Guide to Finding Lesson Plans

Printable version of this guide

The Education and Social Science Library has many materials containing lesson plans, primarily in the form of curriculum guides, in both print and microfiche formats. According to the Facts on File Dictionary of Education, a curriculum guide differs from a lesson plan in that it includes "one or more aspects of curriculum and instruction, such as philosophy, policies, aims, objectives, subject matter, resources and processes" (p.138), while a lesson plan "includes the instructional objectives and methods for a particular functional unit or period of instruction" (p.271). Many lesson plans are embedded within the curriculum guides. The following is an explanation of several ways to locate lesson plans and other teaching materials on a particular topic in the Education and Social Science Library.

Please direct all comments or requests for information to Nancy O'Brien.

Questions? Ask a librarian.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Print curriculum guides
2. Web sources for curriculum guides and lesson plans
3. Microfiche curriculum guides

I. Check curriculum guide section in Room 104

If you are looking for lesson plans on a topic, see the handout labeled Guide to the Curriculum Collection in the Education and Social Science Library. At the end of this packet, there is a "Call Number Guide by Subject for Curriculum Collection." Find the call number that corresponds to your subject. For example, if your subject was American history, the call number would be 973. Then you may either go to the online catalog and do a call number search to see titles within that call number range, or you may go to Room 104 and browse the call number area in the section where the curriculum guides are shelved. Curriculum guides in Room 104 are shelved separately from the textbooks and other materials. Look at the map at the end of the beige Guide to the Curriculum Collection to determine where they are located.

If you need additional assistance, please do not hesitate to ask for help at the reference desk or Ask A Librarian!.

II. Sources on the web

There are also many resources on the Internet for lesson plans and curriculum ideas and activities. Some of these include:

• America Responds

  Compiled by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), this page provides lesson plans for teachers who wish to teach about issues such as war, patriotism, peace, and tolerance.

• American Memory Lesson Plans  (http://memory.loc.gov/learn/)

  Uses photographs from the Library of Congress American Memory Historical Collection to enhance lessons for students which are based on topics from our nation's past. A few examples of lessons include: the Civil War, the Dust Bowl, Baseball Cards, Inventions, and many more.

• Awesome Library  (http://www.awesomelibrary.org/)

  This site provides lesson plans for most subject areas and includes links to other informational sources that can be drawn upon to create original lesson plans. The extensive listings about multicultural holidays and current events are especially useful.

• Blue Web'n Learning Sites Library  (http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/)

  Contains educational sites in twelve subject areas, including the arts,business, foreign languages, science, vocational education, and more. Sites are categorized as web-based tutorials, activities, projects, unit & lesson plans, hotlists (lists of links), reference sources and tools, and other resources. It allows users to browse by subject area or type of site, or to conduct searches by grade level,type of site, subject, Dewey number, or keyword. Sites are rated according to a five-star system and are annotated.

• CyberGuides (http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/cyberguide.html)

  Features literature based lesson plans. According to the site, “each CyberGuide contains a student and teacher edition, standards, a task and a process by which it may be completed, teacher-selected web sites and a rubric, based on California Language Arts Content Standards.”

• Digital Cultural Heritage Community Curriculum Units   (http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/dchc/resources.htm#)

  The Digital Cultural Heritage Community Project contains links to curriculum units supplied by 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers. Units on communities, the U.S. Constitution, the French in Illinois, and Westward Expansion are just a few of the topics you will find covered here.

• Digital History  (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/teacher.cfm)

  This extensive historical website provides resources for teachers who want to make learning about history interesting and exciting. Key features include an interactive timeline, online textbook, and history reference room. There are also resource guides, lesson plans, and classroom handouts.

• EDSITEment   (http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/)

  Developed by the National Endowment for Humanities and other sources, this site contains links to 49 of the "top humanities sites" and lesson plans in the areas of history, English and language arts, foreign languages and art history. It also includes learning guides that provide tips for using sites for designing class curricula and activities. Sites are searchable.

• The Educator's Reference Desk: Lesson Plans (http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/index.shtml)

  This high-quality site offers over 2000 lesson plans, written and submitted by teachers across the US. You can browse the collection by subject, or search using keywords. The search also lets you limit by grade level.

• EPA EnviroKids grades 4-6   (http://www.epa.gov/kids/)

  Provides environmental games appropriate for children grades 4-6 such as environmental game shows, crossword puzzles, word searches and matching endangered species.

• Food Timeline  (http://www.foodtimeline.org/food2.html)

  Spanning back to the beginning of recorded history, this comprehensive website provides everything you have ever wanted to know about food: history, law and regulation, inventions, nutrition, and historic cookbooks/recipes to name a few. Also included are lesson plans, a food reference guide, and a list of food-specialized libraries and museums.

• GEM: The Gateway to Educational Materials   (http://thegateway.org)

  Sponsored by the National Library of Education of the U.S. Department of Education, this is a one-stop educational resource which provides information, lesson plans, and activities pertaining to all K-12 subjects. Users can browse sites by subject or keyword, or they can search by subject, keyword, title, or full-text of the site description.

• Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms   (http://www.newberry.org/k12maps/module_index/index.html)

  Designed "specifically to support basic map and information acquisition skills at the K-12 levels," this website provides lesson plans based on 18 different maps. Divided into six different themes, each map contains several lessons for grades K-12. Instructions for teachers may be found at http://www.newberry.org/k12maps/teachers/index.html.

• History of Supreme Court   (http://www.historyofsupremecourt.org/resources/overview.htm)

  This web site lists over twenty lesson plans, as well as teacher's web resources dealing with the Supreme Court. Topics such as "The Court and Gender" and "The Court and Young People" are highlighted in addition to actual court cases.

• Kraus Curriculum Development Database (http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=258320) [UIUC access only]

  This searchable database of curricula, frameworks, and standards brings together educational objectives, content, instructional strategies, and evaluative techniques for all subjects covered in PreK-12 and Adult Basic Education. The index covers from 1983 to the present, with full-text access to documents from edition 20, 2001 to the present.

• Lesson Plans Library   (http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/)

  The Lesson Plans Library site contains lessons for grades K-12 in common and not so common subjects. Plans range in subject from literature and math to forensic science and meteorology. Written by teachers and educators for teachers, these lesson plans are both comprehensive and easy to follow. Most plans define what national academic standards the lesson plans meet. In addition to providing a plethora of lesson plans, this site is also linked to several other "teaching tools" from The Discovery Channel.

• Lesson Plans Page   (http://www.lessonplanspage.com)

  This page allows for easy searching for specific lesson plans by subject,grade level, and area within the subject searched. While this site contains lesson plans for K-12 grades, it does have a concentration of plans for K-6 grades. LessonPlansPage.com has an extensive selection of lesson plans for math, science, language arts, and art, especially for the younger grades.

• National Council for the Social Studies  (http://www.ncss.org/resources/)

  The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) supports elementary, secondary, and college teachers of history, geography, economics, political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and law. Their website includes lesson plans for K-12 social studies teachers, as well as links to a host of additional resources. Lesson plans focus on current events or "teachable moments," as well as historical events.

• National Museum of American History  (http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/educators/resources.cfm)

  Based on items at the National Museum of American History, this website brings the museum’s "collections and research into your classroom." In addition to the tour guides, there are plenty of lesson plans and classroom curriculum suggestions.

• Peace Corps WorldWise Schools Lesson Plans   (http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/)

  Based on lessons used by teachers in the Peace Corps, provides over 100 standards based lesson plans. Different concepts and subjects are illustrated using examples from regions and cultures. Searchable by grade level, region/country, and subject area.

• ReadWriteThink (http://www.readwritethink.org/index.asp)

  ReadWriteThink is a website focused on literacy for K-12 students. It provides detailed, research-based lesson plans that can be searched by grade level as well as area of literacy practice. The site also includes a wide variety of web resources, including instructional, reference, professional development, and interactive student resources.

• Sites for Teachers  (http://www.sitesforteachers.com)

  This site has links to educational resources for teachers, students and parents. It contains information for all grade levels including lesson plans, activities, reproducibles and much more!

• Teacher.Net Lesson Bank  (http://teachers.net/lessons/)

  This lesson bank is interactive and allows for both retrieval and submission of lesson plans by teachers. The site allows several searching strategies for locating lessons on various subjects and in various grade levels. One can search by subject area or education level, or one can search or browse the lesson bank by keyword. Some lessons are available directly online, but others must be requested from the teacher who submitted the lesson plan. All lessons include a direct hot link to the author/submitter of the plan.

• Teacher's Page of Lesson Plans   (http://www.library.ualberta.ca/subject/education/k12/lessonplans/index.cfm)

  Compiled at the University of Alberta, this is a list of web sites containing lesson plans on various subjects, including art, math and science, environmental education, English as a Second Language, and Social Studies. Includes links to sites with subject archives, lesson plans utilizing the Internet, and lesson plans from Canada.

• Teaching Earth Science: Classroom Activities and Lesson Plans (http://geology.com/teacher/)

  This website provides a range of lesson plans based on geography, geology, astronomy, and other earth sciences using maps, satellite images, and other projections. Also provides links to current topics in the earth sciences.

• Teaching with Historic Places (http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/)

  Contains over 100 free middle school lesson plans in the areas of history, social studies, and geography. Lessons are based on sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places and include maps, readings, photographs, questions, and activities. Each plan is linked to national standards in the relevant subject area.

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum  (http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/)

  Prepared by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, this website provides a 133 page resource book for teachers entitled "How to teach the Holocaust." There is also an annotated bibliography and a section of exemplary lesson plans.

United States Mint Lesson Plans  (http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/lessonPlans/)

This site uses U.S. coins to teach basic math and counting. By exploring the "Additional Materials" section, teachers are able to find several ideas for teaching social studies, language arts, and science using coin-related topics. Each lesson plan has been contributed by teachers and includes grade level and national standards information.

• Wild Ones Teacher Connection  (http://www.thewildones.org/)

  This site has links to environmental curriculum activities and lesson plans submitted by teachers and members of Wild Ones Advisory Council.

III. Check the microfiche collection of curriculum guides.

In the Education and Social Science Library, there are several microfiche collections of curriculum guides that may also be searched for lesson plans or other instructional materials. These are: the Kraus Curriculum Development Library, ERIC microfiche collection, and the American Primer collection.

A. Kraus Curriculum Development Library

This microfiche collection of pre-K-12 curriculum guides covers a variety of subjects, including traditional areas (social sciences, mathematics, etc.) and other areas (Bilingual/English as a second language, special education, etc.). See the Guide to Microform Collections for a summary.

To search this collection, use the Kraus Curriculum Development Library Database. Curriculum guides added to the database since 2001 are available electronically. Older curriculum guides are available on microfiche in room 104.

B. Other microfiche collections of lesson plans:

ERIC

Many ERIC documents on microfiche contain lesson plans and classroom materials. When searching the ERIC database, type your subject keyword and combine with the appropriate descriptor term(s) using the AND operator.

EXAMPLE: mathematics and (lesson plans or problem sets)

The following is a list of possible descriptor terms that may be helpful:

lesson plans
curriculum guides
state curriculum guides
instructional materials
teacher developed materials
bilingual instructional materials
study guides
teaching guides
learning modules
units of study
activity units
course content
educational games
reading games
educational resources
mathematics materials
reading materials
science materials
learning activities
class activities
activity units
resource units
problem sets

There are more descriptor terms to be found in the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors (025.36 U5874t) near the reference desk.

American Primers Collection

To search the American Primers collection, find American Primers: a Guide to the Microfiche Collection, (MFICHE428.6 Am35 index). It is located in Room 112 on top of the microfiche cabinets. The guide is divided into several sections: the reference bibliography, which lists all the microfiche according to accession number, the index by names, which lists microfiche under different authors, the index by title, and the chronological index, which lists materials according to the year that they were published.

The name and title indexes are useful for searching a particular author or title. However, the chronological index is a useful point to start when looking for materials from a specific time period, such as the 1920s. In this section, titles are listed by year along with their accession numbers. For more information about a specific title found in the name, title, or chronological index, go to the reference bibliography section, which also gives publisher information and the number of pages. The number of microfiche per title is given in a separate manual labeled "American Primers" (MFICHE428.6Am35).

Although this microfiche collection is mainly used for finding old textbooks and reading primers, it has a limited amount of teaching manuals (lesson plans, teaching methods, learning games and activities, teacher's guides to accompany primers) from the 1700's to the mid-1930s. It mostly contains introductory reading materials from that period, such as primers, spellers, and alphabet books. However, this may be a useful resource if you are searching for historical curriculum materials. See the Guide to Microform Collections for a summary.

American Primer microfiche are stored beyond the bookstacks in Room 112, in the second tall file cabinet next to the HRAF file cabinets. They are located in the third drawer from the bottom.