanksgiving necessarily.
School’s Vision and Goals

 Revisit the school’s vision with staff to understand the mission and
core values
 Important to enact a shared mission to promote the academic
success of students within the program (National Policy Board for
Educational Administration, 2015).
 Create a curriculum map that aligns with the school’s vision and goals
References

 Davenport, M., & Clarkson, E. (2021). The benefits of unit planning. The

Benefits of Unit Planning - Atlas. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from
https://www.onatlas.com/blog/benefits-unit-planning. 
 National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional
Standards for Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.
 Tomlinson, C. A. (2019). What is differentiated instruction? Reading Rockets.
Retrieved November 18, 2021, from
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-differentiated-instruction.