Research Guides: Education: Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Databases: Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Search for lesson plans by grade level and curriculum area. Many of these resources show alignment with standards or common core.

Curriki
Free, high-quality curricula and education resources. Select MORE OPTIONS or SEARCH BY STANDARD from the bottom right of the search box to narrow your search. Select Curated Collections from the Resource Library drop-down menu to get to subject based quality lesson plans and activities.
Detroit Historical Society Lesson Plan Clearinghouse
Lesson plans focused on Michigan and Detroit themes. All disciplines, searchable by grade level and subject.
Discovery Education Lesson Plan Library
Browse by grade level and content area.
Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips
edSITEment: Best of Humanities on the Web
Lesson plans for Art, Foreign Languages, History and Social Studies, Literature and Language Arts. Searchable by standards, grade level and resource type.
Exemplars
Lesson plans that have been reviewed by the EQuIP Rubrics and quality review process set out by Achieve.org to evaluate the instructional materials for Common Core State Standards alignment and quality. Searchable by grade, type and content area.
Gale School Toolkit
Choose any of the tools areas to find lesson plans, activity sheets and more, using GALE databases, many of which are available through Wayne State libraries and mel.org (the Michigan Electronic Library)
Hot Chalk Lesson Plans
By teachers, for teachers. Searchable by Common Core standard, content area and grade level.
Library of Congress Teachers (Classroom Materials)
Search for lesson plans and activities by standards, grade level and content area.
MiTechKids
Digital Age Teaching and Learning Resources for K-5 provided by REMC Association of Michigan
National Geographic Teacher Resources
Select from Teaching Resources menu at the top of the page to find Lessons, Activities and Units by grade level and content area.
NSDL Common Core Standards
Free online lesson plans and activities from the National Science Digital Library, searchable by standard, education level, subject area and more.
OpenEd
OpenEd's assessments, videos, games, and homework are accurately aligned to standards and sorted by their proven efficacy.
PBS Learning Media
Search lesson plans and other resources by grade and subject. Create a free account and use Teacher Productivity Tools to access a lesson builder, quiz maker and storyboard.
Project Based Learning
A curated list of project based learning activities searchable by subject, common core and grade level.
Share My Lesson
By teachers, for teachers. You will need to create a free account to download and view lesson plans. Searchable by grade level, content area and type of resource. Hosted by AFT.
Smithsonian Learning Lab
Create your own collections and customizing resources to fit your needs using the Learning Lab platform and the Smithsonian's vast resources. You can also add your own resources or those from other sources, annotate the objects you collect, develop your own quizzes and more. Create complete lessons or artistic collections.
TeAch-nology
Worksheets, lesson plans, rubrics and more.

Art Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Crayola for Educators
While this page does promote Crayola products, it also includes a collection of lesson plans and technique ideas.
KinderArt
Over 800 free lesson plans are available on this site, along with teaching tips and articles related to art education
Picturing America
The Picturing America Teachers Resource Book and online reproductions of notable American art gives participants the opportunity to learn about our nation's history and culture in a fresh and engaging way. The program uses art as a catalyst for the study of America: the cultural, political, and historical threads woven into our nation's fabric over time.
The Getty (Education)
Search the Getty's Lesson Plan database for fine art and art in the curriculum, searchable by grade level and content area.

Computer Education Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Placing your mouse over any of the links will provide a short explanation of its content.

Adventures of Cyberbee: Curriculum Ideas
Class projects and lesson plans which incorporate internet resources.
K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum
The student curriculum has lesson plans on online safety, research skills and cyberbullying.

Mathematics Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Placing your mouse over any of the links will provide a short explanation of its content.

Math at the Core-Middle School
Find engaging media and integrated activities, all aligned with the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. Designed for middle school students of diverse learning styles and backgrounds. Produced by a collaborative of public media stations and producers with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Illuminations: Resources for Teaching Math
From NCTM
Interactivate
Searchable database of online lesson plans
NSDL Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Online lesson plans and activities linked by Common Core mathematics standard
Practical Uses of Math & Science
From NASA, lesson plans linked to "practical" examples, organized by topic.
Scholastic Math Lesson Plans
Spacemath (from NASA)
Click on PROBLEM BOOKS tab for downloadable PDF books of math problems.
Statistics Education Web
K-12 Lesson Plans for statistics and probability.

Reading & Literature Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Genre & Comprehension Resources

Literary Genres
A list with defininitions of each of the genres included in the California Department of Education Recommended Literature: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve.
Genre Study: A Collaborative Approach
Resources and activities for students and teachers, and a collaborative framework for a genre study workshop.
Writing with Writers
Links to genre lesson plans for biography, tall tales, and myths and legends.

Lesson Plans

Activity Sheets
Activity sheets for elementary level titles and board books. (from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). After selecting the link, select Asset Library from the webpage on the left, then select Activity Sheets.
Read Write Think Lesson Plans
Every lesson plan on ReadWriteThink has been aligned not only to the IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts but to individual state standards as well.
Reading Group Classroom Guides
Classroom discussion guides and activity packs for over 700 trade book titles. (From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). After selecting the link, at the top of the webpage, select any title, then scroll down in the book information to find the Reading Guides under Additional Assets.
ReadWorks
Lesson Plans, differentiation strategies, assessments, worksheets and more. You will need to create a free account.
Scholastic Teachers: Lesson Plans
Lesson plans for all contents areas, with a focus on language arts and reading.
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Educator Guides
Through a partnership with the National Writing Project, the Educator Guides are developed for use with Scholastic's annual anthology series of student writing, The Best Teen Writing. These guides can be downloaded as PDFs. You can find a copy of the annual The Best Teen Writing in the library's juvenile collection.

Social Studies, Civics & History Learning Activities & Lesson Plans

Many of the following provide activities that integrate text-based primary sources, a component of social studies commons core standards.

American Labor Studies Center Lesson Plans
Lesson plans on child labor, sweatshop laws, labor movements and civil rights.
Baseball Hall of Fame
Thematic units weaving baseball with Women's History, Labor History, Civil Rights and more. Select the modules to find the lesson plan documents. You can even set up a virtual field trip with the museum.
Beyond the Bubble
Developed by the Stanford History Education Group, this set of resources connects the collections of the Library of Congress with easy-to-use assessments that capture students’ knowledge in action.
C-Span in the Classroom
Using C-Span video clips, this site provides resources for teaching civics and U.S. Government. You will need to create a free membership account to use the sites resources.
Democracy Web
Teaching guides on the elements of democracy. Includes lessons on minority rights, economic freedom and the rule of law.
Detroit Historical Society Lesson Plan Clearinghouse
Searchable by subject, grade level and keyword.
Primary Source Sets from the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
Explore topics in history, literature, and culture through primary sources. The sets use letters, photographs, posters, oral histories, video clips, sheet music, and more from the DPLA collections. Each set includes a topic overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide.
Senate Immersion Modules: Edward Kennedy Institute
Curriculum modules for topics such as Immigration and the Compromise of 1850. For high school.
Smithsonian History Explorer
Searchable by grade, resource type, historical era and cross curricular connections.
Statistics in Schools
Teaching materials using Census Data and information about the census.
Teachable Moment
These classroom lessons foster critical thinking on issues of the day and a positive classroom environment. Lessons include topics on bullying, conflict resolution and diversity.
Wayne State Digital Collections: Learning Activities
Learning activities including grading rubrics that use primary source materials available in the Wayne State University Digital Collections.
Welcome to the American Presidents: Life Portraits
Teacher Guides for the all U.S. Presidents

Science Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Placing your mouse over any of the links will provide a short explanation of its content.

Bill Nye: Educational Resources
Although this site is mostly commercial, it does provide great "household product" science projects in the Home Demos section.
CERES Astronomy: Educational Activities
The Center for Educational Resources has linked up with NASA to provide web based astronomy lessons for grades K-12. Each lesson description provides the NASA theme, activity duration and education level.
Engineering Go For It!
Sponsored by American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Includes lesson plans, activities, online magazine and more.
GeoInquiries
Short, standards-based inquiry activities for teaching map-based concepts. ArcGIS Online technology is available to support subject matter content teaching.

These activities are technology agnostic and can be delivered in a classroom with as little as a tablet and a projector. Any teacher can use a GeoInquiry, regardless of their prior experience with digital mapping tools.
NASA Educational Resources
In addition to lesson plans, includes resouces for teachers and professional development opportunities under the For Educators link.
NSTA Learning Center
This members-only site provides access to these science lesson plans for free.
NSTA Reports
From NSTA for Science Teachers. Includes Professional Development and Classroom Activities.
Science Friday Educate
From the weekly Science Friday radio show, educational resources you can search by grade level, duration and subject. Includes multimedia, lesson plans and classroom activities.
Science Net Links
Science lesson plans searchable by grade, science themes and content. Hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Science Penguin
Topic ideas, units and interactive notebooks, along with lesson plans, project and other ideas for the engaging elementary science learners. Check the blog for links to specific topics and ideas.
SEGway Lesson Plans
A collaborative NASA project with NASA scientists, science museums, and K-12 educators. This site provides NASA science based Earth and space science curricula for the classroom. They even provide a Resource Cart so that you can create your own custom collection of SEGway resources.
ToxTown Classroom Activities
Environmental Health lesson plans and activities for High School and Hicher Education.
Think Like A Scientist
How do scientists make discoveries? In this webcam kit, students are encouraged to think like scientists, by making observations, asking questions, and making predictions. Aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. A lesson outline, worksheets, and supplemental resources are included to support student exploration.

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Databases: Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Art Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Computer Education Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

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Reading & Literature Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Social Studies, Civics & History Learning Activities & Lesson Plans

Science Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

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Databases: Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Art Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Computer Education Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Mathematics Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Reading & Literature Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

Social Studies, Civics & History Learning Activities & Lesson Plans

Science Lesson Plans & Learning Activities

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