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Creating IB MYP Unit Plans

The ManageBac+ Team
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Quick answer

Create MYP units and learning experiences from a class or with Quick Add (+) on any page.

  • ManageBac+
  • How-To
  • Teacher

Create and edit IB MYP unit plans

For Middle Years Programme teachers. Create a unit, plan it with colleagues in real time, add resources and assessment, then export it as a PDF.

Screenshot: Units tab of an IB MYP class, with the Classes menu open in the left-hand menu
Where to find it: Classes > your class > Units
Stage What you do
1. Create a unit Quick Add or the class Units tab
2. Find your way round the planner Tabs, collaboration and navigation tools
3. Plan and Inquiry Basic details, concepts, global context and curriculum
4. Action and Reflection Assessment, Learning Experiences, standards and reflections
5. Lessons & Resources Lessons, resources and imports
6. Assessments tab Tasks and assessment coverage
7. Export a PDF planner Single or bulk PDFs

1. Create a unit

From the Quick Add menu

Screenshot: Quick Add (+) menu in the header
Quick Add opens from any page.

Select the Quick Add (+) icon in the header of any page. From here you can create a unit or task, or upload resources to an existing unit, without opening a class first.

From your class

  1. Open the classChoose your class from the Classes menu, then select the Units tab.
  2. Add the unitSelect Add Unit at the top of the Units tab, or Import Units to bring in existing units.
  3. Enter the basicsOn the Add Unit page, choose the Unit type (Standard for a single subject, or Interdisciplinary), add a Title and set the Timeline. Required fields are marked *.
  4. Create itSelect Add Unit, or Add and Set Up to carry on setting the unit up straight away. You can then fill in the sections below.
Screenshot: Add Unit form for an MYP class with Unit type, Subject, Share with, Title, Timeline and draft options
Choose the unit type, fill in the details, then add the unit.

After you enter the basic details, the full in-line unit template opens.

📝 Note

ManageBac+ provides default MYP unit templates, and your school can customise them in Settings. The screenshots in this guide use a demo MYP unit, so your sections may differ.

Planner tabs

  • At-a-Glance: a read-only summary. This is what students and parents see. Upload a cover image to make the unit stand out. You can resize and move the image to fit.
  • Planner: in-line edit mode, so you can browse the whole unit while editing.
  • Lessons & Resources: add lessons, tasks, online lessons and resources, then link resources to each lesson.
  • Assessments: add tasks and assessment coverage.

Plan with colleagues

Screenshot: A planner section in edit mode with Discard Changes and Save Changes
Edit Section opens a section in place.
  • Real-time Editing: select Edit Section on any section. Colleagues' edits appear without refreshing. Select Save Changes, or Discard Changes to undo.
  • Online Presence: the thumbnail of whoever is editing shows next to the section header. Your own thumbnail is circled in orange. A green circle shows an author is online.
  • Collaboration: several teachers can plan at once. Authors and editors show under Authors and on the section they are editing. The Edit Lock stops others changing a section while someone is editing it.

Navigation tools

Screenshot: Unit Outline open beside an MYP planner
Unit Outline links to each part of the planner.
  • Unit Outline: a menu showing overall progress, with quick links to each part of the planner. Select Unit Outline at the top of the Planner tab to show or hide it.
  • Ongoing Reflections: select the speech bubble icon to open reflections on the right. Use @mentions to bring in teachers and admins. This works on every unit component, such as Curriculum, Connections and ATL Skills.
  • Share & Star: select the three dots icon in any section to share a direct link with colleagues, or star the section to highlight it.
  • Guidance: while editing a section, select the ? icon to see the IB MYP From Principles into Practice and/or Standards & Practices notes.
  • View other Units: select the unit name to jump to other units in the class and cross-reference your planning.

3. Plan and Inquiry

Screenshot: MYP planner with the Details panel open
The Details panel holds the unit actions.

Edit the unit in the Planner tab. Select the Details (i) icon on the right to open the Details panel. From here you can add resources, duplicate, export or delete the unit, import tasks, share the unit to the Global ResourceBank, and see when it was last updated. Add unit authors from the Members panel.

📌 Good to know

The Add Author list shows any teacher of a class with the same subject and year level as the unit. Teachers can also add themselves as an author.

MYP units follow the four parts of the Unit Outline. You can work on them in any order. The Lessons & Resources and Assessment tabs hold extra content for the unit.

  • PLAN
  • INQUIRY: establishing the purpose of the unit
  • ACTION: teaching and learning through inquiry
  • REFLECTION: considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry

Plan

Screenshot: Summary section of an MYP unit
  1. Basic detailsEdit the title and unit template (if there is more than one).
  2. TimingSet the unit start week and duration.
  3. SharingShare the unit with other grades. To make it an Interdisciplinary Unit, select additional subjects to share it with.
  4. StatusSave the unit as a draft, or archive it.
  5. SaveSelect Save Changes to keep your changes and move on.
⚠️ Warning

The unit's original subject is always the subject of the class it was created in. You cannot remove a grade level while editing from a class of that grade. If the unit is shared with several grades, open it from a class in a different grade to remove the one you do not want.

Inquiry: establishing the purpose of the unit

Screenshot: Key and Related Concepts section

This section brings together several tabs from earlier MYP planners, in this order:

  • Key and Related Concepts: Key Concepts, Related Concept(s) and Other Related Concepts
  • Inquiry: Conceptual Understanding and Global Context
  • Statement of Inquiry and Inquiry Questions
Screenshot: Inquiry section with Conceptual Understanding, Global Context and Statement of Inquiry

The planner is one continuous document, so you can edit any section without switching tabs.

Screenshot: Curriculum section of an MYP unit

Find and select MYP subject-specific content in the Curriculum section: Aims, MYP Objectives, Content (topics, knowledge, skills), Skills, and Standards and benchmarks. Interdisciplinary units also show Interdisciplinary Aims and Objectives. ATL Skills, Developing IB Learners and Connections (including Service as Action) follow. Admins can turn Unit Outline components on or off for each template in Settings, so the MYP planner fits your school.

4. Action and Reflection

Action: teaching and learning through inquiry

Screenshot: Assessment section with Interdisciplinary and Formative Assessment

This section has two parts. Assessment covers Formative Assessment, Summative Assessment and MYP Assessment Criteria. Learning Experiences covers Learning Experiences and Teaching Strategies, and Differentiation.

Screenshot: Learning Experiences section

Anything you add to the Assessment part also appears in the Assessment tab at the top of the unit, so you only enter it once.

Standards and benchmarks

School administrators can add their own standards and benchmarks for teachers to select in unit plans.

  1. Open the sectionGo to Curriculum > Standards and benchmarks and select Edit Section.
  2. Add standardsSelect Add Standards.
  3. FilterUse the Standards Set, Subject and Grade drop-downs.
  4. ChooseSelect the standards you want. Green standards are already in the unit.
  5. ConfirmSelect Add Standards, or Add & Continue to add more.
  6. SaveThe standards appear as checkboxes. Select Save Changes to show them in the unit. To remove a standard, untick it on the Standards Edit Section page.
💡 Tip

Can't see the standards you need? Your administrators may not have enabled them yet. Ask an administrator to follow the enabling standards process.

Reflection: considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry

Screenshot: Reflections section with Prior to studying the unit, During the unit and After the unit

Use this section to reflect together on the unit under Prior to studying the unit, During the unit and After the unit. Reflections are organised by academic year, so you can revisit last year's at the start of the new year.

5. Lessons & Resources

Screenshot: Lessons & Resources tab with Lessons Outline and the Add buttons
Lessons & Resources lists lessons first, then resources.

Lessons and resources

  • The tab lists your Lessons first, then Resources. Use Add Resource, Add Lesson, Add Task or Add Online Lesson at the top.
  • Resources must be linked to a lesson to be visible to students and parents.

Resources

Create Website and Video links, upload or link Files, upload Photos, write a journal Note or add files from Google Drive.

In the Resources list, filter by audience or Resource Type, then select Link with Lesson to attach a resource to a lesson.

📝 Note

There is no limit on the number of resources, but each file must be under 500 MB.

Import from the Resource Bank

Screenshot: Add Lesson menu with Add Lesson and Import Lesson(s)

In Lessons & Resources, select Add Lesson > Import Lesson(s) to import units and lessons, with their resources, from your school (My School), the Pamoja Lesson Suite or the Global ResourceBank.

  1. Choose the sourceSelect the My School, Pamoja Lesson Suite or Global ResourceBank tab.
  2. Choose the unitUnder Select a unit, pick the unit to import from. Use the keyword search to narrow the list.
  3. Choose the contentSelect the lessons and the resources to import.
  4. ImportConfirm the import. The lessons and resources are added to your unit.

Lessons

Screenshot: Add Lesson dialog with Title, Teacher Notes, Description & Guidance and date fields
  1. StartSelect Add Lesson > Add Lesson at the top of the Lessons & Resources tab.
  2. Add detailsEnter a Title. Teacher Notes (teachers only), Description & Guidance (students and parents), and the start and end dates and times are optional.
  3. CreateSelect Add Lesson. It appears in the Lessons list.

Link resources to a lesson to organise the unit by weeks, topics or individual learning support. Select Open Presentation Mode on a lesson to present it in class.

6. Assessments tab

Screenshot: Assessments tab of a unit

To create tasks and add assessment coverage quickly, use the Assessments tab at the top of the unit.

7. Export a PDF planner

Screenshot: Export to PDF menu with Export and Export with all Reflections

In the Planner tab, open the Details panel, select Export to PDF, then choose Export or Export with all Reflections.

To export many units at once, go to Insights > Curriculum > Whole-School Curriculum > IB Middle Years > Bulk Generate PDF Planners.

Screenshot: Bulk Generate PDF Planners in the Whole-School Curriculum
💡 Tip

Download your planners as PDFs once a term or once a year so you keep a local copy.

Webinar and FAQs

Watch: Middle Years Programme unit planning webinar

Covers admin set-up in Settings, editing the unit plan layout, requesting standards imports, and unit planning for teachers and coordinators. Presented by Kay Holl, ManageBac+ Support Associate, with guest panellist Shaina Manning, MYP Language & Literature teacher at Signal Mountain Middle/High School.

How do I add my state standards to unit plans?

Go to Settings > IB Middle Years > Curriculum > Standards. Add standards manually with a Header, Sub-Header and Standards, or ask us to import them with Request Custom Standards. See Adding Standards as an Administrator.

How do I add myself as a unit author?

Units are shared with every class of the same subject and grade level. A teacher can be added as an author if they teach a class of that subject and grade. See adding authors to units.

Where can I quickly reorganise my units?

Go to Insights > Curriculum > Whole School Curriculum. Each tile is a unit, and you can drag tiles along the calendar to reorder them. See Viewing the Whole School Curriculum.

What is the difference between a Learning Experience and the Learning Process?

The Learning Process is all the learning open to the student during a unit. A Learning Experience is a single episode of learning within the unit.

🔗 See also

Questions?

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