Top 10 Free Resources for Creative Lesson Planning
Many new and seasoned teachers find lesson planning to be one of the more challenging and time consuming parts of teaching. Luckily it's easier than ever to find free resources for creative lesson planning. There's a world of free resources out there to help teachers infuse creativity, interactivity, and innovation into the classroom. Here are 10 quality tools and platforms to make your lesson planning less of a headache and a lot more exciting.
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Teachers Pay Teachers Free Library
Teachers Pay Teachers is peer-created content. While TPT is known for paid resources, its free section is a goldmine. You'll find worksheets, activities, and full lesson plans created by educators for educators. It's persect for sparking ideas or filling in gaps.
Visit Teachers Pay Teachers
2. PBS Learning Media
PBS is a standards-aligned plaatform of videos and interactives. PBS offers thousands of free classroom-ready videos, lesson plans, and interactive tools across subjects. It's especially strong in science, social studies, and media literacy.
Explore PBS Learning Media
3. ReadWriteThink
ReadWriteThink offers ELA tools that go beyond the textbook. Backed by the National Council of Teachers of English, ReadWriteThink provides free lesson plans, student interactives, and professional development resources focused on literacy and writing.
Check out ReadWriteThink
4. Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a platform with master concepts with engaging tutorials. Khan Academy's free video lessons and practice excersises span math, science, history, and more. Use it to reinforce concepts or flip your classroom.
Start with Khan Academy
5. Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture is bringing the world into your classroom. Explore virual museum tours, historical timelines, and cultureal artifacts. Great for humanities, art, and global studies lessons.
Discover Google Arts & Culture
7. Smithsonian Learning Lab
Create custom lesson plans using Smithsonian's vast archive of images, videos, and documents. Ideal for inquiry-based learning and project-based units.
8. National Geographic Education
National Geographic Education offers adventurous resources for science and geography. From interactive maps to real-world case studies, Nat Geo's free resources help students explore the planet and think like scientists.
9. Edutopia
Edutopia offers strategies and inspiration from peer educators. While not a lesson plan repository, Edutopia offers articles, videos, and tips on innovative teaching practices, classroom management, and student engagement.
Read Edutopia
10. The Eploratorium's Teacher Institute
The Exploratorium's Teacher Institute offers hands-on science activities that will keep students engaged. This San Francisco-based museum shares free, inquiry-driven science activities that are perfect for sparking curiosity and experimentation.
Visit The Exploratorium
Creative lesson planning doesn't have to mean reinventing the wheel. With these free resources, you can build engaging, standards-aligned lessons that inspire your students and save yourself hours of prep time. Bookmark your favorites, experiement with new formats, and most importantly, keep the joy of learning alive.