Start from the statement of inquiry
Every MYP unit hangs on one sentence: the statement of inquiry. It joins a key concept, one or two related concepts and a global context into something students can argue with. If the sentence is vague, every lesson under it drifts.
Write it last-draft first. Read it aloud to a colleague from another subject. If they can picture what a Grade 8 student would be able to say at the end, it is ready. If they ask "meaning what?", it is not.
- One key concept, chosen for the unit, not the subject.
- Related concepts that a student could name in their own words.
- A global context that changes how the topic is taught, not just its title.
If a colleague asks "meaning what?", the statement is not ready.
Fix the criteria before the activities
The commonest unit plan starts with a field trip, a lab or a project, and works out the assessment in week five. Reverse it. Decide which criteria the summative task assesses, and which strands, before you choose a single activity.
Two criteria assessed well beat four assessed thinly. Students should be able to see the task-specific clarifications on day one, in their own words.
Plan the checks along the way
Formative checks are where the unit is steered. Plan three, spread across the weeks, each tied to one inquiry question: factual early, conceptual in the middle, debatable at the end.
Keep them small. An exit ticket that takes two minutes and is read the same evening does more than a quiz marked a fortnight later.
Reflect three times, not once
The reflection box is usually filled in after the unit, from memory. Use it three times instead: before teaching (what do we expect students to find hard?), during (what changed?), and after (what will we keep?). Five lines each is enough.
