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Resources for Backwards Planning
posted by: Melissa | August 24, 2017, 10:01 PM   

When it comes to planning lessons and units, backwards planning is considered the gold standard. This philosophy of planning is explained in great detail in Understanding by Design, the seminal work by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. The book lays out the philosophy behind backwards designing and goes into great detail on how teachers can implement this type of lesson planning, melding it with a philosophy of lesson planning that encourages students and teachers alike to think about the essential questions in the curriculum.


Teachers do not need to buy into the whole Understanding by Design framework in order to implement backwards design. Using backwards design in curriculum means that teachers should start with their end goals in mind and then plan lessons and activities accordingly while still maintaining some level of flexibility to snatch those learning moments or to allow for differentiation. For anyone looking to add backwards planning into their curriculum, we offer the list of resources below:


Summary of Understanding by Design (pdf)

Ohio Department of Education Backwards Design Page

Kentucky Teachers’ backwards design page

Backwards Design from Teaching Exceptional Children published by CEC (pdf)

Overview of UbD template

Downloads from Jay McTighe

Grant Wiggins blog on using templates in Instructional Planning

Authentic Education

Angela Watson on UbD

Harvard’s Project Zero Teaching for Understanding Page

Eduplanet’s Understanding by Design Institute


Do you have resources you use to plan your units?

Share below!


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