ONLINE PLANS | ONSITE PLANS | LINKS TO OTHER SOURCES

The idea of developing lesson plans in adult education programs varies considerably from a K-12 approach. Many programs for adult learners face the following challenges, to name only a few:

Classes are held only a few hours a week instead of daily for 6-8 hours.
Classes are held in places that often do not have access to basic classroom support: blackboards, overheads, desks that fit the student, lockers.
Students come to class when they can. Lack of attendance is a major problem in planning.
Students want to learn only in areas of interest to them, and those interests vary considerably in any population lof students.

All of these factors weight heavily on teachers trying to develop plans. Use the following resources and adapt them to you student population. You can do a few things to help you plan more efficiently:

Survey your students interests.
Group them according to interest over level.
If you have computers, have them work online as much as possible when you can't give them individual attention.
Revise your interest list weekly until you know the student is working in an area that suits him or her.
Engage as many senses, intelligences and styles as you possily can!
Have them complete a small project (observable outcome) to complete activities if at all possible.

Reviewing results is essential in adult education. Students often have lost touch with what they really want or love. Revise the list of interests until you find the magic key!

GETTING STUDENTS ONLINE BACK TO TOP

Many people are scared of computers, so they often say, "I don't like computers." Don't believe them until you know they've given online learning a good try. Adults often say they don't like things that they really believe they won't be good at. Once they learn, they are likely to love them!

WEBQUESTS (Funded by The Unlimited Learning Center in Cortez, Colorado and Star Schools)

WebQuests are a common phenomena in online learning. A webquest is simply a lesson plan that is (ideally) written for the student at his reading level, and which has all of the intructions, evaluation and materials needed to complete an assignment or project. The lesson-links section on this page has links to several webquests for adults. Following are some of ours, posted on our sister site:

BACK TO TOP

WEBTASKS - Technology Series (Reading for and through Technology)
(Funded by The Unlimited Learning Center in Cortez, Colorado)

Webtask is our term for an online activitiy that is shorter than a webquest (2-3 hours of work), and which has a student navigate through a content-reading activitiy, followed by reading/math/science exercises, and a rubric for self-evaluation. Webtasks are written for adults reading at approximately the 5-6th grade level.

Visit our sister site to access the following tasks. Go to Tasks

Create Your Own Desktop
Complete a Computer Jigsaw
Create a Title Page in Word
Create Your Own Stationary in Word
Build Your Own Virtual File Cabinet in Windows Explorer
Write Your Own Song
Create Your Own Dictionary
Create a Word Picture
Create a Comparison Chart
Astrology Fun This project includes thirteen webtasks: introduction to Astrology followed by a webtask on each of 12 signs. Fact or fiction, you will enjoy discussing your type, according to Astrology, and doing related reading, math and science exercises.

LESSON PLANS FOR USE ON-SITE (You have our permission to use the materials for educational purposes as long as you credit the sources.)(Funded by CDE Adult Education and Family Literacy )

NOTE: These lessons are no longer revised, so many links may not work. Please enjoy and use the content!

LINKS TO OTHER LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES ON-LINE -- Not all are meant for adults, but they can be modified to fit adult interests and setting. (BACK TO TOP)

If you don't find what you want, do a search on any good search engine, like Google. All you have to do is write "math/reading/science/etc... lesson plans," or any other info you want in the "Search" box, and you'll get hundreds of links. The Internet is exploding now with lesson plans. Our task is to try them out and share our findings with each other.

GENERAL

(Tried and true links are added every month.)

Integrate Learning - This site was developed through a Star Schools grant written by adult educators in Montezuma County, Colorado. It is now maintained by the Unlimited Learning Center and the 4CVRC. It contains a large number of lesson plans created by Colorado teachers, some of whom are adult educators. All lesson plans were created with one idea in mind: integrate the student into the learning plan! That means that most plans are designed to complete a project that requires the application of academic skills. Visit our home page on this site to explore additional resources on integrating learning for students.

The Western/Pacific Literacy Network , a part of the National Institute for Literacy's "Literacy Information and Communication System" (LINCS), is a leading Web-based resource for the literacy community. The primary goal of the Western/Pacific Literacy Network is to provide an on-line interactive structure for communication, educational materials, and sharing of information about adult literacy among eighteen western. Go to their link, http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/ for lesson plans based on stories. Students at the Cortez Adult Ed Center LOVE these! They have all sorts of exercises to accompany the stories, and you can have students listen and view video clips to follow the passage. There is a large archive and a story for the week. Or go to http://literacynet.org/lincs/teachertutor.html for other great teaching resources. If you click on "Resources," you'll find a list of great instructional material, such as follows: