Looking for fun, ready-made lesson plans for teaching Microsoft Office skills?
These resources help you teach your students programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access, and Publisher within the context of real-life scenarios.
Lesson plans for elementary, middle grade, or high school students. Some may even be appropriate for basic computer classes at the college level. Best of all, most of these are free!
Check Your School District’s Site
Most teachers know whether or not their school district offers computer skills curriculum or lesson plans.
Teachers only access.
Professional lesson plans.
Tailored toward school policies.
Limited quality.
Limited selection.
Some school districts even post free resources online, so you can take a look and perhaps even download resources. If you are new to a teaching position, you may want to check out your organization’s resources first. That way, you know your curriculum aligns with district policies.
Teach-nology.com
Get Microsoft Office computing lessons with fun topics for elementary school, middle school, and high school students.
Multiple categories available.
Very large selection.
Includes many other teacher resources.
Includes premade lessons and templates.
Links to 3rd party websites.
Outdated website design.
Somewhat cluttered.
You can also find free web quests and other technology-related lessons on this site, as well as overviews of how programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are useful for students’ learning in general as well as how they might need it in future pursuits.
Education World
Download free PDF curriculum complete with learning outcomes, images, and more for some versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access.
Professional website design.
Professionally designed lesson plans.
Many other resources for teachers.
Disorganized listing.
Limited selection.
These have been created by Bernie Poole. Some activities require work files. To get those ready-made templates and resources, please know you will need to email Mr. Poole.
The site also features many more topics for computer integration.
Microsoft Educator Community
Find resources for teachers such as the Common Core Implementation Kit and more. This extensive site includes courses, tutorials, resources for tools like Skype, and more.
Built for Office products.
Large selection of lesson plans.
Difficult to find lesson plans.
Disorganized website.
Lacks search feature.
Badges, points, and certificates are also available to help motivate and organize your progress. For example, certify to be a Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE).
Instructors can also share or find Learning Activites for a variety of ages, subjects, and computer programs.
Microsoft Imagine Academy
You may also be interested in integrating Microsoft’s own certifications with your curriculum. This prepares your students to be more marketable once they leave your class.
Various areas with free lesson plans.
Innovative, well-designed lesson plans.
Well integrated with Office products.
Difficult to find lesson plans.
Lacks effective search feature.
These might include the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS), Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA), Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA), Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD), and Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) certifications.
LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District)
For a variety of free lesson plans in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for middle school students, check out this site.
Large selection of lesson plans.
Common Core plans.
Organized by grade.
Difficult to find specific topics.
Disorganized main page.
Another great tool on this site is a matrix showing how these lessons cross over into other subject areas such as science, math, language arts, and more.
Digital Wish
This site features an easy-to-use interface for viewing and using free lesson plans.
Large selection of lesson plans.
Organized by topic.
Easy search feature.
Outdated website design.
Poorly formatted lesson plans.
Most focus on Microsoft Word, with a few for Excel as well.
TechnoKids
This site offers premium lesson plans for Office 2007, 2010, or 2013 at affordable prices.
Well-designed website.
Plans organized by grade.
One free lesson plan each month.
Easy to navigate site.
Lesson plans are not free.
Difficult to find specific topics.
Complicated search tool.
Lessons feature real-life applications your students will love. Here’s a quote from their site:
Applied Educational Systems (AES)
This site is another offering premium lesson plans for teaching Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Publisher, for some versions of the Microsoft Office suite.
Professionally designed website.
High-quality lesson plans.
Time-saving templates.
Lesson plans are not free.
Sign in to use site.
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