Planning for Instruction:

A step-by-step guide
Long-Range Planning:
What am I going to teach this year?

At the beginning of the school year:

1. Go through the grade-level /cycle curriculum (QEP) and identify the subject areas
that you are required to teach.
2. For each subject area, list the competencies (as well as the related key features, and
evaluation criteria) that students need to achieve by the end of the year or cycle.
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” - Proverb

3. Catalog the essential knowledges that should ideally be covered in class.

4. Consult the school calendar and determine the amount of time that is going to be
available for instruction over the next ten months. Do not forget to take
interruptions into account [i.e. holidays, celebrations, examination periods…].
5. Attempt to outline a sequence for teaching the identified essential knowledges.
Determine what time of year would be best to introduce specific concepts.

Intermediate-Range Planning:
What am I going to teach this term/over the next few months?

At the beginning of each term / Every month:

1. Revisit your long-range plan. Remember that it is not set in stone! Make adjustments
if necessary.
2. Find a theme that interests the students, that takes into account certain variables
(such as the seasons, world/local events/news, holidays…), and that allows you to
introduce specific essential knowledges as well as to assess targeted competencies.
Create an interdisciplinary unit associated with that theme. Pinpoint the
competencies and essential knowledges that you wish to teach, assess, and evaluate
during the unit. Decide how long the unit will be.
3. Begin to outline learning activities that incorporate the selected elements.

Short-Range Planning:
What am I going to teach this month/week/tomorrow?

At the beginning of every month/week:

1. Design learning activities that tie into the interdisciplinary unit that you planned.
2. For more information on how to create engaging learning activities, please refer to
“Comment structurer une activité d’apprentissage” [next page].

JULIE POTHIER (2012)