How to Use Pacing Guides for Yearly Planning

Using a pacing guide is a great way to make lesson planning easier and more efficient.

I have FREE pacing guides for every subject to make your year run smoother and help you to spend more time at home and less time working! 

What is a pacing guide?

A pacing guide is a year-long plan of when you will teach what content. It takes each standard and theme and maps it out for you. Then, when you go to plan, you just look at the guide to see what standard or topic you are supposed to cover that week.

Why plan a year out in advance?

When you go to do your weekly lesson planning, you won’t have to think about what topic you are teaching or what should be covered next. It takes that whole mental olympics out of it because it is already planned for you. It is a way to help out your future self. 

Step by Step How to Use the Pacing Guide

• Print the guides
• Edit them how you’d like
• Put them inside your planner or hanging up on a wall by your desk
• As you teach the standard, x it off and add any notes you want to remember for next year
• When planning out your week, grab your guides and look at what you will be teaching next
• Edit them as you go throughout the year. If you need longer for a standard or if you teach it quicker, just move on to the next. But make sure you make notes, so when you go to edit your planning guide for next year you are ready! 

Grab free pacing guides here!

3rd Grade Reading Pacing Guide Here (plus, this one has an editable version so you can make your own for other grade levels)

3rd Grade Math, Science, and Social Studies here!