Introduction
Lesson planning is an important step all teachers should be skilled at. Here we have collected a
list of 40 top resources to help with lesson planning. In the first section we have included some
useful articles on various introductory and overview topics relating to lesson planning. They are
a great read to grasp the essential points of lesson planning. In the second section, we have
gathered many different websites that have free lesson plans available to search, download and
print to use in your classroom. Lastly, we have a separate section for sites that require paid
membership. We like free stuff but sometimes a resource is just so good that it’s worth paying
out a little bit of money.
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A short article on How Important Lesson Planning is for Teachers.
http://itdi.pro/blog/2012/05/28/how-important-is-lesson-planning-scott-thornbury/
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Short easy to read guide on How to Write a Lesson Plan by About.com
http://712educators.about.com/od/lessonplans/ht/lessonplans.htm
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An excellent article on 5 Common Mistakes Many Teachers Make when Lesson
Planning.
http://www.educationoasis.com/instruction/bt/five_common_mistakes.htm
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A superb overview of Lesson Planning Structure
http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/resources/teaching-and-learning-strategies/planning/
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A good article on Effective Lesson Planning with several videos by made by teachers
on the subject of lesson planning.
http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/nqt/effective-lesson-planning
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Informative article on Strategies for Effective Lesson Planning
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P2_5.php
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Using Bloom's Taxonomy in the Classroom
http://712educators.about.com/od/testconstruction/p/bloomstaxonomy.htm
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This article on the Penn State University site outlines the 3 Classic Lesson Planning
Models. Very informative read for any teacher which includes easy to use templates for
each model.
http://www.personal.psu.edu/scs15/idweb/lessonplanning.htm
Free Resources
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TES
One of the largest networks of teachers anywhere with over 2 million members, TES is
an incredible resource that every teacher needs to know about. Registration is free and
quick, giving you access to nearly half a million lesson plans and articles, yes half a
million! There is an active community with chances to interact with teachers from all over
the UK and world. Don't miss this website!
http://www.tes.co.uk/
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Guardian Newspaper for Teachers
A fantastic resource for teachers. Divided into different age groups and subjects, this
huge resource is free to use after registering. The materials are made by professional
teachers and you can also create and share your own. There are other useful tools here
such as the Test Centre to check your classes progress. Highly recommended!
http://teachers.guardian.co.uk/
Microsoft
Known for their computer software but they also provide a great teaching resource free
for educators. They have provided several lessons on a range of subjects such as
History and Geography for different age groups. Nice printables are available with each
lesson.
http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/plans/pages/index.aspx
We included them on this list because of the free software they offer to teachers.
http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/Pages/free-products.aspx
Education World
A staggering amount of resources that will keep you going for a long time. They also
have a great page of 5 minute fillers for those days where you need something quick to
fill the time. It is also free and teachers can find nearly every subject under easy to find
categories.
http://www.educationworld.com/
Primary Resources
Divided into subjects, this free resource is an excellent source of printable lesson plans
for primary school lessons. It relies on teachers submitting content and is regularly
updated with new lessons and activities helping to make it one of the largest online UK
resources for lesson plans.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/
Lesson Plans Page
After registering, you will gain access to over 4000 teacher approved lesson plans.
Some nice features is the ability to interact with fellow teachers and we like the create a
lesson plan tool. This website is backed by one of the largest education companies in
the US.
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/
O2 Learn
A surprising source of lessons is the 02 education website, they run a competition for
teachers to find the best recorded lessons. All the videos are freely viewable on their
website and can provide some great ideas for your classroom.
https://www.o2learn.co.uk/o2_video-channel.php
My Life 4 Schools
My Life is a free Key Stage 2 (KS2) PSHE and Citizenship teaching resource produced
by The Children's Society. On this website child friendly stories, animations and online
activities bring to life key topics and themes from the Key Stage 2 curriculum.
http://www.mylife4schools.org.uk/MyLife/
National Geographic Education
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A beautiful resource by National Geographic for bringing nature and wildlife into your
classroom with excellent lesson plans.
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/teaching-resources/?ar_a=1
Teaching Expertise
A useful free resource from a UK educational magazine. All of the lesson plans on the
site were first published in their books or magazines. All the lessons and articles come
presented in easy to print pdf files.
http://www.teachingexpertise.com/resources
The Learning Network
Free lessons based on New York Times articles. It is easy to keep lessons fresh and
interesting by engaging students with the current news. The site also includes quizzes,
opinion polls and many other interesting free tools.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/
Teaching Ideas
A free resource full of lesson plans on every subject which are sure to help anyone stuck
for an idea. This site offers free printables in handy pdf files.
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/
Schoolzone
Split into Primary and Secondary Resources, Schoolzone has collected over 50,000 free
lessons available for any teacher to print off to use in the classroom. After registering (it's
free!) you will have access to a huge collection of lessons, beautifully organised into
subjects and levels. It has an active community and is frequently updated with news and
resources.
http://www.schoolzone.co.uk/resources/
BBC for Schools
The BBC has a whole site dedicated to schools and teachers. It is one of the best
resources for quality lessons broken down into different Key Stones and is easily
searchable. The lessons are on interesting topics and some are even based on popular
TV shows, ensuring interesting lessons. They also have thousands of video clips
available to use in the classroom for teachers looking to add some multimedia into their
lessons.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/
School History
A great resource for anything history related. Organised into the different levels, primary
and secondary, if you need any history lesson plans, this is the place! Over 1500
lessons in easy to print format with many in presentation format as well.
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/
Oxfam UK
Oxfam UK have created a resource for teachers looking to add some wider issues to
their lessons. These lessons are excellent for introducing pupils to topics that may not be
ordinarily included in textbooks. Professionally made and presented.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/resources/
The Hamilton Trust
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The Hamilton Trust is a charity which has great resources on Science, Maths and
Literacy. After registration, you will have access to many excellent and professionally
produced lessons. By supporting the charity with a monetary donation, you gain access
to all resources while contributing to a good cause.
https://www.hamilton-trust.org.uk/
Pay For It
PayForIt is a UK website primarily focused on bringing the subject of the economy into
UK classrooms. They have prepared some fantastic lessons on a range of subjects that
are relevant and informative for your pupils at levels Key Stage 3 & 4.
http://www.payingforit.org.uk/teachers/lesson-plans/27/
Met Office Education
For Weather and Geography related lessons, the Met Office UK has a section on its
website devoted to teacher resources. The quality of these lesson plans make up for the
relatively small number of them. There are also great posters and lessons on the current
issue of climate change and global warming.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/teachers
WaldoMaths
Waldomaths is a free resource for UK teachers focused on Maths. The site has an
enormous list of free lessons on every Maths problem and subject on the UK curriculum.
The site uses JAVA to take you step by step through Maths problems in an easy to
understand format.
http://www.waldomaths.com
Web Anywhere
Click on your subject and grade level to get some great links to free resources for
teachers. Web Anywhere have collected a huge sample of great resources for the UK
curriculum. You definitely won’t get stuck for ideas.
http://www.webanywhere.co.uk/education/teaching-resources
Student Teacher Resources
Student Teacher Resources provides a gateway for all teachers, not just student
teachers, to share resources. This website is completely FREE and you can find lesson
plans, worksheets, teaching and activity ideas and resources for Key Stages 1 to 5.
http://www.studentteacherresources.co.uk/
Promethean Planet
A huge, diverse range of resources for teachers. From lesson plans to projects, posters,
games and quizzes, Promethean Planet has something for every teacher.
http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-gb/resources/
Internet 4 Classrooms
Modern classrooms require modern technology and the interactive whiteboard has
become a part of many classrooms. This resource has a list of free and easily accessible
interactive whiteboard lessons.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/links_grades_kindergarten_12/whiteboard_lesson.h
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RSPCA Education
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Very useful teacher resource created by the RSPCA on everything pet related. Lessons
are easily accessible because of the simple navigation and everything is categorised in a
simple, easy to understand way.
http://www.rspca.org.uk/education/teachers
A to Z Teacher Stuff
Created by teachers for teachers, this is a great site which has organised lessons into
easily searchable/browsable sections.
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/
Lesson Plan Central
Lesson plans, webquests, quizzes, powerpoint presentations and even clipart. This site
has a lot of great lesson plans easily adaptable and printable to bring into your class.
http://www.lessonplancentral.com/
Lesson Plan Search
Another collection of great free lesson plans on the web. You can search by subject and
each subject has a number of links to great content. This site also has a lot of seasonal
activities so if you’re looking for holiday worksheets, it is the place to go great free lesson
plans on the web. You can search by subject and each subject has a number of links to
great content. This site also has a lot of seasonal activities so if you’re looking for holiday
worksheets, it is the place to go.
http://www.lessonplansearch.com/
PlanBook Lesson Planning Online Software
Superb online software to create and manage your lesson plans. It works in the cloud so
you can access it from anywhere and saves you having to carry USB keys between
home and school everyday.
http://www.planbookedu.com/
Paid Resources
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Lesson Planet
Free trial for 10 Days. Possibly the largest source of lessons and activities on the
Internet with over 400,000 lessons which have been reviewed by professional teachers.
http://www.lessonplanet.com/
Learning Score
Available as a free 30 day trial this modern lesson planning software is useful for
teachers using multimedia in their lesson plans.
http://www.learningscore.com/
Teacher Vision
has a 7 Day Free Trial but after that costs $39.95 for one year. We think it's worth it
because of the huge number of materials available and they come professionally
presented in easy to print pdf files. The categories are organised in an excellent, intuitive
way to make finding materials a breeze.
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/lesson-plan/resource/5775.html