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Curriculum Design and Lesson Planning

Articles | Books & Publications | Webinars | Featured Collection | Digital Learning | Experts & Events

Curriculum design and lesson planning is the process of developing lessons, assignments, units, and projects to teach students knowledge and skills. Curriculum design incorporates district- and state-mandated learning standards and objectives (e.g., Common Core State Standards). To define the specifics of how those objectives are taught in the classroom, teachers or groups of teachers develop lesson plans based on the curriculum.

Related Topics and Terms 

  • 21st century learning
  • Literacy
  • Active and project-based learning
  • Standards
  • Assessment and grading
  • STEM
  • Brain and learning
  • Student engagement and motivation
  • Differentiated instruction
  • Special education
  • Data collection and use
  • Struggling students
  • Global engagement
  • Technology
  • Instructional leadership
  • Understanding by Design®
  • Integrated curriculum
 

The New Teacher's Companion: Practical Wisdom for Succeeding in the Classroom - ASCD BookLesson Plans and Unit Plans: The Basis for Instruction

In this chapter of the book The New Teacher's Companion: Practical Wisdom for Succeeding in the Classroom, author Gini Cunningham provides an eight-phase lesson plan template that delineates the key components of great lessons and explains why it is important to write lesson plans that inspire and challenge students.

Read chapter  |  Learn about the book

 

Articles 

ASCD members can access all recent magazine issues and articles by logging in.

Powerful Lesson Planning - ASCD Educational Leadership October 2016

Powerful Lesson Planning

Lesson planning—Master teachers and beginners alike can have a love/hate relationship with it. In this October 2016 issue of Educational Leadership, our authors examine some of its seeming contradictions. They also look at what's new in lesson planning and what may be old but worth keeping.

Browse issue

  • Education Update: "Three Ways to Engage Students in Any Lesson," May 2018
  • Educational Leadership: The Global-Ready Student, December 2016/January 2017
  • ASCD Express: How Can UDL Help My Students?, December 14, 2017
  • ASCD Express: How to Begin and End Lessons, September 24, 2015

Browse the newsletters and publications archive to find more articles on this topic

Books & Publications

Explore free sample chapters, study guides, and author interviews.

Students at the Center: Personalized Learning with Habits of Mind - ASCD Book   Ensuring High-Quality Curriculum: How to Design, Revise, or Adopt Curriculum Aligned to Student Success - ASCD Book   Upgrade Your Curriculum: Practical Ways to Transform Units and Engage Students - ASCD Book   Learning Targets: Helping Students Aim for Understanding in Today's Lesson - ASCD Book  

Meeting Standards Through Integrated Curriculum

 

Ensuring High-Quality Curriculum

 

Upgrade Your Curriculum

 

Learning Targets

 

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Solving 25 Problems in Unit Design: How do I refine my units to enhance student learning? (ASCD Arias)

Solving 25 Problems of Unit Design

In this short book, Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins identify and describe the 25 most common problems in unit design and recommend how to fix them—and avoid them when planning new units.

Learn more

Browse more books on this topic

Webinars 

Access free professional development on demand and online.

  • Authentic Learning Means No More Test Prep! with Maureen Connolly and Vicky Giouroukakis (March 22, 2016)
  • Designing Lessons That Foster Deep Understanding of Complex Text with Kathy Glass (September 29, 2015)
  • Intentional Lesson Planning with Ceri Dean (May 21, 2013)

Browse all webinar archives

Featured Collection 

We recognize that just like students, educators have a variety of learning style preferences. Featured collections give you options for learning about specific topics or skills that affect student success.

Curriculum Mapping

Curriculum mapping is a seven-step process for creating and working with curriculum maps, from data collection to ongoing curriculum review. These books and videos, featuring Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Ann Johnson, offer concrete tools and resources to help you implement the process in your district or school.

 
  • Mapping the Big Picture
  • Getting Results with Curriculum Mapping
  • The Curriculum Mapping Planner
  • Curriculum Mapping: Charting the Course for Content DVD
  • Getting Results with Curriculum Mapping DVD

Digital Learning 

ASCD myTeachSource
In the ASCD myTeachSource® topic pack on Crafting Learning Objectives, you'll find teacher-driven articles, videos, checklists, rubrics, and more.

Learn more

ASCD PD in Focus
Designed with blended learning and group learning in mind, the PD In Focus® platform channel Curriculum Mapping features videos, resources, and tools to help you implement the process in your district or school.

Learn more

ASCD PD Online
Our award-winning PD Online® courses  interactive, in-depth, and self-paced online professional development courses for educators. Explore these courses, or browse the online course catalog for more options.

  • Differentiated Instruction: The Curriculum Connection
  • Sparking Student Creativity: Practical Applications and Strategies
  • Where Great Teaching Begins: Designing Learning Objectives for Effective Instruction

ASCD Streaming Video
The ASCD Streaming video platform delivers trusted professional learning to your laptop or tablet. Access more than 40 of our top-selling videos to learn at your convenience, including The Innovators: Integrating Literacy into Curriculum. Selected ASCD videos are also available on DVD.

Learn more and browse available titles

Experts & Events

ASCD Faculty members are available for on-site capacity-building professional development on curriculum design and lesson planning. ASCD can design a precise professional development plan, organized around our field-tested solutions, with a focus on the education foundations that make sense for you.

Learn more about ASCD Professional Learning Services

ASCD Conferences, One-, Two-, and Three-Day Institutes, and other special events frequently feature sessions about curriculum design and lesson planning.

Learn more about ASCD Conferences and Events

ASCD Express

Ideas from the Field

Subscribe to ASCD Express, our free e-mail newsletter, to have practical, actionable strategies and information delivered to your e-mail inbox twice a month.

Subscribe Now

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