| By Michelle Lee |
Gale In Context: For Educators includes exclusive lesson plans and classroom activities that target core curricular topics and are aligned with national and state standards. The lesson plans, which include links to content from the Gale In Context suite of databases, help teachers and students by providing customized instruction using engaging materials.
Great attention to detail and effort went into creating the lesson plans and activities. I’m a content developer for Gale In Context databases, and I helped review and copyedit many of the lesson plans and activities. This included ensuring instructional materials were pedagogically sound, the content was appropriate, the links to the database content worked, and the materials met requirements developed by the For Educators product manager and content strategist.
There are currently lesson plans for middle and high school in a wide variety of disciplines and subjects, including English language arts, science, and social studies.
Each lesson plan includes these elements:
Lesson or activity overview: Provides at-a-glance information, including some or all of the following:- Grade levels: Common Core grade bands (grades 6‒8 or 9‒12)
- Discipline/Subject: Core curricular area, including discipline and subdiscipline (for example, Science/Earth and Space Sciences)
- Summary of lesson/activity: Brief overview of the lesson plan
- Focus questions: Targeted questions that help lead to desired understandings and provide a sense of direction for teachers and students
- Duration: How long it will take to complete the lesson plan
- Materials needed: Materials other than a Gale database, such as art materials
- Resources needed: Gale In Context databases referenced in the lesson plan
- Alternate resources: Other Gale In Context databases that can be utilized for the lesson
Learning outcomes: What students will know and be able to do as a result of the lesson, such as demonstrating an understanding of a concept, proposing a solution, or comparing and contrasting arguments.
Skills used: Specific skills students will use to complete the lesson, such as conducting research, using evidence to support claims, analyzing quantitative data, or presenting findings.
Lesson/Activity sequence: Lesson broken down into one or more of the following sections, with each section including an estimated duration:- Before class
- Opening activity
- Research
- Project
- Reading
- Writing
- Discussion
- Closing activity
Sources: List of Gale In Context databases needed for the lesson; a citation and URL are provided for each source.
Homework/Assessment (included in high school lesson plans):- Homework: Homework that students will need to complete for the lesson, if applicable.
- Assessment: General statement on how students will be assessed on work related to the lesson plan or activity; many plans provide both a formative and summative assessment and include a printable rubric, such as the one below:
Differentiating instruction: Provides suggested modifications and strategies for both struggling and advanced learners.
Related activities (included in high school lesson plans): Suggested ways to relate the lesson plan to a different subject area.
Alternate databases: Connects the lesson with content found in other Gale In Context databases.
Standards alignment: Provides standard alignment to Common Core, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and/or National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), as applicable.
Take a peek at example lesson plans available in Gale In Context: For Educators:
Learn more at gale.com/foreducators
Meet the Author
Michelle is a senior content developer at Gale, where she works on the K12 Curriculum and Humanities team. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and going for walks with her dog, Moose.