American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

Issue: April 2009

Planning for Learning: A Simplified Method for Student-based Instruction
Kristi Mally

Abstract: Student learning is a complex process that requires purposeful, thoughtful planning and reflection on the part of the teacher. If concepts, skills, attitudes, and values are to be learned, they must be taught explicitly and directly. This article is meant to serve as a step-by-step planning guide for standards-based unit planning. The process, titled planning for learning (PFL), was created to simplify planning while maintaining alignment with standards and a continual focus on intended student learning. The planning process consists of (1) identifying an organizing center, which anchors all subsequent learning to the standard(s); (2) a careful analysis of the organizing center and the intended learning outcome for the entire unit, resulting in a list of prerequisite skills, knowledge, and dispositions, referred to as learning blocks; and (3) synthesizing and sequencing the learning blocks within a unit of time, so that students are given multiple and varied opportunities to work with the content.

Article category: Teaching