George Lucas Educational Foundation
Edutopia

Curriculum Planning

Looking for ways to develop dynamic, compelling, and standards-based course content and activities? This is the place to start.

  • Why Learning at Home Should Be More Self-Directed—and Less Structured

    On March 18, 2020, Simone Kern tweeted that simply “recreating schools at home” passes up a golden opportunity to engage kids in authentic, self-directed learning.
    Simone Kern

  • Deepening Learning With Understanding by Design

    Learners benefit when teachers intentionally plan their units backward—starting with the desired outcome.

  • How to Get Started Teaching Coding

    A three-step plan to help teachers in any subject and any grade teach the foundations of coding.
    Jorge Valenzuela

  • 6 Techniques for Building Reading Skills—in Any Subject

    Students need good reading skills not just in English but in all classes. Here are some ways you can help them develop those skills.
    Susan Barber

  • 5 Highly Effective Teaching Practices

    We teachers are always looking to innovate, so, yes, it's essential that we try new things to add to our pedagogical bag of tricks. But it's important to focus on purpose and intentionality -- and not on quantity. So what really matters more than "always trying something new" is the reason behind why we do what we do.
    Rebecca Alber

  • The Benefits of a High School Psychology Class

    Students gain not just social and emotional learning skills but academic ones like how to conduct and analyze research.
    Heather Tracy

  • The Bill of Rights Through the Lens of Dystopian Tales

    One teacher offers a guide to help students compare the freedoms lost in dystopian novels with the freedoms secured by the Bill of Rights.
    Benjamin Barbour

  • What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

    Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.
    Youki Terada

  • Curriculum Mapping Tips for New Teachers

    How to go about developing a curriculum that takes into account both your students’ abilities and the initiatives of your building and district.
    Daniel Bailey

  • Evidence-Based Scheduling With Daniel Pink

    The best-selling author explains why the order of the school day should look different for elementary and high school students.
    Laura Lee

  • What Is Your Educational Philosophy?

    While lesson planning this summer, educators might also take time to reflect on their core beliefs about learning and teaching.
    Ben Johnson

  • Kindness: A Lesson Plan

    Classroom activities and resources for developing a vital character trait.
    Rebecca Alber

  • From Concrete to Abstract—The Montessori Math Approach

    At an elementary school in South Carolina, tactile materials, color coding, and vocabulary changes help students grasp high-level math concepts.

  • 15+ Ways of Teaching Every Student to Code (Even Without a Computer)

    With this collection of resources, you can teach your students to code—even if you’re still learning yourself.
    Vicki Davis

  • Sparking Curiosity With Self-Directed Learning

    Teacher-designed stations linked to core skills prompt students to learn while exploring their interests.