How to write a unit of work from scratch

Planning a unit of work from scratch is a different kind of task from planning an individual lesson. It requires you to think about learning over time — what pupils need to know at the start, how that knowledge builds, what the cumulative understanding looks like at the end, and how you'll know whether they've got there.

Done well, a unit plan makes every lesson easier to plan, because the big decisions have already been made. Done poorly, it's an administrative burden that doesn't actually help anyone.

Start with the end

Before you plan the first lesson, be clear about what pupils will be able to do or understand by the end of the unit. This is not the same as listing topics to cover. It is a description of learning.

“By the end of this unit, pupils will be able to explain the causes of World War One, identify the key events of 1914, and construct a structured historical argument” is a destination. “By the end of this unit, we will have covered World War One” is a curriculum log.

The destination shapes the sequence. Work backwards from it.

Sequence the learning carefully

Knowledge builds, and the sequence matters. Pupils cannot understand causes of a historical event before they know what the event was. They cannot write a persuasive argument before they understand its features. They cannot add fractions with different denominators before they can find common multiples.

Map the dependency structure: what does each lesson assume pupils already know? What does it prepare them to learn next? A unit where lessons are in the wrong order is significantly less effective than the same content in the right order.

Build in assessment points

A unit plan should include two or three moments where you check whether the learning so far has landed — not a formal assessment necessarily, but a deliberate pause to see where the class is before moving on. If you discover a misconception two lessons before the end of a unit, you can address it. If you discover it in the test at the end, you cannot.

A practical unit planning structure

For a three-to-four-week primary unit, a structure that works consistently:

Lessons 1–2: Establish prior knowledge and introduce key concepts and vocabulary.

Lessons 3–5: Develop understanding through varied activities, building complexity gradually.

Lesson 6: Mid-unit check — exit ticket or short task, assess and address gaps.

Lessons 7–9: Apply and extend understanding, including higher-order tasks.

Lesson 10: Consolidation and end-of-unit assessment.

This is a framework, not a rule. The right structure depends on the subject and the class.