Lesson Development

In the Assessments section, teachers can

• Link unit assessments at the lesson level
• Copy and edit unit assessments within lessons
• Create lesson-specific assessments
• Choose from lesson OR unit-specific standards based on the level of assessment being created

Lesson Assessments 

Click Add New Assessment to start creating lessons assessments:

You can continue creating this assessment as a "Lesson Assessment" or switch to a "Unit Assessment" and link it directly to this lesson.

1. Add the Assessment Name. 

2. Select the Assessment Type, if enabled. The options are customizable and can be modified by Atlas Admins. Click here to learn more about managing the list as an Atlas System Admin. 

3. Select an Assessment Method from your school’s approved list. The options are customizable and can be modified by Atlas Admins. Click here to learn more about managing the list as an Atlas System Admin. 

4. Select any additional methods you use in the Additional Assessment Methods, if applicable. 

5. Add description about your assessment in the Description box.

6. In the right section, check the box(s) to align your assessment to the standards you've targeted in the unit planner, or lessons planner, if applicable. 

You may find that your Assessment also targets cross-curricular standards, such as in the case of technology integration. These standards may not be intended targets in your unit, but may be important to identify. Align to these standards in the Additional Standards tab.

7. Click Save to return to your lesson planner.

Lesson Assessments will show up (in orange) at the left side of the section:

• Click the edit icon to edit the lesson-specific assessment.

• Click the delete icon to remove this lesson assessment.

Unit Assessments 

Click Link Unit Assessment to begin linking the unit's assessments. Select the assessments you want to link to this lesson, then click Save.

Linked Unit Assessments will show up (in blue) at the right side of the section:

• Click the copy icon to create a lesson-specific version of this unit assessment. The copied assessment is independent from the original and can be modified without impacting the original.

• Click the unlink icon to remove this unit assessment from this lesson.

Step 1: Accessing AI Functionality

To utilize the AI functionality, navigate to any lesson where you intend to create content, then click on the AI magic wand icon next to the Details box to open the AI pop-menu.

On the AI pop-menu, you will find a form that allows you to customize the information you want to send to Atlas AI. Feel free to modify any field titles to ensure they accurately reflect the content you intend to generate. 

Below the customized fields, you will encounter a list of standards targeted in your lesson:

• Review the standards and un-check any that are used solely as supporting standards, ensuring they are not directly included in your lesson details. Up to 10 Standards are allowed.
• Continue scrolling down to find a section where you can include Additional Information for Atlas AI. For example, you can specify that the content should be written in a student-friendly language and limited to 50 words.
• Once you've customized the AI form to your preferences, click on the "Submit" button. The AI will require some time to process and generate the content based on your inputs.

After the AI has generated the content, you will have the option to review it.

1. If satisfied, click the blue "Add to Lesson Description and close window" to include the results in your lesson details box and close the window.
2. If further adjustments are needed, write your instructions in the "Type your message ..." field, then click the arrow icon to regenerate the results. 
3. Alternatively, click the "Start Over" button to return to the AI pop-menu and modify your standards selection or customize the fields.

From Lesson Planner:

• Click Show Unit button.
• You can view and edit both the unit and lesson information from this view. 
• To exit the side-by-side view, click the side-by-side icon. 

You can set-up the unit side by side lesson as your default view in all your units and lessons by clicking on the Actions menu of any unit, then selecting "Set Default Unit View". 

Then pick "Unit/Lesson Side-by-side" option on that pop-up menu. 

The Edit Lesson settings page allows you to update the course or unit your lesson is assigned to, and add lesson collaborators. To navigate here:

• From the lesson you would like to edit, select the Actions drop-down menu
• Select Edit Lesson Settings 

To add change the Course or Unit your lesson is assigned to:

• Use the Course drop-down menu to select which course this lesson is assigned to.
• Use the Unit drop-down menu to select which unit this lesson is assigned to.  

Only courses you are assigned to as a teacher or curriculum developer will appear in the Course drop-down menu. Only units from the course your lesson is assigned to will appear in the Unit drop-down menu.

To add a lesson collaborator:

• In the Lesson Editor(s) field, type in the first few letters of the collaborator's first or last name. Select the title that pops-up.
• Click Save.

Collaborative teams can't develop the same lesson at the same time. Once a collaborator edits a lesson, the lesson is locked until they leave the lesson, or after 12 minutes of no activity.

Best Practice:
Email your collaborator(s) the lesson path (Course Title, Unit Title, and Lesson Title). Atlas won't notify the new editor(s).

Atlas now allows teachers to create dynamic, view-only links for lesson plans, similar to how Google Docs can be shared publicly. This feature lets educators share lesson plans with individuals outside of Atlas, such as students, parents, or community members, offering a streamlined way to access lesson content without requiring an Atlas login.

Key Features:

• Dynamic Links: Once a view-only link is generated, it automatically reflects any updates made to the lesson plan, or attachments. You do not need to reshare the link each time you make changes to the lesson content.

• Public Access: Users do not need an Atlas password to access the lesson via the view-only link. However, it’s important to note that while the link is public, the lesson plans are not indexed by search engines like Google, ensuring that they remain private and are only accessible by individuals with the link.

While viewing any lesson in Atlas, click the Actions menu then select Create a View-Only Link option. 

The system will offer the option to enable publishing the attachments in this lesson as well. To make the attachments in this lesson accessible to everyone, check the box next to Allow viewers to see attachments.

When you click Create a new link will be created and placed under the Actions menu. You'll then see a pop-up with the following choices:

• Copy Link: to share it with users outside of Atlas. 
• Delete the Link: to stop sharing the link with any users who have access to the link. 
• Show attachments: to adjust the attachments visiblity preferences. 

The link icon will stay visible in your lesson until you stop sharing it. You can click the icon to change your sharing settings at any time.

You can export your lessons into PDF by:

• Click the Actions drop-down menu, select Print to PDF. 
• Print pop-up will show up, make sure that "Adobe PDF" is selected in the Destination field. 
• Click Print. 

In the VIEW mode of the lesson: 

• Click the Actions drop-down menu, select Submit for Review.

• Type in the first few letters of the editor's name, and select the name from the list. 
• Click Submit to submit your lesson for review. A Pending Review icon will show up at the top section of the lesson. 

You can create lessons without assigning them to a specific unit. Once you have your unit ready, you can associate your lesson with a unit by doing the followings:

In the EDIT mode of the lessons planner: 

• Click the Actions menu, then select Edit Lesson Settings. 
• Select a unit in the Unit field, then click Save. 

When viewing a map, unit, lesson, or saved report, click the speech bubble in the upper-right corner to access the comments panel. The default tab is Comments (visible to all users). 

1. Write your comment in the box, size limit is 1000 characters. 
2. Click Add an Attachment to add resources (Website Link, File Attachment) to your comment. 
3. Click Post to share your comment, Or Discard to cancel it. 
4. Comment actions: 
   1. • Click the Close to replies link to prevent replies to your comment. You can later click the Open for replies if you want to allow replies and threaded conversations. 
      • Click the PENCIL icon to edit your comment. 
      • Click the X icon to delete your comment. 
5. Click X icon at the top right corner of the panel to leave. 

Private Comments are only visible to the comment's author, and the users selected in the recipients list. 

When viewing a map, a unit, a lesson, or a saved report, click the speech bubble icon at the top bar to access the comments panel. The default tab is Comments (visible to all users). 

1. Click the Private Comments tab. 
2. Select who can see your comment by clicking the To: drop-down list. If you leave the list blank, the comment will be recorded as a "Note-to-self". 
3. Write your comment in the box, size limit is 1000 characters. 
4. Click Add an Attachment to add resources (Website Link, File Attachment) to your comment. 
5. Click Post to share your comment, Or Discard to cancel it. 
6. Comment actions: 
   1. • Click the Close to replies link to prevent replies to your comment. You can later click the Open for replies if you want to allow replies and threaded conversations. 
      • Click the PENCIL icon to edit your comment. 
      • Click the X icon to delete your comment. 
7. Click X icon at the top right corner of the panel to leave.

Click here to learn more about Comments, and Private Comments.

You can copy your lessons, and lessons created by Curriculum Developers and Teachers assigned to your courses by doing the following:

From Lesson Planner:

• Under the My Lessons list, click on any lesson you would like to copy.
• Select the Copy Lessons option in the Actions drop-down menu.

• In the Copy From section, the desired lesson will be checked off, and you can select more lessons to copy from this unit. You can copy your lessons, and lessons created by Curriculum Developers and Teachers assigned to the same course.
• In the Copy To section, select the desired course. You can copy lessons to your courses only.
• Once a course is selected, all its units will show up. You can select multiple units to receive a copy of the checked-off lesson(s).
• Click Copy to initiate the process. 

The lesson creator can add another collaborator (s) to edit their lesson.

From Lesson Planner:

• Under the My Lessons list, click on any lesson that you would like to add collaborator(s) to it.
• Select the Edit Lesson Settings option in the Actions drop-down menu.

• In the Lesson Editor(s) field, type in the first few letters of the collaborator's first or last name. Select the title that pops-up.
• Click Save.

Collaborative teams can't develop the same lesson at the same time. Once a collaborator edits a lesson, the lesson is locked until they leave the lesson, or after 12 minutes of no activity.

Best Practice:
Email your collaborator(s) the lesson path (Course Title, Unit Title, and Lesson Title). Atlas won't notify the new editor(s).

Google Classroom Video

Users can post their Lesson Plans from Atlas into classes they're teaching in Google Classroom.

Best Practice: 
- Post lesson agendas, topics, and objectives to your Google Classroom so students or parents can review. This practice helps promote intentional learning.
- Organize your stream in Google Classroom by Topics (which you would title as Units). This makes lessons easy to post to the unit they pertain to.

From your Lesson Plan in VIEW mode:

1. Click the Actions menu and select Share to Google Classroom.
2. This will take you to your Google Classroom account or ask you to log in to Google Classroom.
3. Once logged in, select one of the classes you're teaching.
4. Select an Action:
   1. If your classes were created before the Aug 2018 Google Classroom update, you will have three actions: Create assignment, Ask a question, and Make an announcement. (Old G Classroom Version)
   2. If your classes were created after the Aug 2018 Google Classroom update, you will have four actions: Create assignment, Ask a question, Make an announcement, and Create materials. (New G Classroom Version)

All Actions will let you link your lesson to a "Topic" in Google Classroom, EXCEPT, for the Make an announcement action in the NEW version.

Resources attached to your lesson don’t carry over from your lesson in Atlas to Google Classroom. While resources linked within the Lesson Details will carry over and are visible to students. 

How to add resources:

• Resources visible to course collaborators, but hidden from students: Click Add an Attachment button in the Lesson Details for anything that you use as a reference or resource to yourself.
• Resources visible to both course collaborators and students: Use the Link, Image or Video option in the Lesson Details toolbar for anything that you use as a reference or resource to students. 

Lesson Plans are LIVE in Google Classroom, keep updating your lessons in Atlas, and the updated version will be reflected instantly in Google Classroom. You don't have to re-attach! 

The Manage Templates section in the Lesson Planner lets you add, edit, and delete templates you would like to use for your lessons regularly as you build your lesson library. Click the Manage Templates button within any Lesson Plan to utilize this functionality.

Users can create up to 20 Personal Lesson Planner Templates. Atlas provides an option for school leadership to add up to 12 Admin Level Lesson Planners. If you have admin privileges in Atlas, learn here how to add Admin Level Lesson Planner Template.

From Lesson Plan > Manage Templates:

1. Click the Add New Template button.

2. Enter your template title in the Template Title Required box.

3. Enter template structure in the Lesson Template Here box using functionality such as bold text, bulleting, text color, etc. Click here to learn more about text editing and formatting capabilities

4. Click Save, and your lesson template will populate beneath the Add New Template button (and Admin created templates if your school has any) in the saved template list.

You can add up to 20 personal lesson planner templates.

From Lesson Plan > Manage Templates:

• Click any template title from the list beneath the Add New Template button.
• Click the Insert button. The template will show up in the body of your Lesson Details.

From Lesson Plan > Manage Templates:

• Click the pencil icon next to any template title from the list beneath the Add New Template button.
• Edit the lesson title or text that appears to the right of the list.
• Click Save to save changes.

Admin created templates can't be edited by users. Admin created templates have a school icon. If you have admin privileges in Atlas, learn here how to add Admin Level Lesson Planner Template.

From Lesson Plan > Manage Templates:

• Click the template title, then the X icon next to it from the list beneath the Add New Template button.
• Click Confirm to delete the lesson template.

Due to cloud storage considerations that might affect your Atlas performance, we reserve the right to delete anything older than 2 years in the Recycle Bin.

Admin created templates can't be deleted by users. Admin created templates have a school icon. If you have admin privileges in Atlas, learn here how to add Admin Level Lesson Planner Template.

From Lesson Planner: 

• Click the Actions drop-down menu, and select Move to Recycle Bin.
• A pop-up box will ask you to confirm the deletion, click OK to place the unit in the Recycle Bin.

To restore a deleted lesson, click the Recycle Bin button in your Lesson Planner list tab.

1. Due to cloud storage considerations that might affect your Atlas performance, we reserve the right to delete anything older than 2 years in the Recycle Bin.
2. In collaborative lessons, only the creator can delete the lesson. When the creator deletes a lesson, a copy is NOT saved for the collaborators of that lesson. Only collaborators that are assigned to the course as Curriculum Developers, or as Teachers, or have Special Editing Privileges, can restore lessons from the lessons Recycle Bin.