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Finding Good Instructional Resources

Scholastic Teachables https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/guesthomepage.html

This resource site is incredibly intensive, with great, updated material. Offering lesson

plans, printable worksheets, activities and more – it is a great place to start when planning your

course. It is very trustworthy and authentic, “the resources [are] developed by teachers and

curriculum specialists, vetted by Scholastic” (teachables.scholastic.com).

Scholastic Teachables is a website that has several cool features. The seasonal resources

available are there to assist with keeping your materials relevant throughout the year. There are

hundreds of collections that are based on leveled learning. These collections provide teachers

with skills sheets and activities for different levels of learners in your classroom – Below Level,

At Level, Above Level. You can search for materials using very detailed criteria and find exactly

what you are looking for. There are even thousands of clip art and images you can download to

enhance your classroom creations. The last feature that I really think is beneficial is the File

Cabinet – this allows you “plan ahead, save, and organize your favorite resources”

(teachables.scholastic.com).

PBS Learning Media https://www.pbslearningmedia.org

PBS Learning Media is definitely a reliable source for good lesson plans. You can search

by subject, grade, and check to ensure the material is aligned to standards. On PBS Learning

Media, there are videos you can use to incorporate media into your class. This is particularly

great for online courses because of the quality assurance.

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Teachers Pay Teachers https://www.teacherspayteachers.com

This resource site has an interesting premise. “Teachers Pay Teachers is an online

marketplace where teachers buy and sell original material” (teacherspayteachers.com). Some of

the lesson plans have a small cost associated, which goes directly to the teacher that created that

lesson. By investing in fellow teachers, more resources are able to be created. It is actually a very

smart system!

You can search and sort by several categories, including cost. The more the lesson plan

costs, the more material and detail will be involved. But don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of

great free resources on Teachers Pay Teachers as well.

Lesson Plan Analysis https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/State-Report-

Research-Project-Opinion-Writing-519502

I chose a lesson plan from Teachers Pay Teachers that does not use technology. State

Report with a Twist is a lesson that focuses on comparing and contrasting two different states.

The teacher outlines having students draw two random states and doing some research on those

states in order to write a paper comparing the two.

There are a few ways I would incorporate technology into this lesson. The end goal of

this lesson would be to create a Digital Travel Magazine. First, I would have the students partner

up for this and work on their laptops using Google Classroom to collaborate. I would have

students take virtual field trips to the states they are researching, go on virtual tours of famous

places within those states. Technology has come so far and is truly able to transport you

virtually! I would have specific websites picked out to match up with each state so that each

student has an equal experience. For the report portion, I would have each student create a
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multimedia project based on their assigned state using Microsoft Word – with pictures and

colorful elements, saved as a PDF. Then the students would work together to compare and

contrast those states and write up an article, completing their Digital Travel Magazine based on

their virtual travels and interactive research.

It’s fun to brainstorm ways to incorporate what is at our fingertips and what we take for

granted most days. How far things have come in just a few short years is astounding; the

education world has definitely expanded thanks to advances in technology!

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References

Scholastic Teachables. (2019, July 18). Retrieved from

https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/guesthomepage.html

PBS Learning Media. (2019, July 18). Retrieved from https://www.pbslearningmedia.org

State Report Research Project ~ Opinion Writing. (2019, July 18). Retrieved from

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/State-Report-Research-Project-

Opinion-Writing-519502