Lesson Plans & Curriculum Maps

Lesson Plans

Pacing Guides

Curriculum Maps

• Lesson plans are the most basic level of curriculum planning
• Allow teachers to plan out the details of individual lessons or activities
• Typically include standards and learning objectives
• Lesson plans vary in extensiveness, some are for one class period, while others are up to 10 days

• "Curriculum mapping is a method of organizing and aligning instruction used to determine what is taught and when based upon national and state mandated standards" (Tunnell, 2022).
• Allow teachers to map out an entire school year or semester
• Typically provide multiple chapters or units of study
• Look at a longer period of time than a lesson plan
• Typically less detailed on individual concepts than a lesson plan

• Pacing guides may be added to curriculum maps to include an anticipated timeline.
• It can help teachers to stay on track in the curriculum to ensure they are able to cover everything
• Times are an approximation based on the timeline it has taken previous students to get through the curriculum
• Pacing may be altered slightly as needed to better differentiate for current students