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Teacher Planner Templates

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The teaching profession is one of the most important and difficult today. Our professional planner templates and add-ons will help you stay organized and do your job well. Improve the productivity and efficiency of the educational process using special tools for planning your schedule.

You can personalize the template you like and print it. Also content is available for Goodnotes, Notability, Noteshelf, Xodo and other note-taking apps compatible with iPad and Android tablets.

Digital Teacher Planners

Create the best schedule with a full digital planner that includes a huge number of pages, a wide selection of customizable covers, a helpful calendar, student sheet, form for tracking grades, monitoring class attendance and much more. Choose a color from one of the stylish light or dark themes and download the PDF file directly to your device.

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Recently added:

• Digital Wellness Planner (Dark Theme)
• Digital Student Planner (Light Theme)
• Digital Gratitude Planner
• 90-Day Gratitude Digital Journal (Light Theme)

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Khan Academy Blog

20+ Free Printables and Resources for Teachers and Educators

Welcome to our collection of free printables and resources for teachers in the US! As educators, we know that creating action plans, lesson plans, templates and trackers are time-consuming tasks. These resources will save you time and give you tools to support your students with everything from goal setting printables to lesson plans.

Below you’ll find templates for students to create their own action plans and track their progress, as well as tips for helping students stay motivated and on track. We also have resources for fostering a collaborative learning environment, including printables for video note-taking, error correction, and assignment tracking.

In addition to these resources, we also have a range of printables to help keep your students engaged and excited about learning. For lesson planning, we have templates to help you create cohesive, differentiated, and rigorous lessons for your students. And for connecting with families, we have handouts to help you engage parents in their child’s learning journey on Khan Academy.

We hope these resources will be a valuable addition to your teaching toolkit and help you support your students in achieving their goals.

Goal setting printables

Support students with goal setting, monitoring progress, and achieving their goals. These printable resources give you tools to support students with short- and long-term goal setting.

• Goal setting template
• Student action plan

Student printables

Scaffold student ownership and cultivate an environment of collaborative learning with these printable resources. Use these resources to support students with monitoring progress during exercises, reflecting on and learning from mistakes, and celebrating growth over time.

• Student tips
• Video note-taking gui des
• Student data tracker
• Error correction tracker
• Student assignment tracker

Engagement printables

Keeping students interested in activities and excited to learn is no small task, but these printable resources are here to help! Explore bingo boards, punch cards, certificates, and more to find the resources that will engage your learners.

• Khan choice boards
• Punch cards
• Certificates

Lesson plan templates

Make lesson planning a breeze with these resources. These printable templates will support you with planning cohesive, differentiated, and rigorous lessons for your students.

• 1-block lesson plan template
• 1-week lesson plan template
• Growth mindset lesson plan
• Lesson planning with LearnStorm

Handouts for engaging with families

Families are the greatest resource that we have to support students, but finding ways to engage families in their child’s learning can be challenging. These resources will support you with connecting parents to their child’s Khan Academy account to monitor and understand the growth that their child is making.

• Parent/Caregiver letter
• Parent/Caregiver quick guide
• Mastery levels for parents

Handouts for teachers and admins in partner districts

• KAD teacher account activation guide through email
• KAD student account activation guide through Clever
• KAD student account activation guide through Classlink
• Course Mastery guide for teachers
• KAD administrator guide
• Making MTSS succeed with Khan Academy
• How to Create a Course and Unit Mastery Goal
• How to Create an Assignment
• How to navigate the Class Skills report
• How to navigate the Teacher Activity Overview report

We hope this collection of free printables and resources for teachers and educators will help you streamline your lesson planning and engage your students.

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Addition (Basic)

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Multiplication (Basic)

Multiplication (Multi-Digit)

Order of Operations

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Build Sentences

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Chapter Books

Charlotte's Web

Magic Tree House #1

Boxcar Children

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Animal (Vertebrate) Groups

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Full Website Index

Looking for a printable lesson plan book? Need something to help your students keep track of their assignments? Check out the lesson planner pages, student agenda book pages, and other printable teaching tools.

Planbooks & Gradebooks

Logged in members can use the Super Teacher Worksheets filing cabinet to save their favorite worksheets.

Quickly access your most used files AND your custom generated worksheets!

Please login to your account or become a member and join our community today to utilize this helpful feature.

Parent Communications

Weather Charts

Birthday Charts

Notes for absent students, classroom alphabet banners.

Reference Charts

Create your own custom classroom newsletters. Choose a layout, and your favorite theme. Then enter your own content.

Make your own custom calendar. Choose a month and year, then enter holidays, birthdays, and other important days.

Homework Agendas

Open House Tools

Printable subject covers for binders, folders, and notebooks. Subjects include: reading, math, science, social studies, and more!

Calendars that your students can fill in and color.

Lots of award certificates you can use to recognize behavior, achievement, good character traits.

Use these fun sticker charts to track reading progress, homework assignments, or student goals.

This page has printable reminder bracelets for students. Help them remember to bring back overdue library books, complete late assignments, or bring lunch money to school.

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Teacher Planner – 64 Useful Pages For Every Teacher

Looking for a teacher planner for the new term? Then look no further!

We’ve created this 64-page teacher planner 2023 binder, that’s full of useful pages to help you make the most of your year. With calendars for 2023 and 2024 included.

You’ll find useful pages such as lesson plan templates , class rosters, class schedules , assessment trackers, assignment trackers, behavior logs, inventory, projects, and much more.

You’ll also find more familiar planner pages to help you with your day to days, such as daily and weekly planners, to-do lists, and many other pages to help you stay organized. You’ll find a full list of all of the included pages below.

Best of all, it’s totally free! Simply print, or import into your favorite digital planner app, and make the most of the school year ahead!

The only teacher planner that you’ll need

Our stylish teacher planners are not only packed full of pages that you’ll find very useful, but they’re also professionally designed in two optional styles.

You can choose from a simple stylish version, that features subtle colors and a classic layout. Or if you prefer something more fun, then there’s a totally cute version that’s full of colors and great for anyone who wants something a little more quirky.

Start planning and stay organized

Our teacher plan book will help you with your lesson planning and organization.

Your lessons might run from Monday to Friday but we know as a teacher that your work doesn’t end with the work week.

This teacher planner is packed full of useful pages, lesson planning templates, and tools to help you make the most out of teaching, planning, and creating a confident learning schedule for yourself and your pupils.

Read on to learn about our teacher planner, why it is important to use one, and how to get it as a printable planner or as a digital planner!

What is a Teacher Planner?

A teacher planner is a great organizational tool that helps teachers, tutors, mentors, or homeschooling parents manage their time and workload. It’s an ideal tool to have that will help you plan lessons, inspire your class, understand your class better and create an educational experience that will ensure success.

This planner is perfect for all stages of education. It’s flexible and versatile enough to use from early years, through school, and into adult education. Whether you are a kindergarten teacher, a high school teacher, a special education teacher, or a college professor, the teacher planner will benefit you.

Do I need a teacher planner?

If you want to be at your best from the start of the academic year then I strongly recommend a teacher planner.

A teacher planner will allow you to plan and schedule everything that is important to your teaching and learning experience, and having it all together in a teacher planner will allow you to stay on track.

What should a teacher planner have?

A good teacher planner should be well thought out, genuinely useful, and have a focus on both the teacher and the pupils throughout the school year.

There are many different pages and elements that can be incorporated into a teacher planner to offer the best experience and with a planner like ours, you can add additional and custom pages to make it the planner perfect for you.

Before you spend $40+ on a teacher lesson planner, give our free teacher lesson planner a try – I promise you will love it!

Best Teacher Planner

Our teacher planner has been designed with a focus on both the teacher and the student and will help you streamline the classroom experience.

Our teacher binder is ideal if you love to rearrange your pages, remove pages or add more pages to suit your own needs and teaching style. Using our printable teacher planner allows you to consistently change your planner around, adding more when you need more rather than worrying about running out of space.

Teacher planners tend to have space for August to the following July, so you can use a new teacher planner for every new term for free!

We think it is one of the best planners available, so give it a try and see for yourself!

See what’s included in this free teacher planner

The teacher planner comes with 64 useful pages, designed to help you make the most of your time as a teacher.

The pages include:

The Teacher planner comes with a beautiful cover page, so no matter how you decide to bind your printable planner, you will have a cover page for the front.

2023 year calendar + 2024 year calendar

The yearly calendars are extremely useful for planning the academic year and the year ahead. There are two annual calendars – one for 2023 and one for 2024.

Teachers are extremely busy and outwith the teaching periods, they still have 101 other things to be doing. Let this to do list help you prioritize your daily tasks.

Weekly To Do List

Make sense of your weekly tasks with this weekly to do list. From marking homework to requesting new supplies, this weekly to do list will help you see your tasks at a glance.

Daily Planner

Use the daily schedule to plan your lessons down to a tee. Having a daily schedule allows you to keep structure to your day and with our daily planning pages, you can add or remove them as you see fit.

Class Schedule

Plan your class schedule to a tee with our handy class schedule pages. Print as many as you need whenever you need them.

Weekly Planner

The weekly pages are ideal for lesson planning, keeping a note of projects or homework, and other weekly activities.

Monthly Planner

The monthly planner is amazing for helping you see what’s coming up at a glance. Whether it’s a month of meetings and parent’s evenings or if a field trip is due, you will see it all with the monthly planner.

Monthly To Do list

When planning your month, take the tasks that need to be done and list them on the monthly to do list pages. From there you can allocate them to different weekly to do list pages.

Checklist pages

Use these pages to create checklists for anything end everything you need.

Month in review

The month in review page is a great tool for helping you reflect on the month. This is super handy for a teacher as you can see what worked in your lessons and what didn’t quite reach the mark.

Year Overview

Focus on long-term plans with curriculum maps, yearly overviews, goals planners, and monthly schedules. Our teacher planner offers space for planning field trips and any other activities that might be on the horizon.

Next year at a glance

Pencil in some long-term goals and plan ahead with the next year at a glance page.

Improvement planner

The improvement planner pages are great for both teacher and student! Print one out for every pupil and let them fill it in. They will learn to recognize and understand any difficulties they have and what they need to improve with. This allows you to understand the child’s needs better.

Goal Planner

Plan your goals with the goal planner. What do you want to achieve this term? What do you want to work on and what steps will you take to get there?

Class Project Planner

Use this page to plan your class projects. Planning any projects will make sure you have everything ready from the start, making sure you are prepared and leaving less room for error.

Make notes with the notes page. Add as many note pages as you like.

Blank lined paper

Use the blank lined paper to make additional notes, drawings, brainstorming, or anything else you might need it for. You can also choose from a selection of blank lined paper in various styles to add to your planner.

Blank dot grid paper

Use the different page layouts for different needs. You will find blank dot grid pages included in the teacher planner, along with additional note pages. There are also graph pages in different formats if you would like to add these to your planner.

Contact list

Use the contact list to keep important contact information for your students.

Password tracker

A password tracker is a great way of keeping the password for shared devices in the classroom, whether that’s online learning websites or something the students can access for fun during breaks.

Daily work log

Use this page to keep a log of your daily workflow and stay on track.

Weekly work log

Keep a record of your weekly work log so you can see what you have worked on throughout the week.

Use the timesheet to log the days you worked and whether they were half days or full days.

Student list

The student checklist is perfect for helping you keep a record of students and can be used for your needs in and outside the classroom.

Class roster / attendance

Keep track of your pupil’s attendance with this class roster. Use it daily and then figure out their attendance percentage out of 100% at the end of each term.

Expenses tracker

Keep a log of any expenses you might have before filing them with the admin team. This could be for classroom supplies, or any business expenses covered by the school.

Things to do planner

Got ideas for things you need to do or what you can do with your class? Keep a note of them here.

Class inventory list

Use the class inventory list to keep a track of the things your need to help your classroom run smoothly.

Class schedule

The class schedule will help you plan the week of lessons and activities down to the hour.

Assessment tracker

Use the assessment tracker as a template for carrying out any relevant assessments throughout the school year.

Seating chart

One thing that adds structure to a classroom is a seating chart. Use the seating chart at the start of the term and reevaluate it based on pupil performance and concentration.

Whether it is a school fete, school sports day, or someone to help in the classroom, keep a note of any volunteers with this page.

Behavior log

A behavior log can be very beneficial to a teacher. It’s not about a naughty or well-behaved child, it’s about noticing patterns of behavior that could hint at something that needs to be addressed or might be happening outside of school.

Communication logs

Communication logs are an essential part of any teacher planner and you can use this page to log communications with co-workers, parents, and others.

Class groupings

Use the class groupings list for developing lessons for small groups or intervention documentation.

Assigned reading tracker/list

Keep a note of any assigned reading throughout the term and make a note as to whether the students enjoyed the book and how they understood it.

Assignment tracker

Keep a log of any assignments allocated to pupils or even yourself.

Grades tracker/grade book

There is also a space for keeping a log of any student grades, so you can see their progress at a glance and reflect on how far they have come or recognize any students that might need a little extra help.

Lesson plan

Use the lesson plan to really hone down on what you need for a successful lesson such as the standards and objections, the materials and procedure to use, and how to approach the lesson for different levels.

There’s a lesson plan template to help you plan the lesson, along with materials required, learning objectives and any assessment details.

You’ll also find a weekly lesson plan template to help you see all of the lessons that you plan on teaching for the week ahead.

Conference schedule

Teachers are always learning too and have opportunities to go to conferences and other educational gatherings. Use the conference schedule to keep all of these important opportunities in check.

Student Birthday Log

There is plenty of room for keeping a record of class birthdays, medical information on students, and other important info.

Teacher Planner Stickers

You will also get free teacher planner sticker sheets included, and better yet, we have tons of free planner stickers available for you to use too. Just take a look around and get your favorites.

How to get this free teacher planner

The teacher planner is available in two styles, and you can get them right here. Choose the version that you want below.

Printable Teacher Planner

To get the teacher planner, click the download button below to go to the archive page.

Cute Teacher Planner

To get the cute style teacher planner, click the button below.

You’ll also like…

Did you know we also have free planner stickers that you can use in your planner? They’re so cute you’ll love them!

More awesome planners for you to enjoy

Every week we create a cute set of printables, planners, and digital freebies to help you make the most of the things that matter. Our creations are loved by many and are free for you to enjoy.

If you love this teacher planner and would like more awesome planners, then check out our latest creations that you can use right now for free.

We think you’ll love these:

Free Monthly Planner On Two Pages

Free Printable Weekly Meal Planner

Printable Lunch Meal Planner

Weight Loss Tracker Template Free Printable

Free Printable April 2024 Planners

Free 2024 Planner – 65 Page Printable Planner | 4 Color Styles

Free Printable Budget Tracker

Daily Planner Templates

Make the most of your new planner.

I really hope you use and enjoy our free teacher planner. Be sure to recommend it to your friends! Follow us on Instagram or Pinterest as it’s a great way to show your support and to keep updated with all of our latest freebies.

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COPYRIGHT Our creations are for personal use only and are the copyright of World of Printables. You cannot redistribute, reproduce, or resell, although you can link back to our website.

World of Printables

About the Authors: Ellie Watson and Don Watson are the creative minds behind World of Printables. They are both professional graphic designers with over 30 years of combined experience in the graphic design industry and have dedicated their careers to crafting beautiful and practical printables. Through their articles, they share their expertise and insights to help readers make the most of these printable designs. Whether it's printable planners, calendars, templates, or educational worksheets, Ellie and Don are passionate about adding value to your life through their printable creations. Stay inspired and organized with Ellie and Don's expert tips and designs at World of Printables. Learn more .

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Take the busy work out of lesson planning self.__wrap_b=(t,n,e)=>{e=e||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${t}"]`);let a=e.parentElement,r=R=>e.style.maxWidth=R+"px";e.style.maxWidth="";let o=a.clientWidth,c=a.clientHeight,i=o/2-.25,l=o+.5,u;if(o){for(;i+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+e.dataset.brr,e)})).observe(a):process.env.NODE_ENV==="development"&&console.warn("The browser you are using does not support the ResizeObserver API. Please consider add polyfill for this API to avoid potential layout shifts or upgrade your browser. Read more: https://github.com/shuding/react-wrap-balancer#browser-support-information"))};self.__wrap_b(":R62t6:",1)

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FOR TEACHERS

Simplify Instruction

Add & track standards in seconds, collaborate with your co-teachers, backwards planning & unit planning.

Teacher in Los Angeles, CA

Cc user since 2019

Streamline Observation

Ensure teacher accountability, offer coaching feedback, stay iep & 504 compliant.

Christine Zanoni,

Admin at PEP Cleveland

Cc user since 2017

Admins, Schools & Districts self.__wrap_b=(t,n,e)=>{e=e||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${t}"]`);let a=e.parentElement,r=R=>e.style.maxWidth=R+"px";e.style.maxWidth="";let o=a.clientWidth,c=a.clientHeight,i=o/2-.25,l=o+.5,u;if(o){for(;i+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+e.dataset.brr,e)})).observe(a):process.env.NODE_ENV==="development"&&console.warn("The browser you are using does not support the ResizeObserver API. Please consider add polyfill for this API to avoid potential layout shifts or upgrade your browser. Read more: https://github.com/shuding/react-wrap-balancer#browser-support-information"))};self.__wrap_b(":Rl6t6:",1)

“Cc has played a significant role in further enhancing our collaborative culture and our inclusion model. With it, our teachers share and co-create lessons, learn from innovative peers, and backward plan from day one.”

Andy Hlavka,

Admin at CJR

Cc user since 2012

Over 300,000 Teachers Love Cc!

We're pretty sure you will, too..

This is life changing Luke Memphis City Public Schools

Seriously Beautiful

Earth shatteringly helpful David Tennessee

I've found the holy grail Joyce North Carolina

So easy to use and I’m a paper and pencil girl! Mary Stokes Baltimore, MD

I never thought I could use a digital planner, now I'll never go back ! Lisa Harvey 5th Grade in Wichita, KS

This will be my 3rd year teaching and I wish I would have discovered this sooner. I used the free trial last school year and it was a total game changer! My lessons went smoother, I felt more organized, and I felt like a better teacher. Andrea Pessoa Waupaca, WI

Common Curriculum is my go-to for lesson planning. I love the personalization of the templates and being able to add things that work for me and remove what doesn't.  I don't know how I survived before Common Curriculum! McKenzie Privette 3rd Grade in Indiana

This is so user-friendly! Now I don't have to create tables inside a Google Doc to plan my units. Erin Dickey Theater Teacher in Washington

Everything you need to add, change, or bump in your daily curriculum. No more tedious handwriting out plans each week Jenny Michigan

With in person meetings limited this year because of COVID, Common Curriculum has been a LIFESAVER in helping to ensure my team is all on the same page Sarah New York

This is one of the most efficient, time saving, and user-friendly lesson planning resource that I’ve used! I wish I was able to pick my favorite feature, but there are so many…color coding, standards searching tool, myriad of templates, downloading capabilities - it rocks!!!!! Natyra Maryland

This makes my teaching life more organized and accessible. I could not imagine planning without it . Jose New Mexico

This is, by far, the simplest, most user friendly lesson planner I have ever used. Making changes is easy and I can copy from one lesson to another. Robin Buckland West Virgnia

I've been in education for 27 years and I've been with you all since the early days, and ... I've never found a replacement for Cc. The link to Cc in my website is absolutely INVALUABLE! Cc is crucial in my planning and delivery of instruction . Kristel Anuszewski Cambridge, MA

I linked the day to my Google classroom so students at home in Zoom and students in class can see the standards and objectives for the day . And students who are absent can still follow the activities for the day! Jane Ohio

Common Curriculum provides me with everything that I need in a lesson planner. It allows me to share to my Google Classroom and my admin/parents. It is appealing and allows me to customize it to what I want. I love it! Katy Montana

I find the planbook extremely easy to use. Being able to add standards, videos, google docs, google slides, etc. makes our days run smoothly . The organization makes daily setup and sub plans much easier. Thank you! Nancy Maine

Common Curriculum is a game changer in lesson planning . The ability to add learning standards and share my plans with others effortlessly is a game changer! Jason Kinser Sheffield, Ohio

Cc not only helps me be organized as a teacher, it helps my students to get a clear overview of the material. Melissa Klein Sequim, Washington

I have tried many online lesson planners and was ready to just give up on them. Then, I found Cc! You don't have to be a techie type of person to use it! I absolutely LOVE how easy it is to set up and it's a breeze moving plans when needed. Vicki Indiana

I love common curriculum! I love that I can plan anywhere - from home, in the car, in a coffee shop - and then have access to everything I need as soon as the school day starts. I also love how easy it is to share my lesson plans with the substitute or paraprofessional. Chana Garrett Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan

If I can teach it to myself, anyone can. It's incredibly intuitive. Pamela McNab World Language Teacher in Culpeper, VA

Common Curriculum has made it much easier for me to plan - for regular days, sub plans, and remote instruction - and to share it with my co-teacher so she knows how she can best support our students. Mandy Shulman 2nd Grade, Northbrook, IL

It's easy to use , very well organized , has the standard cards in each lesson, and makes lesson planning easy and efficient . I also love being able to access my lessons wherever I am at and being able to access links in my lessons. Alesha Paszkiet Harvey, IL

This is a very aesthetically pleasing and easy program to use. It is perfect for teachers who aspire to have an organized paper planner but can't manage to keep up with it. Alyssa Heraty Greenville, NC

It's the best curriculum program, hands down. I love how easy it is to set up and customize to my classes and schedules . I've used other online curriculum / lesson planners, but this is definitely the best! Richard Rouillard San Pedro, CA

Common Curriculum is my go-to for lesson planning. I love the personalization of the templates and being able to add things that work for me and remove what doesn't. I don't know how I survived before Common Curriculum! McKenzie Privette Indiana

This planning program is exactly what I have been looking for since I started teaching 21 years ago. Nothing else I ever tried or created has done everything I wanted it to, so I quickly abandoned them...[Cc] meets all my planning needs! Pamela Savage Thorton, CO

Common Curriculum is AMAZING! I love how you can customize your lesson plans and put everything in one place (Objectives, procedures, homework, standards). I can share it with administration and they can easily see my lesson plans without me sending them a separate document. Probably my favorite part though is the customer service . Lindsay Kane Sobieski, WI

I can share with my colleagues, make changes easily without crossing things out or erasing, and I can set up the template the way I want. If I get sick, I can quickly access my plans from home, download a pdf, and send them to my school's secretary to be printed for the sub. Leah Picanco Idaho Falls, ID

My Common Curriculum Planbook keeps me sane ! I love having all my plans in one place and having access to my plans across any device. The flexibility and functionality is amazing. I recommend it to all my teacher friends! Chana Garrett

Love it! Makes planning and accessing planner in multiple places easy. I like that I can bump lessons up or pull them back. Jessica Paxton Tennessee

Teachers, conquer your clutter

Plan your lessons, units, & assignments all in the same place, google classroom integration..

Automatically post parts of your lessons to Google Classroom. Keep track of your assignments without leaving your lesson planner.

Lesson & Unit Planning.

Focus on just a single day or zoom all the way out to year-long calendar. Cc organizes all your plans in one flexible calendar.

Attachments & Assignments.

Keep your materials organized and in-sync with your lessons, by adding links and files from your computer, Dropbox, Google Drive, or One Drive.

Align your lessons to standards in seconds

Standards search..

Search for the topics you need and add them to your lessons with just a click.

Standards Library.

From the Common Core to Next Gen, we have standards from all 50 states and dozens of national organizations.

Standards Tracker.

Automatically track which standards you have and haven't planned for, so you can be confident that you've covered everything.

Rearrange your lessons when the unexpected happens

Drag and drop..

Drag a card between lessons when your students need more time to complete that activity.

Bump Lessons.

Bump all your lessons forward when off-days, surprise assemblies, and last-minute changes get in the way of your teaching.

Rearrange Lessons.

Flexibly rearrange your lessons or units on your calendar as your plan out your year.

Admins, get all your teachers on the same page

Standardize your school's lesson planning format, school-wide templates..

Create school-wide lesson plan templates so your teachers can be confident they're meeting expectations.

Collaborative Groups.

Invite your teachers to a school group and host all of their lesson plans on one organized page.

Ease-of-Use.

Give your teachers the joy of a lesson planner that they will love using, day after day, week after week.

Help your teachers grow as instructional planners

Lesson comments..

Visit any teachers' planbook at any time and leave them helpful comments, right on their lesson plans, no binders required!

Sharing Lessons.

Encourage your newest teachers to borrow ideas from the most experienced educators in your building.

Reusing Planbooks.

Let your teachers reuse their lesson plans with one click, so they can build on and improve their ideas, year after year.

Make collaboration a weekly habit for your teachers

Simultaneous co-planning..

Have teachers that teach the same content area? They can plan lessons together, online, at the same time. Two heads are better than one!

Differentiate for Special Education.

With Cc, your special educators can add differentiation to any teachers' lesson plans at any time!

Cross-Curricular Planning.

Help your grade-level teams plan unique and engaging cross-curricular lessons, by referring each others plans in their own lessons.

Shining Mom

Enjoying the little things

June 20, 2023

Free Printable Teacher Planner: 45 Templates to Make You Efficient

This free printable teacher planner is an excellent resource for staying organized. Calling all teachers! This planner is specifically designed with you in mind! It includes the basic organizers you need that can help you stay on top of schoolwork so you can blissfully manage your responsibilities. With a range of printables included, such as lesson planning templates, schedule organizers, and activity planners, this planner provides comprehensive coverage for all your needs!

Dear teacher, I acknowledge and appreciate the selfless dedication you pour into your students. For this reason, I would like to extend my gratitude and share today’s freebie with you that is exclusively tailored to your needs!

Introducing “ The Organized Teacher Planner,” your practical tool to get organized this new school year! I understand that your job is never a walk in the park. It’s not just a profession. It’s a vocation that you pour so much hard work and love into. That’s precisely why I crafted this planner with great care and attention, keeping the printables that can ease you in your teaching life in mind.

With so many to-dos you have day-to-day, I hope that this free printable teacher planner can help you sort things out so you can also create more windows of time to spend on the other things you love. And do you know what my dream for this planner is? I hope it reaches and blesses the hands of thousands of brilliant educators like you!

Free Printable Teacher Planner

If you’ve been following the Shining Mom blog, you probably know by now that I was once a full-time teacher. And am filled with immense gratitude for having had the opportunity to dedicate the initial years of my professional journey to helping kids.

Remembering my teaching days, I would always go home tired, but there was never a single day that I didn’t feel my purpose. I was a teacher. And I would always go home feeling blessed knowing that I did not just teach the subject I was teaching; I molded young souls and inspired young hearts. Ahhh, I know every teacher shares the same joy and fulfillment!

But ask any teacher; paperwork in school is a daunting task! There’s a mountain’s worth of exams and essays to be checked, and there are never-ending school activities that need to be planned. Managing time can be challenging! This is precisely why I am sharing a specially designed planner for teachers today — a type of planner that I know would have been incredibly beneficial for me as well.

Dear teachers, my heart is delighted to share this planner with you. I hope it can help you manage your time and organize in class.

What’s Included in the Teacher Planner?

The Organized Teacher Planner is fully loaded with brilliant organizing templates. Get the 45 school-organizing printables that I have just for you! Here’s a quick rundown of the pages that you will have in your download:

• Class Schedule
• Student Information Sheet
• Parent Directory
• Teacher Schedule
• Lesson Plan Templates
• Grading Sheets
• Study Guide Templates
• Reading List
• Essay Planner
• Project Planner
• Homework Log
• Daily Planner
• Weekly Planner
• School Stickers, Lined Notes, and More!

Not only will you receive all the aforementioned school printables, but this teacher planner is also brimming with an extensive collection of outstanding organizing pages to adore. Curious to catch a glimpse of what the planner entails? Allow me to offer you a brief preview of the pages I have prepared for you.

Free Teacher Planner Covers

This free printable teacher planner includes four cover designs to choose from. Print the style that you like. Should you want to customize or personalize your planner cover, there’s also a blank cover page.

Free School Organizing Templates

It’s time for the exciting part. Let’s “open” the planner! Allow me to initiate a quick tour. I am happy to show you what’s inside!

How will you make the school year 2023-2024 amazing for your students? Write down how you can best impact your students’ lives in the templates I have for you. There’s nothing like starting the new school year with a clear purpose!

Now, let’s flip through the following pages. You’ll find amazing school organizers here, including student information sheets, class lists, and more! School organizing is made easy using this free printable teacher planner! Its colorful templates are surely fun to use.

Additionally, you’ll also find templates that you can easily print and share with your students to aid learning. To name a few, you’ll get planning worksheets for essays and projects. You can also print the graphic organizers included, like the assignment log and the fillable reading list, to get organized!

Next up are the lesson plan templates! Now, you can easily organize your weekly lessons. Each of these lesson planners is not only practical and functional but also remarkably user-friendly. They are designed to assist you in maximizing the effectiveness of your classroom. Included are dedicated planners for Math, Science, and Language Arts, along with blank templates for your customization. The delightful page below serves as a sample of what awaits you.

All these pages and a whole lot more! Just to let you know, I have also added school planner stickers and other fun stuff in your download. Are you excited to finally have your copy? I am just as happy to share it with you!

Download This Free Printable Teacher Planner!

Fill out the form below or join the Shining Mom mailing list HERE to receive the file sent to your inbox instantly. The Shining Mom blog has over 50,000 newsletter subscribers who receive weekly freebie updates. Subscribe , and you will never miss a freebie from the blog again!

Have you already subscribed to the Shining Mom Mailing List?

ENTER THE SUBSCRIBER-EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD PAGE !!!

Please note that this free printable teacher planner is designed for printing on US standard Letter-size paper (8.5″ x 11″). You may also print it in A4; adjust your printer setting to fit the pages.

Share This Planner on Pinterest!

Help the Shining Mom blog grow by sharing this free printable teacher planner for other teachers to see. Please pin the image below on Pinterest. Thank you very much for your help!

Dear teachers, I hope you’ll find this free printable teacher planner useful. May it help you plan and schedule your school year. May you have loads of fun and bliss using it.

More School Organizing Freebies for You!

Are you looking for additional organizational resources? Explore my collection of free printables designed for both students and teachers. Begin by exploring some of the highly sought-after pages below:

Free College Planner

25 FREE Organizing Sheets for Teachers

Homeschool Planner

FREE Student Binder Printables

40 School Organizing Printables

FREE School Sticker Labels

Back-to-School Printables

Free Printable Teacher Binder

In addition to all the printable templates listed above, you may also snag our free printable calendars that you can use together with this free printable teacher planner. Get the Shining Mom blog’s 2024 calendars in the rainbow or floral theme, and prepare to map your plans for the new school year!

May the 2023-2024 school year be your best yet! Thank you for visiting the blog, and I hope to see you again soon!

August 7, 2018 at 12:36 am

is there a link ti download? I have clicked on the images but it only brings up the image

August 12, 2018 at 7:42 pm

Hi! Yes, it’s within the post.

August 9, 2018 at 10:18 pm

Thank you for this amazing planner!

August 12, 2018 at 5:33 pm

You’re welcome, Amanda! Please enjoy the planner. =)

August 31, 2018 at 10:07 am

I have been looking for a planner that will work for me. This is it! Thank you so much for sharing!!

August 31, 2018 at 5:23 pm

I hope this can help, Teressa! =)

September 21, 2019 at 3:46 am

Thank you so much!!! Love your templates!!

April 8, 2022 at 8:43 am

You’re welcome. I am glad you like the planner. =)

November 29, 2019 at 1:59 pm

I’m looking forward to utilizing these beautiful pages for the planner! Thank you in advanced!

June 12, 2020 at 4:29 am

I would love to receive this free teacher planner – THE FREE PRINTABLE TEACHER PLANNER: 45 EXCELLENT ORGANIZERS FOR SCHOOL! – It is beautiful and seems to be exactly what I need. Ihope it is still available.

September 9, 2020 at 6:02 pm

I would also love to receive this free teacher planner – THE FREE PRINTABLE TEACHER PLANNER: 45 EXCELLENT ORGANIZERS FOR SCHOOL! – It is beautiful and seems to be exactly what I need. Ihope it is still available.

April 8, 2022 at 8:42 am

Yes, it is!

May 26, 2021 at 3:03 pm

i would like a copy of this

September 10, 2021 at 6:22 am

why does it want me to download a new web browser that I don’t want or need before I can download the planner?

September 10, 2021 at 7:36 am

You can directly download the planner in your inbox (upon subscription), Shelby. No need for an extension. Thanks!

April 1, 2022 at 9:23 pm

I wish I coulkd have this material.

July 10, 2022 at 7:35 am

Hello! You may download it for free by signing up to our mailing list. The file will be sent to your inbox! =)

February 22, 2023 at 11:03 am

March 8, 2023 at 4:28 am

You’re welcome!

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Discover a Treasure Trove of Learning Resources

Drag & drop your favorite resources, plan & manage, teach & share, search over 550,000 teacher-curated reviews to free and open educational resources (oer)..

Which solution best fits your needs?

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Explore our solutions., educator edition.

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Discover. Create. Inspire.

Free Teacher Planner

This free teacher planner is *jam packed* with helpful planning pages,  sanity saving organization sheets, and inspiring covers the will help keep you planned and prepped allllllll year long.

Snag your lesson planner below and then join the waitlist for the Science of Reading Formula membership so you can unlock THOUSANDS of brain-friendly teaching tools that help you teach reading the smarter (not harder!) way.

Teacher Planner Covers

Gifts are our love language so we filled every single page with extra TLC, starting with the seven eye catching covers that make your planner as unique as you are.

Pick a favorite, click the grey text box to type in your name, and print it out. Easy peasy.

And insider’s tip: If you’re already a Science of Reading Formula member, there are EIGHT more covers to pick from in your super-sized VIP pack .

Organization Pages

We wanted to make Marie Kondo and The Home Edit proud, so we created tons of time saving sheets to keep you super organized from day one including assignment checklists and password lists.

And my favorite part is that the pages are editable!

You’ll even get several different options of planning sheets so you can pick one that’s the best fit for your daily schedule – from four subjects all the way up to eight.

Peek Inside the Planner

Want to check out the freebie before you download it?

The teacher planner includes….

PLANNING PAGES

Lesson plan pages for 4-8 subjects

Monthly calendars

STUDENT ORGANIZATION

Assignment checklists

Leveled reading lists

Student notes

Family communication log

Student password lists

CLASS ORGANIZATION

Small groupings

Parent volunteers

Teacher passwords

Meeting notes

…. And so much more!

To make it easy for you to put the teacher planner together, we included an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide for you.

Once you’re finished printing, organize everything in a 3-ring binder or have it spiral bound at school or at a local office supply store like Staples or Office Depot.

Voila! You’re ready for another awesome school year.

Note: You’ll need to download the free font pack  HERE to make the editable fields format correctly.

See It in Action

Grab Your Copy

Let’s pull out your favorite teacher pens and get a jumpstart on the year!

Click the big blue “download here” button below to snag your set and then join the waitlist for  the Science of Reading Formula membership  so you can unlock THOUSANDS of brain-friendly teaching tools that will help you teach reading the smarter (not harder!) way.

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Invisible ink valentines, 237 comments.

I noticed that a password is necessary to edit the PDF. I would like to change the times in the daily schedule to match my school’s times. Are you able to provide that, even if it comes at a cost?

Thanks for the beautiful files!

Hi Martha, We are so glad you like the planner! We have the file password protected to protect the copyright status of the fonts and graphics, so we are not able to provide the password to edit the full file. Any parts of the file that you are able to edit are the gray boxes that you can type in to change the text. Warmly, Sarah // Playdough to Plato Team

Thank you so much!

You’re so welcome, Dede! We’re thrilled you like the planner! Sarah // Playdough to Plato Team

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• Our Mission

New Teachers: Lesson and Curriculum Planning

A collection of curriculum-planning tips, guidance, and other resources to help new teachers plan effective activities, lessons, and units.

Curriculum-Planning Tips and Strategies

• Countdown to Your First Year: Making Planning Manageable : Need help figuring out where to start when planning for your first year of teaching? Discover answers to general questions, and find a few go-to resources. (Teaching Channel, 2014)
• Backwards Planning Takes Thinking Ahead : Review five steps to backwards-plan your lessons—it’s like preparing for a vacation. (Edutopia, 2012)
• Understanding by Design Overview : Bookmark this step-by-step overview of the book  Understanding by Design  to better understand this approach to designing courses. (Vanderbilt University)
• 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do : Focus on content, process, and product during lesson planning to give students opportunities to grow and shine as individuals. For more on differentiating instruction, the other posts in this series are great resources—also visit Edutopia’s Differentiated Instruction page. (Edutopia, 2014)
• Designing Learning That Matters : Explore four ideas for bringing the characteristics of deep learning to classrooms and school learning. (Edutopia, 2015)
• To Teach Students First : Meet diverse learners’ needs through a range of classroom strategies: lecture, discussion, experiential learning, games, student presentations, technology integration, and free response writing. (Edutopia, 2015)

Crafting Unit and Lesson Plans

• Planning the Best Curriculum Unit Ever : Focus on the granular aspects of planning ahead for the new school year. Be sure to download the printable checklist associated with this post. (Edutopia, 2014)
• 9 Ways to Plan Transformational Lessons : Craft transformational lessons through planning, mindfulness, and a commitment to shift away from educational approaches of the past. Includes a printable tip list for easy reference. (Edutopia, 2014)

Aligning Instruction to Standards

• Common Core and Planning: Organizing a Unit of Instruction : Discover several strategies to help you exercise creativity while planning units that align to the standards. (Edutopia, 2014)
• Lesson Planning and Common Core: A Unit Based on TED.com : Learn from one teacher’s experience planning a Common Core–aligned blended genre unit where students researched and wrote their own persuasive speeches in the TED format. (Edutopia, 2011)
• Resources for Understanding the Common Core State Standards : Looking for resources to help you navigate the Common Core State Standards? Explore Edutopia’s educators’ guide to websites, organizations, articles, and other resources looking at this system of standards and how they’re assessed. (Edutopia, 2013)

Finding Open Resources

• Free Is Good : An argument for why you should use open educational resources (OER) and information on where to find them. Includes a link to a Google Sheets compilation put together by the writer that lists more than 100 repositories of OER (Edutopia, 2017)
• Academic Sponge Activities : Find examples of activities to soak up precious time that would otherwise be lost. Hint: They should be fun as well as educational. (Edutopia, 2014)

Implementing Project-Based Learning

• Getting Started With Project-Based Learning : Hoping to pilot project-based learning (PBL) this year? Explore Edutopia’s curated compilation of online resources for understanding and beginning to implement PBL. (Edutopia, updated 2016)

For more curriculum-planning resources, visit Edutopia’s Curriculum Planning page. Looking for additional resources for new teachers? Visit the Resources Toolkit for New Teachers  page for other curated guides and check out all of Edutopia’s content on the New Teachers page.

Best Back to School Ideas 🍏

Lesson Planning with Google Sheets

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Wait… is this the best lesson plan template I’ve ever used…? Maybe! Today, I’m sharing how I used Google Sheets to create a lesson plan template that rivals even my most beloved Planbook.com lesson plans! Best part? At the end of this post, you can grab a free template to try it for yourself!

Google Sheets Lesson Plan Template

Ok… so let’s back up a second and first talk about how this genius idea even started. Last spring, I had the opportunity to step back into the classroom as a long-term substitute in a 2nd-grade Dual Language classroom. Before starting her maternity leave, the teacher shared her lesson plans with me so I could easily just pick up right where she left off.

And the lesson plans she shared with me?

Google Sheets formatted!

At first, I was like… whoa… I’m not into this… Then, I started playing around with the template. I added a few extra columns and filled them with some color. As my time progressed, I started to really LOVE using them! I knew it was something I HAD to share with you guys… so here we are!

Let’s dive in!

Using Google Sheets as a Lesson Plan Template Video

More of a visual learner? Check out the video!

Oh, and be sure to subscribe to my channel while you’re there!

Getting Started with Google Sheets Lesson Plans

Ok… so let’s get started with using Google Sheets as your lesson plan template.

First, you’ll navigate to your Google Sheets app and create a new sheet. This will be the template you’ll use to build your lesson plans.

To streamline things, I’ve made a FREE template that you can 100% customize to fit your needs! You can grab that at the end of this post!

But, if you want to start from scratch… here’s what you’d do:

• Adjust the number of columns and rows you’d like to include in your template. I like my days of the week across the top, plus one extra section for notes, so I have 6 columns. Then, create enough rows for your different sections of the day. You can do this by highlighting the cells you’d like to delete, then right-click and select delete cells .
• From there, you can adjust the sizing of the rows and columns to fit the information that will be given. For example, in my sample, the header rows are pretty small, but the different sections vary.
• Now, highlight the given area and add grid lines if you like. This will give each box an outline on the online view as well as the printed view.

Customizing Your Lesson Plan Template

Ok… now that you have the base (or have downloaded the copy at the bottom of this post!), it’s time to make it look cute!

Change the Font

Add some fun fonts to your template! Do this by finding the font section on the toolbar. Select the box or boxes you’d like to have that font, then select the font from the choices.

Don’t like the font choices in your dropdown? Select “more fonts” from the dropdown menu to explore even more Google (TM) font options, like Delius used in the template I created.

Want to add your own colors to your lesson plans to make “seeing” the different sections a little easier on the eyes? Use the color selector tool (the paint can tipping over icon) to fill the box you select.

Fill with options there, or use the “custom colors” section to create new colors. You can even add your own preferred colors by typing in the hex code. (Just do a quick search of hex code colors and a ton of options to help you with this part will appear!)

Add More Tabs

Now that you’ve got your template EXACTLY how you’d like to use it… you can make copies of the sheet for each week/month that you’re planning.

To do this, navigate to the bottom of the sheet where the tab is. Select the arrow icon to show more options. Select “duplicate.” This will duplicate the tab EXACTLY how it is set up. Perfect for keeping your original template looking nice! Use the same section to rename your tab to include what week or month is stored in the tab.

Typing in Your Lesson Plans

Now that you’ve gotten your base set up exactly how you like it… it’s time to start adding information. Google Sheets functions just like Excel sheets or a word document that has been gridded. You can add text to each box, and align the text to the center, left, or right.

One *little* annoyance I had when I first started using Google Sheets for lesson planning was the fact that when you press the enter key, it takes you to another cell instead of just the next line in the same cell.

You can sidestep this quirk by using holding down the “shift” key while pressing enter. This will allow you to move to the next line within a cell. YEAH!

Searching Within Your Lesson Plans

A nice thing about using a word processing program like Word or PowerPoint to create lesson plans is the fact that you could search terms if you were looking for a specific theme or concept but couldn’t remember which week you have placed it under.

You can do a search of terms within Google Sheets, too! Think of this as a quick way to look back at what you taught and when you did it, without always having to remember the exact week it was done.

To Search for Terms within Google Sheets

To search for a term, navigate to the top of your spreadsheet and find the “edit” part in the menu bar. Then, scroll to “find and replace.” Type in the word you are searching for (for example, triple-digit addition). This function will search your entire sheet looking for this phrase. Once it is found, it will highlight the term, and you’ll have an option to replace it with something else, but really now you know which week you taught it! YEAH!

Sharing Your Google Sheets Lesson Plans

One of the best parts of using Google Sheets as your lesson plan template is how easy it is to share. You can share just like you would a Google Doc or Google Slide; navigate to the left corner of the sheet and find the green “share” button.

Select the button and adjust the share settings to fit your needs. I like to use “access with link” and set them as a viewer. This will allow anyone I share the link with to see my lesson plans, but they won’t be able to edit them accidentally.

I know some principals require you to upload your file to a shared drive or database. You can do that easily with Google Sheets too!

Here are three ways you can share:

• Upload a word document to your folder and add your sharing link to the document. (Perfect if your school uses an onsight network drive-like “i-drive.”)
• Download and save the week as a PDF and upload it to your sharing area.
• If your school uses Google Drive for sharing, you can just place your lesson plan spreadsheet into your folder.

Grab the Free Google Sheets Lesson Plan Template!

So there’s a quick crash course on how to use Google Sheets for your lesson plans. I know you are low on time and will def appreciate a leg up, so I created a simple template you can copy right to your Google Drive! This template is available in my Applicious Resource Library. Just sign up below to gain access!

More Great Ideas

Be sure to check out these other amazing ideas!

• Google Hacks for Teachers
• 15 Hacks that Will Change Your Teacher Life… No seriously
• The Two Must-Have Teacher Binders
• Teaching Bins: How to Stay Organized Year after Year
• The Simplified Teacher Planner: An Inside Look
• Categories: Classroom , classroom organization

Hi, I'm Leigh.

The Applicious Teacher is all about creating hands-on and engaging lessons that align with the standards while still having time for your life. This is your place for ideas, tips, and resources for the REAL teacher!

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Free Printables for Teachers - Worksheets for All Subjects & Grades

Free Printables for Teachers

Browse our huge library of worksheets by subject below. You’ll find math worksheets, printable activities for English Language Arts, and much more.

Once you’ve selected the subject area you’re interested in, filter by grade level to find the worksheets that are best suited to your class, whether you teach Pre-K, elementary school, middle school, or high school level!

Free Printables for Teachers - Worksheets for All Subjects & Grades

These ready-to-use free printables for teachers will help reinforce concepts and test students’ knowledge and understanding! In addition to worksheets for all subjects, we have themed printables and workbooks for celebrating holidays, learning about seasons, technology use, and much more!

Our worksheets for teachers include multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, short answers, and matching activities. We also offer in-depth project ideas and instructions. You’ll be able to find something for all types of learners with these free printables for teachers.

You’ll also find plenty of fun supplementary worksheets, including word searches and crossword puzzles for introducing and reinforcing vocabulary, flashcards for review and consolidation, quizzes, word lists, and templates.

For access to all premium teaching packs and project-based learning units, upgrade to a  premium membership  for only $7.95/month!

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Five-Paragraph Essay

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Reading Comprehension Sequence Chain

Write Your Own Mad Libs®

Brainstorming Web

30 Do's and Don'ts of Classroom Etiquette for Teachers and Students

Cause and Effect Graphic Organizer

The Lemonade War Teacher's Guide

CLASSROOM TOOLS

Chart, Three-Column

Division as Sharing: A Comprehensive Lesson Plan

Scoring Rubric: Summary

LESSON PLANS

African-American Scientists: A Comprehensive Social Media Account Project

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• 11 Of The Best Free Blank Lesson Plan Templates For Teachers

Lesson plan template – Best downloads and advice for UK teachers

Save time preparing your lessons with this collection of printable templates for all age groups…

Looking for a lesson plan template that you can download, edit and print out? We’ve got you covered!

JUMP TO A SECTION

Bumper lesson plan templates pack, lesson planning mantras.

• More blank lesson plan templates

How to use sequence learning to save yourself time

Are scripted lessons creating zombie teachers, use these 5 ‘cogs’ to plan lessons like a pro, why you should stop planning lessons, how to end lessons successfully, why originality is overrated when it comes to lesson planning.

Short on time and want to browse 11 of the lesson plan templates listed below? Download our free bumper lesson plan templates pack with one click.

Before you browse the below templates and start planning like a pro, have a quick glance at these lesson planning mantras from deputy headteacher Matt Lewis…

• You have a year to teach your class – too much information at the start of a unit of work can overwhelm pupils. A slow start to a series of lessons is fine.
• Start with your learning objectives and make sure they have context. This will help you with the rest of your plan.
• Do your lessons incorporate a magical moment that children will remember and discuss at home? Not every lesson can be mind blowing, but the more ‘wows’ you can create, the more outstanding your lessons will be.
• If you’re finding planning sessions difficult, step away from your laptop and go back to basics. Doodle your ideas down on paper and go from there.
• Give yourself room to plan by setting aside a substantial chunk of time for it in your schedule.
• Take ownership – these are your plans and you should be proud of them.
• Not all lessons will go perfectly, and some will be outright disasters. Jot down your thoughts on your written plans so next year you can redraft them.
• There’s no set-in-stone lesson structure. The more you play with the order, the more interesting your lessons will be.
• Always, always aim to connect with your class. How will this lesson capture pupils’ imaginations? They’re constantly bombarded with computer screens and digital imagery, so what is going to make this lesson stand out?

Blank lesson plan template with support sheet

This download contains two editable Word documents – a blank lesson plan template and a support sheet to help you fill it out. This resource is particularly great for early career teachers.

There is space on the template for noting:

• Reference to scheme of work
• Link to assessment objectives/levels/specification
• Learning objectives (these should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound)
• Targeted students (this could include SEN, EAL, FSM)
• Lesson structure (including starter and plenary ideas )
• Differentiation (what you’re doing to stretch the top and support the bottom)
• Links to literacy/numeracy
• Leading in learning stategies
• Key words/terms
• Assessment for learning strategies

Things to consider:

• What do you want students to learn?
• How will you split your lesson into chunks?
• Can you adapt the lesson structure to meet the needs of your class?
• How will you know if all students have made progress?
• How will you direct TAs? What will they do and how will they have an impact?

Editable primary lesson plan template and English unit planning grid

This pack from Plazoom includes a lesson plan template (in PDF and editable formats) that can help early career teachers and supply teachers to structure their lessons.

It’s also helpful for planning and developing ideas if your lesson is going to be observed.

The plan follows a simple format which is easy to complete and then follow throughout the delivery of your lesson. The opportunity to assess pupils’ understanding against the objective and identify next steps in learning will help you to plan subsequent lessons for classes and groups of pupils.

Also included is a template that will support you to plan and deliver a whole English unit for writing. There is space at the start for you to identify the model text/s used and the intended final piece of writing that the pupils will complete, to aid you when planning the steps needed to build up to the eventual writing outcome.

You can reproduce the weekly planning grid according to the number of teaching weeks in your unit.

Editable lesson plan template

This editable Word document lesson plan template allows you to add or delete rows as required. It includes the following fields as a starting point:

• Prior learning
• Next lesson
• Lesson outcome and learning objectives
• Gifted & talented
• Differentiation
• Learning progression
• Independent learning/group work/peer work
• Learning style (eg flipped learning, active learning)
• Assessment (self, peer, teacher)
• Literacy, numeracy and ICT links
• Starter, plenary and extension
• Stretch questions
• Health and safety
• Technician/teaching assistant

Lesson plan template for EYFS

This blank Word document lesson plan is perfect for Early Years and can easily be adapted to suit your needs.

There’s space to note Early Learning Goals, key teaching points (including introduction, activities and plenary) and key learning and teaching strategies.

You can also note your assessment method and next steps.

Adaptable lesson plan template for KS1 and KS2

This is a straightforward, easy-to-adapt Word document blank lesson plan for KS1/2 . Use it to note down the following:

• Knowledge, skills and understanding
• Learning intentions
• Key teaching points (including intro, activities and plenary)
• Cross-curricular links
• Success criteria
• Key learning and teaching strategies (vocabulary, questions, differentiation)
• Assessment methods

Observed lesson plan template

This is a useful editable Word document lesson plan template to help you remember everything you need when planning for an observation. It’s particularly suitable for primary but is easy to adapt for secondary.

The download contains a four-page editable Word document that includes helpful tips and higher-level thinking questions to help you structure the lesson and ensure that everyone makes progress.

The guidance contains:

• Key questions to think about
• Key discussion prompts
• Ideas for including all children, engaging and inspiring and modelling learning
• Higher level thinking questions
• Ideas for differentiation
• Ideas for challenges and plenaries

Backwards lesson planning template

We always start a journey by identifying the destination first and then planning the best route. Why should planning for learning be any different? This PDF template helps with backward planning of lessons.

Start from the right-hand column – going backwards. Omit the left-hand column if you are using this template to plan a sequence of lessons or a unit of work.

Very simple blank lesson plan template

Lesson plan templates don’t get much more simple than this. This editable Word document features space for your lesson’s aims and objectives.

Note down the different stages of your lesson, how you will differentiate and how you plan to interact with pupils.

Editable blank lesson plan template with instructions

This is a simple lesson plan for teachers, student teachers and supply teachers to use when planning lessons.

There is a PDF version, suitable for making speedy handwritten notes, that can you think through what you’re doing and pass on the information necessary for your sessions to TAs and classroom support.

Also supplied is an editable Word doc version, with notes on how to fill in the text boxes. It’s a clear and easy-to-follow record of intentions for a lesson.

There’s space on this template to jot down:

• Key vocabulary
• Resources (what will need to be prepared before the lesson)
• Introduction (how you’ll engage the children and introduce the activities)
• Main activity (use this space to explain how you will differentiate, use TA support etc)
• Plenary (how you will wrap things up)

5-minute lesson plan and evaluation templates

These easy-to-use Word document lesson plan and lesson evaluation templates are simple to edit and fill out.

The lesson plan contains space for:

• Prior knowledge
• Learning objectives
• Starter, main and plenary activities
• Assessment for learning

The lesson evaluation template allows you to reflect on your feelings after the lesson (positive and negative). There’s space to evalaute:

• Pupil engagement
• Teaching and communication
• Behaviour management
• Impact on learning

Finish by adding targets for the next lesson.

Comprehensive lesson plan template

Whether you’re a PGCE student, an ECT or a seasoned teacher being observed, you’ll find this comprehensive lesson plan template useful.

It’s an editable Word document, meaning you can adjust it to suit your needs. It contains space for the following:

• Contextual information on the class (eg class size, SEN, EAL)
• Focus of lesson
• Curriculum links
• Literacy/numeracy focus (eg key vocabulary)
• Activities (including differentiation plans)
• TA’s role
• Targets from previous observations
• Your evaluation of the lesson

Lesson plan template PowerPoint

This PowerPoint lesson plan template is designed for you to show on your smart board to pupils at the start of your lesson.

The first slide includes an auto-complete date (so there’s no need to change the date every time you give the lesson) as well as space for keywords, learning objectives and a starter (including extension activities).

There are three blank slides which you can use to add in tasks, then finish by showing the ‘What have we learnt?’ and homework slides.

The background is blue with a simple font to support students with dyslexia.

Forget flashy lessons – simple can be beautiful, and can give you your life back, says primary deputy head Aidan Severs …

Imagine a way of working that was not only more responsive to children’s needs, but was also better for teacher wellbeing. If there was such a way, surely we’d all want to be doing it?

I’d like to suggest it is possible. By planning learning sequences and designing lessons flexibly we can provide for individual needs without it being a huge burden on our time and energy.

All-singing, all-dancing

In order to ensure that our planning and teaching doesn’t impact negatively on our wellbeing, we have to find an efficient way to work. And in order for something to be efficient, it usually needs to be simple.

However, teaching can often be overcomplicated by myriad solutions for how to engage children, manage behaviour, include technology, make links to other subjects, and so on.

Often we begin lessons with an activity idea that we’ve seen on social media or used elsewhere in the past. Sometimes we come with preconceived ideas about what makes an outstanding lesson and we pull out all the stops and try to plan all-singing, all-dancing sessions.

“We pull out all the stops and try to plan all-singing, all-dancing sessions”

Other times, often due to time pressures, we just don’t think carefully enough about what children need. All of these approaches can lead to a lesson being insufficiently structured to support learning.

The true way to simplify teaching begins at the planning stage. There are several things to think about when you’re sitting in your PPA session. Begin by asking yourself a simple set of questions. Here’s the first:

What do the children need to learn?

You’ll probably come up with several answers, because different children will need to learn different things.

This is where workload can begin to triple or quadruple: as soon as you identify the fact that one handful of children need to go over previous work whereas others are ready to move on, it can be easy to start thinking that you need to plan several different tasks.

This is where planning teaching sequences comes into play.

Rather than planning five lessons, plan a sequence of activities that will help children to work through from not knowing how to do something to being fluent in it to being able to use and apply that knowledge or skill.

The next question to ask yourself will help you think about learning as steps towards a final goal:

How can I break this down and teach it in the simplest way possible?

If you produce a sequence of activities that build to an end point, you most probably have something relevant for each child in the class to attempt. This negates the need for differentiation and removes that potentially damaging way of providing for children that perpetuates the learning gap.

As you plan each step, take into account the answers to the following questions:

• How can pupils practise this in the simplest way possible?
• Is this aspect of the lesson really necessary for children to achieve the intended outcome?

Try to make each step and task as simple as possible, ensuring that the sole focus of the sequence is on exactly what the children need to learn. Your learning steps don’t need to be full of flashy activity ideas.

“Try to make each step and task as simple as possible”

Enjoyment and engagement of learning can, and should be, intrinsic. The act of learning is enjoyable and engaging, providing that you are actually learning.

A simple sequence almost guarantees that learning will take place and the children will feel good about it. They won’t miss the flashy teaching techniques you’ve used in the past. They’ll just be enjoying the feel-good factor that comes with mastering something new.

Flexible lessons

That’s the planning phase sorted, then. But trying to use the activities produced when planning a learning sequence can prove difficult.

One group of children could end up working on step one, another on step two while yet another moves on to step three. How do you keep a handle on this in the classroom?

Flexible lesson design is the answer here .

For example, if on day two of teaching your planned learning sequence you have several groups of children all working at different steps in the sequence you will need to work out how to use that hour in the classroom to the best effect for all.

Start working with one group while others begin the next task – clearly written or visual instructions will help with this. Once this is done, set a task for the group you were working with then check the work done by other groups.

Then, based on your assessment, give an input to another group while others continue with the initial task.

The ‘lesson’ (although no longer a lesson in the traditional, three-part sense) can continue this way until all children are working, at which point you can begin to give one-to-one feedback.

Reduce the burden

At any point a child might be ready to move on to the next step in the sequence. And they can, because the tasks have all already been prepared at the beginning of the week.

If you’ve also taken the time to provide answer sheets children can even self- or peer-mark to reduce the burden on you. This ensures that pupils aren’t waiting around for their work to be seen.

Planning a sequence of activities for all children to work through at their own pace means that you won’t be planning and preparing five days’ worth of three or more lots of differentiated tasks. It’ll just be around five tasks that you will support everyone to access, perhaps with an extra one on top to stretch children who need a challenge.

That’s a lot less work to plan and prepare.

By asking yourself the above questions as you plan, the activities you prepare within a sequence should be simple. This means that you can spend far less time decorating and laminating your resources.

“Simple can be beautiful, and it can give you your life back”

Teaching lessons flexibly should mean that you begin to use lesson time more effectively, particularly for giving feedback. In doing this, you remove the need for so much time to be spent on marking outside of lessons.

Any assessment information you do gather will simply inform you which task in the pre-planned sequence each child needs to work on next, rather than causing you to plan another new activity in response.

• Scenario Your Y3 class needs to learn how to add common prefixes to words and use them in their work. Note that the national curriculum mentions four: ‘in’, ‘un’, ‘dis’ and ‘mis’.
• Activity 1 Pupils will have covered ‘un’ in their spellings already so this makes a good starting point. First add the prefix to selected words (this will remind children that it changes the meaning of a word to its opposite and that the spelling of the root word remains intact). Next, add root words to the prefix. Finally, give a definition for a selection of words beginning with the prefix. These three tasks will give you an opportunity to assess what children remember of previous learning. Some will need more teaching on the prefix ‘un’ at this point, whereas others will be ready to move on.
• Activities 2-3 Rather than mixing things up to make them more interesting, repeat the above sequence with the prefixes ‘dis’ and ‘mis’. One meaning of the ‘in’ prefix departs from the ‘not’ definition the pupils have found in the other prefixes, so leave this one for another learning sequence.
• Activity 4 Contextualise the words pupils have learnt by choosing the correct prefix to complete a sentence and writing a sentence including one of the new words. The idea is to make each task as simple as possible so that the sole focus of the sequence is on exactly what the children need to learn.

Scripted lessons are being touted in certain circles as the solution for all of our education system’s ills but Kevin Rooney – teacher, author, and convenor of the Academy of Ideas Education Forum – is not so sure…

Have you heard of the late American educationalist Siegfried Engelmann ? His big idea was ‘scripted teaching’.

The thinking behind it goes something like this: too often teachers are unclear and ambiguous in their instruction and explanations. Thus, due to poor teaching pupils take on misconceptions and don’t make as much progress as they should in the classroom.

Scripted teaching will solve this problem, advocates claim. Carefully planned lessons designed around small learning increments aim to improve progress by eliminating any potential for misinterpretation.

Centrally produced plans will be distributed to teachers, who will read out and deliver lessons from the scripts. The opportunity for educators to digress and make mistakes will be reduced.

Instead, standardised scripts will ensure consistency, structure and quality assurance.

Growing support

A growing number of schools have already adopted scripted teaching, particularly Multi Academy Trusts (MATs).

Other supporters include John Blake, head of social policy and education at Policy Exchange, and Mark Lehain, director of Parents and Teachers for Excellence.

They argue that a prescriptive approach is necessary to ensure pupils get the right progression in their learning.

Blake asserts that experts working outside the classroom to design lessons or materials for teachers to follow reduces bad teaching, and has the potential to provide every child with a consistently high standard education.

Proponents insist that the scripts can be precisely calibrated to ensure that knowledge is imparted efficiently and unambiguously.

At present the extent of script teaching is on a spectrum and is more suited to certain age groups and subjects than others. But with the emergence of academy chains it is on the rise.

These institutions generate their own resources centrally and then disseminate it to dozens of schools and hundreds of teachers to deliver as one.

In some schools standardised script teaching is optional; but in others, it is compulsory.

Consistent quality

Arguing in favour of this new approach at an Academy of Ideas Education Forum debate on the topic, educationalist Kris Boulton asked, “Can we really trust half a million separate teachers to write their own lesson plans?”

To which, for supporters of scripted teaching, the answer seems to be, “No”.

“Can we really trust half a million separate teachers to write their own lesson plans?”

He contrasted the hit and miss approach of half a million teachers doing their own thing to the advantage of a standardised script that delivers an instruction sequence that has been refined and rigorously field tested over multiple years, generated by research and experienced experts that individual teacher could never achieve.

Not to move towards standardised script teaching is akin to rolling the dice with our children’s future, he said.

The argument now being put forward by educationalists in favour of scripted teaching is that that schools have a moral duty to teach via standardised scripts developed centrally by experts.

John Blake argued in a 2018 Policy Exchange paper that the only way we can deliver on the promise of the 2014 National Curriculum is with the move to scripted teaching.

He thinks it unhealthy for teachers to believe they should only be delivering things that they have designed themselves.

He adds that scripts could reduce workload and liberate teachers from the exhausting drudgery of having to prepare individual lesson plans.

Mistrust and uniformity

So should we welcome or reject scripted teaching? I have to confess that the prospect of teaching to a standardised lesson plan fills me with horror.

So much so, indeed, that if compelled to do so I would leave the profession.

“For me, this approach represents the antithesis of everything I think it is to be a teacher”

The move to embrace scripts is driven by a mistrust of teachers. It rests on the assumption that we are not professional or qualified enough to design and teach our own lessons.

It will erode teacher autonomy and sow further insecurity in an already insecure profession.

We have to ask: what is our model of a teacher? With standardised teaching, it’s that of an automaton.

Relational activity

In contrast, I believe that when we enter the teaching profession we are being inducted into a community of scholars and of subject specialists.

In conveying the love and understanding of our subject to pupils we must be able to exercise judgement and discretion in exactly how we transmit knowledge and ideas.

Teaching is a relational activity in which we get to know our students as human beings. Quite often in lesson I go off piste on all sorts of tangents.

Sometimes these learning adventures will not help students pass a test, but so what? If I think it appropriate to nourish pupils’ intellectual curiosity, or answer all sorts of questions not related to the lesson plan, I will do so.

Scripted teaching discourages deviation or wider exploration. It tells us what to teach and how. It demands uniform compliance.

Liberation, or disaster?

The culture in schools today, encouraged by intense accountability measures, tends towards teaching to the test and improved exam results at all costs.

In this context a desperate search is on for the silver bullet that will consistently deliver those optimal final grades.

Many at the top of the educational tree see scripted teaching as the answer. But I contend that the rise of the scripted teacher is not a panacea.

Indeed, in the midst of a retention and recruitment crisis I fear it will lower the intellectual bar and accelerate deprofessionalisation.

The reification of scripted lessons redefines teaching from an art to a science.

Put in shackles

In essence we have arrived at a moment where the agency and humanity of the teacher in the classroom is being subordinated to the iron cage of rationality gone mad.

Those pushing scripted teaching argue it is about putting in structures to support young teachers. But where they see support, I see teachers being put in shackles, and the zombification of our profession.

The aim of a teacher should be to enable and encourage our students to take their place in the world as autonomous young citizens, who can think critically.

If we are to make that happen we need the freedom to teach and engage in the free play of intellects between teacher and pupil in a two way exchange.

Scripted teaching restricts our ability to do that. That is why I think of it not as a liberation, but a disaster.

These five interlinking ideas from Ben Cooper – assistant principal at GEMS Wellington Al Khail and creator of LiteracyWAGOLL – will help you to structure your lessons and make them purposeful…

Rather than thinking of activities and forcing them into a lesson, I believe that teachers should focus on the type of learning they want to happen and create activities to fit the purpose.

There are only really five types of purposeful lesson activity groups – five cogs that bind together to create a great lesson, full of learning and, most importantly, purpose.

By understanding the cogs that make up a successful lesson, you can easily use them to sequence activities and tasks to make great learning happen.

Each cog links to a type of child or teacher-led activity that plays a part in learning.

Cog 1: engage

Having children who aren’t engaged makes teaching tougher. Kids need to be onboard with your lesson in order to learn well.

These type of lesson activities excite and motivate children and give them a reason to learn. They make learning purposeful and enjoyable.

Children should be asked to do something fun, practical or exciting that wakes up the brain and gives a context to what they are learning. These should be short and snappy – around five minutes.

Cog 2: Discover

This is the beginning of new learning – the eureka moment, if you like. These activities involve children learning something new or building on an old idea.

It’s difficult to put a time scale on this cog as it all depends on the content and challenge of the new learning, but I usually find five to 15 minutes is a good length of time.

This lesson phase may be teacher-led, research-based or focused on identifying a misconception. Whatever your preferred teaching style, there’s a common goal – discovery.

Cog 3: Practise

No one ever learnt to drive by just being shown where the pedals are. Likewise, the next step in a child’s learning is practising what they have just learnt – 15 to 20 minutes should do the trick.

This gives children time to make mistakes. Paired, group and practical tasks work well here. Kids are great at helping each other, especially when they are all ‘in it together’.

Practise makes perfect, as they say.

Cog 4: Apply

In this modern educational world of mastery and reasoning, children should have an opportunity to use their new learning, to give it purpose.

Pupils will now be ready to solve problems and apply their new skills to real-life situations. Give children plenty of time to do this – I’d say 20 to 25 minutes.

Cog 5: Review

Sometimes called a plenary or even (shudder) a mini plenary, these activities are simply about reflection. They give children a chance to review what they have achieved so far, what they are finding difficult and what they need to do next.

This helps children to develop an understanding of the progress they are making. Although reviewing is important, don’t spend more than five to ten minutes on these moments.

No one wants to spend more time reviewing than actually learning.

No time wasted

Lesson cogs ensure that you understand the purpose and focus of every activity so that no time is wasted and your whole lesson drives towards a common learning goal.

They are intended to be flexible. No single lesson structure works all the time. Personalisation is key.

Look at what you want to achieve with the children and structure accordingly. The more you think about it, the more confident you will become. Indeed, as you gain familiarity with the cogs, so will the children.

In a recent lesson, a child put his hand up and said to me, “Sir, I think it’s time I stopped practising now and start applying. It’s only 30 minutes until lunch!”

3 lesson structures to try

There is no ‘one size fits all’ lesson structure. The three-part lesson is long gone and we are now all expected to be flexible.

However, by connecting activity cogs in different ways, you can create lesson structures for different purposes.

Just like Blue Peter , here are three I made earlier.

The standard lesson

In an ‘everyday’ lesson (if there is such a thing), follow this simple sequence of activities. Engage pupils with a warm-up, then discover a new skill or build on a pre-existing one.

Follow this by rehearsing this new knowledge and applying it to a real-life situation. Finally, conduct a review where children evaluate their learning. Voilà – a standard lesson.

A new skill lesson

New skill lessons differ, as the emphasis is on the development of learning knowledge or skills for the very first time.

This lesson needs to focus on rehearsal and practising skills in different ways, with less application. Start with discovery, immediately followed by engagement and practice.

However, let’s face it, rarely do all children get it the first time, so add a splash of extra discovery and practice time for those who need it and a small dash of application for high flyers.

Insert regular, short review activities to allow children to check in on how far they’ve come.

A mastery lesson

In contrast, mastery lessons build on skills that children have already acquired and help them deepen their knowledge of these. Practice activities are a little more redundant here – the focus is much more on application.

Plan two or three different opportunities to deepen pupils’ knowledge via multiple application activities. Combine this with short engagement activities to give context and add excitement to the problem-solving process.

Enough. Put down the pens and close the laptop. Because there is another way, urges Colin Foster …

I have a radical proposal – stop planning lessons. I don’t mean abandon planning altogether. Instead, stop planning individual lessons as self-contained units of learning.

Instead, I suggest planning a long ribbon of activities designed to support students in learning whatever it is that you want to teach them, without worrying about where the lesson breaks will come.

Doing this will actually make planning much easier, by removing a hard constraint that everything must fit into lesson-sized units.

The result will be appropriate activities that take as long as you judge, rather than as long as ‘there is’.

Wasted time

In the conventional way of planning lessons, lesson time is frequently wasted when you have, say, a five-minute activity to do at the end of the lesson, but there’s still another five minutes to go before it’s time to start said activity.

The students are left either doing a prior activity for longer than you’d ideally wish, or you choose another activity less because it’s pedagogically appropriate, and more because it will fill the gap.

Trying to package learning into lesson-sized chunks is also extremely wasteful of your planning time. You’ll hunt for activities that last for a specific length of time, but only find activities that are too long or too short.

“Trying to package learning into lesson-sized chunks is also extremely wasteful of your planning time”

Eventually you make a compromise and find something, but then once the lesson is in progress, the other activities leading up to that one turn out to take longer than expected.

That ten-minute gap contracts to five minutes, or disappears altogether, so the activity can’t be used anyway. And if you’ve planned the subsequent lessons as individual units you’ll have to be redesign them.

Again, this is a very poor use of your precious planning time.

A messy process

Instead, let’s embrace the fact that learning is inevitably a messy process that’s hard to predict, even for an experienced teacher working with students they know very well.

Unanticipated things come up. Students fly through things you expected them to find hard going, then come unstuck over what you thought was a trivial point.

We need the flexibility to respond to whatever happens and slow down or speed up as appropriate, and tightly-planned individual lessons don’t allow for this.

There’s no point in ‘doing formative assessment’ if, having identified a student difficulty, your lesson planning effectively prevents you from addressing it.

Trying to make a lesson into a neat and tidy set piece, with a beginning, middle and end (or starter, main and plenary) might look good on paper. It conveys a well-organised impression to any observers seeing only that one lesson.

But it doesn’t suit the realities of real learning.

This approach gives too much weight to the individual lesson, as against the broader sweep of students’ learning over a longer sequence of lessons.

Instead, the lesson should simply end when it ends.

Ending lessons

Whatever you’re doing, one minute before the bell’s about to go, just stop and pack away.

There’s no point in rushing something to finish it before the bell. If you could have completed it faster, you would have.

Rushing through it just means that the students won’t grasp the ideas, get confused and feel anxious. Chances are you’ll have to do it all again anyway.

This means that there’s never a bad time for the lesson to end.

For instance, suppose that you’ve just explained a new concept, but the students haven’t had any time to apply it – and then the bell goes. This is fine.

You can begin the next lesson with some retrieval practice: ‘What was the idea I introduced at the end of last lesson?’ Now we can do something with it.

“There’s never a bad time for the lesson to end”

Or suppose that students are half way through a discussion and no resolution has yet been reached – and then the bell goes. This is also fine.

The students can be invited to think about the issue more before the next lesson and come ready with their thoughts.

Then, at the start of the next lesson, you can take comments before you recap and continue.

• Stop planning for individual lessons
• Plan a continuous ribbon of activities that address exactly what you want your students to learn
• Sequence your ribbon of activities in the best way for learning
• Don’t worry about where the lesson breaks will come
• Monitor your progress against your curriculum every week and adjust your speed as necessary

Desirable difficulty

There’s plenty of evidence from cognitive science about the benefits of retrieval practice – especially after a time interval (spacing) and other things have intervened (interleaving) – so there are powerful advantages to breaking up learning in this way.

It might make the learning process harder and feel less smooth, but it produces a ‘desirable difficulty’ that tends to lead to better learning outcomes in the long term.

Lesson boundaries are artificial. Learning doesn’t take place in lesson-sized units. Planning a long ribbon of activities is more realistic.

“Learning doesn’t take place in lesson-size units”

Of course, you’ll want to put approximate timings alongside your ribbons of activities, but these are just a guide. They are to be checked in with on, say, a weekly basis, with a view to what needs to be completed by the next assessment point, such as half term.

In this way, it’s the suitability of each activity for the learning journey, rather than how long it’s expected to take, that’s uppermost in your planning, which is far better for students’ learning.

Lessons don’t have to be neatly rounded off at the start and end. Students don’t always have to walk out of the classroom with a sense of closure.

Walking out with some unresolved ideas and things to ponder further could be far more beneficial.

We often consider how to kick off lessons, yet pay less attention to bringing them to a conclusion, argue Daniel Sobel and Sara Alston , authors of The Inclusive Classroom: A New Approach to Differentiation …

Use pre-warnings

We all know how irritating it is when we are asked to stop something in the middle. Yet we do this all the time to children.

Instead of saying, “Pens down, finish what you are doing”, try giving children time warnings, so they know when they will be expected to finish a task.

By pre-warning pupils, we enable them to prepare for a smooth transition. There are many useful timers that can be displayed on interactive whiteboards to show the countdown to the end of any activity.

Have clear task endings

We often tell children to “finish their work”. This instruction carries with it the implication that the child knows what this means.

For most tasks, the expected finished result is flexible. Writing for 20 minutes will look different for different children. Most pupils can manage this degree of uncertainty, but not all.

The majority of children will benefit from understanding your expectation of the finished activity. This can be a modelled example or clear instruction, such as: “Complete ten sums” or “Write to here”, shown by a mark on the page, and so on.

Finished means finished

Setting a clear end to a task can be more complex than it first appears. When we set out a clear expectation for an activity, but a child finishes before the end of the lesson, it’s all too tempting to add an extension task.

Often this is the right thing to do. But for those children who are highly routine- or rule-bound, this creates confusion. For others, it tells them that if they complete their work they will just get more, so it is better not to complete it.

To counter this, be clear what your expectations are, or the unexpected presentation of an extension task can feel like a punishment and become a disincentive to complete the first one.

Plan end-of-lesson routines

Exactly what your finishing routine will be depends on the lesson and the age of your children, but what is clear is that it needs attention.

Think about including support for:

• ensuring children have their belongings and are organised enough to be able to pack them away
• helping children manage anxiety and sensory overload
• a clear and planned route to help children reach their next destination safely and within the time limit

Mark the stages of the lesson

Reception, and sometimes infant school classes, often use ‘tidy up music’, at the end of lessons to gently remind children to finish what they are doing and encourage them to tidy up.

It provides a clear auditory cue and support for transition. Many children need this kind of support long after we stop using it.

Consider age-appropriate ways of using visual and auditory signs to mark the stages of the lesson, so not only is the lesson end clear, but the journey through the lesson is clear as well.

Consider the use of a marker on lesson slides to display ‘Starting activities’, ‘Teacher input’, ‘Group activities’, ‘Individual learning’ and ‘Summing up’, for example.

Be aware of particular anxiety points

For some children, particular times of day or week may be triggers for increased anxiety.

Many children (and adults!) begin to struggle as they move towards lunchtime. For many, as they become hungry, particularly if this is combined with anxieties such as managing lunch routines, having sufficient time to eat or bullying from others, their ability to manage the end of the lesson successfully will be reduced.

At the end of the day there can also be anxieties about being picked up or managing the transition into an after-school activity.

Be cognisant of these anxieties and enable children to share them so you can support them to manage and hopefully reduce their anxieties.

Colin Foster argues that planning a lesson from scratch should only ever be an infrequent last resort…

Imagine sitting at the back of a classroom, watching a lesson being taught by one of your colleagues. It’s a great lesson, no doubt about it. To be honest, you’re hugely impressed.

Afterwards, you’re full of praise and ask them, “Did you come up with that lesson yourself?” And they say, “No, I downloaded it off the internet.”

How would you feel? A little disappointed? You’d hoped the lesson was your colleague’s original creation, and now you’ve discovered that it wasn’t, it seems to take something away from what they did.

Quality matters, originality doesn’t

I think it’s a big mistake to feel this way. Originality is overrated. Pressure to plan lessons from scratch burdens teachers with an impossible amount of preparation that burns through what should be their downtime.

It’s far more important for students to have quality classroom learning experiences, than it is for their teacher to be the sole and original author of everything that’s used in the process.

“Pressure to plan lessons from scratch burdens teachers with an impossible amount of preparation”

Samuel Johnson is purported to have once told an aspiring author that “Your book is both good and original. Unfortunately, the parts that are original are not good, and the parts that are good are not original.”

Do we really want teachers to sit up late at night planning ‘original’ lessons that might be less good than something they could find on the internet?

Surely, it’s far better to spend that precious planning time adapting, improving or thinking through the details of something that someone else has already developed.

Trying to come up with content that’s original, simply for the sake of being original, is working to the wrong goal. After all, everything seems novel to students who are meeting it for the first time.

Tailoring lessons

But if you take your lesson plans ‘off the peg’ in this way, are you really being a true professional? Isn’t it selling your students short?

And in any case, won’t these ‘lifted’ resources clash with your teaching style and fail to meet your students’ particuar needs?

I’ve heard teachers sometimes assert that they have to develop their own lessons, because “Following someone else’s lesson plan is like trying to wear someone else’s clothes!”

Let’s unpack that simile. I wouldn’t have the first idea how to make my own clothes. But if you could, and opted to make all your clothes yourself, would they always be more comfortable to wear than the garments you could buy from a shop?

That seems a touch unlikely.

The process of trying to ‘tailor’ lessons for our perceived needs as teachers, and the needs we identify among our students, can often be conflated with the ‘learning styles’ fallacy – the idea that everyone learns differently, and that we should try to make our lessons conform to every individual child’s preferences.

However, the research is clear that designing lessons to fit preferred learning styles doesn’t improve learning.

Conversely, the notion that teachers should plan their own lessons has long been seen as a marker of professionalism. This can almost border on the moralistic, with the implication that you’re somehow doing something wrong if you succeed with a lesson you didn’t put the hard graft into planning yourself.

Double standards

Yet this doesn’t seem to apply in the same way for other professionals. Do the best doctors make their own medicines? Of course not, and the ones that do are typically considered to be ‘quacks’!

Real doctors rely on medicines manufactured and tested by the pharmaceutical industry, but that fact doesn’t mean that doctors are reduced in our eyes to technicians, merely ‘handing out pills’.

By the same token, teachers who base their lessons on resources and plans produced by fellow professionals are doing nothing wrong.

“There is no point in reinventing the wheel every time”

Perhaps medicine is a poor comparison, given that the processes of teaching tend to be seen as more personal than the dispensing of medicine. But when we consider professionals working in other fields, we find much the same thing.

Do the best actors write their own scripts? True, some actors are indeed also writers, but it would be a big mistake to think that when Judi Dench performs Shakespeare, she’s being less creative and less professional than she would be if she only performed her own material.

An actor in possession of a great text is likely to have much more scope to express their creativity than they might with a weaker script that they wrote for themselves.

Autonomy and creativity

Of course, teachers aren’t actors or doctors, but I’d suggest that a teacher’s role is thought about and understood in a way that overstates the individualised aspects of what they do.

Possessing a degree of professional autonomy doesn’t have to mean doing everything by yourself. Being creative needn’t involve building all the resources and materials you use from scratch each time, without any help.

As fellow professionals, we can and do support one another. There may even be a case to be made for incorporating some level of professional specialisation into the role.

Perhaps there are individuals out there who are really good at writing lesson plans, but less good at implementing them, and vice versa? (Just as there are outstanding playwrights who can’t act for tuppence.)

Someone else might be much stronger at interpreting, adapting and implementing existing lesson ideas than coming up with their own – and that should be fine too.

The teacher who uses a well-selected, high-quality lesson plan produced by someone else shouldn’t be treated as lazy, less skilled or any less professional in their approach to the role.

We must prevent an impoverished understanding of autonomy from taking hold – the kind of attitude that calls on teachers to plan all their lessons, by themselves, from scratch.

If it ain’t broke

Self-creation is just one route to ownership of something. A new jacket becomes our own over time as we wear it and become familiar with it, even though we almost certainly didn’t make it ourselves.

In the same way, there’s nothing inherently de-professionalising about finding, or being given a lesson plan to ‘deliver’.

Where necessary, you’ll take time to ‘make it your own’ and adapt it as needed – but if it ain’t ‘broke’, there’s no need to ‘fix it’.

Let’s therefore agree to respect the skills and efforts of our fellow professionals, and push back against the idea that teachers have to constantly undo and redo their work simply for the sake of it ‘being theirs’.

Give credit where it’s due, and borrow freely from the best you can find.

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• Grades 6-12
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Free printable Mother's Day questionnaire 💐!

The Big List of Free Teaching Resources for All Ages and Subjects in 2023

Loads of fun and interesting lessons, videos, activities and more.

According to the U.S. Department of Education , teachers spend an average of $479 of their own money on classroom supplies per year. That’s why WeAreTeachers is all about free teaching resources. We’re always on the lookout for sites and sources that offer lesson plans, printables, videos, and all the other things teachers need to make their lives a little easier. Our list has options for pre-K through high school, in every subject. In short, there’s something for every teacher!

To start, we’ve got lots of terrific options right here on our site. Take a look at some of these top roundups. Then, be sure to browse the site for anything else you might need.

• Free Printables from WeAreTeachers
• Awesome Websites for Teaching and Learning Math
• Best Free and Paid Reading Websites for Kids
• Fantastic Free Science Videos for Kids and Teens
• Top Free and Paid Sources for Teacher Clipart
• Free Sites and Apps To Use With Google Classroom
• Free Jamboard Ideas and Templates for Teachers
• Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips

Now, on to the rest of the big list of free teaching resources!

Annenberg Learner

Check out this site for both multimedia K-12 classroom resources and teacher professional development podcasts and learning activities.

Sample lessons: Art Through Time: A Global View , Amusement Park Physics Interactive , A Biography of America

Sponsored by the Kennedy Center, ArtsEdge provides arts-centered, standards-based resources for K-12.

Sample lessons: Animal Habitats , Five Artists of the Mexican Revolution , Creating Comic Strips

Audubon for Kids

Nature activities, videos, games, DIY projects, and lessons to inspire children to explore and feel connected to the natural world.

Sample lessons: How To Make Hummingbird Nectar , Migration Story Interactive Game , Birds of Prey Poetry

Learn to code with these one-hour tutorials designed for learners of all ages in over 45 languages.

Sample lessons: Dance Party for grades 2+ , Tractor Traversal for grades 6+ , Space Adventure Code Monkey for grades 2-8

Free collection of reading passages in all literary and nonfiction genres for grades 3-12. Passages come with text-dependent questions that help you track student progress.

Sample lessons: Life Isn’t Fair—Deal With It , Who Was Anne Frank? , Witchcraft in Salem

Common Sense Education

Use this site for help teaching digital citizenship, and learn about the latest ed-tech.

Sample lessons: Your Rings of Responsibility , Keeping Games Fun and Friendly , Digital Drama Unplugged

Core Knowledge

The Core Knowledge Foundation provides open access to content-rich curriculum materials for preschool through grade 8, including the Core Knowledge Curriculum Series™.

Sample resources: Social Skills Posters , The Human Body , Ancient Egypt

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

This is one of the most well-known research labs for birds and birding. They’ve got a quality selection of activities and lessons, with K-12 options.

Sample lessons: Investigating Evidence , BirdSleuth Investigator , Flap to the Future

Student-appropriate news articles, with original and simplified options. You can also listen to the article, a terrific option for struggling readers.

Sample articles: Electreon Wants To Transform Roadways Into Charging Stations , Meet the New Millipede Species Named After Taylor Swift , Guess What? Fish Can Do Basic Math!

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this site provides tons of materials on teaching classic literature like Moby Dick or Lord of the Flies . You’ll also find lots of great resources for social studies, civics, and language arts.

Sample lessons: Examining Utopia & Dystopia in The Giver , Hopi Poetry , The Realism in Magical Realism

Education.com

With lots of printable worksheets and activity ideas, this site is a must-bookmark for teachers. You’ll get a limited amount of free resources each month. Or you can sign up for a very affordable membership for unlimited access.

Sample activities: Math Crossword Puzzle , Firework Science , Understand Volume Using Sugar Cubes

Education World

Education World is a complete online resource for teachers, administrators, and school staff to find high-quality and in-depth original content. They offer more than 1,000 free lessons.

Sample lessons: Wacky Weather , What Would Oprah Say? , Changes in Habitat

EVERFI offers free digital courses that are interactive and standards-based. The focus is on real-world learning, with courses offered in financial literacy, STEM, social-emotional learning, health, and wellness.

Sample lessons: FutureSmart—Middle School Financial Education , The Compassion Project , Honor Code Bullying Prevention Curriculum

Games, books, videos, and printables for kids in grades pre-K to 8, all free! Resources are broken down by grade level, making it easy to find what you need.

Sample resources: What on Earth , Inkster , Penguin Drop

Textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has compiled a big collection of activities for grades K-12. Activities, lessons, downloadables, videos, and more!

Sample resources: My Number Story , 90-Second Science , How To Write for TV

Jumpstart offers free teaching materials, including activities, worksheets, and lesson plans, for K-5 teachers.

Sample lessons: What a Wonderful World , Art of Recycling , Power Up Math

Khan Academy

Teachers everywhere rely on Khan for practice lessons and enrichment for their students. They have an especially robust high school section, with AP prep on a variety of topics.

Sample lessons: AP/College US History , Growth Mindset Activities , Intro to Multiplication

Learning for Justice

Formerly named Teaching Tolerance, this amazing site provides free resources that emphasize social justice and anti-bias to K-12 educators.

Sample lessons: Lessons From Goldilocks , Singing for Peace , Making Cents of Privilege

Library of Congress

Teach kids the proper way to use primary sources with lessons. Then, use the primary source sets here for research on lots of topics.

Sample lessons: Getting Started With Primary Sources , Alexander Hamilton Primary Source Set , Baseball Across a Changing Nation Set

Literacy Design Collaborative

LDC is a national community of educators that provides literacy-rich assignments and courses (organized by collection) across content areas.

Collections include: K-6 Civics Collection , National Writing Project Collection , NBCT Authors

NASA Science Space Place

Search hundreds of resources by subject, grade level, type, and keyword. These lesson plans and teaching materials support K-12 STEM curriculum. Includes a wide variety of at-home lessons as well.

Sample lessons: Explore Mars: A Mars Rover Game , Make a Balloon-Powered Nanorover , Parachute Code Message

National Gallery of Art

Teachers can borrow teaching packets and DVDs for a whole school year! Plus find lots of online help for teaching art.

Sample lessons: Elements of Art: Shape , Rousseau in the Jungle , Gordon Parks Photography

National Geographic

Bring National Geographic to your classroom through lesson plans, maps, and reference resources. Don’t miss Explorer Magazine , their free online publication for grades K-5.

Sample lessons: Wild Horses of the Outer Banks , El Nino , Traces of Ancient Rome in the Modern World

National Women’s History Museum

In addition to lesson plans, the free teaching resources here include National History Day projects and the Suffrage Resource Center.

Sample lessons: Songs of Protest , African American Activists, Little Rock Nine

Nature Lab is the Nature Conservancy’s youth curriculum platform, which provides lesson plans, videos and activities, and virtual field trips.

Sample lessons: How Dirt Works , Fighting Fire With Fire , Recording the Rainforest

The New York Times Learning Network

Teach and learn with the Times. Articles and questions, writing prompts, and lesson plans that coordinate with the New York Times Learning Network for teens. This site also provides access to professional growth resources and webinars for teachers, plus activities for students.

Sample lessons: 28 Ways To Teach and Learn About Poetry , Listen to Five of the World’s Newest, Wildest Instruments, 19 Ways To Teach the 19th Amendment

Newsela is a database of current events stories tailor-made for classroom use. Stories are both student-friendly and available in different formats by reading level.

Sample texts: Checking the Facts About U.S. Birthright Citizenship , The Human Heart as a Work of Art, Helping Endangered Lemurs Hang On

National Science Teaching Association promotes excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. This site gives teachers access to NSTA magazines for students and teachers and lesson plans.

Sample lessons: Slippery Slide Design , Figure Skating Physics , Wolves in the Wild

OER Commons

Whatever you’re teaching, chances are you’ll find helpful lesson plans, activities, printables, texts, and more on OER Commons. Hubs and Groups give teachers a chance to connect and collaborate too.

Sample lesson: 1619 Project: The Idea of America , The 1992 L.A. Civil Unrest , Natural Disasters: Weather Bingo

It’s no secret that textbooks are incredibly pricey. OpenStax is out to change that by providing quality digital texts for free.

Sample books: Calculus , World History , Sociology

PBS Learning Media

Free, standards-aligned pre-K-12 instructional resources including lesson plans, videos, and interactives.

Sample lessons: What Happens When a Language Dies? , The Origami Revolution , The Spread of Disease

PepsiCo Recycle Rally

Recycle Rally is a terrific free program that helps schools set up a recycling program and offers rewards for participation. Their Resource Library has lots of free articles, printables, and activities.

Sample lessons: Lesson Plan: Don’t Waste Lunch! , Amazing Recycling Facts You Probably Don’t Know , How To Make a Tote Bag From a T-Shirt

Get leveled reading passages with accompanying vocab and question sets for K-8. Teachers get free access to use with their students.

Sample articles: Warriors of New Zealand , Rituals for Making Tea , Life Story: Zora Neale Hurston

ReadWriteThink

NCTE’s site has thousands of standards-based resources for teachers and students of English.

Sample lessons: Color Poems—Using the Five Senses to Guide Pre-Writing , Teaching About Story Structure Using Fairy Tales , A Blast From the Past With Nuclear Chemistry

Scholastic Teachers

Free teaching resources by grade, including articles, book lists, and collections of lesson plans and teaching ideas.

Sample resources: Tips for Teaching Poetry , The Best Collections for Your Next Author Study , Our Favorite Graphic Organizers for Teaching Reading and Writing

You already know YouTube has lots of great videos to use with your students. But not all schools allow access to the site. That’s where SchoolTube comes in. Share videos safely, and get content you can trust.

Sample content: Math With Mr. J , Vicki Cobb’s Science Channel , TeacherCast Educational Network

Science Buddies

Choose from hundreds of videos, STEM challenges, and lesson plans. Also, find a vast collection of hands-on science experiments and projects for K-12.

Sample lessons: What Animals Need to Survive , Engineering Design Challenge—Paper Airplanes , Paper Roller Coasters: Kinetic and Potential Energy

Seacoast Science Center

Seacoast Science Center’s Your Learning Connection is packed with lessons, activities, and resources to support at-home learning and empower children to investigate nature. Each weekly issue explores four themes—Get Outside!, Our Ocean, STEM Activities, and Art & Nature—with lessons, videos, and activity sheets.

Sample lessons: Honeycomb Moray Eel , Star Gazing , Nature Scavenger Hunts

Share My Lesson

Share My Lesson houses over 420,000 free lesson plans and activities, organized by grade and topic.

Sample lessons: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Stories , Coordinates and Straight Line Graphs , The Effect of the Population Explosion

Smithsonian’s History Explorer

Smithsonian’s History Explorer offers hundreds of free, innovative online resources for teaching and learning K-12 American history.

Sample lessons: The Suffragist , Winning World War II , Many Voices, One Nation

Storyline Online

This award-winning children’s literacy website streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.

Sample books: Trombone Shorty , Enemy Pie , Henry Holton Takes the Ice

Teacher.org

The Lesson Plans section of this site has real plans created and designed by K-12 teachers. Search by subject or grade level.

Sample lessons: Chinese New Year , Camouflage and Environment , Classroom Garden From Trash

Teacher Created Resources

Free standards-aligned lessons and interactive whiteboard activities products created by teachers for teachers.

Sample lessons: A Tale of Two Towns , Making Decisions With Probability , Translating Confucius

Teacher Vision

There’s such a wide selection here, way beyond lesson plans! Get hall passes, graphic organizers, rubrics, and lots of other useful free teaching resources.

Sample lessons: Polar Powers: Animal Adaptations , Patterns in Music and Math, The Rights of Bike Riders

Teachers Pay Teachers

TpT allows teachers to share their knowledge with their colleagues and make money doing it. There are many paid options, but you’ll find lots of freebies available too.

Sample free lessons: Word Work Activities , Hundreds Charts Printables , A-Z Handwriting Practice

Teaching for Change

If you’re looking for resources to help build social justice in your school and community, start here. You’ll find books, lesson plans, activities, and more.

Sample resources: Anti-Bias Education , Black Lives Matter at School , Challenge Islamophobia

TES (Times Educational Supplement) is a British website that offers thousands of free and paid resources for K-12 teachers. Made by teachers for teachers.

Sample lessons: Persuasive Writing Travel Brochures , Romeo and Juliet Review Lessons , Rainforest Introduction Lesson

U.S. Currency Education Program

Help kids learn about money: where it comes from, how it works, and how to manage it. There’s a free mobile app to try out too.

Sample lessons: Money Scavenger Hunt , Working With Words , You’d Be Surprised videos

Virtual Nerd

Calling all math teachers! This site has over 1,500 video lessons covering Middle Grades Math through Algebra 2.

Sample videos: What Is Probability? , What Is Place Value? , How Do You Find the Area of a Rectangle?

WWF Wild Classroom

The World Wildlife Fund’s mission is to protect the world’s most beloved species and their habitats. Find games, videos, lessons, tool kits, and more.

Sample lessons: Sea Turtle Toolkit , Be a Food Waste Warrior , The Endangereds

Yale–New Haven Teachers Institute

Since 1978, the institute has been working with top-notch teachers and collecting their lesson materials for others to use. This site has thousands of complete units on pretty much any topic, all completely free to access and use.

Sample lessons: The Wonder Behind The Wizard of Oz , The Counting Train: Windows to Mexico , Anime and the Art of Storytelling

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