Brierley’s MYP Unit Planner Help

Select the group you want to plan for. Think about a unit you would like to develop. It can be based on your interests, student interests, or perceived student needs.

Obtain a copy of the official MP unit planner template

Make an entry in the “Prior to teaching the unit” reflections section of the unit planner to outline your initial thoughts.

Identify the key and related concepts and a global context for this unit.

Synthesize the concepts and the global context to produce the statement of inquiry (SOI).

The statement of inquiry does not use proper nouns, personal nouns or pronouns. The verb is present tense.It contains at least two concepts and a reference to the global context.It is a transferable idea supported by factual content.

Proper nouns - names of people, places or organizations (UN, Ulan Bator, Una) Personal noun - noun created from another noun, verb or adjective (terrorist, employee, teacher). Personal pronouns - I, you, we, he, she, me, you, her it, us etc.

Use the statement of inquiry to design three inquiry questions for the unit: one factual, one debatable and one conceptual

Think of possible responses to the questions, similar to the ones students could come up with.

Adjust on the basis of possible responsesDeepen the inquiry by creating lines of inquiry that embed key and related concepts.

Add more inquiry questions, but not too many. The fewer there are, the easier planning and student learning will be.

The questions frame the scope of the study but do not limit student initiated inquiry questions.The questions are drawn from the SOI.The factual questions are open so that there will be several variations in answers.The conceptual questions start with “How ...” or “Why ...” or something similar.The conceptual questions unpack a concept or a relationship between concepts.The debatable questions start with “Do ...” or “Is ...” or something similar.The debatable question will provoke discussion.

Identify which of your subject’s objective(s) could provide an authentic summative assessment task for your unit.Don’t choose too many objectives or you risk losing focus and coherence.

Design a summative assessment related to the SOI which addresses the objective strands.Use GRASPS to develop depth and complexity.

Determine which specific strands can be used in your summative assessment task(s)

Adjust until the summative assessment task and objectives meaningfully align

There is a demonstrated relationship between the summative assessment task(s) and the SOI.The task allow for each of the selected objective strands to be met.The task allow students to engage with the concepts of the unitThe task allow students to engage with the global context of the unitThe task give students the opportunity to reach the highest descriptor band for each strandThe command terms are used appropriately and effectively in the taskThe summative assessment is an authentic task, aligned to real world experiences

Analyze the objective strands to locate the ATL skill(s) within the category and cluster. Add the ATL skills in the following format:In order for students to [strand], students must [skill indicator]

These ATL skills will be the skills to be explored in the unit.These ATL skills will be explicitly taughtThese ATL skills align with the objectivesThese ATL skills are essential for student success in the unit

Create a teaching and learning strategy for each of these skills. [These go in the Learning Process box of the Action section of the planner.]

Each strategy helps students to be metacognitive thinkers of self-regulated learners

Create task specific clarifications for all your formative tasks. Analyze the tasks to break them down into simpler steps, redraft the objective strands clarify the expectations of any given task with direct reference to the published assessment criteria.

Goal: “Your task is ...”Role: “You are a ... “Audience: “Your audience is ... “Situation: “The challenge involves dealing with ...”Product, Performance or Purpose : “You will create a ... in order to ...”Standards and criteria: “Your performance needs to ...”

From Wiggins & McTighe: Understanding by Design

Create a task specific clarification for your summative assessment task. Think about how you clarify the objective to promote student success. Clarifying phrases such as "At least…", "Not more than…" or "A range of…". can help a lot,

Use the Y-chart below to create formative learning experiences each based around one of factual, procedural or conceptual knowledge to help students build towards the summative assessment.

How will you formatively assess each learning experience?

How will you differentiate each learning experience so that it is as inclusive as it can be to all students?

Mark Brierley 2015 v.1.2 2015-01-06

Can I include International Mindedness, learner profile attributes, Service as Action and QAIS values in this unit of work?