Planning for back to school is actually one of my favorite times of the year. It can feel overwhelming at first, but can be a breeze with a good plan.
A scope and sequence is the first place I start when planning for the upcoming year. I want to lay out what I am teaching and how that content fits into a year of school. You may see a scope and sequence called a pacing guide or a year-at-a-glance. From here, I plan each week, lesson, or unit.
The scope and sequence is a perfect planning tool if you are planning your own curriculum for the year. But, even more important, it is a good tool for gauging how good a curriculum is. When you are shopping for a high quality, engaging curriculum, the scope and sequence will help you see if everything you need to cover is well covered.
A few tips for a well-planned scope and sequence:
- Start by reading over the learning standards and seeing which standards need to be grouped together. Then, think about any special days, holidays, themes, projects, or test dates that need to be figured into the mix.
- Plan a week for unit tests. This gives you time to review, test, reteach, and retest as needed. Plus, it makes a great cushion for when units don’t move as quickly as planned.
- Plan a highly engaging STEM unit for the end of the year. Its the best way to keep learning going and keeping that ‘Summer’s almost here’ behavior at bay.
- Plan a detailed scope and sequence for each subject. Then, make a quick reference overview scope that shows each subject you teach each week of the year.
- Add in a unit-by-unit plan for a very detailed look at each unit. This might include learning goals, guiding questions, key terms, lesson activities, formative assessments, summative assessments, and projects.
I have some scope and sequence plans already made that hopefully can help you plan your year. If you teach 2nd, 4th, or 5th Science (or even preschool), then grab these FREE plans and your year is already planned for you!!
5th Grade Science
4th Grade Science
2nd Grade
Preschool
{Click the image to grab the material bundles}
More Free Planning Tools
FREE Lesson Planning Templates
My TPT store is a collection of resources to make planning, prepping, and teaching a breeze! My goal is to stock it with what makes your teacher life easier and save you time & sanity. I have several full-year curriculum options plus tons of weekly and daily resources to plug into your year as you need them.
I hope this helps give you a great start to planning your new school year!! As always, let me know if there is anything I can help with!! HAPPY PLANNING!