Foreign Language

CEC Lesson Plans
This group of lesson plans came from the Columbia Education Center's Summer Workshops
http://www.col-ed.org/cur/?

German for Beginners
This site includes links, exercises, dictionaries, etc.
http://web.uvic.ca/german/149/

Internet Activities for the Foreign Language Classroom
Web focus developed at UC Santa Barbara by teachers.
http://members.aol.com/maestro12/web/wadir.html

Mission Critical from San Jose State University
Mission: Critical is an interactive tutorial for critical thinking, in which you will be introduced to basicconcepts through sets of instructions and exercises.
http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/

Japanese Online
A complete course online.
http://www.japanese-online.com

One of the many responsibilities of homeschooling parents is to prepare lesson plans for the home lessons. A lesson plan is important because it supports the material from textbooks and other sources, reinforcing the concepts. For middle school students, there are many lesson plans that can be used for various subjects. In this article, we will look at the best middle school lesson plans.

Using Lesson Plans

In a home school curriculum, the home educators set the school calendar year according to their schedule. Then, the school schedule is set up so that there is a structure and framework within which the home education is based. It is best that the lesson plans be introduced after a specific idea or concept is introduced to the student because a particular lesson is usually based on a certain idea or theory. A good lesson plan makes the subjects or topics more interesting and accessible.

Finding the Best Lesson Plans

For people who have tried to search for lesson plans, they would immediately be overwhelmed by the ocean of lesson plans out there. As such, it can be hard to find good quality lesson plans. One simple way to find a good lesson plan is to go to an authoritative source. In most cases, lesson plans from schools, colleges, government agencies, and recognized educational companies are the best. Then, the home educator has to decide which lesson plan is suitable for the student. Firstly, they have to know the learning style of the student. Some lesson plans have activities so they may be suitable for students who learn better through demonstration. There are also interactive lesson plans that may be appropriate for students who need positive encouragement.

Lesson Plans for Middle School

Middle school lesson plans are different from elementary and high school lesson plans. This is because the subject matter is different and the ages of the students are different. For people who want to design their own lesson plans, they have to consider some factors. Middle school students are around 11 to 14 years old so their mental capacity and constitution is unique. From elementary lesson plans that are based heavily on activities to high school lesson plans that are much more academic, lesson plans in middle school can be viewed as an in-between where there should be some activities and some academic stuff. Yet, each child is unique so it is up to the home educator to come up with the best lesson plan.

Lesson Plans Online

There are many middle school lesson plans that can be found online. Homeschooling parents can find these lesson plans and alter them to fit their children. Here are some of the best lesson plans on the Internet.

• Discovery: A great resource for middle school lesson plans.
• Science Lessons: The NIH Office of Science Education provides a series of lesson plans for middle school students.
• Frankenstein: This lesson plan is based on Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature.
• Lincoln: A number of lesson plans based on Abraham Lincoln.
• Judges in the Classroom: Great lesson plans to teach middle school students about American law.
• Humanities: Come here to find many lesson plans on the humanities for all levels.
• Science Ambassador: These lesson plans cover autism, birth defects, folic acid, HIV/AIDS, and more.
• Consumer Action Scavenger Hunt: A short term project which trains middle school students to locate useful consumer information.
• Science Teacher: Good collection of science lesson plans.
• Law: This lesson plan explains how a bill is passed into law.
• Curricula & Lesson Plans: The USDA provides a number of lesson plans on nutritional education.
• Energy & Science: The page has many interactive lesson plans for middle and high school students.
• Geology: Excellent educational resources for middle and high school teachers by the USGS.
• Waste & Recycling: The EPA offers a wealth of teaching resources on the topic.
• Tides & Currents: Many lesson plans on the subject by the NOAA.
• Equality under the Law: Middle school students would learn the concept of equality in this lesson plan.
• The Wright Way: NASA presents a series of lesson plans on flight and related sciences.
• Constitution Day: Splendid lesson plans for middle school students.
• Healthy Body Image: Purdue University offers a complete lesson plan on the healthy body.
• “Bag of Tricks”: This role playing lesson helps middle school students understand the idea of peer pressure.
• Ed Helper: One of the best resources for lesson plans on the Internet.
• Educator’s Reference Desk: Come here to access thousands of lesson plans on all subjects for all levels.
• Environment: Use these lesson plans to teach middle school students about the environment.
• Historic Places: A large collection of lesson plans on US history in all the states.
• Math & the Parthenon: Middle school students would find out how math is connected with the Parthenon.
• Classroom Resources: Covers biology, astrology, chemistry, computing, education, engineering, and more.
• Africa: A good number of lesson plans on African studies for K-12 students.
• Family & Consumer Sciences: Specially designed lesson plan to instruct middle school students on careers, financial literacy, nutrition and wellness, human development, and relationships.
• Polar Studies: A good selection of lesson plans for middle school students.
• Social Skills: Covers basic social skills, self-esteem, skills with peers, and more.
• GIT: Good resource of lesson plans on the subject.
• CSUN: Great collection of lesson plans on social studies for all levels.
• Finding Lesson Plans: A guide to help teachers find lesson plans.
• Teacher Lesson Plans: Many science lesson plans for middle school students.
• Money Math: The lesson plan helps to increase the financial literacy of middle school students.