Curriculum Planning Process & Development

Try it risk-free for 30 days

An error occurred trying to load this video.

Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support.

Coming up next: Preschool Teacher Professional Development

You're on a roll. Keep up the good work!

Take Quiz Watch Next Lesson

Replay

Just checking in. Are you still watching?

Yes! Keep playing.

Your next lesson will play in 10 seconds

0:00 Preparation and Planning
0:55 Standards for…
1:53 Annual Lesson Plans
3:20 Unit Lesson Plans
4:18 Individual Plans
5:23 Lesson Summary

Add to Add to Add to

Timeline

Autoplay

Lesson Transcript

Instructor: Lindsey Pierron

Curriculum planning and development is a challenging but important process. If teachers use standards to write annual, unit, and lesson plans, they will ensure that their students are exposed to all necessary material in a given school year.

Preparation and Planning

When Mr. Nelson walks into his classroom at the beginning of the year, there are dozens of things for him to do. He needs to set up his classroom, organize supplies, put posters on the wall, arrange desks, decide on an appropriate behavior system, and most importantly, plan his curriculum. Curricular planning and development, the process of looking at the standards in each subject area and developing a strategy to break down these standards so they can be taught to students, varies according to grade level, subjects taught and available supplies.

In many districts, schools supply a complete curriculum in core subject areas, filled with teacher resources and student workbooks. In other districts, teachers are given a list of state, local or Common Core standards and asked to develop their own curriculum. Regardless of subject area or grade level taught, there are a few important factors for teachers to consider as they plan their curriculum, including standards and the breakdown of course material.

Standards for Curriculum Development

When planning and developing curriculum in any subject area, the first place to start is state, local or Common Core standards. Standards vary from state to state, and teachers are expected to know which standards to teach and how to teach them. Every lesson and unit should be tied to standards, and every grade level standard should be addressed at some point during the course of the school year. Standards should be presented sequentially, so students can build on previously learned skills.

Each subject area has specifically defined standards, but many times multiple standards are addressed within one project. For example, if a sixth grade student writes a research report on Thomas Jefferson, that student could be addressing reading, writing, research and history standards, all within the same assignment. Such opportunities are beneficial for students because they demonstrate the overlap in various subject areas and give students the chance to synthesize their learning. The example below shows how a history research report could hit six or more standards at the same time.

One report may address several standards at the same time.

('Social Studies,' 2014) and ('English Language Arts,' 2014)

Annual Lesson Plans

Planning curriculum has many layers and can be tedious at times. It's best to look at the standards that are required and start with a yearly plan. Students are expected to master several standards in every subject area, so having a general plan for the year that outlines the order in which skills will be introduced, instructed and repeated is important.

It would be helpful to have a calendar available to set up a timeline as a visual aid. Teachers who instruct all core subject areas and those who teach only specific subjects will likely approach this task differently. An elementary school teacher might find opportunities to hit standards in multiple subjects at once more often than a high school math teacher. With that said, there are often opportunities for cross curricular instruction in all subject areas.

To begin designing a yearly plan, an elementary teacher could start by looking at an individual subject, such as math, and sort through the resources provided by the school district. Oftentimes, teachers are given a textbook to use as a guide for instruction. However, textbooks are written for use in dozens of states and districts, so it's important for a teacher to examine the textbooks provided and look for which standards are addressed and which standards will require supplemental materials. Then, teachers can begin to plan accordingly.

Let's consider Mr. Nelson, a third grade teacher. As he is developing an annual plan for his math class, he would read through the standards and curriculum provided and plan his instruction from there. An example is shown below.

This displays a sample annual plan for third grade math.

Unit Lesson Plans

Once an annual plan has been established, the next step is to break the annual plan into units. If Mr. Nelson has established an annual plan, he can begin to look at each concept and determine how to approach each individual unit. In designing his units, Mr. Nelson will look at the individual strands that need to be taught. At this point, he will line up his units with standards to ensure every standard is touched on at some point during the school year. If he notices gaps in the curriculum, this is the point at which he will determine which materials he will need to supplement the textbooks.

Also, when developing units, Mr. Nelson will look for areas in which he may need to allow additional instructional time. Some topics are more complicated than others and might require additional repetition and opportunities to practice. If Mr. Nelson plans appropriately, he will provide a little bit of flexibility within his annual and unit plans. An example of a unit breakdown for the first several months of the year, using the Everyday Math curriculum, is shown below.

Planning units helps teachers see where there are gaps in the curriculum.

('Grade 3: Introduction,' 2015) and ('Third Grade Math,' 2015)

Individual Plans

After an annual plan has been broken down into units, the next step is to write individual lesson plans. Lesson plans should include a summary of specific skills to be addressed, materials needed, an instructional plan and standards covered by the lesson. For example, Mr. Nelson needs to teach his students about multi-step word problems utilizing all operations. The following is an example of a simple lesson plan he could create.

Mr. Nelson will create lessons for each unit instructed in order to ensure his students are exposed to all standards over the course of the year. When designing lessons, it's important that Mr. Nelson understand his students' needs and learning styles. Every classroom, particularly at the elementary level, has students with a variety of different skill levels.

For example, Mr. Nelson, who we mentioned is a third grade teacher, could have a student who is completing math work at a first grade level and another student who can work at a fifth grade level. Both of these students are in the same classroom as Mr. Nelson's other students, the majority of whom are performing on grade level for the third grade. Mr. Nelson needs to differentiate instruction in order to meet the needs of all of his students.

Lesson Summary

Curriculum planning and development can be tedious, but it is absolutely necessary for teachers in any type of classroom. This is a process of looking at the standards in each subject area and developing a strategy to break down those standards so they can be taught to students. The best place to start is an annual plan. In this stage of curriculum development, teachers look at individual subjects and available resources and determine the order of instruction.

Once a yearly plan is in place, teachers can start developing individual units to address broad concepts. After units have been established, teachers begin to plan individual lessons in order to teach and assess specific skills related to standards. Teachers need to be prepared to differentiate instruction and maintain a degree of flexibility in their plans to address the needs of every student in each individual class.

To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account

Register to view this lesson

Are you a student or a teacher?

Unlock Your Education

See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com

Become a Study.com member and start learning now.

Become a Member Back

What teachers are saying about Study.com

Try it risk-free for 30 days

Description

Summary:

Visit the Educational Psychology: Homework Help Resource page to learn more.

Earning Credit

Earning College Credit

Did you know… We have over 160 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.

To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page

Transferring credit to the school of your choice

Not sure what college you want to attend yet? Study.com has thousands of articles about every imaginable degree, area of study and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you.

30 day money back guarantee
Starting Original Price		/yr	/mo
	Just Just	/day
Discount For months	- % -	/
Price after trial Starting Price starting today		/
	Just Just	/day

Video: Curriculum Planning Process & Development

You must create an account to continue watching

Register to view this lesson

You're on a roll. Keep up the good work!

Just checking in. Are you still watching?

Recommended Lessons and Courses for You

Preparation and Planning

Standards for Curriculum Development

Annual Lesson Plans

Unit Lesson Plans

Individual Plans

Lesson Summary

Register to view this lesson

Unlock Your Education

See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com

Become a Study.com member and start learning now.

Summary:

Earning College Credit

Transferring credit to the school of your choice

Research Schools, Degrees & Careers

Browse Articles By Category

Recommended Articles

Explore our library of over 75,000 lessons

Your selected plan:

You are joining:

Students Love Study.com

Earn College Credit

Teachers Love Study.com

Did you know...

Video: Curriculum Planning Process & Development

You must create an account to continue watching

Register to view this lesson

Already registered? Login here for access

You're on a roll. Keep up the good work!

Just checking in. Are you still watching?

Recommended Lessons and Courses for You

Preparation and Planning

Standards for Curriculum Development

Annual Lesson Plans

Unit Lesson Plans

Individual Plans

Lesson Summary

Register to view this lesson

Unlock Your Education

See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com

Become a Study.com member and start learning now.

Summary:

Earning College Credit

Transferring credit to the school of your choice

Research Schools, Degrees & Careers

Browse Articles By Category

Recommended Articles

Curriculum Planning Process & Development Related Study Materials

Browse by Courses

Browse by Lessons

Latest Courses

Latest Lessons

Popular Courses

Popular Lessons

Math

Social Sciences

Science

Business

Humanities

Education

History

Art and Design

Tech and Engineering

Health and Medicine

Explore our library of over 75,000 lessons

You are joining: