From teacher-skills
Design a standards-aligned curriculum using backwards design — either a single unit or a multi-unit course scope & sequence. Use when a teacher wants to plan a unit or course from a topic, learning outcomes, or curriculum standards, producing enduring understandings, essential questions, aligned assessments, a sequenced learning plan, and built-in spaced review.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/teacher-skills:curriculum-builderThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Design a coherent, standards-aligned curriculum by working **backwards** — from what students should understand, to the evidence that proves they understand it, to the activities that get them there. Works at two scales: a **single unit**, or a **multi-unit course/term scope & sequence**.
Design a coherent, standards-aligned curriculum by working backwards — from what students should understand, to the evidence that proves they understand it, to the activities that get them there. Works at two scales: a single unit, or a multi-unit course/term scope & sequence.
This skill encodes well-established curriculum research. Don't drop the citations — they're what make the output defensible to a department head or inspector.
Use when a teacher asks to:
If outcomes are vague ("learn about the Romans"), first sharpen them into specific Know / Understand / Do statements before designing, and say you did so.
Pick the scale based on duration & scope.
Stage 1 — Desired Results.
Stage 2 — Assessment Evidence (designed before activities).
Stage 3 — Learning Plan.
Alignment check. Produce a table verifying every Stage 1 outcome is both assessed (Stage 2) and taught (Stage 3). Flag any outcome that's stated-but-not-assessed or assessed-but-not-taught.
# Curriculum: [Title]
**For:** [level] · **Subject:** [subject] · **Duration:** [duration] · **Framework:** [standards or "general"]
[Assumptions made, if any]
—— For a single unit (Mode A): ——
## Stage 1 — Desired Results
**Enduring understandings** · **Essential questions** · **Students will know** · **Students will be able to**
## Stage 2 — Assessment Evidence
**Performance task** · **Other evidence** (mapped to outcomes)
## Stage 3 — Learning Plan
[Lesson/phase sequence: what happens · what it builds toward · WHERETO element]
## Alignment Check
[Table: each Stage 1 outcome → assessed? → taught? → aligned?]
—— For a course (Mode B): ——
## Course Map
[Table: unit · enduring understanding · KUD · prerequisites · weeks]
## Skill/Concept Progression
[How a recurring skill deepens across units]
## Spaced Review Schedule
[When each prior unit is retrieved, at expanding intervals]
## Assessment Plan
[Formative checkpoints + summative tasks, each tied to outcomes]
Request: "8-lesson Year 9 Biology unit on natural selection."
Enduring understanding: Students will understand that organisms with traits better suited to their environment survive and reproduce more, passing those traits on — so populations change over time. Essential question: "If the environment changes, what happens to organisms well-adapted to the old one?" (recurring; answers deepen across lessons) Performance task — "The Island": predict, using natural selection, how a beetle population shifts after ash covers a green island — must use all four conditions and rebut the "beetles choose to change" misconception. Stage 3: Hook (unusual adaptations) → Equip (types of adaptation; the 4 conditions) → Explore (variation practical; selection simulation) → Rethink (revisit essential question) → Evaluate (performance task) → feedback & transfer (antibiotic resistance). Alignment check: every understanding/skill mapped to an assessment and ≥1 lesson; no gaps.
Frameworks and evidence base draw on the open Education Agent Skills library (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the primary sources it cites: Wiggins & McTighe (Understanding by Design); Biggs & Tang (constructive alignment); Hattie (Visible Learning); Cepeda et al. and Dunlosky et al. (distributed practice).
npx claudepluginhub isterin/teacher-skills --plugin teacher-skillsCreates, edits, and optimizes skills for Claude Code, including drafting, evaluating with test prompts, iterating on performance, and improving skill descriptions for better triggering accuracy.