Planning for Instruction

InTASC Standard #7: Planning for Instruction

The teacher plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.

Introduction

One of the most important aspects of teaching is preparing an engaging, standards-aligned lesson. As a Kindergarten teacher at an inclusive school, I plan for and teach all subjects to students who come from many backgrounds. I sue my knowledge of our content to create engaging cross-curricular lessons that demonstrate knowledge of my students and the community they are from.

One of my duties as Kindergarten Team Lead this year was to create a Curriculum Map, or longterm plan, for our Science/Social Studies class. We use similar standards and curriculum aligned longterm plans for every subject, and we use scripted curriculums for phonics (Fundations), comprehension (Wit & Wisdom), and math (Eureka Math). We do not use a curriculum for Science/Social Studies and instead plan units and lessons collectively based off of Louisiana State Standards and the created Curriculum Map.

After creating or referring to the Curriculum Map, my next step in planning is to create a unit plan which is an overview of what skills will be covered in particular lessons, spaced out to achieve a goal. In the following links, you can view our curriculum maps for Science/Social Studies and for Eureka Math.

Once I have consulted the curriculum map, I look over units individually to create a unit plan. These plans are a way to layout an overview of the module, including assessments, standards, and learning goals. This acts as an outline while we focus on a particular set of skills and standards to address. Unit plans keep instruction focused towards large goals and occasionally result in culminating projects.

After unit planning, I create individual lesson plans. These act as a culmination of the ideas expressed in the curriculum map and the unit plan being realized in the form of a classroom-ready lesson. Each teacher in my grade level creates lesson plans for different subject areas, and we share these lesson plans and internalize them individually. Lesson plans are then discussed and reviewed together at weekly content meetings to make sure that they align to unit plans and overarching goals.

I have also chosen to include another step of my planning in this section with a closer look at how arts-integration factors into my instructional planning process. Arts-integration remains an integral part of lessons at an arts-integrated school like Young Audiences. This usually takes the form of co-planning and co-teaching an art lesson with a Teaching Artist, but this can also involve solo lesson planning and teaching depending on the project. While arts-integration does not happen with every lesson every day, it remains a teaching tool which I draw upon often to increase student engagement in learning.

Please view the links below to learn more about each stage of my planning process.

Each of these stages of instructional planning are important in different ways, as they give me different perspectives on what I am planning. From looking at the big yearlong overview of the curriculum map, to the unit plan weekly or monthly view, down to the day to day planning of creating a lesson plan, each part of this process is necessary to help my students succeed and to stay on track with our timeline. Without following each stage, I would not be able to support all of my learners on their way to gaining the knowledge they will need to succeed in first grade and beyond.

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