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What is Backward Design?

Within teaching, standards drive our lesson plans or our "lesson designs." The standards help teachers identify learning and teaching priorities. As teachers we ask ourselves, "what is the best way to design curriculum while using the standards to identify our priorities?"

Beginning with the end in mind, or "backward design" is a very focused instructional design that makes teachers take a step back and decide what content is worthy of understanding.

Understanding by Design states, "we can not say how to teach for understanding or which material and activities to use until we are quite clear about which specific understandings we are after"(Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p.14).

Backward design encourages teachers to plan with a purpose. When a lesson has purpose it leads to explicit instruction. When the students are receiving explicit instruction they are forming a deeper understanding. 

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Step one: What are the big ideas and important understandings students should remember? What are the enduring understandings?

Identify: The "essential question" students should be able to answer by the end of the lesson.

Step two:

How will I know if students have achieved the desired results? What will I accept as evidence of student understanding? This could look like:

  • Homework

  • Projects

  • Journal Entries

  • Any form of formative/summative assessment.

Step three: How will this lesson be taught?

Identify: Differentiation, Resources/Materials, Grouping...

Identify: Teacher-Student moves.

Steps to Create a Lesson Using Backward Design

Beginning With the End in Mind

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