Special Education Teacher Resources
From resources for the special education classroom to accommodations for mainstreamed students with special needs, explore Lesson Planet’s reviewed and rated teaching strategies, assessment tools, apps, lesson plans, videos, resource collections, and activities designed to make learning come alive across disciplines!
Whether new to special education or an experienced veteran, starting out the year can be difficult. Here is a model you could use when developing your own weeklong schedule. There are apps to help instructors write IEP goals and objectives for all kids in your caseload. Check out this video review of one such app.
Lesson Planet has resources, lessons, and apps designed for learners on the autism spectrum, sample lessons provided by an ADHD specialist, lessons for children with moderate disabilities and/or Down syndrome, and activities for other students with profound needs. The resources in our collection are designed to make your job just a little bit easier.
Showing 3,029 resources
TED-Ed
The Motion of the Ocean
What drives the ocean's motion? Get your class moving toward understanding by using this video. Viewers find that thermohaline circulation is caused by the concentration gradients of temperature and salinity. Using adorable animation in...
TED-Ed
Biodiesel: The Afterlife of Oil
Use this slick video to introduce your environmental scientists to the wonders of biodiesel. They will learn about problems caused by our waste oil, how it can be recycled, and other benefits of using biofuels. Use the video, assessment...
TED-Ed
Radioactivity: Expect the Unexpected
Several radioactive concepts are explained with the help of animated atoms, complete with their own facial expressions. As physical science pupils watch, they learn about gaining or losing atomic particles, alpha and beta particles, and...
TED-Ed
How Polarity Makes Water Behave Strangely
Water is common? Not really! Learn how the polarity of the water molecule gives it tremendous properties that make is quite unique in the universe. Learners will understand surface tension, adhesion, and cohesion, as well as why these...
TED-Ed
How to Speed Up Chemical Reactions (and Get a Date)
How are chemical reactions like dating? A collision must first occur! In this hilarious approach to speeding up chemical reactions, viewers find out that five changes can increase the rate of reaction: smaller space, increased number of...
TED-Ed
Pruney Fingers: A Gripping Story
If you can't put your finger on it, you can at least learn from this video about the channels that form our our water-soaked fingertips. What is their purpose? This little clip is an amusing and educational addition to a lesson on...
TED-Ed
The Science of Macaroni Salad: What's in a Molecule?
After showing they quick-paced featurette on the breaking of bonds, hold a discussion using the accompanying Think questions. Complex molecules are broken down into smaller molecules during digestion. There are six main molecules that...
TED-Ed
The Science of Macaroni Salad: What's in a Mixture?
Mix things up in your physical science class by introducing mixtures. The three types are defined: suspension, colloid, and solution. It all depends on the size and type of the involved particles. With attractive animation and an...
TED-Ed
The Science of Spiciness
Spice up a nutrition, biology, or cooking class with this hot topic: the science behind the spiciness of many beloved foods. There are actually two different types of spice, depending on the chemical compound causing the pain:...
TED-Ed
Where We Get Our Fresh Water
This fresh resource explores the world's fresh water: where it can be found, and how humans use it. You might be surprised at the variety of domestic uses! Short, but sweet, this feature can be followed by a class discussion using the...
TED-Ed
You and Your Microbes
Humans are like planets, hosting a plethora of microbial communities. This concept is explored with vivid narration and animation, bringing to light the benefits of the huge variety of microbes that live in and on our bodies. What a fun...
TED-Ed
An Athlete Uses Physics to Shatter World Records
Have you heard of the Fosbury Flop? It was invented by a college high jumper in and has become the standard technique for high jumpers world wide. Learn the physics of this move and why it is more effective for clearing the bar than the...
TED-Ed
Poison vs. Venom: What's the Difference?
Did you know that poison and venom are not the same? Both are toxic, but poison must be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed, while venom must be injected into a wound. The narrator explains that some toxic compounds may be used for good, as...
TED-Ed
Does Stress Cause Pimples?
After this video, make sure to give a pop quiz on pimples! The question that is answered is whether or not pimples are caused by stress. Stress hormones give our bodies what we need for a fight or flight, but what happens if we don't do...
TED-Ed
How Do Nerves Work?
This lesson won't get on your nerves! Find out how one kind of cell can cause comfort, terror, or pain in your brain. Comic strip and cartoon style animation is used to help explain the transmission of electrical nerve impulses and the...
TED-Ed
How Does Work...Work?
What makes a clock tick or a bulb light up? The concept of work is explained to a backdrop of clever animation. Physics fans learn that the amount of work equals the product of the force and distance, and that the rate equals the amount...
MinutePhysics
Parallel Universes: Many Worlds
Which path will you take in your physics career? Here, the proposed theories for how quantum mechanics meets the real world is explained. Are the many possible outcomes all happening in a universe, far, far away? Inspire aspiring...
MinutePhysics
Do We Expand With the Universe?
The cat's out of the bag (or off the leash, in this case) regarding the expansion of the universe. In this intriguing episode, the narrator explains that space is expanding, not the objects within it. He also tells how expansion...
MinutePhysics
Can Humans Really Feel Temperature?
Explore thermal energy with this short episode. Jiggling molecules and hand-drawn animation help to explain that just because something has a lot of thermal energy, it doesn't necessarily feel hot to the touch. This is an ideal addition...
TED-Ed
The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees
It's time for CSI: Honeybees! The numbers of domesticated honeybees in the US have been diminishing at an astounding rate, and investigators are out to find out why. The included video features three possible explanations and illuminates...
TED-Ed
Dead Stuff: The Secret Ingredient in Our Food Chain
A disgusting and direct description of detritus and decomposition is digested in this drill! Your life science class learns about the importance of decomposers in the food chain and finds out how one organism's trash is another...
TED-Ed
Climate Change: Earth's Giant Game of Tetris
In this colorful animation, our current problem with climate change is likened to a block-stacking game of Tetris. Greenhouse gases are increasing in the atmosphere at an increasing rate. Can we place them properly before it's too late?...
TED-Ed
How Tsunamis Work
A flood of information about tsunamis can be learned by viewing this feature. How do they get started? How fast do they travel? How high can they rise? The answers to these questions, plus a little bit of history, are given for your...
TED-Ed
Sugar: Hiding in Plain Sight
Did you know that you can find added sugars in three-quarters of the foods you find in grocery stores? Invite your learners to consider how much sugar exists in the food products we eat on a day-to-day basis, as well as to learn about...
