Let the Robots Do the Dull Stuff: How to Use AI to Build Better Unit Plans
A step-by-step guide to creating powerful, project-based units and scope & sequence docs using AI
What if unit planning didn’t start with standards, pacing calendars, or a blank doc?
What if it started with your dream project — and ended with a plan that practically wrote itself?
That’s how I build my best units now. I start by imagining the final experience I want students to have, then ask AI to help me work backward, map skills, align objectives, and even outline lessons.
Here’s my step-by-step process for using AI to co-create unit plans and full-year scope & sequence documents — all while keeping the heart of the classroom in the hands of the teacher.
🧭 Step 1: Start with the Capstone
Don’t start with standards — start with the thing you want students to remember.
A performance? A build? A presentation? A celebration?
Example: My 4th graders design a theme park ride using Tinkercad, then pitch it Shark Tank–style to their peers.
Prompt to give AI:
Help me design a 4th grade unit that culminates in students creating a 3D model of a theme park ride in Tinkercad. They’ll present a safety and marketing pitch. Include engineering design process steps.
🛠️ Step 2: Work Backwards to Identify What They Need to Know
What skills, tools, and concepts do they need to succeed at that final experience?
Ask AI to help identify:
Essential knowledge (e.g., simple machines)
Tool fluency (e.g., Tinkercad, public speaking)
Lesson ideas that scaffold the skills
Prompt to give AI:
What are 4–6 lessons I should teach so that students can design and pitch a theme park ride, including learning to use Tinkercad and persuasive speaking?
📚 Step 3: Draft the Unit Plan
With a solid sequence in place, you’re ready to turn it into a full unit. Ask AI to help outline:
A big-picture overview
Goals for each lesson
Materials & tools needed
Formative and summative assessments
Cross-curricular ideas
Prompt to give AI:
Turn this sequence into a unit plan with objectives, materials, assessment ideas, and cross-curricular links.
🗓️ Step 4: Zoom Out to Build a Scope & Sequence
Once the unit’s locked in, build outward. Ask: Where does this fit in the year? What comes before or after? How do skills progress across grades?
Prompt to give AI:
Build a 4th grade STEAM scope and sequence that includes this unit and three others. Include skill progression and subject connections.
Bonus:
Now show me how this sequence builds from 3rd and connects to 5th.
📝 Step 5: Customize and Localize
Now the human touch: adapt the AI output to your world. Add:
Local resources or field trips
Your district’s language or frameworks
Your teaching style and classroom realities
Prompt to give AI:
Revise this unit to include a field trip to our science center and align with our district’s SEL goals.
📤 Step 6: Package and Share
Once you’re happy, turn it into something usable:
A printable plan
A deck for PLCs
A parent letter
A student-facing overview
Prompt to give AI:
Create a slide deck that summarizes this unit plan for my team.
or
Write a letter to families introducing this project and how they can support at home.
Final Thoughts
Planning with AI feels like having an instructional design assistant who doesn’t get tired. You bring the creativity, heart, and vision — AI brings the structure, the formatting, and the speed.
You’re not handing over control. You’re just skipping the blank page.
So next time you're designing a new unit, start with your dream project and say:
“Hey ChatGPT, help me make this real.”
Let the robots do the dull stuff.
You stay human.