Lesson Builder & Lesson Blocks
Create lesson plans with ordered Steps, reusable Blueprints, and lesson content.
Who this is for
Teachers and academic leads who create, organize, and prepare lessons in the Lex Editor.
What this page answers
- How a Lesson Plan is organized
- How Steps, Stages, and lesson blocks differ
- How Canvas and Lesson views work
- How to save and apply a Blueprint
- What happens when you apply a Blueprint to a published lesson
Lesson Plans are made of Steps
A Lesson Plan is a flat, ordered list of Steps. Each Step is the smallest unit you can configure, generate, reorder, or replace. Steps keep their identity when you rearrange the plan, so you can work on one Step without treating the whole lesson as one block.
Plan-level settings such as the topic, level, teaching method, explanation language, vocabulary focus, and target duration describe the lesson as a whole. The vocabulary field uses an interactive chip editor with lightweight popover suggestions.
Starters vs. Blueprints vs. Steps
To keep concepts clear across the platform:
- Starter (Course-level) — A ready-made, fully populated course package in the library that can be cloned and taught immediately.
- Blueprint (Lesson-level) — A reusable pedagogical structure (sections, timings, Step kinds) that contains zero lesson content and is scoped to the school.
- Step (Section-level) — An atomic activity or block inside a lesson plan (e.g. Vocabulary, Dialogue, Reading, Quiz).
Stages are labels, not containers
A Stage is a visual section header that groups related Steps. It is not a nested container and does not hold Steps as a separate object. You can name and move Stage sections while the lesson remains one ordered list of Steps.
Use Step when you mean a unit of lesson structure. Use Exam Task when you mean an exam-oriented task with its own capacity and licensing rules.
Canvas and Lesson views
The editor has two views of the same lesson, accessible on the floating bottom dock:
- Canvas (or
Canvas · {count}) shows the plan panel, Step cards, plan settings, order, duration budget, and generation controls. The Step card is a planning tool for teachers; students see the lesson content, not the card. - Lesson focuses on the lesson document and hides the plan panel and Step cards.
Hover or focus a view button on the floating bottom dock to see a tooltip explaining which surface it changes. You can also hide the structure rail from its header and return to it with the Canvas control.
If a lesson has a plan but no written Step content yet, the editor keeps it in Canvas view so the plan can be completed or generated. Once content exists, your selected view is restored. A planless lesson in Canvas view shows the option to create a plan. Students creating their own self-study lesson get the same Canvas and Lesson controls when authoring is available.
Work with Steps & the Step Palette
In the Canvas view you can:
- Add Steps with the Step Palette — Click the
+button between steps or at the bottom of the plan to open a searchable palette. Type to filter step types instantly (e.g. typing "voc" finds vocabulary steps). Steps are grouped by stage affinity (Suggested here), exercises, content & media, and assessment. - Track Duration Budgets — The Live Rail compares the sum of individual Step durations against the overall lesson plan target, highlighting over-budget or under-budget states.
- Configure Step options — Open a Step’s settings to adjust its brief, target duration, exercise item count, and specific options.
- Reorder Steps and Stages — Drag Step cards or Stage runs directly in the rail.
- Use Step actions — Open a Step’s menu for content actions, including single-step generation, replacement, folding, and deletion.
Replacing a filled Step requires confirmation. The replacement updates that Step; it does not silently insert a second copy beside it.
The Blueprint Shelf & Course Application
A Blueprint is a reusable lesson structure without lesson content. It preserves plan settings, Step sequences, duration budgets, and labels so you can repeat a proven lesson shape.
Save and reuse a Blueprint
- Open a lesson in the Canvas view on the floating bottom dock.
- Set the plan settings and arrange its Steps.
- Choose Save as Blueprint from the plan actions.
- Give the Blueprint a name and description. It is saved to the school's central Blueprint shelf under Materials.
Blueprints belong to the organization and store structure only. They do not copy words, student answers, or generated media.
Apply a Blueprint
Applying a Blueprint replaces the current lesson structure and content. It does not merge the Blueprint’s Steps with existing Steps.
For an active course lesson, the change is made in the lesson’s Working Copy. Confirm the replacement, review the draft, and publish it when ready. Unstarted class sessions and unopened student tasks automatically follow the updated version once published.
Operations admins and academic leads can also batch-apply a Blueprint across multiple lessons on a course dashboard with advance confirmation.
Applying a Blueprint is a replacement action. Review the confirmation carefully before continuing, especially when the lesson already contains student-facing material.
School Lesson Templates & Course Units
In addition to structure-only Blueprints, schools can maintain full Lesson Templates and Program Templates in the school library:
- Full Content Templates: Unlike Blueprints, Lesson Templates contain complete teaching text, interactive exercises, and media ready to be taught.
- Course Units: Courses and templates organize multi-week curricula into collapsible Units (starting with Unit 1) with titles, descriptions, and uploaded or AI-generated covers.
- Born-Published & Protected by Working Copies: Courses, lessons, and templates are active immediately upon creation without a draft toggle. Any subsequent edit opens a private Working Copy with an Unpublished changes badge.
- Format-Neutral Materials: Content templates and course lessons are format-neutral. Their delivery format (live meeting, homework, or exercise) and timing belong to how they are used in a class plan, while materials marked with Exam Mode require independent student work.
- AI Unit Covers: When authoring templates or units, teachers can generate artwork using AI cover presets (such as watercolor, storybook, flat vector, or photographic) with custom descriptive prompts.
- Empty Draft Replacement: When setting up a new class program, applying a curriculum template over an empty draft replaces the placeholder cleanly without requiring manual deletion.
Lesson blocks are content primitives
Lesson blocks are the reusable content pieces inside a lesson, such as text, images, audio, tables, and interactive exercises. They help you build the document content; they are not containers for Stages or Steps.
Use AI Lesson Generation when you want AI to write content for the Steps in an existing or new plan. Always review generated content before assigning or publishing the lesson.
Create a lesson plan
Open the lesson editor
Open a course lesson in the Lex Editor and choose Canvas (or Canvas · {count}) on the floating bottom dock.
Create or open the plan
If the lesson has no plan, choose Create a lesson plan from the Canvas plan rail. You can also open the Blueprint shelf and pick a starting structure.
Set the lesson intent
Enter the topic, target language, course level, teaching approach, explanation language, vocabulary chips, and target duration that apply to the whole lesson.
Arrange the Steps with the Step Palette
Open the Step palette (+) and insert the Steps you need. Set time budgets and exercise item counts. Use Stage labels when a group of Steps needs a named run.
Write or generate content
Write content directly in the document, or use AI Lesson Generation to generate one Step or the whole plan with advance cost estimates. Review partial results and each generated Step before publishing.
Related pages
Q&A
Is a Stage a container that contains Steps?
No. A Stage is a visual section header. The lesson itself is one ordered list of Steps.
Does a Blueprint copy lesson content?
No. A Blueprint saves structure without content. Applying it replaces the current lesson structure and content; it does not merge or copy the source lesson’s words and media.
Can I hide the plan while editing content?
Yes. Choose Lesson on the floating bottom dock or use the hide control in the plan rail. Return to Canvas when you need to edit the plan, Step order, settings, or generation actions.