Free cross-curricular real-life lesson plans and building projects

Hello and welcome to the Omschool! Teacher Omi (Grandma) here with more ways to get free lesson plans from everyday tasks. A good curriculum should be practical, hands-on, goal-oriented and feature real-life. activities. Today's free lesson plans come from building/ assembly projects for household materials. These do double duty in that students are creating real-life items they will use everyday and homeschool families get value added being able to cross one more project off the to-do list! Assembling building projects is cross-curricular, requiring STEM, math, tool use, fine motor, reading, following directions, process thinking and often problem-solving skills (plus probably others I've not thought of!) 

So what kind of building projects are we talking about? Well, most of us order a lot of things online and have them shipped. And even if you purchase in store, many items come in pieces and must be assembled. Furniture, shelves, containers, toys, decorations, you name it...most everything states some assembly required. And these assembly building projects make excellent free printable STEM lesson plans for students. Next time you buy something that comes in pieces, students to building projects. Usually, you don't have to write separate lesson plans or even provide materials! Everything comes right in the package! And if instructions aren't written as well as they could be, this is extra learning as students are required to "think outside the box" and come up with solutions.  What better problem-solving activities could there be?

Oh and even more value added if instructions are written in several languages. Students can learn to translate and compare words in different languages. You might have them make a chart of how different phrases, words, materials or processes are called in various languages. I suggest making photo copies of instructions for each student involved in the projects. 

The building projects example I'm using is this desk I built (or assembled) recently. Everything was labeled, parts by number and hardware by letter. The step-by-step instructions were wordless and showed pictures. Most steps were very clear but the keyboard tray assembly was not. I had to redo it several times till I got it right. The set came with tools so I had everything I needed. I would recommend using your own if possible. We used our power drill which made it easier. Older kids could be taught to utilize one if available. Let children discuss how to organize materials for easier construction (placing parts in numerical or alphabetical order). For building projects with many different fasteners, students might sort them into an egg carton. Be sure to save little zippered bags from fasteners for other repurposed uses. Also, save any spare parts in case something breaks. 

Here's a site with free printable paper buildings and structures for further STEM extension. Some of the free printables aren't working anymore (this is a really old site I used 15 years ago when I was writing lesson plans for Yahoo!) But there are enough to provide lots of printable activities and hours of learning. Stay tuned for more free printable lesson plans. 

Cats Mordecai and Moishe (not shown) were very helpful in the building project and Mord thought you would like to see him sitting on his handiwork!  

Free printables ESL and Spanish lesson plans, language activities, worksheets

Spanish is quickly becoming America's second language after English. Many jobs now require that employees be bilingual in Spanish and English. I'm a former ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. One of the best conversational language activities was to role-play dialog games.

Here are
free printable Spanish lesson plans, ESL activities and Spanish-English translation. Print ESL worksheets, games, flashcards, matching games, puzzles, crossword, word games, projects--in short interactive activities! Here's a neat concept website in English as a Second Language printables--a user-supported site where teachers have to upload and share their ESL worksheets in order to download and print others.

Spanish Sponge has dozens of free printable Spanish to English flashcards and flashcards for English to Spanish lessons. Print foreign language flashcards for vocabulary, verbs, conversation and other language and translation activities. Use the flashcards to play games involving the entire class. This helps to reinforce pronunciation, diction, dialog and fluency in a learning a foreign language.

ABC Teach is a pay site for educators, but has many free printable ESL worksheets and foreign language lessons to sample. They print in full page pdf printables and have many Spanish lessons geared toward younger students and those who are new the Spanish or English language. This links you directly to the languages pages so that you can choose whether to use the English as a Second Language materials or the Spanish activities for speakers of English. visit EL Civics for ESL worksheets, workbooks and learning games to print free.

Free Printable ESL Lessons, Spanish Language Lesson Plans

Spanish is quickly becoming America's second language after English. Many businesses and stores are taking the initiative to print information in Spanish as well as English and even in other foreign language texts. Many jobs now require that employees be bilingual in Spanish and English. And of course, there's a large Hispanic and Latino population who speaks English as a second language. I'm a former ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. One of the best conversational language activities was to role-play dialog games. I or the students would begin in our native language and the other would respond in that language, and back and forth. Needless to say I acquired a fair amount of Espanol along the way.

If you are a teacher with Spanish speaking children or adults, or if you teach Spanish, another foreign language, or English as a Second Language, here are free printable Spanish-English translation activities. True to my special education training, these materials aren't simple workbook pages. You can find those in any textbook series. These are free printable Spanish lessons with attitude! Print ESL worksheets, games, flashcards, matching games, puzzles, crossword, word games, projects--in short interactive activities! Here's a neat concept website in English as a Second Language printables--a user-supported site where teachers have to upload and share their ESL worksheets in order to download and print others.

Home Education Resources is a great place for free printable Spanish lessons and ESL worksheets. H.E.R. has thirty four pages of free printable Spanish lessons and English as a Second Language activities including basic vocabulary, verb conjugations, conversation and dialog, translation, questions and speaking games. Vivid illustrations and easy to read words and phrases will help English to Spanish students make the transition smoothly.

Spanish Sponge has dozens of free printable Spanish to English flashcards and flashcards for English to Spanish lessons. Print foreign language flashcards for vocabulary, verbs, conversation and other language and translation activities. Use the flashcards to play games involving the entire class. This helps to reinforce pronunciation, diction, dialog and fluency in a learning a foreign language. ABC Teach is a pay site for educators, but has many free printable ESL worksheets and foreign language lessons to sample. They print in full page pdf printables and have many Spanish lessons geared toward younger students and those who are new the Spanish or English language. This links you directly to the languages pages so that you can choose whether to use the English as a Second Language materials or the Spanish activities for speakers of English. Next hit this site for free printable Spanish worksheets and visit EL Civics for ESL worksheets, workbooks and learning games to print free.

Bienvenidos y Adios!