University Library > Internet Resources > General Education: Teaching Resources

General Education: Teaching Resources

Table of Contents:

General Lesson Plan Web Sites
Lesson Plans by Content Area:
Business Business Skills Personal Finance	Fine Arts Art Theatre/Drama Music	Health & Physical Education Health Physical Education	Other Early Childhood ESL/Bilingual Multicultural Service Learning
Language Arts Reading Writing Literature	Languages French German Spanish	Social Sciences Civics Economics Geography History Social Studies	Science & Math Biology Chemistry Computer Science General Science Mathematics Physics

General Lesson Plan Web Sites

The Gateway to 21st Century Skills- The Gateway provides access to high quality Internet lesson plans, curriculum units, and other education resources. The Gateway user can do a customized search using subject and grade level.
New York Times Learning Resources - Incorporate current events into your lessons.
IDEAS - These resources at this web site help Wisconsin educators use technology to meet the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards. Subject coverage includes English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Information and Technology Literacy for grades K-12.
K-12 Portal at UW-Madison - K-12 at UW-Madison is a gateway to university resources that are useful for teachers, students, and parents. K-12 at UW-Madison has links to information on outreach programs, partnership programs, events, activities, information on a specific topic, lesson plans, courses, professional development, and much more.
PBS Teacher Source - Search for lessons developed and used by other teachers. PBS Teacher Source includes standards-based curriculum resources in the arts, math, health, reading, language arts, science, technology, social studies, early childhood, and library media studies for grades Pre-K to 12.
WINSS - Curriculum Resource Center - Find resources from the Wisconsin DPI's Curriculum Resource Center, the Education Communications Board, and MarcoPolo in one location.
Thinkfinity - Includes lesson plans, interactive activities, and other online resources.
InTime Videos (Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education) - Want to see examples of lessons from real classrooms? Search for curriculum and teacher standards videos at InTime.
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence - A collection of lesson ideas brought to you by the U.S. government.
EDSITEment - From the National Endowment for the Humanities, a selection of the best humanities-related resources on the Web.
Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (ECB) - The Wisconsin ECB is a statewide telecommunications system and supports education. There are professional educational development resources at this site in the form of online resources.
Smithsonian Education: Search this section of the Smithsonian Museum's web site to find lesson plans and resources on many topics.

Lesson Plans by Content Area

Business

Business Skills | Personal Finance

Business Skills

Associations

Web Sites

High School Business Education - Collection of links on High School business education from Baltimore County (Maryland) Public Schools.
Tanya Skinner's Business Education Lesson Plans and Resources - Lesson plans by topic.

Personal Finance

Associations

Council for Economic Education

Web Sites

CCCS of Southwest Virginia-Lesson Plans for Teachers - Money Lesson Plans for grades 3-6 by the Consumer Credit Counseling Services Virginia. Lessons use literature to teach a personal finance topic.
Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy - Use the Clearinghouse tab to find free publications including lesson plans, handouts on how to be a smart consumer, and more.
ASEC Online - the American Savings Education Counsel. The site includes several calculators and information on a wide variety of financial topics.
MegaPenny Project - An interesting project that helps you visualize large amounts of money.
Practical Money Skills - See Teacher Resources/Lesson plans for detailed lesson plans and activities for PreK-Teen. Teen lesson plans are also available for students with special needs.

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Fine Arts

Art | Theater/Drama | Music

Art

Associations

National Art Education Association

Web Sites

ArtsEdge - ArtsEdge helps teachers teach through and about the arts.
Kinder Art - Ideas, lessons plans and more by topic.
Educator's Reference Desk: Arts Lesson plans for arts. Various grade levels.

Theater/Drama

Associations

Educational Theatre Association

Web Sites

Artlynx International: Theatre Resources - Resources by topic.
Theatre lesson plans - Includes Emotional Intelligence Lesson Plans to teach assertiveness, conflict, decision making, etc.
ArtsEdge lesson plans - Use the drop down menus on the left to narrow to specific subjects and grade levels.
Folger Shakespeare Library - If you're teaching Shakespeare's works, you've hit the lesson plan jackpot at the Folger Library. Find primary resources and classroom ideas, organized by title.

Music

Associations

Music Educators National Conference (MENC)
National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS)
American Choral Directors Association
Directory to Musical Organizations, Societies and Clubs from the University of Washington Libraries
Professional Music Organizations from the University of Oregon Libraries

Web Sites

Artlynx International: Music Resources - Resources by topic.
Educator's Reference Desk: Music - Music lesson plans for various grade levels.

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Health & Physical Education

Health | Physical Education

Health

Associations

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (AAHPERD)

Web Sites

MyPyramid.gov - Information on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutrition guidelines. Includes eating plans, interactive tools, and ideas for good nutrition for specific age groups.
Educator's Reference Desk: Health - Lesson plans on health topics for a variety of ages.
MedlinePlus - Understandable and reliable health information. Sponsored by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
BAM! Body and Mind - An interactive web site for kids about health from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Kids.gov: Health and Safety: Kids.gov is the official kids' portal for the U.S. Government. The Health and Safety page includes a list of links to kid-friendly web pages about important health topics.

Physical Education

Associations

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (AAHPERD)

Web Sites

MyPyramid.gov - Information on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutrition guidelines. Includes eating plans, interactive tools, and ideas for good nutrition for specific age groups.
The Virtual Library of Sport - Extensive information on a wide variety of sports. Browse the Sport Directory to find sports listed by categories. Resources are added and updated by volunteers.
Dance Resources - The Dance Directory provides links to sites with information about different dance types and selected sites of dance organizations and individual dancers.
Sports Resources - A long list of resources from refdesk.com.
Educator's Reference Desk: Physical Education: Contains lesson plans for games, motor skills, gymnastics, outdoor education, team sports, and skill related.

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Other

Early Childhood | ESL/Bilingual | Multicultural | Service Learning

Early Childhood

Associations

Web Sites

More lesson plans for Pre-K and Kindergarten may be found in subject specific categories.

TeacherSource - From PBS, PreK-2. Use drop down menus to select grade levels and topics.
CESA #2's Early Childhood - Information from CESA #2.
Preschool Coloring Book - Line and No Line coloring pages for preschoolers.
PEC: Preschool Physical Education Lesson Plans.
Scholastic's Activities: This site contains many activities and games for families and lesson plans for teachers. Use the tabs for preschool or grades K-2 and then click on a subject or theme.

ESL/Bilingual

Associations

Web Sites

Dave's ESL Cafe. See the Idea Cookbooks in the "Stuff for Teachers" section of the site.
ESL Flow Lesson ideas for ESL - collection of links by level and topic.

Multicultural

Associations

National Association for Multicultural Education

Service Learning

Associations

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Language Arts

Reading | Writing | Literature

Reading

Associations

Web Sites

Web Resources of the Clearinghouse on Reading English and Communication - From Indiana University, a selection of web sites useful in the teaching of English or other Language Arts.
Educator's Reference Desk: Language Arts - Lesson plans by topic. Contains more than 2000 unique lesson plans which were written and submitted by teachers from all over the United States.
EDSITEment lesson plans - for Language and Literature. Select subject area (drama, poetry, etc.) and grade level. Each lesson plan includes goals, objectives, a bibliography and includes a link on how the lesson aligns to professional standards (i.e., NCTE, NCSS, etc.). Hosted on the National Endowment for the Humanities web site.
Reading Online An electronic journal of the International Reading Journal
ReadWriteThink.org: From the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Find lesson plans, student materials, and links to more good resources.
Ideas: an excellent Web site to help Wisconsin educators use technology to meet the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards
Web English Teacher: a web site developed by an English teacher with links to study guides and lesson plans, and to other quality web sites with teaching ideas.
Folgers Shakespeare Library: Contains many useful resources including lesson plans for the teaching of Shakespeare’s works.
Thinkfinity: Includes standards-based K-12 lesson plans. The site allows for searching by keyword and by grade level and subject.

Writing

Associations

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

Web Sites

Educator's Reference Desk: Language Arts - Lesson plans by topic.
EDSITEment lesson plans - for Language and Literature. Select subject area (drama, poetry, etc.) and grade level. Each lesson plan includes goals, objectives, a bibliography and includes a link on how the lesson aligns to professional standards (i.e., NCTE, NCSS, etc.). Hosted on the National Endowment for the Humanities web site.

Literature

Associations

Web Sites

Folger Shakespeare Library - If you're teaching Shakespeare's works, you've hit the lesson plan jackpot at the Folger Library. Find primary resources and classroom ideas, organized by title.
American RadioWorks - Documentaries on contemporary issues (categories include America, Health, History, Justice, and World) Downloadable audio files are available as are transcripts.
Harper Academic - Discussion starters for selected works you might teach in the secondary classroom.
BookSpot.com
Online Books Page
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
CCBC Cooperative Children's Book Center
Children's Picture Book Database
Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature
International Children's Digital Library
Web English Teacher
TeachingBooks
Teen Reads

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Languages

French | German | Spanish

French

Associations

Web Sites

EDSITEment lesson plans: Foreign Language - for Foreign Language. Select subject area (French, Russian, Latin, etc.) and a grade level. Each lesson plan includes goals, objectives, a bibliography and includes a link on how the lesson aligns to professional standards (i.e., NCTE, NCSS, etc.). Hosted on the National Endowment for the Humanities web site.

German

Associations

Web Sites

EDSITEment lesson plans: Foreign Language - for Foreign Language. Select subject area (French, Russian, Latin, etc.) and a grade level. Each lesson plan includes goals, objectives, a bibliography and includes a link on how the lesson aligns to professional standards (i.e., NCTE, NCSS, etc.). Hosted on the National Endowment for the Humanities web site.

Spanish

Associations

Web Sites

EDSITEment lesson plans: Foreign Language - for Foreign Language. Select subject area (French, Russian, Latin, etc.) and a grade level. Each lesson plan includes goals, objectives, a bibliography and includes a link on how the lesson aligns to professional standards (i.e., NCTE, NCSS, etc.). Hosted on the National Endowment for the Humanities web site.

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Social Sciences

Civics | Economics | Geography | History | Social Studies

Civics

Associations

Center for Civic Education
Civic Education Network from the APSA

Web Sites

Educators Reference Desk - Lesson plans for various grade levels.
EDSITEment lesson plans: History - for U.S. History: Civics and Government. Each lesson plan includes goals, objectives, a bibliography and includes a link on how the lesson aligns to professional standards (i.e., NCTE, ACTFL, etc.). Hosted on the National Endowment for the Humanities web site.
Educators: Lesson Plans: Civics & Social Studies - From KQED (public broadcasting station in California). Lesson plans based on public broadcasting programs. Various grade levels.

Economics

Associations

Web sites

Economics International - Two series of lessons geared to a wide range of ages.
EconEdLink - Lesson plans include links to handouts, quizzes and transparencies for classroom use.
H.I.P. Pocket Change Games - From The U.S. Mint's Games for Kids. These interactive games require Macromedia Flash.

Geography

Associations

Web Sites

USGS Learning Web - Lesson plans and activities from the United States Geographical Survey for the secondary level. Most lesson plans and materials available free for download.
Geography Education - by National Geographic. Arranged by grade level.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition and the USGS - Discover America with Lewis and Clark! This web site is full of charts, maps and imagery of Lewis and Clarks voyage.
USGS GEO-DATA Explorer - View world resources and hazards (such as the location and intensity of earthquakes and the location of the various types of volcanos) by geographic location.
Conservation Maps--MapMachine--atlas, street maps (National Geographic) - Generate thematic maps on land use, environment, natural hazards and weather.

History

News

The History Carnival - "The History Carnival is a floating twice-monthly roundup of the best discussions of history in the blogosphere (that we can find, either by nomination or incessant surfing)."
The Carnival of Bad History - Exposing bad history in movies, books, tv and more.

Associations

National Council for History Education

Web Sites

American Memory from the Library of Congress - a free digital collection of "written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience."
American RadioWorks - Documentaries on contemporary issues (categories include America, Health, History, Justice, and World) Downloadable audio files are available as are transcripts.
Best of History Web Sites - History web sites for lesson plans, quizzes, games and guides on a wide range of time periods.
Teacher Resources - The Learning Page - Lesson plans from the American Memory division of the Library of Congress.
Picturing Modern America 1880 - 1920 - The goal of this web site is to increase middle and high school students' skills in analyzing primary documents, especially visual documents. Features primary documents from the Library of Congress's American Memory project.
Military Campaign Maps Home Page - From the American Memory collection at the Library of Congress. Campaign maps of the American Revolution, American Civil War and other battles and campaigns.
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms- Published by the Newberry Library of Chicago, this site features maps organized by American History themes.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - This site has educational materials for both teachers and students.
Project Gutenberg - Project Gutenberg is a provider of free electronic books for books whose copyright protection has expired. Their catalog contains over 16,000 titles in over 40 languages.
CARRIE: An Electronic Text Library - Of special interest on this site are AmDocs (American primary documents) and EuroDocs (Western European primary documents)
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873 - From American Memory.
Perseus Digital Library - A digital library for the study of humanities.
HistoryWorld - Brief essays on topics in world history, including histories of specific countries. Unique features include the ability to "Mix" your own timeline and to print essays paragraph by paragraph.
Ocean Index - The Ocean (One-Click Edited-Access Network) Index is a companion web site to HistoryWorld. Search Ocean for information from both HistoryWorld and other external sites.

Social Studies

Associations

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)

Web Sites

American Memory from the Library of Congress - a free digital collection of "written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience."
American RadioWorks - Documentaries on contemporary issues (categories include America, Health, History, Justice, and World) Downloadable audio files are available as are transcripts.
Lesson Plans and Resources for Social Studies Teachers - Lesson plans and resources from the Internet which social studies teachers will find useful. Includes educational standards and curriculum frameworks, a section on teaching current events, and links to newsgroups and mailing lists.
National Archives and Records Administration - The Digital Classroom. Reproducible primary documents, educational units correlated to national academic standards, and cross-curricular connections.
Project Vote Smart - American Government, Elections, Candidates and Voting - Besides being a resource on current political issues, Project Vote Smart is collects speeches for the entire Federal Executive Branch (President, Vice President and all Cabinet members).
THOMAS - U.S. Congress on the Internet. Legislation, the Congressional Record and committee information and more on the work of Congress. Dates of coverage vary, but searching and full text of information is usually available from the 100th Congress (1990) to present.
NMAH: Welcome to the History Explorer - A timeline of stories from the exhibits, collections and programs of the National Museum of American History. An interactive map allows for browsing by time period.
American Journeys - "Eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later."
Picturing Modern America 1880 - 1920 - The goal of this web site is to increase middle and high school students' skills in analyzing primary documents, especially visual documents. Features primary documents from the Library of Congress's American Memory project.
Military Campaign Maps Home Page - From the American Memory collection at the Library of Congress. Campaign maps of the American Revolution, American Civil War and other battles and campaigns.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - This site has educational materials for both teachers and students.

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Science & Math

Biology

Associations

National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT)

Web Sites

Biology Lesson Plans for Prospective and Practicing Teachers - from San Diego State University.

Chemistry

Associations

American Chemical Society

Web Sites

The Science Spot: Chemistry - List of web sites that contain chemistry lesson plans and experiment ideas.
American Chemical Society's Education page includes the Science for Kids section and many resources for teachers as well.

Computer Science

Associations

Web Sites

Educator's Reference Desk: Computer Science - Lesson plans for various grade levels.

General Science

Associations

National Science Teachers Association

Web Sites

The National Science Digital Library - Funded by the National Science Foundation. Find links to teaching resources by topic.
ENC (Eisenhower National Clearinghouse) Online - Math and science lesson plans and curriculum resources.
NOAA's Ocean Service Education - This web site contains links to lesson plans in chemistry, earth science, life science, and more.
PBS Teachers - This is a good resource for teaching materials in many subjects. Click on the "Science & Tech" link on the left, and then choose your grade range and topic.
The Educator's Reference Desk - This web site contains over 2000 lesson plans. Look at the Science section of this web site for a listing of lessons by topic and grade level.
The GLOBE Program - This is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program. Be sure to look at the Teacher's Guide page for teaching resources.
The Human Genome Project Education Resources - This web page contains several links to scientific information and activities for secondary teachers.
Tox Town - Sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, this site includes information about environmental health concerns. There is a Tox Town section for teachers which includes classroom activities and other resources.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Web site - This web site is a good source for information on how to conserve energy. The K-12 Lesson Plans & Activities section of this site contains links to lesson plans and teaching ideas related to energy conservation.
The Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) - This excellent resource is a portal to teaching ideas from several U.S. governmental agencies. The Science Teaching and Learning Resources section of this site links to hundreds of teaching resources for science education.

Mathematics

Associations

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

Web Sites

ENC (Eisenhower National Clearinghouse) Online - Math and science lesson plans and curriculum resources.
Math Forum @ Drexel - A selection of the best Internet sites providing mathematics lesson plans.
MegaPenny Project - Project that helps to visualize large amounts of money.
Practical Money Skills - See Teacher Resources/Lesson plans for detailed lesson plans and actvities for PreK-Teen. Teen lesson plans are also available for students with special needs.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics - Look at the problem of the week for elementary, middle school and high school students or browse the "Illuminations" section for K-12 lesson plans.
H.I.P. Pocket Change Games - From The U.S. Mint's Games for Kids. These interactive games require Macromedia Flash.

Physics

Associations

American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)

Web Sites

SMILE Program Physics Index - Lesson plans arranged by topic.
The Physics Front - a free service from the American Association of Physics Teachers in partnership with the National Science Foundation and the National Science Digital Library. See the Topics and Units section for teaching resources by topic.

Last Revised: sc 12/29/2009

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