Unit plan template with weekly sequence and assessment map

A unit plan covers a sequence of lessons over several weeks: the outcomes, the order of learning, the assessment and the resources. A lesson plan covers one lesson in detail, minute by minute. Teachers usually write the unit plan first, so each lesson plan knows what it is building towards and where assessment falls.

An assessment map lists every assessed task in a unit with when it happens, its type, its weighting and which outcomes it assesses. It shows at a glance whether every outcome is covered and whether assessment is spread sensibly, rather than bunched in the last week. It also helps teachers plan feedback between tasks.

An inquiry question gives students a reason to gather knowledge and evidence week by week, because they know they will have to answer it. It turns a list of topics into an argument. A good question has more than one defensible answer, such as whether industrialisation was progress, so students must weigh evidence rather than recall facts.

Most units run four to ten weeks, often 12 to 30 lessons depending on how many times a week the subject is taught. Six weeks of three lessons, as here, suits a focused history unit with two assessed tasks. Longer units benefit from a midpoint check so the plan can be adjusted before the final assessment.

Plan for groups first, such as students learning English or students needing literacy support, with adjustments that apply across the whole unit, like a glossary or a paragraph scaffold. Then confirm individual adjustments from each student's learning plan before teaching starts. Planning ahead means support is ready on the day of an assessed task rather than improvised.

Look at results by assessment criterion rather than overall grades, note which lessons, sources or tasks worked and which did not, and record changes for next time where the next teacher will find them. Moderating samples together, as this team does in week 7, also keeps marking consistent across classes.