Creating & Editing Unit Plans QuickStart Guide

At a glance

Programme	Planner sections	Full guide
IB Diploma (DP)	Plan, Design & Implement, Reflect	Creating IB DP & CP Unit Plans
IB Middle Years (MYP)	Summary, Inquiry, Action, Reflection	Creating IB MYP Unit Plans
IB Primary Years (PYP)	Plan, Design & Implement, Reflect	Creating IB PYP Unit Plans
Curriculum First (non-IB)	Curriculum, standards and your school's sections	Creating Curriculum First (Non-IB) Unit Planners QuickStart Guide

The basics in every programme

Add a unit

There are two ways to start a unit.

1. Quick Add, from any pageClick the Quick Add (+) icon at the top right and choose Create Unit Planner. The same menu adds tasks, lessons and resources without opening a class.

   

2. Or from your classGo to Classes, choose the class, open the Units tab and click Add Unit. To edit an existing unit, click its name.

   

3. Create the unitEnter a title, the start month and week, and the duration in weeks. Click Add and Set Up to open the full planner, or Add Unit to save it and plan later.

   

Unit tabs

Tab	What it is for
At-a-Glance	A read-only summary. This is what students and parents see. Upload a cover image to make the unit stand out.
Planner	Edit the full unit in one page.
Lessons & Resources	Add lessons, resources, tasks and online lessons, and choose whether each resource is for students and parents or for teachers only.
Assessments	Add tasks and assessment coverage.

The Planner tab

Open the Details panel on the right of the Planner to:

• Export the unit to PDF, with or without reflections.
• Duplicate or delete the unit.
• Import from the ResourceBank.
• See who last updated the unit and when.

Open the Members panel to see the unit authors and add authors to build the unit together. Teachers of a class with the same subject and year level can be added, and teachers can add themselves.

Planner sections can be edited in any order. Click Save Changes at the end of each section to keep your edits.

Plan with colleagues

Feature	What it does
Online presence	Shows which colleagues are in ManageBac+ and which section they are editing. Your name shows in orange.
Real-time editing	Colleagues' edits appear without refreshing. Click Save Changes, or Discard to undo.
Edit lock	Several teachers can edit different sections at once. A section another teacher is editing is locked, and their name appears on it and under Authors.

Getting around the planner

• Unit Outline: select Unit Outline above the planner to see your progress and jump to each section.
• Reflections: click the speech bubble icon to open reflections on the right. Use @ to mention colleagues and admins in reflections on any part of the planner.
• Share and star: click the three dots on any section to copy a direct link for colleagues, or star the section.
• Guidance: the current section is highlighted in the outline, blue when viewing and orange when editing.
• Other units: click the unit name in the breadcrumb at the top, or in Summary, to jump to other units in the class.

Lessons and resources

On the Lessons & Resources tab, use Add Resource, Add Lesson, Add Task and Add Online Lesson to add:

• Assessment tasks
• Website and video links
• Uploaded or linked files
• Photos
• Journal notes

Group tasks and resources into lessons, shown in the Lessons Outline on the left. In the Resources list, search or filter by type, choose whether each resource is For Students & Parents or For Teachers only, and use Change Lesson to move a resource into a lesson.

Import from the Resource Bank

Bring lessons and resources into your unit from other classes that share the unit. On Lessons & Resources, open the Add Lesson menu and select Import Lesson(s).

1. Choose the unitSelect the unit to import from.
2. Choose the classSelect the class the lesson experience was created in.
3. Choose what to importSelect the lesson experiences and the resources in them.
4. ImportClick Proceed, or Proceed and import Next to add more. The resources are added to your unit.

Lessons

1. Create oneClick Add Lesson on the Lessons & Resources tab.
2. Describe itEnter a title, description and duration.
3. Add resourcesAdd resources and tasks to the lesson. Use lessons to organise by week, topic or learning support.

   

Assessments

To create tasks and add assessment coverage only, use the Assessments tab at the top of the unit. Anything you add there also appears in the assessment section of the Planner, and the other way round, so you only enter it once. Your admin can change task assessment settings in Settings.

Save a PDF of the planner

1. Export one unitOn the Planner tab, open the Details panel and select Export to PDF, then Export or Export with all Reflections.

   

2. Or export in bulkGo to Insights > Curriculum > Whole-School Curriculum, choose the programme, open the actions menu (three dots) and select Bulk Generate PDF Planners.

   

IB Diploma unit plans

Units planned on the older ManageBac+ DP template have moved to the current DP template, where you can keep editing or archive them. The DP planner follows three parts of the Unit Outline: Plan, Design & Implement and Reflect.

Summary

Edit the unit title, template (if your school has more than one) and duration. You can share the unit with other grades, save it as a draft, archive it, or make it interdisciplinary by adding other subjects.

• The original subject is always the subject of the class the unit was created in.
• You cannot remove a grade level while editing from a class of that grade. Edit the unit from a class of another grade instead.

Click Save Changes to keep your changes.

Inquiry and curriculum

If your school's template includes it, the Inquiry & Purpose section starts with Conceptual Understanding, Global Concept and Statement of Inquiry, followed by Inquiry Questions.

Choose subject-specific DP content in the Curriculum section, in the Aims & Objectives and Syllabus Content tabs. Your school can turn Unit Outline parts on or off in Settings. See Customising Unit Planner Templates.

Standards and benchmarks

Track non-IB standards in the Standards and benchmarks tab of the Curriculum section. Admins add the standards your school uses (see Adding Standards as an Administrator).

1. Open standardsIn the Curriculum section, open the Standards and benchmarks tab, click Edit Section and then Add Standards.

   

2. FilterUse the Standards Set, Subject and Grade lists. Standards already in the unit show in green.
3. AddClick Add Standards, or Add & Continue to choose more.

   

If the standards you need are not listed, ask an admin to enable them.

Assessment and reflections

The Assessment section (Design & Implement) holds the unit's assessments. Anything added in the Assessments tab appears here, and the other way round.

Reflections & Evaluation is where teachers reflect together before, during and after the unit. Reflections are kept by academic year, so you can look back at last year's.

IB Middle Years unit plans

Video not showing in China? Watch it here.

The MYP planner follows four parts of the Unit Outline: Summary, Inquiry, Action and Reflection.

Adding an MYP unit and the planner tabs

Add an MYP unit in the same way as any other unit (see Add a unit). The MYP planner has Summary, Key and Related Concepts, Inquiry, Curriculum, ATL Skills, Developing IB Learners, Connections, Assessment, Learning Experiences and Reflections.

Summary

Edit the unit title, template and duration. Share the unit with other grades, save it as a draft, archive it, or make it interdisciplinary by adding other subjects.

• The original subject is always the subject of the class the unit was created in.
• You cannot remove a grade level while editing from a class of that grade. Edit the unit from a class of another grade instead.

Inquiry: establishing the purpose of the unit

Select Key Concepts and Related Concepts in Key and Related Concepts, then add Conceptual Understandings, Global Contexts and their Explorations, Inquiry Questions and the Statement of Inquiry. Choose subject-specific MYP content in the Curriculum section. Your school can turn Unit Outline parts on or off in Settings.

Action: teaching and learning through inquiry

This part has two sections, Assessment and Learning Experiences. Assessments added in the Assessments tab appear here, and the other way round.

Standards and benchmarks

1. Open the sectionGo to Curriculum > Standards and Benchmarks in the planner and click Edit Section.

   

2. Add more standardsIf the standards you want are not shown, click Add Standards to choose from every standard your admins have enabled.
3. Filter and addUse the Standards Set, Subject and Grade lists, then tick the standards you want. Click Add Standards, or Add & Continue to choose more.

   

If the standards you need are not listed, ask an admin to enable them (see Adding Standards as an Administrator).

Reflection, lessons, resources and PDF planner

Reflection is where teachers reflect together on planning, process and impact. Reflections are kept by academic year.

Lessons, resources and PDF planners work as in every programme. Bulk generate MYP planners in Insights > Curriculum > Whole-School Curriculum: choose IB Middle Years, open the actions menu and select Bulk Generate PDF Planners.

IB Primary Years unit plans

Units planned on the PYP Legacy template have moved to the IB PYP default template, where you can keep editing or archive them.

Add a Unit of Inquiry

1. Open your homeroom classGo to Classes, choose your IB PYP homeroom class and open the Units tab to see the units shared with the class.

   

2. Add the unitClick Add Unit. Enter a title, the subjects, an optional description, the start month and week, and the duration.
3. Add the essentialsOnce the unit is created, add the Central Idea, Transdisciplinary Theme and Lines of Inquiry in the Inquiry section.
4. CreateClick Add and Set Up.

   

Planning together in a PYP unit

Colleagues' names show in green and yours in orange. The Guidance panel shows your school's guidance plus From Principles into Practice and IB Standards & Practices notes.

Plan

Section	What you add
Summary	Year levels to share with, subject focus, start month, week, duration and hours (these place the unit on the class calendar and Whole School Curriculum), and a description for the class. Ticking draft unit hides it from the class schedule, students and parents. See Managing Units.
Inquiry	The Central Idea, the Transdisciplinary Theme and its descriptors, and Lines of Inquiry (click Add Line of Inquiry). Specialist templates leave out the Transdisciplinary Theme.
Learning Goals	Connections to past and future learning, learning goals, co-constructed success criteria, and outcomes from your Scope & Sequence by subject, phase or year level. To update your school's standards, submit a standards import request.
Specified and Additional Concepts	The specified concepts with their key questions, then any additional concepts for each subject focus.
Developing IB Learners	Learner Profile connections with a description.
ATL Skills	Click Add ATL Skills, choose a category and add a description. Search to find a skill.
Action	Opportunities for student-initiated action.

Screenshots of each Plan section

Design & Implement, and Reflect

• Assessment & Resources: ongoing assessment, tasks, resources, and opportunities for self-assessment and peer feedback.
• Learning Experiences: designing engaging learning experiences and supporting student agency. You can also create lessons on the Lessons & Resources tab.
• Reflections: reflect in each section and in a summary at the end, including subject-specific reflections. Reflections carry over with the unit each year; choose a term to see earlier years.

Screenshots of Design & Implement and Reflect

PYP lessons and resources

Lessons and resources work as in every programme. In Resources, search or filter by type, choose who sees each resource, and use Change Lesson to move it into a lesson.

📝 Note

Any resource in the Resources list can be added to a task. A resource that is already in a lesson cannot be added to a task.

Example: arranging lesson plan resources.

On the Planner tab, open the Details panel and select Export to PDF. Bulk generate from Insights > Curriculum > Whole-School Curriculum.

Curriculum First (non-IB) unit plans

Add a unit

1. Open the classChoose a class, open the Units tab and click Add Unit.

   

2. Create the unitEnter a title, the start month and week, and the duration in weeks, then click Add and Set Up. Units are shared with other classes of the same subject and grade level automatically.

   

3. Add the basicsAdd a Description in Summary, then Essential understandings and conceptual, factual or debatable Guiding questions under Inquiry.

   

Planning together in a non-IB unit

Planning together works as in every programme. To jump to another unit, click the unit name in the breadcrumb or the Summary section.

Curriculum and other sections

In Curriculum, choose the Aims, Objectives and Syllabus points for the unit, then click Save Changes. These are preloaded for subjects such as Pearson and Cambridge. In other sections, add text guidance and tick skills or dispositions, saving each section as you go. Nobody else can edit a section while you are editing it.

Standards and benchmarks

1. Open the sectionGo to Curriculum > Standards and benchmarks in the planner and click Edit Section.
2. Add more standardsIf the standards you want are not shown, click Configure Standards.
3. Search and addSearch by subject and filter by grade level or strand. Click Add to Unit, or Add to Unit and Return.

   

4. Reuse from other unitsIf you added the same standards to another unit, choose them from the option at the top. Enabled standards appear as checkboxes in the planner.

   

If the standards you need are not listed, ask an admin to enable them (see Adding Standards as an Administrator).

Unit templates and changes

Your school can customise the layout and structure of unit plans for every programme. After changing a template, click Save Changes at the bottom of the page to update every unit that uses it.

A section is missing from my unit. Where do I turn it on?

Go to Settings, choose the programme, then Curriculum > Unit Planner Template and open Components. Turn sections on or off, and give each area its own title and hint. Click Save Changes.

How do I change the template my unit uses?

Open the unit, go to Planner, and under Summary click Edit Section. Choose a template under Unit Template and click Save Changes.

How do I change the grade of my unit?

To share with more grades, open the unit, go to Planner, and under Summary click Edit Section. Choose grades under Share with.

To change the unit's default grade, submit a request with a link to the unit and the grade it should be.

How do I change the subject of my unit?

Submit a request with a link to the unit and the subject it should be.