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Session 2. Designing a Unit Backward
Objective. Design one unit backward: write unit outcomes, a performance task with a simple rubric, checks along the way, and a one-page unit plan.
At lesson level, backward design is a habit. At unit level it becomes a design tool, because a unit of six to ten lessons has room for a real final task and for corrections on the way. Teachers who plan only lessons often discover on the last Friday that the test asks for something they never practised. A one-page unit plan stops this early. It is also the document you can hand to a colleague who covers your class.
Key ideas
From lesson objectives to unit outcomes
- A lesson objective covers 45 minutes. A unit outcome covers 6 to 10 lessons and says what pupils can do at the end that they could not do at the start.
- Write two or three unit outcomes, not ten. Start with 'Pupils can ...' and a verb you can see.
- Add one essential question that the whole unit keeps returning to, such as 'What makes a good report about our place?'.
The performance task and a simple rubric
- A performance task asks pupils to use the unit outcome in a fresh situation, with a purpose and a reader, not just to repeat a page.
- Write a rubric with 3 criteria and 3 levels in plain words. Describe what pupils do at each level, not only 'good' or 'weak'.
- Show the rubric to pupils on day one so they know where they are going.
Checks along the way
- Do not wait for the end. Place two or three small checks at about one third and two thirds of the unit: an exit ticket, a mini quiz, a draft.
- Each check should test one part of the unit outcome, so a weak result tells you what to reteach.
- Decide in advance what you will do with the results: reteach the next day, regroup pupils or move on.
Lessons as steps and the one-page unit plan
- Give each lesson a one-line purpose: 'This lesson moves pupils from A to B.' If you cannot say it, the lesson may not belong.
- Put outcomes, essential question, task and rubric, checks, the lesson list with purposes, resources and risks on ONE page.
- Mark which textbook tasks you keep. The textbook feeds the plan; it is not the plan.
The one-page unit plan, top to bottom
A performance task is not a bigger test
A performance task asks pupils to use the unit outcome in a new situation, with a reason and a reader. 'Write a page for the class booklet about our mahalla' is a task. 'Answer 30 questions' is a test. The difference is that the task shows whether pupils can put ideas together, which questions about separate rules often do not show.
Keep it small enough to mark. One page, one explanation or one solved problem can be enough. Write the rubric with three criteria and describe each level with things you can see, such as 'gives three facts' rather than 'good content'. Pupils who see the rubric in the first lesson know what they are working toward, and you mark faster.
Checks along the way change what you do next
A check along the way is useful only if you decide in advance what you will do with it. An exit ticket on lesson 3 asks one question about one part of the outcome. Sort the tickets into got it, nearly and not yet in five minutes. If more than a third are not yet, start the next lesson with a short reteach; if most got it, move on.
This is the same idea as mastery learning: the goal stays fixed while time and help vary. You do not need extra lessons for it. Two or three small checks and a rule for what happens next are enough. Put them in the unit plan so they do not disappear when time gets short.
Examples from the classroom
The booklet instead of the test
Scene. Dilnoza teaches Grade 5 Uzbek language in Samarkand. Her unit ended with a 25-question grammar test. This time she asks each pupil to write a page for a class booklet about their mahalla. The rubric has three criteria: three facts, a beginning and an ending, correct spelling of common words. She shows it on day one and uses lessons 6 and 7 for drafting.
Insight. A performance task with a visible rubric gives every lesson a direction.
The exit ticket in lesson 3
Scene. Jasur teaches Grade 8 algebra in Bukhara. After lesson 3 he asks one question: 'Form an equation from this sentence.' Of 28 tickets, 13 are wrong. He plans the next 10 minutes for forming equations before the planned lesson. Without the ticket he would have found out at the unit test, two weeks later.
Insight. A check works only when the next step is already decided.
One page for the substitute
Scene. Malika in Tashkent falls ill for a week in the middle of a Grade 7 geography unit. Her colleague Aziz takes the class. Her one-page unit plan lists the outcome, the final task, the lesson purposes and which textbook pages to use. Aziz teaches lessons 4 and 5 as planned and the unit does not lose its direction.
Insight. A unit plan is also a communication tool for colleagues.
Common pitfalls
- Writing six unit outcomes, so that nothing is the priority.
- Making the performance task a copy of the textbook exercise.
- Placing checks only at the end, when nothing can be corrected.
- Giving each lesson a topic but no purpose, so that a lesson cannot be cut or moved.
Rebuild a Unit Plan on One Page
- Read the SAMPLE unit in the Kit: Grade 5 Uzbek language, 8 lessons. Its current plan is a list of topics and a 25-question test.
- Pairs (15 min): fill the unit plan template. Write 2 unit outcomes and an essential question, then a performance task with a 3 x 3 rubric.
- Pairs (10 min): add two checks along the way and a one-line purpose for each of the 8 lessons. Mark each old lesson KEEP, CHANGE or CUT.
- Groups (10 min): swap plans with another pair. Ask: could a colleague teach from this page? Give one comment each way.
- Alone (5 min): write your classroom action task from the Kit.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- How is a unit outcome different from the topic list you started with?
- Which old lesson did you cut or change, and what made you decide?
- Which of your checks will tell you something you can act on within one day?
Reflect
- Think of your last unit test. Did it match what you wanted pupils to be able to do?
- Would pupils know the rubric before they start the task?
- Which lesson in your current unit has no clear purpose?
Try it tomorrow
- Write two unit outcomes and one performance task for your next unit, in 'Pupils can ...' form.
- Draft a 3 x 3 rubric in plain words and show it to your pupils on day one.
- Plan one exit ticket for the middle of the unit and write down what you will do if more than a third are not yet.
Further reading and links
A good unit has 2 or 3 outcomes, one performance task with a rubric, checks along the way, and lessons that each have a purpose.