Instructional Planning and Curriculum Design Aligned to Standards
Instructional Planning and Curriculum Design Aligned to Standards
This domain tests backward design, standards alignment, thematic planning, and proficiency-appropriate targets. Items often ask what to do first when planning a unit or how to align assessments with ACTFL and local standards.
Core rules and concepts
- Start with the end: identify desired results, then acceptable evidence, then learning experiences. Do not begin with a favorite activity.
- Anchor units in the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards and the five Cs: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.
- Write can-do objectives tied to a proficiency level and a mode of communication. A novice goal might be 'I can identify main ideas in a short menu,' not 'students will master food vocabulary.'
- Organize by themes and authentic tasks, not by a grammar sequence. Grammar and vocabulary are tools for the unit's communicative goals.
- Build in the three modes: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. A balanced unit assesses all three rather than only writing.
- Align assessments before activities; otherwise the unit may test something never practiced.
Worked example
A teacher plans a food unit. Backward design begins with the summative IPA: students interpret a short restaurant review, role-play ordering with a partner, and present a simple food guide. The teacher then selects standards, can-do statements, and formative tasks such as sorting menu items and rehearsing a complaint. The reasoning: each activity points to a required performance, and the grammar focus emerges from what students need to order and describe.
Traps that cost marks
- Listing activities first and attaching standards afterward.
- Writing vague cultural objectives such as 'students will appreciate culture.'
- Planning only grammar tests for a communicative unit.
- Setting targets above or below the learners' proficiency level.
- Forgetting that presentational and interpersonal tasks require different preparation.