Monday, July 27, 2009

20 Places to Find Curriculum Ideas and Lesson Plans Online

Returning is guest writer Karen Schweitzer who has worked as an education writer for the last five years. Since 2005, she has been the About.com Guide to Business School. She also works as an editor/writer for several other prominent education sites, including Education-Portal.com, DiplomaGuide.com, and DegreeDirectory.org. Karen also writes about online college degrees for OnlineColleges.net. Since 2007, Karen has written eight non-fiction books for middle school children (all have been published except for the last two, which will be published later in the year.).

The web is a great place for K-12 teachers to find curriculum ideas and lesson plans online. There are many different sites that provide pre-made lesson plans, teaching ideas that inspire, and unique search engines created just for teachers. Here are 20 sites to explore over the summer:

Education World - Education World has been providing teachers with curriculum ideas and lesson plans since 1996. The site also hosts forums, daily features, regular columns from education experts, teacher profiles, and employment listings.

Scholastic Teachers - This site from Scholastic hosts a wide range of lesson plans, teaching strategies, learning tools, printables, mini-books, and other classroom resources for teachers.

PBS Teachers - PBS teachers has an amazing selection of lesson plans and classroom activities for K-12 teachers. The site also provides an online professional development center and informative articles.

Thinkfinity- Thinkfinity is a great resource for teachers who need K-12 lesson plans, interactive games, and other activities for the classroom. The site features a unique search engine that draws results from the best lesson plan sites on the web.

TeAchnology - This online teacher resource provides free access to thousands of lesson plans, printables, curriculum ideas, ready-to-use rubrics, and other useful materials. TeAchnology also offers a free weekly newsletter for K-12 teachers.

The Teacher's Corner - The Teacher's Corner is an excellent place to find curriculum ideas and lesson plans. The site features an experiment of the week, seasonal activities, and regularly updated thematic units.

GEM - The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) allows teachers to browse through more than 50,000 educational resources.

Federal Resources for Education Excellence - FREE (Federal Resources for Education Excellence) provides access to more than 1,500 federally supported teaching and learning resources. Teachers can sign up to get new resources delivered via RSS each week.

I Love That Teaching Idea - This site is a very good place for elementary teachers to find lesson plans for art, math, reading, science, health, and social studies. Other site features include articles and advice on classroom management, student assessments, and field trips.

Creative Teaching - Created specifically for teachers, this non-profit site is designed to help teachers come up with new curriculum ideas that will engage students in the classroom.

We the Teachers - We the Teachers is a social networking site where teachers can connect and search for lesson plans online.

SMART - SMART Board teachers will love the interactive whiteboard lesson plans and curriculum ideas provided on this SMART site. Lesson plans are available for elementary and secondary school teachers.

Topmarks - Topmarks is another useful resource for teachers who use interactive whiteboards in the classroom. The site lists lesson plans by subject and grade level so that it is easy to find what you're looking for.

The Home School Mom - Although The Home School Mom was created for home school teachers, it does provide useful resources for any educator. The site offers more than 400 pages of educational information, including lesson plans and curriculum ideas.

Shmoop - Shmoop is a relatively new site but it is generating a lot of buzz among teachers. The site offers history and literature study guides and lesson plans in addition to other resources for teachers.

Xpeditions - This virtual museum from National Geographic hosts a wealth of teaching resources, including lesson plans, interactive activities, and atlases.

History.com - The History Channel doesn't provide ready-made lesson plans for teachers, but the site does offer videos, games, and other materials that would be useful in the classroom. Teachers will especially like the "This Day in History" feature, which provides videos and informative articles.

KinderArt - KinderArt hosts the largest collection of art lesson plans on the Internet. Teachers can also find craft instructions, printables, teaching kits, and more.

NYT Daily Lesson Plan - The New York Times created this site for teachers who want to incorporate current events in lesson plans. The site provides pre-made lesson plans, a day in history feature, and other useful teaching materials.

The Internet TESL Journal - This no-frills website is a great place for ESL and EFL teachers to find lesson plans and curriculum ideas online.

Original image: 'Just Full Of Ideas' http://www.flickr.com/photos/17731548@N00/981372736 by: Bart

4 comments:

Meaghan said...

Thanks for sharing these resources...I'll be sure to link to them on my blog. I really enjoy reading all of your posts...keep up the good work!

Unknown said...

i have a good link for you too...check it k 12 lesson plans ,children curriculum and k 12 homeschool curriculum ...try it they are good too

loonyhiker said...

@Meaghan Thanks for commenting! I appreciate your kind words.

loonyhiker said...

@Tom Thanks for visiting my blog!