UDL Lesson Plan Template (UDL Guidelines 3.0)
Lesson plan by UDL Guidelines 3.0: firm goal, anticipated design barriers, planning grid by guidelines 1 to 9, timed sequence with options, assessment
Mode d'emploi: Use it to plan a lesson that works for the full range of learners from the start. Fill the goal and the anticipated barriers first, then pick options from the planning grid. The main pitfall is listing an option for every guideline instead of removing the few barriers that matter most.
Aperçu
UDL Lesson Plan: [Lesson title]
Lesson plan template structured by the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines 3.0 from CAST (released 2024-07-30). It starts from a clear goal, anticipates barriers in the lesson design rather than in the learners, and plans options for engagement, representation, and action and expression, then checks the timed sequence and assessment against them. Replace every
[bracketed]value and every row marked Example.
Document control
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Plan ID | [LP-UDL-2026-012] |
| Teacher | [@teacher] |
| Co-planner or support staff | [@name] |
| Subject and level | [Science, Grade 7] |
| Unit and lesson | [Ecosystems, lesson 5 of 10] |
| Date and duration | YYYY-MM-DD, [50 minutes] |
| Class | [7A, 28 students] |
| Curriculum reference | [Standard or curriculum code] |
| Version | [1.0] |
| Status | [Draft / Ready / Taught / Reviewed] |
| Last updated | YYYY-MM-DD |
Revision history
| Version | Date | Author | Change summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@teacher] | First version |
| 1.1 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@teacher] | Example: Card-sort option added after reflection on lesson 4 |
Contents
1. Goal
| Item | Entry |
|---|---|
| Lesson goal | Example: Explain how energy moves through a food web and predict what happens when one population changes |
| Student-friendly version | Example: "I can show how energy moves from one living thing to another, and say what happens if one of them disappears." |
| Why it matters | Example: Links to the local wetland study in lesson 8 |
| Success criteria | Example: (1) Arrows point in the direction energy flows. (2) Producers, consumers and decomposers are identified. (3) One prediction is justified with the web |
| Prior knowledge needed | Example: Food chains from lesson 4; vocabulary: producer, consumer |
2. Anticipated barriers
| ID | Barrier in the design | Who it could affect | Option that reduces it |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAR-01 (Example) | The textbook diagram is dense and small | Students who find dense text or small images hard to process | Enlarged, colour-plus-label diagram and a tactile card version |
| BAR-02 (Example) | New vocabulary (herbivore, decomposer, trophic level) | Students learning the language of instruction, students who missed lesson 4 | Illustrated word wall and a glossary card with home-language column |
| BAR-03 (Example) | Written paragraph is the only way to show the prediction | Students whose writing lags behind their understanding | Choice of written, drawn-and-labelled or recorded spoken explanation |
| BAR-04 (Example) | Open task with no checkpoints | Students who find planning a multi-step task hard | Three-step checklist on the desk and a timer on screen |
| [BAR-NN] | [Barrier] | [Who] | [Option] |
3. UDL planning grid
The UDL Guidelines 3.0 group nine guidelines under three principles: Engagement (guidelines 7 to 9), Representation (1 to 3), and Action and Expression (4 to 6). Each guideline has numbered checkpoints, for example 7.1 under guideline 7, that suggest concrete design options.
| Principle | Guideline (3.0) | Option planned for this lesson |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement | 7 Welcoming Interests and Identities | Example: Students choose to build the web for a wetland, a forest or a city park |
| Engagement | 8 Sustaining Effort and Persistence | Example: Mixed-ability pairs with defined roles; feedback against the three success criteria |
| Engagement | 9 Emotional Capacity | Example: Brief check-in on how confident students feel before and after the task |
| Representation | 1 Perception | Example: Diagram on screen, on paper and as tactile cards; video with captions |
| Representation | 2 Language and Symbols | Example: Word wall with images; arrow convention explained explicitly ("arrow means energy goes to") |
| Representation | 3 Building Knowledge | Example: Link to last lesson's food chain; highlight the pattern "producers at the bottom" |
| Action and Expression | 4 Interaction | Example: Build the web with cards, on a tablet app or drawn on paper |
| Action and Expression | 5 Expression and Communication | Example: Prediction as written paragraph, labelled drawing or 60-second audio |
| Action and Expression | 6 Strategy Development | Example: Desk checklist: place producers, add consumers, draw arrows, check |
4. Lesson sequence
| Time | Minutes | Activity | Options available | Guideline links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-5 (Example) | 5 | Hook: short captioned video of a wetland; goal shared | Transcript on paper; goal read aloud and displayed | 1, 7 |
| 5-15 (Example) | 10 | Mini-lesson: from food chain to food web, worked example | Word wall; paused questions; diagram handout | 2, 3 |
| 15-30 (Example) | 15 | Pairs build a food web for their chosen habitat | Cards, tablet or paper; desk checklist; timer | 4, 6, 7, 8 |
| 30-40 (Example) | 10 | Gallery walk: pairs give one piece of feedback using the success criteria | Sentence starters for feedback | 8 |
| 40-47 (Example) | 7 | Show what you know: "What happens if the frog population falls?" | Written, drawn or recorded response | 5 |
| 47-50 (Example) | 3 | Reflection: confidence check and one question for next lesson | Thumb scale or written note | 9 |
| Total | 50 |
The diagram shows the lesson flow and where students choose a path.
5. Assessment
| Evidence | Format options | Criteria | How feedback is given |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example: Food web from the paired task | Cards (photographed), tablet export, paper | Success criteria 1 and 2 | Peer feedback in gallery walk; teacher spot checks |
| Example: Prediction about the frog population | Written, drawn and labelled, or recorded | Success criterion 3 | Teacher comment before lesson 6 |
| [Evidence] | [Formats] | [Criteria] | [Feedback] |
For a scored task, describe the criteria with education/rubric.
6. Materials and accessibility check
| Material | Format | Accessibility check |
|---|---|---|
| Example: Wetland video | MP4 | Captions checked; transcript printed |
| Example: Food web cards | Printed, large type; tactile set | Labels in text as well as colour |
| Example: Tablet app | Class tablets | Works with keyboard and screen reader; offline copy |
| Example: Desk checklist | Printed and on screen | Plain language, numbered steps |
| [Material] | [Format] | [Check] |
7. Reflection after the lesson
| Question | Notes |
|---|---|
| Did students reach the goal? What is the evidence? | [Example: 22 of 28 predictions met criterion 3] |
| Which options were used, and by whom (in general terms)? | [Example: About half used cards; 6 recorded their prediction] |
| Which barriers appeared that were not planned for? | [Notes] |
| What will I change next time? | [Notes] |
8. Glossary and references
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| UDL | Universal Design for Learning: a framework for designing learning that works for the full range of learners from the start |
| Learner variability | The normal, expected differences in how people learn |
| Firm goal, flexible means | Keeping the learning goal the same for everyone while offering several ways to reach and show it |
| Barrier | A feature of the design, materials or environment that blocks learning for some students |
References:
- CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
- Related templates:
education/lesson-plan,education/lesson-plan-ubd,education/unit-plan,education/assessment-blueprint.
Standard and licence note
Structure aligned with the UDL Guidelines 3.0 published by CAST (2024), cited by name with the guideline numbers and short names only; the checkpoint text and graphic organiser are not reproduced. Check https://udlguidelines.cast.org/ for the current version. The guidelines are a design framework, not a legal accessibility standard; disability and accessibility obligations depend on your jurisdiction and institution. This template is original text written for this collection; the example lesson is illustrative. Template licence: MIT.
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