Backwards design, without the four-page template

Backwards design has a reputation problem. The framework itself is sound — decide what students should walk away with, work out how you'll know they got there, then plan the lessons that close the gap. The trouble is the four-page template that usually comes bolted to it. This is the one-screen version: same logic, no Sunday-night time sink.

Start with the end in mind

Before you sketch a single activity, name the destination. Not the topic, not the chapter — the thing a student can do on Friday that they couldn't do on Monday.

What mastery actually looks like

"Understand fractions" is a topic. "Compare two fractions with unlike denominators and justify which is larger" is an outcome. The second one tells you exactly what the exit ticket has to measure, which means the lesson almost plans itself.

Writing the outcome in student language

Rewrite the outcome the way you'd say it out loud to a kid who missed yesterday. If you can't say it in one sentence without jargon, it's still a topic, not an outcome.

Decide how you'll know

This is the step most plans skip, and it's the one backwards design exists to protect. Pick the evidence before you pick the activities.

Evidence beats coverage

A lesson that "covers" the standard isn't the same as a lesson where you can see who got it. Ask: at what single moment will I have proof? Build toward that moment.

• One clear check is worth three vague ones.
• The check should be small enough to read in under a minute per student.
• If you can't grade it on the walk to the staff room, it's too big for a daily check.

Find the hinge moment

Every lesson has one moment where understanding either clicks or quietly stalls. Name it. For unlike denominators, it's the instant a student realizes the pieces have to be the same size before you can compare them.

If you only have time to plan one thing well, plan the hinge. Everything before it is setup; everything after is practice.

Sequence the lesson backwards

Now — and only now — lay out the minutes. Start from the exit ticket and walk backward to bell.

Open by activating, not reviewing

A warm-up should surface what students already know about the hinge, not re-teach yesterday. Thirty seconds of retrieval beats five minutes of recap.

Release responsibility on purpose

Model one, do one together, then let them try one alone — and make the "alone" attempt the thing you actually look at. Gradual release isn't a slogan; it's the structure that earns you reliable evidence.

Write the exit ticket first

Counterintuitive, but it works: draft the exit ticket before the lesson body. It forces the outcome to be concrete and gives you the finish line everything else points at. One or two questions, aimed squarely at the hinge.

Fit it on one screen

Outcome, evidence, hinge, sequence, exit ticket. Five fields. If your plan needs more than one screen, it's carrying weight that won't help you teach. Keep the template small and the thinking sharp — that's the whole trick.