Content & Lessons

Picture of a computer screen with books in it

Many factors contribute to quality instructional materials. Though definitions may vary somewhat from one professional organization to the next, all agree that quality materials should be robust materials aligned to learning standards regardless of whether the materials are print or digital, full course materials or supplemental materials, open or all rights reserved copyright. Access SETDA and other national definitions for quality instructional materials.

This page includes resources for Selecting Content, Vetted Content Repositories & Lesson Plans.

Considerations for Selecting and Reviewing Instructional Materials 

Access Vetted Digital Content

State Policies with the URL DMAPS.setda.org. There is a US map with icons of teachers and devices in circles.

State Resource Repositories
Does your state have a resource repository? Check this instructional materials website to see state content repositories. Some state repositories are open to the public and many include open education resources.

K12 Instructional Materials Dashboard logo with the SETDA logo and K!2 typed in large font over a few tablets.

State Reviewed, Digital Full Course Materials 

The K12 Instructional Materials Dashboard of state reviewed, full course instructional materials for English/Language Arts and math at the secondary level.Resources can be sorted by state, content area, subject area, grade level, format, publisher and copyright date. If you are interested in full course, digital instructional materials, take a moment to review the site.

 

Apple shares remote learning resources on the App Store.

Khan Academy provides offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom.

Online music program, WURRLYedu is a student-safe alternative to Tik Tok. Get free access to WURRLYedu—our award-winning teaching platform and creation tools for students including: 1000 standards-aligned lesson plans for K-12: SEL, General Music, Modern Band, Vocal Ensemble, Jazz, and non-Music subjects. Available on web and iOS.

OER Commons is a digital library and network. Users can access open education resources and join the network of educators dedicated to curriculum improvement.

Bookshare: A Benetech Initiative. Bookshare® is an ebook library that makes reading easier for people with barriers such as dyslexia, blindness, and physical disabilities.

Graphite. Common Sense Media’s Graphite combines ratings from educators with reviews from its own expert team of reviewers. Graphite’s reviewers evaluate each tool using a research-based, 15-point rubric to assess each tool’s engagement, pedagogy, and support.

EdReports publishes free reviews of instructional materials, using an educator-designed tool that measures alignment, usability, and other quality criteria. Current reviews include core instructional materials for K-12 Mathematics, K-12 English Language Arts and science 6-8.

Georgia Virtual has made available digital learning resources for professional learning and shared content, as well as 120 free online courses.

Michigan Virtual is offering the content of over 70 of our high-quality online courses free to educators and parents as a resource to supplement student learning.

Virginia Virtual: For the remainder of the 2019–2020 academic year, Virtual Virginia will offer 81 online resources in all subject areas at no cost for teachers and students to use in online delivery via the Virtual Virginia LMS.

Virtual Field Trips: Access one field trip per weekday from March – May to international museums, national parks, zoo, farms and more.

Lesson Plans

Lessons in an eLearning program should cover content that would have been addressed if students were in a traditional classroom setting. Students should be informed of their learning targets and lessons might include: instruction on a topic, practice, application, collaboration with peers, and/or a demonstration of learning. 

If eLearning is new to your schools, consider developing COMMON eLearning lessons per grade level and/subject instead of every teacher creating their own. Remember not all families have multiple devices at home, many parents may be using an iPad, laptop, PC or even smartphone to do lessons. This commonality has proven very effective for teachers and community. Having “digital rockstar teachers” work together to create and vett lessons for others ensures fidelity to standards and rigor during this new experience. 

Be sure to develop and implement instructional materials that are accessible for ALL students including students with disabilities. Check out the Accessibility page.

Lesson Plans

  • GeoInquiries by Esri includes online instructional content in 10 content areas (15 activities each),free with no login required.
  • Engage NY developed and hosted by the New York State Education Department  curriculum materials for grades Pre-K to 12 in both Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies. These materials are available for download from EngageNY and are free to all users.
  • Indiana’s Digital Instructional Materials/Lessons: includes sample lessons for a variety of grade levels and content areas.
  • Lesson Plan Ideas, Evanston Township High School, IL
  • UDL Exchange: Browse and build resources, lessons and collections and share these materials to support instruction guided by the UDL principles.
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