Unit Planner

The unit planner is a document for one unit of a course plan. It follows "backwards design": decide what you want students to understand, decide how you will know, and only then plan the lessons. You open it from a unit in a course plan.

You need the permission Write course plans.

Open it

1. Open Configuration → Assessment → Course plans and open a plan.
2. Find the unit, and press Open the unit planner.
3. Use Back to the course plan to return.

The planner has two modes: Edit and View. View is the clean page you would print or share. The Outline lists the sections so you can jump to one.

The sections

The skeleton is the same for every school. There are thirteen entries: a summary, then four stages.

Stage	Section	You write it?
Basic details	Unit summary	Yes. A short overview for students, families and staff.
Stage 1 — Desired results	Learning outcomes	No. Filled in from the lessons.
	Transfer goals	Yes. A list.
	Understandings	Yes. A list.
	Essential questions	Yes. A list.
Stage 2 — Evidence	Performance tasks	Yes. A list.
	Other evidence	Yes. A list.
Stage 3 — Learning plan	Pre-assessment	Yes. A list.
	Learning experiences	No. Filled in from the lessons.
	Formative assessment	Yes. A list.
Stage 4 — Reflection	While you are teaching it	Yes. Private notes.
	After you have taught it	Yes. Private notes.
	What the students said	Records per class (see below).

Each section has a prompt and a What goes here? guide. For example, for Understandings: "What exactly do you want students to understand? What should they be able to explain in their own words?" The guide separates a topic from an understanding. "The water cycle" is a topic. "Water moves between the sea, the air and the land in a cycle that never runs out" is an understanding.

Lists

Type in a list and press Add another. A section holds up to 60 items. At the limit MarkBook says "This section holds the most it can".

Two sections you cannot type in

• Learning outcomes is the union of the outcomes that the unit's lessons cover, with "in N lessons" beside each. To change it, tag outcomes on the lessons: Write the lessons on the course plan →. A second list would drift from the lessons.
• Learning experiences is the list of the unit's lessons. They are the same records a timetable slot points at.

If the Learning outcomes section is empty it says "None of this unit's lessons names an outcome yet". Nothing the unit assesses will reach reports until lessons are tagged.

Saving

The planner saves one section at a time. If a colleague edits a different section while you write yours, neither of you overwrites the other. Two people editing the same section is the only case where the last save wins.

The unit's Stage 4 reflections are your private notes about your own practice. They are never shown in lists of units or to anyone who cannot open the planner.

Panels on the side

Panel	What it shows
Planner overview	Written sections, Lessons, Outcomes, Sessions, and "Still empty": the sections you have not written. When every section is written it says "Every section is written." It also shows Taught between: the dates the unit was actually taught.
Insights	Coverage: how many lessons name an outcome. And "Each outcome, and how many lessons reach it". It shows where the unit is thin. Everything is read from the unit's own lessons.
Print the planner	Prints the View mode.

What the students said

This section records what students say about the unit. The planner works out which classes to ask from teaching: the classes that have had a lesson of this unit delivered. If the unit has not been taught, it says "No class has been taught this unit yet. Attach its lessons to timetabled slots and the classes appear here."

For each class:

1. Choose the class.
2. The roll shows every pupil, and "N of M have reflected".
3. Type what the pupil said in "What did they say?" and save.

Rules:

• You write it on the pupil's behalf. The screen says: "Recorded by you, on the student's behalf — students do not write here themselves." MarkBook has no pupil login for this.
• A pupil who has left the class keeps their words, marked "No longer in this class".
• Saving an empty text deletes the reflection. This keeps "not asked yet" different from "asked and said nothing".
• You see only pupils you may reach.

Example

Unit "Fractions", Year 9 Mathematics.

Section	Content
Unit summary	"In this unit, students compare, add and convert fractions and learn why they matter in recipes and maps."
Understandings	"Equivalent fractions name the same amount in different ways."
Essential questions	"When is a fraction more useful than a decimal?"
Performance tasks	"Scale a recipe for 30 pupils."
Formative assessment	"Exit ticket after lessons 3 and 6."
Learning outcomes	Filled in. "Adds fractions with the same denominator" in 3 lessons.

After teaching the unit to 9A and 9B, Mr Dumitru opens What the students said, picks 9B, and records a sentence from each pupil he spoke to. The count reads "18 of 24 have reflected".

Reuse and limits

The planner is part of the course plan, so it is written once for every class taking the subject. It does not have comments from co-authors, a cover image, or a separate set of skills. Performance tasks are text for now, not graded assessments.

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