Backward Design Unit Planner

Plan your unit from the end backward: identify the desired results first, then design assessments, and finally plan learning experiences that build toward them. Clear goals, coherent instruction.

All SubjectsMiddle School (6–8)High School (9–12)

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When to use this template

  • Planning a new unit from scratch where you want every lesson to connect to clear goals
  • Designing a unit around a summative performance task or project
  • Aligning a unit to specific standards with intentional coverage
  • Revisiting an existing unit to make the learning goals more explicit
  • When you want students to understand the "destination" from the first day of the unit

Template sections

State the unit title, grade, subject, duration, and the core question driving student inquiry.

Unit title:

Grade & subject:

Duration (weeks):

Essential question:

Enduring understanding (what should students remember in 5 years?):

Identify standards, enduring understandings, and the specific knowledge and skills students will acquire.

Standards addressed:

Enduring understandings:

Essential questions (2–3):

Students will know: ...

Students will be able to: ...

Design the summative performance task and list the formative checks you will use throughout the unit.

Summative task description:

Criteria for success (aligned to desired results):

Formative assessments (by lesson or week):

Student-facing success criteria:

Map the lesson sequence across the unit, connecting each lesson to the desired results and assessment plan.

Week 1: Lessons 1–5 (brief title + main learning target each)

Week 2: Lessons 6–10

...

Plan how you will support struggling learners and challenge students who are ready for more.

Scaffolds for students who need more support:

Extensions for students who need more challenge:

Language supports (ELL/EAL):

Access for students with IEPs or 504s:

List the texts, materials, tools, and technology students will use across the unit.

Primary texts or sources:

Supplementary materials:

Digital tools or platforms:

Materials to prepare in advance:

The Flip Perspective

Backward design is one of the most effective approaches to unit planning because it forces clarity about what learning actually looks like, not just what content gets covered. When teachers know the summative evidence before they plan a single lesson, instruction stays focused and coherent. This template structures all three stages of backward design so that every lesson you plan connects to the destination your students are moving toward.

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Adapting this Template

For All Subjects

Apply Backward Design Unit by adapting the phase timings and prompts to fit All Subjects's unique content demands.

About the Backward Design Unit framework

Backward Design, developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in Understanding by Design, applies just as powerfully at the unit level as it does for individual lessons. When you plan a unit backward, every instructional decision becomes purposeful: you know what students are moving toward, and every lesson contributes visibly to that destination.

Why backward design at the unit level matters: Most unit plans start with a list of topics to cover. Backward design inverts this by starting with a single question: what should students understand, know, and be able to do at the end of this unit that they could not do before? This shifts planning from "content delivery" to "learning design."

Stage 1: Desired Results. Identify the enduring understandings, the big ideas that persist beyond the unit. Write essential questions that will recur throughout. List the specific knowledge and skills students will acquire. Align to relevant standards. Be specific: "understand photosynthesis" is not a desired result. "Explain how plants convert light energy to chemical energy and why this matters to every food web on Earth" is.

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence. Design the summative assessment before planning instruction. What will students produce, perform, or demonstrate to show they have reached the desired results? Plan at least one performance task that requires transfer, not just recall. Also list the formative assessments you will use throughout the unit to track progress.

Stage 3: Learning Plan. Now design the sequence of lessons. For each lesson, ask: does this directly contribute to the desired results? Does this prepare students for the assessments? If a lesson cannot be justified by these questions, it may not belong in the unit.

Common mistakes: Many teachers plan backwards on paper but teach forward in practice. They still front-load content and squeeze the performance task in at the end. True backward design means letting the assessments shape instruction throughout, including providing rubric criteria to students at the start.

This unit planner walks you through all three stages with structured prompts, helping you build units where the ending is clear from day one.

Backward Design

Backward Design (Understanding by Design) starts with the end in mind: you define what students should understand, then design assessments, and finally plan learning activities that build toward those goals.

Thematic Unit

Organize a multi-week unit around a central theme or essential question that cuts across topics, texts, and disciplines, helping students see connections and build deeper understanding.

Standards-Aligned Unit

Map a unit against your required standards explicitly, ensuring every lesson connects to clear learning targets, assessments align to specific standards, and coverage gaps are visible before you start teaching.

Year-Long Map

Map your entire course across 36 weeks, organizing units, standards coverage, and major assessments so you can see the full year at a glance and spot gaps before the school year begins.

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Frequently asked questions

A lesson plan covers a single class period or day. A unit planner maps several weeks of instruction, connecting multiple lessons to a common set of goals, a summative assessment, and a coherent arc of learning.
Most units span 2–6 weeks. Shorter than 2 weeks is usually a topic, not a unit. Longer than 6 weeks risks losing coherence. The right length depends on the complexity of the desired results.
Not necessarily at the planning stage. In the Daily Breakdown section, brief lesson titles and learning targets are enough. Full lesson plans can be written week by week as the unit progresses.
Share the essential questions and success criteria at the start. Students do better work when they understand where they are headed. You do not need to share the full teacher-facing planner.
Designing the summative assessment after all the lessons are planned. This often results in an assessment that tests what was taught, rather than what was intended to be learned. A subtle but important difference.
Backward design gives you the structure: clear goals, aligned assessments, and a coherent lesson sequence. Active learning fills that structure with what students actually do in each lesson. Flip missions are hands-on, student-driven activities where learners debate, investigate, and build collaboratively. Many teachers use backward design for the unit arc and Flip to generate the individual mission-based lessons within it.
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