Math Curriculum Map

Map your mathematics curriculum for the year, organizing the sequence of concepts from number sense through application, tracking spiraled standards, and connecting math content to real-world contexts.

MathElementary (K–5)Middle School (6–8)High School (9–12)

Get the Complete Toolkit

  • Structured PDF with guiding questions per section
  • Print-friendly layout, works on screen or paper
  • Includes Flip's pedagogical notes and tips
4.7|415+ downloads

When to use this template

  • Annual math curriculum planning across a full course
  • Department alignment to ensure consistent math sequencing across classrooms
  • When preparing for standardized math testing and planning backward from test coverage
  • New course development or standards revision
  • Vertical alignment conversations across grade levels in a math department

Template sections

Identify the math course, standards framework, and key mathematical ideas for the year.

Course name and grade:

Standards framework (CCSS, state standards, national standards):

Mathematical domains covered (Number, Algebra, Geometry, Statistics):

Big mathematical ideas for the year:

Prerequisite knowledge from prior year:

Map the unit sequence, showing how mathematical understanding builds across the year.

Unit 1 (weeks, domain, key concepts, prerequisite connections):

Unit 2:

...

Where conceptual development comes before procedural fluency:

Where spiral concepts recur and deepen:

Connections between domains:

Map each standard to its unit(s) and identify which standards are spiraled across the year.

New standards introduced this year (and in which unit):

Spiraled standards (introduced in prior years, revisited with greater depth):

Standards that appear in multiple units:

Standards requiring extended treatment (2+ units):

Map when key representations (concrete, pictorial, abstract) are introduced across the year.

Concrete manipulatives introduced in each unit:

Visual/pictorial models by unit:

Transition to abstract representations (when and how):

Connections between representations made explicit:

Map major assessments across the year, including those aligned to high-stakes tests.

Unit assessments by week:

High-stakes test alignment (which units align to which test domains):

Diagnostic assessments (beginning of year, mid-year):

Intervention windows for students below grade level:

Map where math connects to real-world applications and other subject areas.

Unit 1: Real-world connections (e.g., fractions in cooking, measurement in science):

Unit 2:

...

Cross-curricular connections (science data analysis, social studies statistics):

Community or career connections:

The Flip Perspective

Mathematics curriculum maps work when they are honest about the sequence in which understanding builds, not just the order textbook chapters appear in. This map helps you sequence units so conceptual understanding precedes procedural fluency, make spiraled standards visible across the year, and identify where the curriculum makes connections across mathematical strands.

See what our AI builds

Adapting this Template

For Math

Use the Math Map structure to frame problem-solving sequences, letting students work through examples before formalizing procedures.

About the Math Map framework

Mathematics curriculum mapping has a unique challenge: math learning is highly sequential, but the sequence is not always obvious. Some concepts must come before others (addition before multiplication, fractions before ratios). Others spiral, appearing repeatedly across grade levels with increasing sophistication. A good math curriculum map makes both the prerequisites and the spiraling explicit.

The spiral curriculum in math: Most mathematics curriculum standards are designed as a spiral: students encounter the same concepts across multiple grade levels, with increasing depth and complexity each time. A math curriculum map should show which standards are introduced this year, which are revisited with greater depth, and which are reviewed and extended from prior years.

Conceptual development arc: A math curriculum map should sequence units so that conceptual understanding builds before procedural fluency, and both build before application. Units that introduce new mathematical objects (fractions, variables, proofs) should appear before units that require fluency with those objects.

Connecting representations: One of the most important decisions in a math curriculum map is when to introduce different representations (concrete, pictorial, abstract) for key concepts. The map should show where manipulatives are introduced, where visual models are used, and where students transition to abstract symbolic work.

Application and connection: Math curriculum maps that consist only of content strands (algebra, geometry, number, statistics) miss opportunities to connect mathematical ideas across strands. Effective math curriculum maps identify places where multiple strands connect, where statistical reasoning requires proportional thinking, where geometric measurement involves algebraic modeling.

Vertical coherence: More than any other subject, math requires vertical coherence. Each year's curriculum must build on the previous year's and create the foundation for the next. A math curriculum map should be designed with knowledge of the prior and subsequent grade-level maps.

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.

Scope & Sequence

Document the breadth and order of your curriculum: what you will teach (scope) and in what sequence, to ensure coherent vertical alignment and consistent coverage across classrooms or grade levels.

Pacing Guide

Create a realistic week-by-week pacing guide that maps instruction to the school calendar, accounting for testing, holidays, and built-in review time so you know in advance where pacing will be tight.

Math Unit

Plan a multi-week math unit with conceptual coherence: from building number sense and procedural fluency to applying skills in context and developing mathematical reasoning across a connected sequence of lessons.

Experience the magic of Active Learning

Want a ready-to-teach lesson, not just a template?

Our AI takes your subject, grade, and topic and builds a ready-to-teach lesson with step-by-step instructions, discussion questions, an exit ticket, and printable student materials.

Try it free

Frequently asked questions

Prioritize depth over breadth for the foundational concepts. Some standards can be taught briefly in context without extended explicit instruction. Identify which concepts are load-bearing (the ones future learning depends on) and protect their instructional time even when pacing is tight.
Build diagnostic assessments into the beginning of the year and into each unit. Map intervention windows explicitly, times when students with gaps can receive targeted support without missing new instruction. This is hard but essential; pretending all students arrive at grade level is the most common math curriculum fiction.
Color code or tag standards that appear in multiple units. For each spiral appearance, note the specific way the standard deepens or extends, not just that it appears again, but what is new about this encounter with the concept.
A curriculum map is typically not the right level of detail for specific instructional strategies; those belong in unit plans and lesson plans. The exception is high-level pedagogical commitments (we use a CPA approach: concrete, pictorial, abstract) that should be consistent across the curriculum.
Annually, at minimum. Math curriculum maps should be revised based on assessment data (which units produced the most gaps?), teacher experience (which units took much longer than planned?), and standards changes. A math curriculum map that has not been revised in three years is almost certainly outdated.
Math is one of the subjects where active learning has the strongest research base. Your curriculum map can identify which units lend themselves to manipulative-based exploration, which to collaborative problem-solving, and which to structured mathematical discourse. Mapping these approaches at the curriculum level ensures students get varied, hands-on experiences throughout the year. Use this map for the big picture and Flip to generate the individual lessons that bring each unit to life.
← All lesson plan templatesExplore active learning methodologies →