The BC curriculum’s more concept and competency based curriculum, expects that teachers combine Big Ideas, Contents, and Competencies as they plan learning experiences for their students. The purpose is to create clear goals which will guide teachers to design assessments and activities to develop concepts and skills in their students.
The “Know-Do-Understand” Model (KDU) can provide a simple initial planning structure can can support planning with the end in mind (backwards planning). It allows you to consider the connection with and between areas of the curriculum. Think of it as a cycle – The big idea is what you want the students to ultimately understand as a result of their learning; The Know section is the curricular content… they need to know this in order to develop their understanding of the Big Idea; The DO section is what you want the students to be able to Do by the end of the unit (the skills they will practice throughout the Unit that help them learn the content and develop their understanding of the Big Idea(s)!) Wrapped around all of this are the Core Competencies (more about those in the video below and later posts)
The BC Ministry provides background on the KDU model in this “Starting Points in Planning” PDF. The video below, titled: KDU Model, was created by Lexie, UBC Teacher Ed Peer Mentor 2020-21, and provides a very brief overview of how to consider Know-Do-Understand as you plan for teaching and learning in your context.
Here is a blog post from Ariane, peer mentor Winter 2021-22, sharing her approach to planning as she learns more about our BC curriculum.
Planning Templates as starting points:
Below we offer a few templates that align with the KDU approach. Please remember, there is no ONE approach or specific template that is required when planning for your learners. Please feel free to use, modify, adapt & share. Additional samples can be found on the Teacher Education ‘Designing Learning’ blog.
- Unit-Plan-Template_Custom co-created with one of our TCs to meet their needs… remember, you can always customize and build what works for you!
- Unit Plan Template_differentiation & considerations for varied learners
- Adapted T and S say do lesson plan
- New-Lesson-Plan-Template-Refillable-Form1
- KDU template can support aligning curriculum as you begin planning a unit or lesson.
- KDU-Lesson-Plan-revised
The BC Ministry of Education provides some instructional samples including this overview or lesson brief of a primary Math Unit “Patterns and Circles” and this more elaborated lesson plan example “Collapse of a Society” for Middle Years learners.
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