Plan for Next School Year using a Curriculum Map – Organize the Year, Topics & Daily Lessons

As an elementary teacher, how do you plan for the upcoming school year? What factors should you take into account when planning yearly, and how do you effectively translate overarching concepts into daily lesson plans?

A school year plan is a helpful tool to reference each week as you create your daily lesson plans. Here is how I plan out my school year, determine the unit topics, and plan my sequence of instruction.

Planning is a big deal. It can take hours a week to plan well-crafted lessons that engage students and move them forward to the next level in their learning.

There are so many pieces that go into creating a week’s worth of lesson plans and it can be a daunting task. Get organized by creating a curriculum map for your year, plan topics for a few weeks, and then dive into the daily plans to make a smooth process.

Yearly Planning for Teachers: The Year-Long Plan, The Topics; The Daily Lessons

I’m a planner. I love planning and making sure that each piece of the puzzle fits well with the other pieces. I am one of those teachers who is motivated to plan because I know that my lessons and time with students will go much smoother for me with a little work on the back end.

You might not be a planner. That’s okay. You don’t have to get as detailed as I do in my plans. Even without the detail, there should be three components to your yearly planning: A Yearlong Plan, Unit or Topic Overviews, and Daily Lesson Plans.

These three components ensure that you can meet your district’s curriculum objectives, account for assessments, tie in content from different subjects, and meet your student’s needs.

A Yearly Plan for Teachers to Use in the Classroom

Why plan for next year? Yearlong planning enables you to see the big picture. It helps you align your standards, your assessments, your holidays and themes, as well as your larger units.

Yearlong planning is best done with a team of people, although you can do it by yourself. Our grade level sat down together and mapped out the math, social studies, science, language, and writing standards for the year. We use Common Core, so I simply copied and pasted the standards into our year-long plan for most of the areas.

Our plan for next year is arranged with the months on top (two pages for the whole year) and the strands down the side. There is one for ELA, one for Math, and a map for Social Studies / Science / Holidays / Assessments.

The picture above is where it was at the end our planning day. Not nearly done, but a good start! I revisit the map as I plan throughout the year and make adjustments as the year progresses. It’s definitely a working document. The beauty of it is that I can use it year after year, refining it as I go. Each year is a little bit easier to plan because of the map.

Would you like an editable copy of the Curriculum Map ? This is a blank template where you can fill in your own standards and topics for your classroom to help you plan for next year. It’s a template of the above image. The Curriculum Map Template is set up for elementary teachers who teach multiple subjects.

Here’s an older post on curriculum mapping that might give you some more direction, as well.

Are you interested in a second-grade math curriculum map? Check out this blog post. This curriculum map also includes resources that I used in my classroom to teach second-grade math.

Unit or Topic Planning Overview – Yearly Planning for Teachers

From the year-long map, I started to break down the standards into concepts and topics that I wanted to teach each day within a unit or over a few weeks. This template came from Teaching Maddeness. I downloaded it last year and adjusted it to fit my needs.

It has really helped me see the flow of everything. The above photo is the result at the end of the day, and not completely filled out. I obviously have a lot of holes to fill in! I purposely left a few blank spaces and some wiggle room. I don’t want things to be so tight that I’m feeling anxious about being behind, either.

This planner just has topics for each day, not lesson plans. It’s simply a way for me to see how the topics flow, if I need to spend a bit more time on something, or where I can “fit in” something else.

Another option for this format is to keep track of and plan small-group instruction. Here is another variation that I used another year to monitor my small group lessons. The black spaces are where I didn’t meet with that group on that day.

To find out how I organize my reading small groups, you can read about it in this Literacy Block Organization post. I have a pretty convoluted schedule to ensure that I am meeting with as many students as possible. But, it works and students make progress. It does take some planning, though!

Download the long-range planner from Teaching Maddeness and adjust it to fit your needs, as I have. The basic idea is that you’re keeping track of unit or daily topics with short notes that help you guide your daily lesson plans.

How to Plan Daily Lesson Plans using a Yearly Plan

My daily lesson plans are the backbone of my teaching, especially at the beginning of the year. I write down as much detail as possible so that I don’t forget anything. If I’m trying something new, I add even more detail to ensure the lesson goes the way I want it to.

One of the best resources I’ve found has been Planbook.com. With it, I’m able to create an electronic lesson plan. I love being able to cut and paste lessons from one place to another, create templates for our reading groups, and being able to see last year’s lesson plans with a few clicks!

I had a better photo with actual plans in it, then I realized that the lessons were from this book that I’m going to use to teach addition strategies. I told you I get detailed in my plans and I had so many details that I realized that I was giving away the information in the book! I can’t really give you content from the book, so you get a view of my daily schedule, instead.

The picture above is this year’s schedule. Things will change. I know. The beauty of Planbook is that my content will stay within the same boxes, even if I change the time or bump it to another day, or rearrange the schedule. My content is there. I love that!

All of my planning tools have become electronic. I really don’t like paper, for the most part. It gets lost, folded, and doesn’t look as nice. Plus, I would have to carry a traditional planner to and from home.

At this point in my life, I can type faster than I can write. It’s much more time-efficient for me to type up lesson plans and figure out the curriculum maps electronically. Another added benefit is that I don’t have to carry it home!

Plus, there’s just more room in Planbook. I don’t know what the character limit is, but I haven’t reached it, yet. I like being able to write in specifically what I’m doing before, during, and after a lesson. I like making sure there’s time for reflection. I can add in extra notes (for objectives) and standards (they’re all listed in there!). I can also share the plans with my teammates with a click of a button (or two).

One warning about Planbook, that I found out the hard way: Set up the year first, meaning the start and end, and any non-school days. I started using Planbook mid-year last year and then went back to add in non-school days that happened at the beginning of the year (because I’m OCD and I wanted my School Day Count to be accurate). It totally messed things up. The content was there, just moved around.

Here’s another post on planning, where you can see how I used to plan before the electronic tools, not so long ago.

So, how do you plan for next year? Do you have a year-long curriculum map? How do you know what to teach every day and where you’re going next?

Would you like an editable copy of the Curriculum Map ? This is a blank template where you can fill in your own standards and topics for your classroom. It’s a template of the above image. The Curriculum Map Template is set up for elementary teachers who teach multiple subjects.

42 Comments

Oh my goodness, I can’t even tell you how helpful this is for me! This week I was trying to organize all the standards/TE’s since our textbooks are not CCSS aligned yet. I especially love the information you gave on long range planning! I have been teaching an ESL program for almost three years, and now I am finally starting my first year as a mainstream teacher (first grade). Thank you so much for sharing the template. I also went and signed up for the free plan book trial!
Lauren
A Teachable Teacher

Hi Jessica 🙂 This is very helpful 🙂 I was wondering if one of your Grade 4 colleagues did the same as you. If so, that would be great ! Thank you 🙂 Mrs. Karine Fortin

Can you believe in 21 years I never had a long rang plan like this, but Amanda inspired me too! I’m working on my now and just need to fill in some holes here and there, but I already feel less stressed about next year. My partner usually does our plans, but I think we might look into Planbook.com I’ve heard good things!
Denise
Sunny Days In Second Grade

I would love to see the other half of your ELA plans. I’ll be in charge of our ELA planning for next year. It is always interesting to see how/what others are doing. Thanks.

Hey Jessica, I was wondering on the Teaching Madness’ site, when I go to download her topic plan for each day, I can only view it, not edit it since it’s in a pdf format. Is there some way for me to download it in an editable format without having to retype the whole thing and spend that time doing that? Please let me know. Sincerely,
Colleen Bruso

Hi, Colleen, It looks like this post has the link for the planner, but the link isn’t working. You may want to contact Amanda on her blog about it and see if she can send you the file. It’s been a couple years since I downloaded it from her. Hope that helps! Jessica

I just tried and it did not work. Every time I fall for those, I get really concerned if it is a scam. Probably not the case for this one, but this is the world we live in. Every time you click on a dang link, the odds are with us.

The email with the download link was sent about two hours ago. It may have gone to your spam or junk folder.

Hello! I discovered your blog after pinning a link to this fabulous post on Pinterest. As a third year teacher in fifth grade lesson planning is something that I do not feel effective and adequate with. I’m grateful for this post as it gave me a couple of resources to hopefully improve my lesson plans. Thanks a mil!

Thank you so much for this! Long-Range Plans are a part of the final licensure requirements necessary in my state to move from a provisional or annual license (anyone in their first two years, or anyone who has not met the requirements before beginning their third year of teaching) to a professional license that only needs to be renewed every 5 years. As a first year teacher who will soon be working on my LRP for next year, this has been REALLY helpful!

I am a second grade teacher and was wondering if you would be willing to share your completed curriculum map with me I love this idea and have been looking for something like this to get me motivated and organized for next year. Thanks!!

I love planbook.com, being in a testing grade we had various “boot camps” for test prep for a few weeks before each test cycle so I was able to create separate planbooks for those weeks that didn’t interrupt my regular plan template that I was able to jump right back into after testing was done, AND I now have those plans set for next year’s boot camps!

Great motivation for planning! I have been reading a lot on guided math and I really want to reorganize my math block. Non-negotiables for us is Number Talks and Guided Math groups. I have seen a handful of scope and sequences and I am using them to create my own long range planning. I am not finished reading up on your blog so I cannot wait to learn more about your approach. I feel like I spend hours and hours reading and getting more ideas and not settling on something. As soon as I start to map out my year I lose confidence as to whether I am getting the correct progression of mathematical concepts. Could you please share your long range plan with the week by week focus building on each other? I could truly use the help. I continue to read up on your blog . . .

Thanks for the comment! Here is a copy of my second grade curriculum map for math. I also have a few blog posts that outline some weekly lesson plans. I don’t have long range plans by week, however I am working on a few units, where you’ll be able to see the goals of each day and week for that unit.

So do you do all of your daily plans before the start of the year and then just edit them as you do your weekly plans?

Daily plans, no, I don’t have those planned for the year. I do plan the first couple weeks and sketch out the first month of school for some subjects, like math. In Planbook, I plan out my chunks of time and color code those within the program. One thing I’m sure to do every year is have a consistent routine. It’s so much better for classroom management and makes planning so much easier. I can just plug things into that routine.

wow! I have read this post four times just to be able to come up with a plan of action for my classroom. I love the whole year long plan and then moving to a more detailed plan later on. This is some great stuff. It sure has helped clarify where I should start . Thanks !

You’re welcome. It took me awhile to figure out how to plan this way. Anything I can do to make the lives of other teachers easier!

Thank you. I just edited mine for studying so that i can put my assignments on it that are due in those months!! This is a great resource for any type of work!

This is great information! I plan electronically, but I always have a paper printout…drives my principal crazy. Thanks,
karen

No, I don’t sorry. I just took our state social studies and science standards and placed them throughout the year.

The long range planning tools look great! As a new teacher, I am definitely looking forward to the days that I can start a year off with a better sense of where I am going. I tried to access editable copies of the tools, but it said the page did not exist after signing up for the list serv. Is there another way to access the resources? Thanks!

I can’t access the link to your grade two curriculum plans. Would you be willing to send them to me. I am so excited at all the ieads you have presented and it would help me so much in an area that’s challenging for me With thanks

Thanks for letting me know that the link wasn’t working! I’ve corrected it. Click on it above and you can download it.

Hi Jessica, Thank you for this very valuable information. Do you still use planbook.com? I’m considering choosing an online planner and can’t decide which one. Thanks again!

Hi Melissa, Chalk.com is exactly like Planbook but completely free. I would definitely recommend checking it out! 🙂

I love this post! All of our Missouri Standards have changed once again this year! For the most part ELA and Math are similar but I will be tackling all new standards for Social Studies and Science. I love the way you curriculum plan! I tried to download your free curriculum map and it says there is an error. Is there a way that I can have you e-mail it to me? crunde@nnr6.org Thanks so much!

HI! I love your Curriculum Map, Planning for the Year. That is genius. Each time I go to enter my email it says that page no longer exists. Is there any way I can still access that? Thanks so much!

Audrey, I tried to email you back, but the email was bounced back to me. Feel free to email me and I’ll get you the curriculum map.

I also love the way you curriculum plan Is there a way that I can have you e-mail it to me at bethdjust@gmail.com
Thanks so much!

Thanks for the suggestions as well as the templates for organizing a unit. I’m a visual learning and seeing things laid out together (as you’ve displayed) will help me see the big picture. If you have any other similar posts that you think of let me know!

I LOVE your Math curriculum map, do you have a copy of the Language Arts curriculum map on TPT? I would love to also see it! Thank you!

I never created a language arts version of the curriculum map. Although I had similar themes every year, I found that my whole group teaching was different every year and that most of my teaching took place in small groups, which varied depending on the needs of my students.

Thank you for a very useful blog post! How do I differentiate my planning with three grade levels in the same class? Do I make separate grading standards for each grade and then pick and choose those topics into monthly plans and daily plans? Thank you!

You’ll need some guidance from your admin for this type of classroom. What is the expectation for teaching the standards for each grade level? Most standards are similar between two grade levels, with added complexity. With three grade levels, it’s going to be more difficult to find the similarities, but they do exist. I would look at one domain in a subject, for instance, Writing, then see how you can teach it globally then how you need to differentiate it for each grade level. Then do the same for other domains. Reading will be easier. Depending on the grade level, math will have more differences between grade levels.

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Welcome! I'm Jessica.
My passion is making learning accessible to all students. I love scaffolding teaching, breaking down concepts, and building them up so students can see all the connections.
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