A&M-SA Research Guides: Special Education Research Guide: Find Curriculum &amp; Lesson Planning Resources

Link to TEKS

Access the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

The TEKS are the Texas state "standards for what students should be able to know and do."
"The State Board of Education (SBOE) has legislative authority to adopt the TEKS for each subject of the required curriculum. SBOE members nominate educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers to serve on TEKS review committees" and subject area TEKS are reviewed periodically.
Use this site, which includes all the chapters of the K-12 TEKS document, to guide your lesson planning and curriculum development. They are organized by grade levels for grades K-5 and then by subjects for grades 6-12.

Texas Special Education Websites

These Sites are Designed for Special Education Teachers and Parents of Special Education Students in Texas

TEA's Special Education Site
As part of the Texas Education Agency's Special Student Populations Page, this site offers an overview of the Special Education Strategic Plan for Texas, links for accessing data reports, links to parent resources, and more.
Supplemental Special Education Services (SSES)
"TEA is providing online accounts of $1,500 to parents of eligible students with significant and complex disabilities who
have been impacted by COVID-19 school closures." This financial support is provided through an application process.
TEA's Dyslexia and Related Disorders page
" This page includes resources to assist in identifying and providing services for students with dyslexia and related disorders in Texas schools."
TEA's Section 504 page
This page provides and explanation of what Section 504 is and how it applies to students. It describes who is protected under 504 guidelines and how students are evaluated.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Getting its name from the universal design movement in architecture, which helped people realize that people without disabilities also benefit from certain architectural modifications, this approach to instructional design emphasizes building in features to promote the success of all learners from the very beginning of the lesson activity design process.

CAST Home
CAST is a nonprofit research and development organization which created the UDL framework and guidelines. Their mission is "to transform education design and practice until learning has no limits."
Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A Teacher's Guide
Important elements of UDL explained by Allison Posey from CAST, Inc., which has been credited with originally developing UDL. She addresses what UDL looks like in the classroom.

Websites for Lesson Plans--Special Education

Sites for Lesson Plan Ideas Relevant to Special Education

IRIS Center
"Supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs and located at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, the IRIS Center develops and disseminates free, engaging online resources about evidence-based instructional and behavioral practices to support the education of all students, particularly struggling learners and those with disabilities" (From IRIS's About Us page)
Children's Books: Portrayals of People with Disabilities (IRIS Center)
This searchable database and downloadable document features stories about people with all types of differently-abled people: from people who are deaf, to people with emotional concerns, to people with physical disabilities, to people with TBI, etc.
TeacherVision's Special Need & Education Resources Pages
TeacherVision offers links to resources across subject areas and grade levels but it also provides curated special education tips, strategies, and lessons. Some materials on the site are freely accessible; some seem to require a subscription.

Curriculum and Lesson Planning Databases

A&M-SA Databases with Materials Suitable for Use with K-12 Students

Note: Primary Search, Middle Search Plus, and MAS Complete are often used by K-12 students to do research assignments. Additionally, these sites provide access to popular kid-friendly news publications such as Time for Kids, Science News for Students, and more.

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD)
Locate for recommendations for children's and young adult books and media with this resource's 2.6 million+ fiction/non-fiction records, national/international award information, and professional reviews. Also includes lesson plans, teaching guides, and links to titles in the A&M-SA collection.
TeachingBooks.net (TeachingBooks.net)
A resource for K-12 educators to encourage reading in students. Includes book guides, lesson plans, author and illustrator interviews, audio character name pronunciations, national and state book lists, and more. Includes Spanish language resources.
Gale in Context: Biography (Gale)
Providing coverage of the most searched and studied people, Gale In Context: Biography is built on a foundation of more than 650,000 biographical entries covering international figures from all time periods and areas of study. It offers authoritative reference content alongside, videos, audio selections, images, primary sources, and magazine and journal articles from hundreds of major periodicals and newspapers. Search for people based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender, as well as by keyword and full text.
Biography Reference Source (EBSCO)
Offers over 430,000 full-text biographies from sources such as Biography Today, Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, American Reference Library, Encyclopædia Britannica, and more. Can filter results by grade and reading level ranges (Lexiles).
TOPICsearch (EBSCO)
This current events database allows researchers to explore social, political, and economic issues; scientific discoveries; and other popular topics discussed in today's classrooms including controversial opinions and viewpoints.
CQ Researcher (SAGE Publications)
Suitable for use with advanced middle school and high school students, a weekly publication covering fact-checked current topics concerning health, international affairs, education, public policy, environment, technology, the U.S. economy, etc. Some topic reports include pro/con sections and suggested discussion questions.

Websites for Lesson Plans

Common Sense Education / Common Sense Media website
This organization is well-known for their development of instructional programs involving media and technology including a digital citizenship curriculum. The site also reviews educational apps and websites and offers professional development for educators.
Texas Gateway for Online Resources
TEKs-aligned online resources across grades and subjects provided through the Texas Education Agency (TEA)
PBS Learning Media
A robust resource that contains materials for in-class use and for professional development. Materials are available across subject areas and for grades PreK-12.
Lesson Plans for Educators by the National Council for Open Education
Also known as the Educators' Reference Desk, this site has picked up support from the National Council for Open Education. The intended audience for the lesson plans ranges from preschool through higher education, including vocational and adult-education. They are grouped by subject/discipline.
ck-12.org
According to their website, the "CK-12 Foundation provides a library of free online textbooks, videos, exercises, flashcards, and real world applications for over 5000 concepts from arithmetic to ... ." Use of site content to create lessons requires free registration.
MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching)
According to the website, "the MERLOT system provides access to curated online learning and support materials and content creation tools, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers." Teachers can browse by discipline or search. The advanced search allows users to limit to grade school, middle school, or high school. NOTE: This site also covers college-level content.
Core Knowledge's Downloadable Curriculum Resources
Core Knowledge offers freely available curriculum resources for grades Pre-school through Grade 8. Free resources are provided with information and links for how to purchase additional publishing-partner-created materials.
Education.com's Learning Library
A library of learning resources for preschool through 8th grade students. Includes free access to printable worksheets, online games, and lesson plans. A premium membership is required to access the Guided Lessons. Covers a broad range of subjects including the expected core but also resources for foreign language, ELL, and technology teaching and learning.
Khan Academy
Includes full courses and resources for learning for PreK-College level content across subject areas including math, science, arts & humanities, reading & language arts (beta), computing, economics, test prep, and life skills
The Learning Network--Lesson Plans from the New York Times
"Lesson Plans: Teaching and Learning with the New York Times" website offers free lesson plans organized into the following categories: English/Language Arts; Social Studies; Science & Math; ELL & Arts, and Current Events. NOTE: While this site offers engaging suggested activities for students, the lesson plans aren't don't necessarily follow a prescribed format. Also, these lessons are probably best suited to middle and high school students due to the reading level required for NYT articles.
Literacy Design Collaborative's (LDC) Curriculum Library
LDC's curriculum library of approximately 5000 resources is available to access with a free registration. Additional materials and supports are available to schools that set up paid subscriptions. The emphasis is on literacy across subject areas.
teAchnology.com
According to their home page: "For over a decade, TeAchnology has been providing free and easy to use resources for teachers dedicated to improving the education of today's generation of students. We feature 46,000+ lesson plans, 10,200 free printable worksheets, rubrics, teaching tips, worksheet makers, web quests, math worksheets, and thousands of other great teacher resources." NOTE: If you have strict browser privacy settings enabled you may have difficulty accessing the content.
Annenberg Learner - Classroom Resources
Multimedia resources for various subject areas and age groups.

Childhood 101: Playing, Learning, Growing
Site Founder Christie Burnett has organized a site full of activity resources with an emphasis on play ideas. One way to access resources on the site is the activities by age ranging from Baby to School Age and an additional Family category.
PBS Learning Media: Preschool
Includes links to educational videos, interactive lessons and shorter activities, lesson plans, galleries, and audio resources
PreKinders: Ideas & Resources for Pre-K & Preschool Teachers
Founded in 2000 by Karen Cox, who has taught in private and public Pre-K programs for 20+ years. The weekly newsletter currently has over 85,000 subscribers. The site includes numerous links to activity ideas and "printables" across subjects and skills.
Teach Preschool
Site is by Deborah J. Stewart, owner of a private preschool, who has been engaged with early childhood education for 30 years. She is a longtime member of NAEYC and a regular presenter at national, state, and local conferences and other professional development events. Her site offers tips and activities across multiple developmental skill areas including literacy, STEM, motor skills, and more.
Early Math Counts by College of Education at University of Illinois, Chicago
Visit the Find a Lesson tab to find a lesson or activity based on title, age group, or standards alignment. Site also offers informational materials and professional development for early childhood educators.
Khan Academy Kids
Teaching and learning activities for children ages 2-8, plus teacher and parent support resources. The linked page is a teachers' guide for getting started.

E-Read Texas for Kids
Kids can search by keyword or browse curated collections in this e-book library made available free across Texas. Uses the Biblioboard platform and downloadable app.
Edtisement: Best of the Humanities on the Web
This site created by the National Endowment for the Humanities has met and surpassed its goal of collecting the 100 best humanities websites for use as educational resources. Browse by subject area or search by national and/or state standards for content areas and grades to find high quality, well-documented lesson plans and resources.
Grammar Bytes!
"Grammar Instruction with Attitude!" Includes links to exercises, terms with explanations, videos, presentations, and more.
Grammarly Blog's Grammar Tips Handbook
Provides mostly text-based content on a wide range of grammar and spelling topics including fragments, possessives, contractions, pronouns, conjunctives, passive voice, etc.
Library of Congress Teachers Page
"The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching." Use the Classroom Materials area of the site to search for lesson plans and related items by curriculum standards as identified by Common Core, "State Content," or "Organization" (i.e. professional organization).
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets website is a creation of WETA Public Broadcasting and provides links to resources on strategies for teaching reading, reading across subjects/disciplines, literacy research, award-winning children's book lists, help for struggling readers, and much more. See the strategies page at https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies
ReadWriteThink
"Since 2002, ReadWriteThink.org has provided literacy educators with access to an ever-growing collection of free educational materials. This includes hundreds of lesson plans, calendar resources, prints, and interactive tools... Every lesson plan on ReadWriteThink has always been aligned to the IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts, showing how theory feeds into practice."
Khan Academy ELA beta
Khan Academy has become famous for its videos teaching math and science concepts. New and growing efforts are underway to create content for the arts and humanities. The ELA beta content, covering grades 2-9, while still under development, can be used and includes videos plus accompanying activities.
PBS Learning Media: English Language Arts
Includes hundreds of standards-based videos, activities, and lessons for ELAR. Includes a searchable database for resources available across the spectrum of PreK-12 grade levels.
TED Ed Lessons Worth Sharing - Language Arts: Composition & Writing
TED Ed's searchable collection of educational and thought-provoking videos covers various grade levels and subject areas. This link goes to videos related to composition and writing. In response to COVID-19, educators can sign up for a free daily email of lesson plans to support teaching online.
Texas Gateway for Online Resources - ELA & Reading
The Texas Gateway serves as an online repository of lesson plans and resources across subjects. It includes over 500 resources in the ELA & Reading category.

American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning (ASHP/CML)
"Based at The City University of New York Graduate Center, ASHP/CML produces print, visual, and multimedia materials that explore the richly diverse social and cultural history of the United States." Also provides professional development opportunities for teachers to learn how to use the latest technologies and active learning strategies with their students.
Digital Public Library Primary Source Sets
"Primary source collections exploring topics in history, literature, and culture developed by educators — complete with teaching guides for class use." Searchable by subject and time period.
EDSitement Social Studies Lesson Plans
This site created by the National Endowment for the Humanities has met and surpassed its goal of collecting the 100 best humanities websites for use as educational resources. Browse by subject area or search by national and/or state standards for content areas and grades to find high quality, well-documented lesson plans and resources.
Educator Resources Page of the National Archives
The focus of the site is on teaching with primary sources. The most useful aspects of this site for lesson planning are the Working with Primary Sources page(s) and the DocsTeach tool. The DocsTeach tool provides access to ready-made curriculum materials as well as an app-like feature for designing one's own lessons using primary source documents from the Archives. Use of the create-your-own-lesson app requires registration, but is free.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's Online Resources
This institute is located in New York City, but also provides extensive access to online digitized primary sources and other materials. Resources useful for K-12 learning include videos, articles, and even online exhibits. They are currently offering a sign-up to access recently added materials in response to the COVID-19 closures.
History Lessons from the Stanford History Education Group
Create a free account to access a range of resources and lessons on topics such as Reading Like a Historian, Corroboration, Source Evaluation, and more. There is an included collection of history assessments called History Beyond the Bubble and a Civic Online Reasoning Curriculum.
Library of Congress Teachers' Portal
Searchable by state standards, Common Core, or national professional organization and grade level, LOC provides a huge collection of primary sources as well as support for how to integrate them into teaching. A relatively new feature, the Student Discovery Sets are freely accessible e-books that pull together related primary sources across topics and themes, such as the Constitution, Westward Expansion, Women's Suffrage, etc.
Peace Corps Educator Resources Site
According to their website: "The Paul D. Coverdell World Wise Schools program fosters an understanding of other cultures and global issues by providing online educational resources based on the Peace Corps experience and facilitating communication among U.S. learners and current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers."
Slave Voyages: A Collaborative Project from Rice, Emory University, & Other Partners
This digital exhibit and collection includes coverage of trans-Atlantic slavery, intra-American slavery, an African names database and an images gallery.
Smithsonian For Kids
This eye-catching site provides many learning activities, modules, and games that can be used alone or inserted into larger lesson plans. Also, check out the additional resources at the For Educators page: https://www.si.edu/educators
Teaching Economics: Student-based Instruction (SERC)
From the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College, this site offers an example of how college students facilitated economics lessons with elementary school students.
Teachinghistory.org: The National History Education Clearinghouse
Select the Teaching Materials link or the Quick Links for access to resources and materials grouped by elementary, middle, and high school grade ranges. In addition to activities and lessons, the site also includes access to technology tools, and pre-made quizzes.
Learning for Justice: Formerly Teaching Tolerance
Relaunched with its new name in early February 2021, this site by the Southern Poverty Law Center includes lessons, student texts, student tasks, learning plans, printable posters, film kits, and more. All resources are tied to the following frameworks: Social Justice Standards, Teaching Hard History, Critical Practices, Digital Literacy, Teaching the Movement, and National Standards.
Texas Digital Archives Exhibits page
Provides access to digitized primary source materials covering various aspects of Texas history including Texas flags, industries, Native American relations, women's suffrage, transportation, architecture, and more.
Uncovering America by the National Gallery of Art
"Discover compelling stories of creativity, struggle, and resilience in this new set of resources for K–12 educators featuring works of art that reflect the richness and diversity of the people, places, and cultures of the United States. Encourage creative, critical, and historical thinking in your students as you examine works of art from the country’s creation to the present day."
Zinn Education Project
"The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the teaching of people’s history in classrooms across the country. For more than ten years, the Zinn Education Project has introduced students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula. Searchable by time period, theme, resource type, and keywords."

Annenberg Learner: Teaching Science
Free online resources including videos for teaching science topics.
CODE.org's Projects Site
View others' projects and create your own with these simple coding resources.
Education Resources Department of Energy
This website includes materials useful for K-12 STEM education related to energy conservation and clean energy.
The EPA's Lesson Plans, Teachers' Guides, and Online Educational Resources for Teachers
Links to sites and resources both within and outside the Environmental Protection Agency's website covering topics such as climate change, energy, health, and water.
How Stuff Works: Science Topics to Explore
Covering environmental science, physical science, life science, environmental science, life science topics and more. A fun section is Science versus Myth which exposes the truth behind some urban and other legends.
Khan Academy Computing
Includes video lessons on computer programming/coding and computer science principles.
Khan Academy Math
Video tutorials and more across math levels from early childhood to university-level courses, such as calculus, statistics, etc.
Khan Academy Science & Engineering
Fully developed units of video lessons on topics across the natural sciences, health/medical science, and electrical engineering. Many of these are geared toward learners middle school through college.
NASA For Educators
The Search Educational Resources page of this site includes more than 1,400 educational activities and materials which can be freely used. The mission of NASA as stated on this page of their site is to 'Inspire Engage Educate (and) Employ The Next Generation of Explorers." A recent highlight are resources available related to the landing of Ingenuity, the Mars helicopter in Feb. 2021.
National Energy Education Development (NEED) Distance Learning Resources
Includes links to videos, experiments, games, fairs, and more for learning about energy.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research & Training Pages: Science Education
This page provides direct access to science games and online science tools for students as well as a lesson plan search and other curricular resources for teachers.
PEER (Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health)
"The Partnership for Environmental Education & Rural Health (PEER) Program at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) is funded by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) grant and strives to further K-12 STEM education in rural schools across the United States."
The San Francisco Exploratorium Website
This educational, science-focused museum/lab offers instructional videos, activities, websites, blogs, and apps covering mainly science-- but also some social science and history topics.
Smithsonian For Kids
This eye-catching site provides many learning activities, modules, and games that can be used alone or inserted into larger lesson plans. Also, check out the additional resources at the For Educators page: https://www.si.edu/educators
Texas Aquatic Science: Online Learning Resources
Includes links to a 14-chapter online textbook and video introductions for each chapter. The text is described as "A guide for students from molecules to ecosystems, and headwaters to ocean."
U. S. Geological Survey Education Resources Page
This site offers activities and lesson plans covering the broad areas of biology, geography, and geology with resources group into three levels: Grades K-6, Grades 7-12, and Undergraduate. Some additional learn from home resources were added during the COVID-19 pandemic.

National Gallery of Art Lessons & Activities Page
Suggested lesson plans along with thumbnails and links to images for grades PreK-college. A recently added resource of interest is titled Uncovering America "on the intersection of art and American identity and history."
National Art Education Association's Remote Learning Toolkit
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, representatives from every NAEA division and our membership at large collected, curated, and shared strategies, approaches, lessons, units, and tools to support online/remote learning of art concepts and skills. Activities, lessons, and resources are available for learners from elementary grades through adult professionals.
Performing Arts in Art Curriculum from the J. Paul Getty Museum
"The lessons in the Performing Arts in Art Curriculum explore works of art that depict subjects related to music, storytelling, dance, and theater. Lessons in this interdisciplinary curriculum engage students in diverse topics in the disciplines of visual art, performing arts, history, and language arts."
The Kennedy Center's Digital Resources for Educators Site
Developed as part of a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, this useful site from the Kennedy Center is divided into four main categories: Resource Collections, Media & Interactives, Articles & How-to's, and Lessons & Activities. The Lessons & Activities section includes more than 75 items covering grades from kindergarten through high school.
PBS Learning Media: The Arts
Provides access to standards-aligned resources in dance, music, theater, and visual arts and across grade levels from PreK-12th.

Starfall
Designed for grades Pre-K through 3, this site offers online games and activities in language arts/reading and music, math, and other seasonal topics. Colorful and kid-friendly multimedia make the activities engaging.
English Media Lab
Provides links to countless resources for learning English, organized by type and level. Includes materials for both children and adults.
ESL Video
As its name implies this site provides videos as well as other resources for English language learning for beginners and more advanced speakers. Includes both kid-friendly and more mature video content.
Learn English Kids by the British Council
Provides free access to games, audio files, videos, reading and writing practice activities and more.
ESL Lounge Student
The student version of this site is freely accessible and includes many leveled resources for English vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, and pronunciation. The site layout is somewhat confusing and can be made moreso by the ad content so teacher direction may be important for the successful use of the included resources. Also includes a Business English module.
Cambridge English: Write & Improve
With an interface that initially seems most appropriate for a secondary/adult audience, this free site engages the learner in various guided writing activities, leveled from beginner to advanced. An example of a beginner exercise is to write a postcard. It also includes a Business English module.
Learn English Resources from the American English site
The American English site is provided through the U.S. Department of State and includes resources for English language learning. Users can select resources based on audience (learner level), skills (reading, speaking, listening, etc.), type of content (text, multimedia, etc.) and more.
VOA's Learning English Resources
With opportunities to Read, Listen, and Learn, this site links to news articles, podcasts, and videos organized by level of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. In addition to news and current interest articles, there are also US history resources.
Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
Most of the content offered is in the form of listening quizzes categorized as Easy, Intermediate, and Difficult. There is an additional category called Culture Videos.

Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL), University of Texas, Austin
"COERLL is one of 16 National Foreign Language Resource Centers (LRC's) funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The overall mission of these federally-funded centers is to improve the teaching and learning of foreign languages by producing resources (materials and best practices) that can be profitably employed in a variety of settings....Its mission is to produce and disseminate open educational resources (OER) for the Internet public."
Duolingo
Available as a website and mobile app in free and paid versions, this language learning tool provides interactive, game-style exercises. Covers most commonly studied languages as well as endangered and fictional ones.
Open Culture's Free Language Lessons Listing
Links to hundreds of mostly free online resources for learning languages. Includes links to audio, video, and text-based resources.

Special Education Research Guide

Highlighted Resources

Featured Database

Link to TEKS

Access the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

Texas Special Education Websites

These Sites are Designed for Special Education Teachers and Parents of Special Education Students in Texas

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Websites for Lesson Plans--Special Education

Sites for Lesson Plan Ideas Relevant to Special Education

Curriculum and Lesson Planning Databases

A&M-SA Databases with Materials Suitable for Use with K-12 Students

Websites for Lesson Plans