How to use the ChessKid Classroom Planner
The new ChessKid Lesson Planner tool for teachers & coaches!
The Lesson Planner is a week-by-week guide for teaching chess.
If you've never taught chess before, this guide will give you a place to start by presenting the lessons & activities in each unit of our 30-week guide. If you're a more experienced chess teacher, we hope this guide gives you an easy way to find our online resources in one place, along with the ability to follow your group's progress along the way.
This tool is meant to be a flexible outline for extracurricular clubs or in-class math & computer lab time. Each unit references mathematical concepts that are included: lines, measurement, comparisons, spatial reasoning, numbers & operations, planning, pattern recognition and problem solving.
How to use the Lesson Planner:
The Lesson Planner Beginner Track follows the ChessKid Lessons week-by-week and includes one ChessKid Lesson - starting at the beginning Level: Pawn 1.
Each Unit is meant to be a mini lesson plan including guidelines and a set of optional activities. In general, they include:
- A Suggested Time to spend on the topic (this doesn't include extra activities)
- Educational Objectives: the concepts associated with each new skill
- ChessKid Lesson Video: a direct link to the video for that Lesson
- ChessKid Lesson: a direct link to the Lesson
- Classroom Materials: supplemental in-person activities or written worksheets
- Extra Activities: supplemental written curriculum pages, extra videos on the same topic by different presenters, articles by different authors, thematic puzzles, computer workouts & achievement certificates
What might your class/club time look like? Here's a suggestion:
- 1) REVIEW: Spend a few minutes reviewing the previous lesson.
- 2) LESSON VIDEO: Show the ChessKid Lesson Video for that week as your lesson time.
- 3) LESSON: Work through the online ChessKid Lesson questions together as a group, or individually in a computer lab/set of devices.
4) DISCUSSION: Have a short Discussion about the concepts presented. This might include a supplemental group activity, a worksheet or solving some thematic puzzles together.- 5) PRACTICE & PLAY!: Break out the chess sets & play some over-the-board chess!
4) DISCUSSION: Have a short Discussion about the concepts presented. This might include a supplemental group activity, a worksheet or solving some thematic puzzles together.Quick tips & guidelines for using this Planner:
Everything in the Planner is optional!
- ChessKid recognizes all schools & clubs are unique and your classroom plans are your own. You may want to spend more time on a subject; you might work with younger/older students; or you may meet on a schedule that's not 30 weeks long. Our Lesson Planner is just meant to be a convenient way to find related online resources and track your progress.
- When you first mark one activity as "done," the Planner will show that unit "in progress" with a light green header. You can manually mark an entire unit "complete" - or the Planner will recognize that you've finished it if you mark all activities as "done." As all of the activities are optional, it's up to you to decide when to mark a unit complete.
- After the semester or school year is over, use the "reset all completed activities" button at the top to start fresh for a new term.
What are "Levels?" (And no, teachers don't need to complete the material to access them - you already have access to the ChessKid Lessons!)
- ChessKid Levels are a way to move progressively from lesson to lesson. In the Lesson Planner, each unit contains one Lesson/Level. Kids must work through the material in their own accounts to "level up." Here's an article explaining Levels.
- ChessKid Tip: As a Parent/Coach, you have the ability to set your own Lesson Level from your Settings page! (You don't need to earn "activity stars" just to view each Lesson.
) We recommend going to your Settings page & advancing your Lesson Level so that you'll "unlock" all of the Lesson content.
Do I need a Gold Membership to use the Lesson Planner?
- We want everyone to have the ability to teach chess! You don't need a paid Gold membership to use the Planner.
- Your teacher account and your Kids' accounts have access to all of the unlocked beginning Lessons, Videos and Articles on ChessKid. You may find that your access is restricted to some of the supplemental videos or intermediate Levels without a Gold membership, but that won't keep you from accessing most of the material.
Propose chess as a supplement to your in-class math or computer lab time!
- The Lesson Planner is designed to give teachers a strong case for including chess in the regular school day - not just as an extracurricular or elective activity.
- The Educational Objectives and Supplemental Activities in the Classroom Planner were written by 2019 Chess Educator of the Year, WFM Elizabeth Spiegel - a chess coach and teacher at New York City’s Intermediate School 318 (I.S. 318).
- Our written curriculum is aligned to develop 21st-century skills.
- Each unit references key learning objectives: Numbers & Operations, Problem Solving, Reasoning & Evidence, Spatial Reasoning, Comparison, Measurement, Planning, Pattern Recognition, Lines, and Perimeter & Area
Finally, are you yourself are interested in teaching chess to kids? ChessKid has prepared an ebook for you if you have been asking, How do I even start a chess program and teach kids how to play chess? This resource is for teachers, coaches, and parents to give them guidance on starting a chess program for kids.
