Education: K-12 Teaching Resources

There are many different places to search for lesson plans and information about lesson planning: print and online books available through the OISE / University of Toronto Libraries; licensed education databases and online resources; and numerous openly available databases and websites. Information about some of the many key resources for lesson plans and lesson planning are included on this page.

To find books available at the OISE Library and ebooks available online through the University of Toronto Libraries:

1. Type "lesson planning" in the Catalogue.
2. Search.
3. On the left hand side of the screen, select OISE in the "Library" list for print materials, or select ONLINE.

To find books which include lesson plans:

1. Narrow your search using the Subjects menu. For example, try Study and Teaching (Elementary), or Music.
2. For print items, select Curriculum Resources in the Library Location menu.

Some educators publish lesson plans in journals. These lesson plans are often available through education databases such as ERIC, CBCA Education, and Education Sources which have been licensed by the University of Toronto Libraries.

To find lesson plans in the ERIC database:

1. Type "lesson plans" in the first search box.
2. Select "Subject Heading" in the drop-down menu.
3. Type your keyword(s) on the second line (for example, algebra).

To find lesson plans in CBCA Education and Education Source:

1. Type "lesson plans" OR "lesson planning" in the first search box.
2. Select "Subject" in Education Source.
3. Type your keyword(s) on the second line (for example, algebra).

The OERB is a "learning object repository" of over 29,000 online resources for Ontario teachers and students:  lesson plans, interactive games and activities, worksheets, maps, and more.  To find resources, search the OERB by keyword, or browse resources by grade, subject, strand, or curriculum expectations. Narrow results by format to find SmartBoard lessons and activities.

At UofT, access to the OERB is restricted to students and instructors in the CTEP, MT, and MA CSE programs. Login information for the OERB is emailed to students and instructors in these programs every September.

For additional information, please email Monique Flaccavento (monique.flaccavento@utoronto.ca).

Ophea Health and Physical Education Curriculum Resources and Ophea Health and Physical Education Ontario Safety Guidelines are essential resources for those teaching physical and health education. Resources are licensed and available online to University of Toronto students, staff, and faculty. Log in using your UTORid and password.

Media Smarts: Find Lessons & Resources

Media Smarts (formerly the Media Awareness Network) is a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization for digital and media literacy.  Their website includes free K-12 resources including lesson plans, work sheets, multimedia games, and quizzes which address a wide-range of media issues.

The Balanced Literacy Diet is an openly available website developed by university-based literacy experts at OISE and school-based practitioners. The Balanced Literacy Diet supports the development of research-informed reading and writing instruction in schools, and includes lesson plans, videos, and more.

Subject Associations in Ontario provide teachers with news and information about the curriculum related to their subject areas as well as links to learning resources. For a list of Subject Associations, see:

http://www.osstf.on.ca/subjectassociations

The Ontario Ministry of Education's Teaching Tools page provides links to a variety of high quality online resources, including lesson plans, for K-12.  

Developed by TVO, TeachOntario is an online community of Ontario teachers which includes content created by Ontario teachers for Ontario teachers. Create a free account to gain access (select University of Toronto from the "Organization" drop-down menu).

AgScape is a database of curriculum-linked food literacy programs and resources for teachers of grades 1-12. Register for a free account to access lesson plans and activities for a number of subject areas and to access the interactive online game for students, "Agri-Trekking Across Ontario."

Cube for Teachers is an interactive and collaborative database for teachers in Ontario and B.C. The database contains lesson plans and activities, and can be searched by grade, subject, strand, and expectation in the Ontario curriculum.  Register for a free account to search for lesson plans and activities and also to join discussion groups with other teachers.

TIGed: Global Education Resources is an openly available online database of lesson plans, research and data, videos, and educational games for the K-12 classroom. The TIGed site also includes other resources, such as guides on best practices designed for teachers looking to bring global issues and perspectives into the classroom.

EduGAINS is a K-12 portal of student and teacher resources developed and provided through the Ministry of Education. In addition to lesson plans and other classroom resources, the portal includes interactive web-based math modules for students, teacher planning and implementation guides, video interviews, videos of classrooms, research papers, and more.

The CBC Digital Archives: Education Materials page includes activities, assignments, projects, webquests, and downloadable assessment pages and rubrics which build on the materials presented in the CBC Digital Archives site. Resources can be downloaded, modified, and reproduced for the classroom.

Bring podcasts into your classrooms with CBC Podcasts in Class, a set of original podcasts and accompanying teaching resources (including custom-made lesson plans, slides, handouts, and videos featuring CBC hosts). These guides were written and vetted by teachers who work across a variety of boards across Canada. All materials related to these guides are available free of charge. 

The Toronto Public Library catalogue provides links to over 40 websites with lesson plans in all subject areas.  To find these in the Toronto Public Library catalogue, search for "curriculum and lesson plans". 

There are many online sites with free high-quality lesson plans.  Here are a few:

• 4edu.ca
• Canada's History
• Econlowdown
• Education Reference Desk
• Historica Canada
• HotChalk Lesson Plans
• Learner.org
• My Parks Pass [Canada]
• Teachers.Net