At first glance, it may seem like a daunting task to find free lesson plans online, particularly when you take into account the fact that there are over 300,000 of them, located on over 10,000 different web sites. Where does one begin? The following steps are intended to make your search a bite easier to manage:

STEP ONE: What is your goal?

Be clear about what you are looking for before you start. Are you searching for a very specific lesson on a narrow topic? If so, go to step three (ex. A lesson to teach grade 5 students the Pythagorean Theorum) Are you just browsing for lessons for a Theme Unit? (ex. General Thanksgiving Theme Lessons), or are you doing some long term planning and looking for possible lessons for your grade or subject area? - try steps four and step five.

STEP TWO: How much time do you have?

Are you in a hurry or do you have several hours, days or weeks to refine you plans? If in a hurry, skip to step three. If you are in browse mode, then you can try steps four and step five.

STEP THREE: Narrow Focus or In a Hurry

In either of these cases, we strongly recommend you begin your search with a search engine "key word search". It is amazing what you can find by simply going to GOOGLE and entering a narrow search topic. Be as specific as possible and use words such as "lesson", "grade", and your narrow topic. An example might be "grade two thanksgiving lesson plans"

STEP FOUR: Using Lesson Search Engines

If you have a bit more time on your hands, we strongly recommend the use of a Lesson Plan Search Engine. There are several excellent ones around, including our recommendations located on our Lesson Plan Search Engine page.

STEP FIVE: Browse Mode

Finally, if you are doing some long term Lesson Planning, and or have time to browse, you will find an incredible amount of information, specific lesson plans and units, and resources to help you build your own lessons. Browsing begins back on the MAIN PAGE of the site. Pick a Subject Area or grade level and start surfing.