Backward design with a real Year 10 History example

Backward design means choosing the learning first. Next, decide how students will show what they have learned. Then plan the lessons that help them get there. This gives each activity a clear purpose.

This guide follows a real Year 10 History example made in TeaCheese Lite. Students explore World War II and the Australian home front. The assessment, marking guide, four week unit and lessons let you see the connections for yourself.

For more detail and a blank template, read the full History unit example. The downloads here are the same original files.

Three simple planning steps

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe explain this approach in Understanding by Design. Their introduction to backward design sets out the three stages: choose the results, decide what evidence will count, then plan teaching. You can return to an earlier step when a task or lesson needs changing.

ACARA publishes its own curriculum planning guidance. This article uses the three planning questions to explain the History example. It does not claim that ACARA requires schools to use Understanding by Design.

Step 1: choose the learning

Start with the Year 10 History achievement standard and the content you will teach. This example uses two standard sentences. They look at change in Australia and the role of international events. Students also use historical knowledge and sources to explain ideas and support arguments.

The selected content descriptions are AC9HH10K04 for the Australian home front and AC9HH10S08 for historical writing using evidence. The teacher copy lists the choices and their links to the task.

ACARA’s curriculum files provide the official records. Keep that wording in your plan and guide. A short learning goal can sit alongside it to help students understand the focus.

What students are working towards

• Explain change and continuity in work and daily life during World War II.
• Use historical sources to support an explanation.
• Connect ideas about women’s work and government controls.
• Judge a claim about wartime change and support that judgement with evidence.

Keep the scope manageable. Four weeks can develop these selected parts of History. It cannot cover the whole Year 10 curriculum. Record where the other learning belongs in your wider plan.

Step 2: decide how students will show learning

Read the assessment before filling the lesson calendar. In this example, students judge a claim about how much World War II changed everyday life on the Australian home front. Their explanation uses women’s work, rationing, labour direction, change and continuity.

The saved task is individual work: 400 to 500 words in 50 minutes in Week 4. Students use evidence studied in class. There is no extra research or homework for the final task. Those conditions tell you what students need time to learn and practise.

ACARA’s curriculum and assessment guidance explains why the task needs to match the selected learning. Ask whether the work students produce will show the knowledge and skills you chose.

Use the marking guide while you plan

The guide is inside both assessment downloads. Its two equally weighted criteria are Knowledge and understanding, and Skills. C keeps the selected official wording. The other bands describe differences in the work students show.

Open the teacher copy to see the curriculum links, 4Cs notes and model responses. Use the guide to decide what to teach and what feedback to give. Teacher answers are examples to review against the actual sources your class uses.

Check learning before the final task

Plan short checks while there is still time to respond. Can students explain what a source supports? Can they connect a historical detail to their claim? A brief answer can show you what needs another example.

ACARA’s formative assessment guidance describes using evidence to guide teaching. In this sequence, source comparison, practice writing and feedback can help you decide what to revisit before the final task.

Step 3: plan the teaching and practice

Now use the unit to plan the route to the task. It has four weeks and two 50 minute lessons each week. Check that students get practice with both the historical ideas and the writing they need.

ACARA’s sequencing guidance describes learning that is introduced, strengthened and applied. Give students clear examples first. Let them practise with help, give useful feedback, then check what they can do independently.

The two lesson downloads make this easier to see. Lesson 2 compares a photograph, an employment table and a recruitment poster. Lesson 7 returns to practice writing and checks learning. Read them beside the task and guide to see the skill each activity is meant to build.

A named source is not a supplied source. Choose the actual historical material, check its accuracy and reading level, and prepare the questions and answers. Keep the review notes in view. Add your own detail to the shorter descriptions in the original unit.

Adjust support for your class while keeping the learning clear. You might explain vocabulary, model a paragraph or allow more guided practice. Check that any support used in the final assessment matches the task conditions and school policy.

Check that the pieces fit

If a gap appears, return to the part that needs attention. Missing writing practice calls for practice and feedback. An unavailable source calls for a suitable source and a check of the questions. Keep the curriculum and assessed demands in view when changing the plan.

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers connect planning, teaching, assessment and review. Keep notes that help you make those decisions. A short useful note is easier to act on than a long checklist nobody reads.

Common planning traps

Trying to cover the whole year at once

Choose the learning this unit can teach well. Show where the rest belongs across the year.

Starting with an activity alone

Making a poster or watching a video is an activity. First decide what students should learn from it and how you will check that learning.

Waiting until the end to check

Use short checks during teaching so students can act on feedback before the final task.

Treating one method as a school rule

Use your school’s required planning and assessment approach. Backward design gives you useful questions to ask within that approach.

Use the right curriculum for your school

This example uses Australian Curriculum v9. Your school may use a state curriculum or different planning requirements. Check the authority, version and official wording before adapting the example. See TeaCheese curriculum options for the product choices. The public curriculum directory on this site remains ACARA v9.

Try it with your next unit

1. Choose the curriculum and write a clear learning goal.
2. Decide what student work will show that learning.
3. Read the task and marking guide together.
4. Plan the knowledge, examples and practice students need.
5. Add feedback and quick checks before the task is due.
6. Check the dates, conditions and actual resources before teaching.

Use the full History example and blank template to try these steps. In TeaCheese Lite, choose and review each resource as you need it. Lite resources do not automatically join a Planning Wizard plan.

For a connected term or year plan, explore the Planning Wizard. It keeps curriculum maps, marking guides, assessments, units and lessons together. This article’s downloadable example was made in Lite.