Teaching · For Teachers

Universal Design for Learning Lesson Builder

Build a lesson with options planned in from the start: a goal that does not name the method, more than one way in and more than one way to show what students know.

Start a planWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the For Teachers toolkit, $79 for 92 items.

Plans

Each lesson keeps the goal, the options and a timed plan. Load the worked example to see a 50-minute science lesson with three paths.

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What you get

Teaching · For Teachers$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A lesson with a goal free of the method, options for engagement, the ways to take in the content, the ways to show learning and the barriers you expect; a timeline that adds up against the lesson and shows student work time; seven checks marked ready, not yet or not needed; and a run sheet with the options to print.
Who it is for
Classroom and special education teachers planning lessons for mixed classes, grades K to 12.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per lesson. Prints a run sheet with clock times, the full lesson, every lesson in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the For Teachers toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Write the goal without the method.
  2. Plan options in and out.
  3. Lay out the segments.
  4. Mark the checks.
  5. Print the run sheet.

Start a plan

Planning options before they are needed

Three kinds of options, planned in from the startEngagementChoice of topic, tool ororderClear goal and why itmattersWays to keep going whenit gets hardRepresentationText, audio, video,images or objectsVocabulary and symbolsexplainedBackground knowledgebuilt firstAction and expressionWrite, speak, draw,build or recordTools and supports tousePlanning and progresschecksThree kinds of options, planned in from the startEngagementChoice of topic, tool or orderClear goal and why it mattersWays to keep going when it gets hardRepresentationText, audio, video, images or objectsVocabulary and symbols explainedBackground knowledge built firstAction and expressionWrite, speak, draw, build or recordTools and supports to usePlanning and progress checks
Options are planned before the lesson for everyone, so no student has to wait for an individual change.

What UDL is

Universal Design for Learning is a framework from CAST for designing lessons with options for engagement, representation, and action and expression, so that barriers are removed in the design instead of one student at a time. Federal law defines it as a framework that provides flexibility in how information is presented and how students respond, and reduces barriers while keeping expectations high.

The goal comes first

Most UDL planning turns on one move: separating the goal from the method. Once the goal is to explain, not to write a paragraph, a recording or a labeled diagram can meet the same standard.

Sources

  1. CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0 (udlguidelines.cast.org).
  2. Meyer, A., Rose, D. H., and Gordon, D. (2014). Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice. CAST Professional Publishing.
  3. Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, 20 U.S.C. 1003(24): definition of universal design for learning.
  4. Rose, D. H., and Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. ASCD.

The worked examples are made up. The 60 percent and 20-minute flags are planning rules of thumb. UDL options do not replace accommodations a student's IEP or Section 504 plan requires. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.