presentation skills lesson plan high school

The Ultimate Presentation Skills Guide for High School Students

Nobody is born an excellent presenter. Even the most captivating speakers had sleepless nights before their first presentation. It's no secret that a stunning presentation can be a game-changer, especially for high school students who need to impress their teachers and secure good grades. Moreover, excellent presentation skills are essential for every career path, making it equally crucial to master this art while in school. In this comprehensive guide, we aim to provide high school students with some practical and out-of-the-box presentation hacks to work smarter, not harder.

Break The Ice:

In a nerve-racking situation like a public speaking event, the best way to begin is by breaking the ice. A little humor, a fun fact, or even a brief storytelling session can help to connect with the audience and make them more interested in what you have to say. This approach will also help to calm your nerves and pave the way for a smoother presentation.

Know Your Audience:

Before you start crafting your presentation, you need to know who will be on the receiving end. Understanding the needs, expectations, and preferences of your target audience can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your presentation. Make sure to tailor your content, tone, and delivery style to meet your audience’s needs. If you are presenting to your classmates, keep the language fun and engaging. A presentation for your teacher or a panel of judges might necessitate a more formal tone.

Plan Your Talking Points:

After researching your target audience, the next step is planning your talking points. Having a clear roadmap can guide you throughout your presentation. Aim for three to five main points to ensure your content remains digestible and easy to follow. Remember, less is more!

Utilize Visuals:

Research shows that people remember 80% of what they see compared to only 20% of what they read. Therefore, incorporating relevant visuals into your presentation can dramatically increase your audience's engagement and retention. Consider using images, infographics, diagrams, or even short videos to make your presentation more appealing.

Practice, Practice, Practice:

One of the key productivity tricks to nail your presentation is practice. The more you rehearse, the smoother your delivery will be. Also, practicing helps you to remain calm, avoid awkward pauses, and be better prepared to handle any unexpected questions.

Use Technology:

In today's digital age, technology offers a plethora of tools to spice up your presentation. Platforms like Canva, Google Slides, and PowerPoint allow you to create aesthetically pleasing presentations with a few simple clicks. You can find thousands of pre-designed templates to suit your presentation style and topic. Additionally, using a platform like Zoom for your presentation can enhance your delivery with features like 'share screen', 'annotation', and 'virtual background'.

Remember, mastering public speaking and presentation skills is a journey. Don't expect perfection on your first trials. Keep honing your skills, embrace your mistakes and learn from them. As the renowned American motivational speaker Les Brown once said, ' You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. '

Fore more resources to keep up with your high school education, explore our website .

References for Further Reading:

• How To Speak So That People Want To Listen
• Tips for Presenting Your Design Work
• Christine Marrelli - Zoom November 24, 2020
• 9 Steps to a Great Presentation

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Student presentations

In this article I would like to give you a few tips and some advice on what I've learned from helping students prepare and deliver presentations.

• Why I get students to do presentations
• Syllabus fit
• Planning a presentation lesson
• Classroom Management

Why I get students to do presentations Presentations are a great way to have students practise all language systems areas (vocabulary, grammar, discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening). They also build confidence, and presenting is a skill that most people will need in the world of work. I find that students who are good presenters are better communicators all round, since they are able to structure and express their ideas clearly.

• Presentation skills are extremely useful both in and outside the classroom. After completing a project, a presentation is a channel for students to share with others what they have learned. It is also a chance to challenge and expand on their understanding of the topic by having others ask questions. And in the world of work, a confident presenter is able to inform and persuade colleagues effectively.
• Presentations can also form a natural part of task based learning. By focussing on a particular language point or skill, the presentation is a very practical way to revise and extend book, pair and group work. The audience can also be set a task, for example, a set of questions to answer on the presentation, which is a way of getting students to listen to each other.

Syllabus fit Normally the presentation will come towards the end of a lesson or series of lessons that focus on a particular language or skill area. It is a type of freer practice. This is because the students need to feel relatively confident about what they are doing before they stand up and do it in front of other people. If I have been teaching the past simple plus time phrases to tell a story, for example, I give my students plenty of controlled and semi controlled practice activities, such as gapfills, drills and information swaps before I ask them to present on, say, an important event in their country's history, which involves much freer use of the target grammar point.

Planning a presentation lesson Normally a presentation lesson will have an outline like this:

• Revision of key language areas
• Example presentation, which could be from a textbook or given by the teacher
• Students are given a transcript or outline of the presentation
• Students identify key stages of the example presentation – greeting, introduction, main points in order of importance, conclusion
• Focus on linking and signalling words ('Next…', 'Now I'd like you to look at…', etc.). Students underline these in the transcript/place them in the correct order
• Students are put into small groups and write down aims
• Students then write down key points which they order, as in the example
• Students decide who is going to say what and how
• Students prepare visuals (keep the time for this limited as too many visuals become distracting)
• Students practise at their tables
• Students deliver the presentations in front of the class, with the audience having an observation task to complete (see 'Assessment' below)
• The teacher takes notes for feedback later

It is important that the students plan and deliver the presentations in groups at first, unless they are extremely confident and/or fluent. This is because:

• Shy students cannot present alone
• Students can support each other before, during and after the presentation
• Getting ready for the presentation is a practice task in itself
• When you have a large class, it takes a very long time for everyone to present individually!

I find it's a good idea to spend time training students in setting clear aims. It is also important that as teachers we think clearly about why we are asking students to present.

Aims Presentations normally have one or more of the following aims:

• To inform/ raise awareness of an important issue
• To persuade people to do something
• Form part of an exam, demonstrating public speaking/presentation skills in a first or second language

I set students a task where they answer these questions:

• Why are you making the presentation?
• What do you want people to learn?
• How are you going to make it interesting?

Let's say I want to tell people about volcanoes. I want people to know about why volcanoes form and why they erupt. This would be an informative/awareness-raising presentation. So by the end, everyone should know something new about volcanoes, and they should be able to tell others about them. My plan might look like this:

• Introduction - what is a volcano? (2 minutes)
• Types of volcano (5 minutes)
• Volcanoes around the world (2 minutes)
• My favourite volcano (2 minutes)
• Conclusion (2-3 minutes)
• Questions (2 minutes)

Classroom Management I find that presentation lessons pass very quickly, due the large amount of preparation involved. With a class of 20 students, it will probably take at least 3 hours. With feedback and follow-up tasks, it can last even longer. I try to put students into groups of 3 or 4 with classes of up to 20 students, and larger groups of 5 or 6 with classes up to 40. If you have a class larger than 40, it would be a good idea to do the presentation in a hall or even outside.

Classroom management can become difficult during a presentations lesson, especially during the final presenting stage, as the presenters are partly responsible for managing the class! There are a few points I find effective here:

• Training students to stand near people who are chatting and talk 'through' the chatter, by demonstration
• Training students to stop talking if chatter continues, again by demonstration
• Asking for the audience's attention ('Can I have your attention please?')
• Setting the audience an observation task, which is also assessed by the teacher
• Limiting the amount of time spent preparing visuals
• Arranging furniture so everyone is facing the front

Most of these points are self-explanatory, but I will cover the observation task in more detail in the next section, which deals with assessment. 

Assessment The teacher needs to carefully consider the assessment criteria, so that s/he can give meaningful feedback. I usually run through a checklist that covers:

• Level - I can't expect Elementary students to use a wide range of tenses or vocabulary, for example, but I'd expect Advanced students to have clear pronunciation and to use a wide range of vocabulary and grammar
• Age - Younger learners do not (normally) have the maturity or general knowledge of adults, and the teacher's expectations need to reflect this
• Needs - What kind of students are they? Business English students need to have much more sophisticated communication skills than others. Students who are preparing for an exam need to practise the skills that will be assessed in the exam.

I write a list of language related points I'm looking for. This covers:

• Range / accuracy of vocabulary
• Range / accuracy of grammar
• Presentation / discourse management- is it well structured? What linking words are used and how?
• Use of visuals- Do they help or hinder the presentation?
• Paralinguistic features

'Paralinguistics' refers to non-verbal communication. This is important in a presentation because eye contact, directing your voice to all parts of the room, using pitch and tone to keep attention and so on are all part of engaging an audience.

I find it's a good idea to let students in on the assessment process by setting them a peer observation task. The simplest way to do this is to write a checklist that relates to the aims of the lesson. A task for presentations on major historical events might have a checklist like this:

• Does the presenter greet the audience? YES/NO
• Does the presenter use the past tense? YES/NO

And so on. This normally helps me to keep all members of the audience awake. To be really sure, though, I include a question that involves personal response to the presentation such as 'What did you like about this presentation and why?'. If working with young learners, it's a good idea to tell them you will look at their answers to the observation task. Otherwise they might simply tick random answers!

Conclusion Presentations are a great way to practise a wide range of skills and to build the general confidence of your students. Due to problems with timing, I would recommend one lesson per term, building confidence bit by bit throughout the year. In a school curriculum this leaves time to get through the core syllabus and prepare for exams.

Presentations - Adult students

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Presentation Article

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

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Topic: Presentation Skills

As you can see in the slide (giving presentations)

Step into the world of presentations with this handy lesson! Students explore vocabulary for structuring presentations, read the text of a presentation and watch a video on how to communicate ideas clearly.

Presentation: putting skills into action

With this lesson plan, students practise giving a presentation in English by doing a lot of different speaking activities. The lesson is the third of the three-part series of lessons about delivering presentations. 

Moving through your presentation

With this lesson plan, students learn plenty of useful phrases for presentations in English. They also prepare presentation excerpts, and learn how to start a presentation. The lesson is the second of the three-part series of lessons about delivering presentations. 

How to nail that presentation

In this lesson about business presentations in English, students discuss presentation structures in depth, watch a video with tips on giving presentations, and learn useful words and phrases related to the topic. The lesson is the first of the three-part series of lessons about delivering presentations. 

The city of the future is here

With this lesson plan based on a video about Toyota’s city of the future students learn some useful language for presentations and then practise their presentation skills.

The chair that conquered the world

This lesson plan about the chair that conquered the world includes a variety of tasks for students to learn new vocabulary related to describing furniture design and practise their presentation skills. 

How do you like your milk?

In this lesson, students will learn advanced cooking verbs, discuss different types of milk and do an English class project.

Apple’s legendary keynotes

The objective of this lesson plan is to teach students some adjectives for describing products and show them a video analysing Apple’s legendary keynotes.

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Oral Presentation Rubric

About this printout

This rubric is designed to be used for any oral presentation. Students are scored in three categories—delivery, content, and audience awareness.

Teaching with this printout

More ideas to try, related resources.

Oral presentation and speaking are important skills for students to master, especially in the intermediate grades. This oral presentation rubric is designed to fit any topic or subject area. The rubric allows teachers to assess students in several key areas of oral presentation. Students are scored on a scale of 1–4 in three major areas. The first area is Delivery, which includes eye contact, and voice inflection. The second area, Content/Organization, scores students based on their knowledge and understanding of the topic being presented and the overall organization of their presentation. The third area, Enthusiasm/Audience Awareness, assesses students based on their enthusiasm toward the topic and how well they came across to their intended audience. Give students the oral presentation rubric ahead of time so that they know and understand what they will be scored on. Discuss each of the major areas and how they relate to oral presentation.

• After students have completed their oral presentations, ask them to do a self-assessment with the same rubric and hold a conference with them to compare their self-assessment with your own assessment.
• Provide students with several examples of oral presentations before they plan and execute their own presentation. Ask students to evaluate and assess the exemplar presentations using the same rubric.
• Students can do a peer evaluation of oral presentations using this rubric. Students meet in partners or small groups to give each other feedback and explain their scoring.
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Students research engineering careers and create poetry to understand the vocabulary of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Useful for a wide variety of reading and writing activities, this outlining tool allows students to organize up to five levels of information.

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8 Tips to Power-Up Your Classroom Presentations

Last month, I attended a Back to School Night for parents, sitting through presentation after presentation by teachers, some with slides that helped make their presentation a delight to listen to, and others . . . well, that's why I'm writing this blog post.

The goal of a classroom presentation is to aid you in effectively conveying information in a way that allows students (or their parents) to remember what you said. Unfortunately, for some, the presentation becomes a crutch, and they begin to rely on the slides to tell their story, rather than to help them tell the story.

I've been creating presentations using software like PowerPoint and KeyNote for 20 years, and I've learned a lot about how to most effectively communicate. Here's what I've found.

1. Use as Many Slides as You Need

It's a common myth that better presentations use fewer slides. This is simply not the case. I once sent an education conference presentation to the organizers so they could preview it in advance of my speaking. They wrote back, concerned that my 45-minute presentation had 116 slides. I looked it over and realized they were right! I revised it and sent a presentation with 135 slides back to them. I finished my talk with 5 minutes to spare -- just enough time to take questions -- and the presentation was a huge success.

The number of slides in your presentation is irrelevant. What matters is how well your slides communicate and how much time you spend talking about each slide. Spending five minutes on five slides will almost always be more engaging to your students than spending five minutes on a single slide, even when the information is exactly the same.

In the movie Amadeus , the Emperor of Austria complains to Mozart that his music has "too many notes." Mozart responds, "There are just as many notes as are required. Neither more nor less." Use as many slides as you need to make your point. No more. No less.

2. Minimize Verbosity

Your slides are there to support what you are saying, not to say it for you. Keep your word count low, and only place one main point on a slide, plus three to five sub-points if absolutely needed. Remember tip #1 above -- don't be afraid to use more slides. They're free! Also, the language in your slides doesn't need to be in complete sentences. Pare the text to as few words as possible, using what's there only to emphasize and reinforce -- not replace -- the words coming out of your mouth.

3. Maximize Visuals

Photos, figures and icons work as visual memory triggers. They help your students remember what it is you're saying. Any time you can add a visual that helps illustrate or reinforce the points you're making in your slides, you should use it. One great way to do this on the cheap is to use public domain or creative commons photos you can find on Flickr or Google .

4. Reduce Noise

Many teachers like to add banners, headers, footers, page numbers and more noise to their slides. Unless the information needs to be on every slide for a vital reason (which is rare), you should remove it. All these redundant elements do is create distractions from the content of your slides. I find this to be especially true of page numbers. Imagine if a movie included a time code at the bottom, constantly reminding you how long you had been watching. All this does is serve to take the viewer out of the moment. Page numbers in slides really don't provide any useful information -- they just remind your students how long they've been watching.

Pursuant to tips #1 and #2, you're not going to win awards by cramming the most content on the fewest slides. Make text and visuals as large as you can. Not only does this make them easier to see and read, but larger images and text make a greater impact to aid memory. There's nothing wrong with filling an entire slide with a photo, and then placing text right on top. You may have to use a transparent background immediately behind the text so that it's clearly readable, but the overall effect is almost always more memorable than just some text beside an image.

6. Highlight What You Are Talking About

While you are presenting, your students may be momentarily distracted taking notes, thinking about what you are saying, glancing out the window, possibly even daydreaming. When they refocus on your slides, though, they need to quickly pick back up where you are, or you risk losing them again.

• Use contrast or call-outs to clearly show the area of the slide you are talking about.
• Reveal bullet points or table rows one at a time so that the last one visible is the one you are talking about.
• Use arrows, circles or other pointers to show what you are referencing in specific parts of an illustration, photo or graph.
• Animate and reveal parts of illustrations and graphs (where possible) to build your story rather than showing everything at once.
• Use bold type or different colors to highlight the keywords in any lengthy text.

7. Transition Changes

Humans suffer from an affliction called change blindness -- we have a hard time seeing changes unless there is a clear transition between the states. This is especially a problem in presentations where slides may look very much alike. Most programs include transitions that can be used between slides or on elements in the slides themselves.

My favorite transition is the cross-dissolve -- where the first slide fades down while the next slide fades up -- but different transitions can help illustrate points in your presentation. Are you talking about combustion or the fire of London? Use a flame transition. Talking about photography or Hollywood movies? Use the flashbulb transition. Even "cheesy" transitions help overcome change blindness and aid student memory at the same time.

8. Repeat Yourself Redundantly

It’s OK to repeat the same slide more than once -- especially when using images -- if you are reminding students of an earlier point. Obviously, this is not a license to be monotonous. However, if you want to tie separate ideas together, emphasize a point or splash in a little comic relief, it's perfectly fine to repeat a slide.

Bonus Tip: Make it Funny!

There's little doubt that emotional responses can aid memory. While it can be difficult to apply this power in a classroom slide presentation, humor is easy enough, and adding a bit of levity to your presentations at the right points can work to give students vital memory hooks.

Remember, the point of presentation slides is not to replace you as the teacher, but to help your students understand and remember what you are teaching. Overwhelming them with too much information can be just as harmful as underwhelming them with too little.

Tips for Teachers on Effective Presentation Skills

• Pamela Rice-Linn
• Categories : Teaching methods, tips & strategies
• Tags : Teaching methods, tools & strategies

Use these presentation skills for teachers to plan and practice your next presentation in class, whether that is an introduction to a unit, or an everyday assignment. Or, if you’re considering a career in education, imagine yourself before a classroom or before a gathering of your peers—how might you create an effective presentation? These suggestions will set you on the right track.

Preparation Before You Begin

Before you conduct a presentation, consider all learners and adapt your lesson presentation to their needs. While an auditory learner is okay with just listening to a lecture, a visual learner needs pictures, graphs, or a video clip. Kinesthetic learners, however, require movement in the form of responses to questions or hands-on activities. If you keep all of your audience learning styles in mind, you’ll be sure to maintain their attention throughout your lesson.

Next, be organized about your lesson or presentation. Lesson plans are essential to everyday teaching, especially for new teachers. Keep your lesson plan available as a guide. Also, have your necessary materials readily available, such as handouts or any other materials your lesson requires. If textbooks or a novel set are required for the lesson, have those items passed out before so you don’t lose the momentum of your presentation.

It’s also a good idea to be tech savvy about your equipment. It’s great to venture into using a new software program or new technology equipment for the sake of a lesson, but make sure you practice using the technology before class begins so you can work out the bugs.

With a little practice, preparation for an effective presentation will become like second nature.

During Your Presentation

Move around the room while you teach. Modern students have a shorter attention span than their parents or grandparents possessed. Don’t make your students dizzy, don’t pace, but shift your location in the classroom. Take a chance and be histrionic once in a while. From a pause to a demonstration to a wave of the arms, keep students riveted. Enthusiasm is part of the power of presentation. When your face lights up from the information you share, you might be surprised to see your students listening with eyes and ears wide open.

Similarly, keep a sense of humor. It’s not about being a clown, but it is about coming across as having a good attitude when it comes to teaching and enjoying your job.

As you’re presenting, pause after key points to check for student understanding and involvement. It’s not enough to ask a question

and have a student answer. Ask them to explain what you’ve taught in their own words. Question if the lesson reminds them of anything in the real world or within their personal lives, or perhaps even something else they might have learned in another class. By doing so, you’re helping students establish a connection between themselves and what you’re teaching.

Speak up! You want to be loud enough to be heard, but you also need to vary your pitch to avoid the monotone lecture voice. Students can hear authority in your voice. Confidence means you won’t falter when the slide doesn’t automatically pop up on the screen, the class drama queen has a break down or you accidentally bump into your desk and drop all the handouts onto the floor. Confidence means you’re a professional and every moment is a teaching experience. Feel good about your teaching voice. It’s a whole new facet to your personality now.

Final Advice for an Effective Presentation

Know how to improvise and be spontaneous with your presentation. On your computer screen, your presentation might look like a work of art, a feat of greatness that will inspire all students to become teachers and follow your lead. However, presentations don’t always come across that way once they’re up on screen in the classroom. If you notice students are drifting off, be quick on your feet and get students involved in moving around the room, whether that’s by helping to pass out worksheets or manipulatives, asking students for their personal experiences with the topic at hand, or play a speed round of Simon Says to get students laughing and noticing what’s happening at the front of the room. Lesson plans don’t always go according to plan. You’ll have interruptions at the door, fire drills that send you marching outside, and the usual and unusual round of announcements. That’s school. It happens.

Author’s personal experience

Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manual _communication.jpg

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Communication Lesson Plans for High School, Middle School and Upper Elementary: The BIG list of Communication Activities for your Students!

Communication Lesson Plans and Activities for High School students, Middle School and Upper Elementary – Mar 1, 2024 : Effective communication is more than just a presentation mark.

• Here’s a free Text Message Puzzle : Why would you post it online? Can your students figure out who is texting and what is going on?
• Chat GPT has completely changed how we can communicate. Read more .

Communication is about getting your message across in a clear, effective way – especially when you’re tired, stressed out, or talking about hot-topic, controversial topics .

Here are some lessons to help students communicate clearly and effectively by understanding how communication breaks down. Students also reflect on their communication style. Are you assertive? Aggressive? Passive? Passive-Aggressive? Take the student survey to start the conversation!

Are you talking about ChatGPT and Education in your Communication Lesson Plans

ChatGPT is going to completely change Education. (Whether you want it to or not.)

A lot of teachers have mixed feelings about using ChatGPT in the classroom.

• Here’s a free YouTube video exploring if ChatGPT should be allowed in School
• Check out the Chat GPT Critical Thinking Debate lesson , which includes the slideshow and handouts used in that video.

Here are three ways we can use ChatGPT to help improve communication

• Ask ChatGPT for feedback on how to say something more assertively.
• Ask ChatGPT to predict how someone might respond to your message.
• Ask ChatGPT to rephrase your ideas to communicate more clearly or concisely.

Anyone can use this artificial intelligence tool to give us a second opinion on how we can get our message across more effectively.

Now imagine what it can do for a student who is an English Language Learner (ELL, ESL) or a student with a learning disability.

If you have the ideas in your head, but you have trouble writing them down, or communicating them clearly, you can simply ask Chat GPT for help: “Here are some ideas I have. Can you help me put them together into a paragraph?”

PS, Chat GPT speaks multiple languages.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Our robot friends can learn to become biased or sexist (just like the Google search algorithm did. Here’s an example of how Google search provides sexist misinformation video lesson at 36:44 )

Sometimes, you can do everything right and still not be heard.

It’s not fair now what.

Check out these 12 communication lessons .

Help your students with these engaging lessons to develop the soft skills they need to deal with 21st-century problems.

How do you get your point across during those important conversations about things that really matter:

• Do you agree with Woke culture?
• Is this Fake News ?
• Do students deserve trigger warnings about teaching content in the same way as nut-free snacks? (Is mental health as important as physical health?)
• Is ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence going to take all of our jobs?
• Are we allowed to feel Ukraine war fatigue in the “West” when Ukrainian soldiers fight mental fatigue?
• Do you deserve a raise? a job?
• Why are you casting shade on my best friend?

Communication Activities for Students Quick Links:

• communication skills activities (for high school students)
• communication lessons (for middle school / upper elementary)
• effective communication (lesson plan)
• Check out this article about Rosa Parks. What if we focused on her conversation with the bus driver? The resource includes discussion questions and sample answers.

Communication and Social-Emotional Learning

Want an example of assertive communication.

Help students understand the communication process. Explore how different communication styles can help with Social-Emotional Learning.

• Self-Management (managing emotions and behaviours to achieve goals)
• Self-Awareness (recognizing one’s strengths and challenges when it comes to communicating)
• Responsible decision-making (deciding when to hold your ground and be assertive and when to be flexible on an issue is part of how we make ethical and constructive choices about our personal and social behaviour.)
• Relationship skills (forming positive relationships, working in groups, dealing with conflict… the success or failure depends on how well we get our message across!)
• Social Awareness (showing understanding and empathy for others and their communication style can help us think about how to adjust our choices to get our message across)…

Remind students HOW to communicate in a classroom setting.

I’m not talking about setting classroom rules like raise your hand, or look at the person speaking.

I’m talking about helping students get their message across more effectively – at school and in life.

Help students recognize they can choose how to communicate: whether it’s being assertive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, or just plain passive.

We live in a changing world. How we communicate makes all the difference.

Communication isn’t always easy – whether we’re trying to communicate:

• online through a pandemic,
• during hot emotional topics and racial divides,
• or in every day life with our classmates or family members !

Students often don’t realize that communication is a learnable skill.

Communicating with others is “a two-way street.”

• Effective communication skills can be more than just oral presentations and group work marks.
• A communication skills lesson plan can help empower students with strategies to get their message across at school and outside of school.

Just because we think we’re communicating clearly doesn’t mean our message is being heard.

Here are some fun communication activities for students to see how easily our message can break down.

Let’s help everyone communicate a little more effectively during these challenging times.

What about when you’re trying to communicate with someone you completely disagree with on a topic that’s important to both of you.

Like systemic racism , institutionalized injustice, voting and election fraud, or climate change.

Black Lives Matter.

Those three words can trigger strong emotional feelings on all sides.

Jacob Blake.

George Floyd.

Breonna Taylor.

Daunte Wright.

The Washington Post has logged every person shot and killed by an on-duty police officer in the United States. They have logged over 8,381 fatal police shootings in the US since 2015.

Although half of the people shot and killed by police are White, Black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. They account for roughly 14 percent of the U.S. population and are killed by police at more than twice the rate of White Americans. Hispanic Americans are also killed by police at a disproportionate rate. Source: Washington Post Police Shootings Database

So, how well do you communicate in an argument, a fight, or a conversation where the stakes matter?

Events in the US and around the world have put a spotlight on systemic problems.

Conversations around race can trigger some powerful and deep-rooted feelings in many people..

Sometimes, watching the news can bring up tough conversations, angry voices, and frustrated people.

So, what happens when the next news cycle begins, and the media moves on to the next hot-button topic?

The strong feelings are still just as strong.

Maybe there are communication activities for high school students and middle school classrooms that can help provide strategies.

Just because we communicate (or communicate loudly) doesn’t mean our message gets across.

(Or that we get what we want.)

Everyone can communicate.

• But how do we teach our students to communicate clearly, effectively, and assertively in tough situations when emotions are running high?
• More importantly, how can we teach our students that just because you communicate clearly, effectively, and assertively, it doesn’t mean things change?

The real world isn’t always fair. Neither is the schoolyard.

Teacher-student communication in the classroom isn’t a one-way street.

• When students yell at their teachers, it usually doesn’t end well.
• Likewise, when teachers monologue in their lessons without looking for verbal or non-verbal cues for feedback from the students, it can mean that students are not engaged or learning.

Effective communication skills are more than just school learning skills. They’re life skills.

And, sometimes, we need to recognize that we also send a message through how we portray or stereotype groups of people.

(Check out this FREE Who is Invisible resource to start a conversation about which groups of people aren’t seen at all!)

Communication Lesson Plans for a World That Can Be Unfair (i.e. Systemic Racism, Bias, and Discrimination)

6 ways to teach students to communicate more clearly when things matter.

Here do we help students get their message across when emotions run high? Here are 6 ideas:

• Teach students that communication is a process.
• Give students a toolbox of communication strategies.
• Help students understand the difference between assertive communication, aggressive communication, passive communication, and passive-aggressive communication.
• Remind students that sometimes you can do “everything right” and communicate assertively… and things still don’t work out.
• Encourage a growth mindset. Reflect back on our communication blunders and successes and learn from our experience.
• Role model communication strategies ourselves. Talk-aloud our choices.

Communication in the real world is more than just an oral communication mark in English Language Arts

Communicating is more than just doing an oral presentation in class or giving a mark for class participation.

Those can be good places to start, but let’s keep the conversation going (pun intended!)

• Let’s acknowledge that communicating face-to-face at school can be tough.
• But, communicating online during a pandemic can be even tougher.
• And, communicating with someone who disagrees with us during racial tensions? Wow!

Help your students understand how to communicate better whether they’re at home, at school, in relationships, and eventually in the workplace.

Help your students understand how to use their voice and be heard.

And also understand that they can do everything right in terms of communication strategies and still not be heard.

Being assertive doesn’t mean we get what we want.

It means we communicate clearly what our boundaries are and try to work towards solutions where we all win… without compromising our values.

(Or, it’s a deal-breaker, and sometimes, you need to walk away.)

6 Cs Communication Lesson Plans because Education is Constantly Changing – Did we sign up for this?

Everyone can communicate. not everyone can communicate well..

What did your communication lesson plans look like during the pandemic?

• Of course, acknowledge the difficult circumstances we are all in.
• Discuss the idea about #alonetogether – we are alone… but we are also together in our aloneness.

Then, turn the conversation to the silver lining which is this:

This is an opportunity for us to explore how we communicate – especially now that we have the added challenge of learning together… when we’re not together!

Learning in the classroom can be tough.

Distance learning and online learning can be even tougher because you don’t have nonverbal language to to help you understand the message.

Communication lesson plans need to focus on more than just presentation skills.

Let’s explore communication activities for high school students where students analyze where their face-to-face conversations and online chats might be going wrong.

How about we look at communication skills lesson plans. Middle school students can understand the difference between assertive conversations and coming across as aggressive, passive-aggressive, or just passive.

What about communication skills lesson plans for elementary where we use “games” to break down different parts of the communication process.

Communication lesson plans give teachers effective communication process strategies to teach elementary, middle school, and high school students.

We need to provide our children and students with 21st-century competencies / transferable learning skills to enable them to cope with challenges in their personal and professional relationships.

And, even if you have communication lessons to help your students “communicate more effectively”, the real question is how do your students do when they’re angry, triggered, stressed out, or in some other tough conversation?

A lesson plan for communication skills needs to go over several things:

• How the communication process works
• Where communication breaks down (in the communication process)
• Communication strategies to help get the message across and to double/check the message gets across
• Different communication styles in tough conversations: Assertive, Aggressive, Passive-Aggressive, and Passive

(Oh, and by the way – communication is different from collaboration. And while we’re at it, collaboration and teamwork do not always mean the same thing ! Read this page about collaboration skills to find out the difference!)

Communication Activities for Students during unusual times

The Covid-19 pandemic is affecting learning in different ways around the world. Social distance requires us to find creative ways to teach students were not physically in the same classroom as us. We call this distance-learning or distance education.

Bottom line? It means adapting and modifying our lesson plans to be effective using online learning tools.

Communication clearly is tough.

Communicating clearly when you can’t read nonverbal signals can be even tougher.

We need to explicitly teach our students about the communication process so they can be aware of how their message might be perceived by the other person – especially in an online environment.

Over the next few days, these communication lesson plans can be adapted and include suggestions on how you could teach or modify these communication activities so they work in the classroom or through an online learning tool.

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6Cs Communication Lesson Plans – Table of Contents

• Adapting the communication lessons for middle school / older elementary students
• Modifying these communication skills activities for high school students / adult learners
• Understanding how to communicate effectively requires an understanding of the communication process

Strategies on how to communicate effectively

Strategies on how to be assertive during tough conversations.

• There are 4 basic parts to communication
• There are 4 communication styles in tough conversations
• We can use communication strategies to be more clear and assertive.
• We can change the way we communicate
• Effective Communication CHAPTER BIG IDEA:
• You get 455 slides / pages in 12 lessons
• Software Requirements
• Homeroom teachers
• Literacy teachers / English Teachers / ESL Teachers
• School leaders / admin
• Teacher Pro Tips
• The big list of Effective Communication Activities
• PART 1. EXPERIENCE
• PART 2. WATCH
• PART 3. UNDERSTAND
• Here’s what you get in the Communication Lesson Plans ZIPPED FILE

Who can benefit from effective communication skills?

Learning how to communicate effectively is a skill that anyone (and everyone) can work on.

This is actually a pretty big deal. School is kind of an artificial institution. We talk about oral communication and being effective communicators … and then focus on things like presentation skills:

• Do you have eye contact
• How is your body language?
• Do you have any distracting visual or verbal noises… um… ah… er…
• Can we hear you clearly?
• Are you speaking too quickly?

But, communication lessons need to focus on more than just presentation skills or active listening skills.

We communicate with people all the time. From our conversations with family, to our emails with our co-workers and other team members, to social media exchanges.

The real question is how do you communicate effectively in tough conversations when you both want different things, or you’re both mad…

Although these communication lesson plans were developed initially with middle school students in mind, they can be modified or adapted for:

• Elementary students
• High school students
• Home-schooled students
• Small business human resources training
• Large corporation human resources training

Adapting these communication lessons for middle school and older elementary students

Younger students in the primary grades are more ego-centric, so of course, teachers will need to modify and simplify the language or examples. But the concepts around clear communication are still the same.

Communication skills for elementary students often look at presentation skills:

• Do you make eye contact?
• How is your body language? Any distractions?
• Are you speaking loud enough for people to hear at the back of the room
• Can you be easily understood? Do you speak clearly or do you speak too fast or mumble?
• Are you listening to the person presenting? Are you looking at the person and nodding at appropriate times?

When in fact, communication skills for elementary students should also look at every day conversations.

There’s more to oral communication than just marking a presentation – although that’s often the easiest way to get a mark for report cards.

Suggestions:

• Explore different ways that we communicate – not just during presentations, but in every day life, with friends, at home, and in the classroom.
• Are they the sender of the message?
• Are they the receiver of the message?
• What was the message?
• How do we know the message was received?
• There are words in the message.
• But, there’s also a message that gets told by our tone of voice, our body language, and our facial expression.
• It’s not just what you say, but how you say it. These all impact how we are heard.

Modifying these Communication Lesson Plans / Skills / Activities for High School students / Adult learners

These concepts about assertive and clear communication are equally valid for high school and adult learners as they are for elementary students.

When you use these communication scenarios for high school students, remember that no one wants to be told they don’t communicate well.

After all, if there’s a breakdown in communication, it’s the other person’s fault.

That may be true. But, if our goal is to get our message across, what can we do to give our message the best chance of being heard?

Here are some specific communication strategies to consider:

• Are we able to be more assertive (and protect our boundaries)?
• Do we need to accept that this issue isn’t worth fighting over?
• Should we walk away because this issue is a dealbreaker for us?

Sure, we may already be great at communication. But let’s remind our students that effective communication skills can always be honed and improved!

Teaching communication skills activities to high school students is important. It helps build healthy relationships – whether we’re looking at personal relationships or workplace relationships.

Communication Scenarios for High School Students

Here are some prompts you can use with your communication activities for high school students.

These might make for some great acting scenes in drama class.

But, let’s take a moment and do more than just an over-the-top melodramatic performance for our friends.

STEP 1. Have high school students review the communication process and 4 styles of communication .

STEP 2. Give the junior or senior high school students one of the communication scenarios below.

STEP 3. Ask students to reflect on what sort of communication style they would use by default? Would they be:

• aggressive?
• passive-aggressive?

STEP 4. Use the handout from the “What’s your Style?” communication activity (Lesson 6) and the “Communication Strategies to be Assertive” activity (Lesson 7)

Ask students to brainstorm what a different communication style might look like in this scenario.

Make sure to refer back to the communication style handouts to double-check that their performance matches what that communication style actually is.

• What makes aggressive behavior, aggressive?
• What are the criteria for passive-aggressive behavior?
• What makes something assertive?
• What would an assertive response look like in this communication scenario?

Make sure to remind students, that being assertive doesn’t mean you “win” the conversation: It means you set personal boundaries and stick to them.

Sometimes, being assertive means you don’t get what you want. Or, the relationship breaks down.

But this is an important part of developing self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills.

Being able to set healthy boundaries for ourselves is tough stuff – for high school students, for elementary students, for adults.

12 High School Communication Scenarios to explore healthy communication skills:

• You get blamed for something when you did nothing wrong.
• You want to ask someone out, but you’re too nervous.
• Someone asks you out, but you’re not interested.
• Your best friend / boy friend / girl friend / partner wants to do something that you really don’t want to do.
• There’s a rumour, photo or screenshot going around about you (or your friend).
• A friend needs help, but you don’t want them to get them in trouble.
• Your friend is mad at you and ignores / excludes you.
• A friend tells you a secret and confides in you, but you know you have to break the secret.
• Your friend gets a better mark (makes the sports team / gets the part in the school play / does better) even though you really wanted to win.
• People are jerks, sometimes.
• Your parents are spliting up.
• Your parents (guardians / people who buy you cereal) don’t like your friends

Teaching communication lesson plans / skills / activities to high school students:

• Place the context first : The end goal is to learn how to communicate more effectively during tough conversations. (A tough conversation is where both parties are emotionally triggered and the outcome of the conversation is important to both sides.)
• Have fun with the communication activities in the first part – acknowledge that communication activities can be simplistic when done in isolation. But, they prove a point by isolating specific components of communication in an extreme way. (Yes, we’ll never have to describe a drawing to someone else in a different room, but what can we learn about communicating clearly, anyway? How could we communicate better in a way that gets the message across?)
• Focus on the workplace video examples. You can be assertive and do everything right sometimes… and still not get your point across. Then, what?
• Spend more time looking at communication styles – being assertive is tough. But, learning how to get your point across without sacrificing what’s important to you… that’s a game-changer that can help us in relationships, in jobs, and when life goes wrong.

Ask them to come up with a better list of communication scenarios for high school students.

Sometimes, we need to throw the lesson plan away if things aren’t working and the students aren’t engaged.

If students scoff at the communication scene because it’s not realistic, then challenge them to come up with a better scene from their lived experience.

Mental Health Note: You may need to set boundaries to keep things appropriate for the classroom.

• The real world can be a tough place.
• As teachers, we’re never really fully aware of what our students may have gone through.
• Some of our students may have undisclosed (or undiscovered) PTSD, anxiety or mental health struggles from serious or traumatic experiences.
• While we want to give high school students an opportunity to explore communication scenarios that are relevant to them, we also don’t want to trigger or single out students who are going through personal challenges themselves.

Here are some communication skills activities for high school students that are in the unit:

• Taboo: Get classmates to guess a word without using certain words to describe the object. This focuses on expressing meaning in different ways.
• Describe the Drawing: Students have to describe a drawing to their partner who has to draw it on a piece of paper. What’s the catch? The partner never gets to see the original image. This communication skills game focuses on active listening and asking questions. Students learn that clarifying understanding is a vital part of getting your point across. Both the sender and the receiver can play a role in clarifying information.
• Counting Numbers: The class has to count numbers starting from one but they can only speak one at a time, they can’t use any gestures or pre-plan the order in which they go. This communication game focuses on communicating through non-verbal facial expressions – who goes next?

For other communication lesson plans / skills / games for high school students, check the big list of communication activities .

Understanding HOW to communicate effectively requires an understanding of the communication process

There are many communication models out there.

In this 6Cs Communication Lesson Plan, students explore communication as a two-way process (and not a one-way monologue.)

There are 4 basic parts to the communication process:

• the message , and

Communication Breakdown lesson video

Understanding where communication can break down means recognizing that communication is a cyclical process

Watch this short YouTube video to get a better understanding of How Communication Works: https://youtu.be/3AYdHzUVmZY

These communication lesson plans provides a framework for students to analyze how to communicate more effectively by thinking about where things go wrong.

• Did I send the message unclearly?
• Did I send the message well, but was there noise that messed the message up?
• Was the message sent well, but the receiver didn’t understand the message – maybe because of a hidden bias or stereotype?
• Did I send the message clearly and it was received correctly, but maybe there simply wasn’t any feedback to let me know one way or another?

As a middle school teacher, I used to mark oral communication based on things like how much a student participated in the conversation, or shared ideas with the group.

But, actually, an effective communication process is more than just talking or presenting.

You can talk or write and still be ineffective if the other person doesn’t understand your message clearly.

Just because you send the message doesn’t mean the other person received the message or understood what you meant.

Being effective at communication is a cornerstone of so much in life. Our students need to know:

• How to communicate more clearly in their personal relationships (with friends, authority figures, parents, classmates, and random strangers)
• How to communicate effectively regardless of the medium – whether it’s oral communication, written communication, non-verbal communication or digital communication
• Communicating effectively is a learned skill. Some of us might pick up these skills more than others, and not even realize what we’re doing.
• Healthy communication is key to building lasting relationships.
• If we have a growth mindset, then we can realize that we can try certain techniques to communicate more clearly. (Read this article about why we need a growth mindset .)

We can use communication activities for students to help them realize that they’re saying one thing… but the way they’re saying it is sending an entirely different message!

A tough conversation is one where both sides feel strongly about the issue. The stakes matter and this is where communication can break down.

Being assertive means recognizing the core things that are important to you that you can’t budge on. These are deal-breakers in a relationship. For example, if one person wants kids and the other person doesn’t, that issue is probably a deal-breaker.

If we teach students about different communication styles, we can help them reflect on what their default personal communication style is. Knowing about communication styles might help students choose one to help them protect their boundaries and get what they want.

• We can teach these life skills by using various communication activities for students.
• Lesson plans on communication can include strategies on how to be more assertive during tough conversations . Students don’t have to be aggressive, passive-aggressive, or just plain passive.
• If we give students criteria about the differences in communication styles, this might help them reflect and shift strategies, depending on the situation.

Communication Lesson Plan PRO TIP: Being assertive doesn’t mean you have to stand your ground on every single issue.

Sometimes, we might choose not to argue or negotiate over every little issue with our team members. We can choose to let things go as long as those issues don’t cross our personal limits and boundaries.

Sometimes students will communicate in a group and participate, but that doesn’t mean they have effective communication strategies.

• Are they aggressively taking control of the conversation, making sure their points are heard and their ideas are implemented?
• Do they simply agree with everything and go with the flow even though they know it’s not a good idea – but they’re afraid of conflict?
• How often do they disagree with an idea on the inside but because they don’t want to directly confront the other person, they just find a passive-aggressive way to move slowly on the issue (in silent protest) Or, maybe they’re grumbling behind people’s backs?

Just because a team gets something done, doesn’t mean there was true collaboration .

Just because a group of students talk with each other, doesn’t mean there is effective communication happening, either…

Group work doesn’t always mean people are communicating clearly or effectively, and if we can show our students the difference between effective and ineffective communication, we can help them to become better communicators.

So, here are a few communication activities for students to help them understand where their message might be lost.

Effective communication lesson plans for Elementary, Middle, and High School students: KEY CONCEPTS:

In this package, we provide over 2 weeks of effective communication lessons to do with your class.

Communication is about imparting or exchanging information. It’s not just oral communication lessons that we have to think about.

We also need to teach students that communicating clearly and communicating assertively in tough conversations is NOT always easy , but we can improve by using strategies!

It’s one thing to tell someone something. But, when you’re arguing, are they really listening to you?

Here are four key concepts to include in Effective Communication Lesson Plans:

1. there are four basic parts to communication.

• A sender (who encodes a message),
• A receiver (who decodes the message)
• The message itself (which can be verbal, non-verbal, visual, digital, etc.)
• And feedback from the receiver (which gives the sender information about how well the message was received, if at all.)

2. There are four communication styles in tough conversations

A tough conversation is where both people want different things, and the issue is important to both parties.

Communication is easy if both players want the same thing. Things get tough when we want different things.

Then the question becomes how effectively can we communicate our needs and our boundaries so that we get what we want, but also protect our personal boundaries.

There are 4 communication styles in difficult conversations:

• Passive-Aggressive

3. We can use communication strategies to be more clear and assertive. 

Communication can break down at different parts or because we have different perspectives that affect the way we interpret messages. Strategies can help us overcome miscommunication. They are building blocks that we use to get our message across or to achieve our goals when we communicate with others.

In this package, we:

• Explore communication through 11 different activities and discuss where communication breaks down, and what strategies might help to communicate more clearly.
• Explore the difference between assertive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and passive behaviour, and apply our understanding to multiple scenarios.
• Introduce students to the 4 basic parts of communication through a short video.
• Explore assertive / passive scenarios through video clips.
• Allow for deeper exploration of the concept of “Communication” by playing with the term using a graphic organizer (the Frayer Model of understanding.)

4. We can change the way we communicate

This is the idea behind a growth mindset – that through effort and strategies, we can improve. Effective communication is not something are born knowing how to do. It’s a skill that we can nurture and develop over time.

Effective Communication Activities for Students – CHAPTER BIG IDEA:

After this chapter, students will be able to explain that Communication is about:

• A  sender  encoding a  message  to a  receiver  who decodes the message and then provides some  feedback .
• Assertive behaviour  is when you protect your boundaries, but also respectfully consider the other person’s point of view and try to come up with a solution that works for everyone (but doesn’t compromise your personal limits.)
• People with different lived experiences / cultural background will interpret the same message differently.  We need to consider local and global perspectives when communicating.

Students will have the opportunity to:

• EXPERIENCE  classroom activities to explore how communication breaks down
• WATCH  examples of communication where people are assertive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, or passive and analyze the situations to come up with alternatives.
• UNDERSTAND  what “collaboration” is by using a vocabulary building graphic organizer (Frayer model) to brainstorm features of collaboration, examples and non-examples of collaborating with others, and finally narrow down essential characteristics of the word.

Get TWO weeks of EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION LESSON PLANS:

We communicate all the time, but students don’t always understand HOW to communicate more clearly or HOW to be ASSERTIVE and protect their personal boundaries.

So, we’ve put together OVER 2 WEEKS of lesson plans to do with your class to help your students understand how communication works (sender, receiver, message, feedback), how communication breaks down, and how to communicate more ASSERTIVELY by using strategies during tough conversations.

YOU GET 455 SLIDES / PAGES in 12 COMMUNICATION LESSON PLANS. 

• 256 slides  in POWERPOINT and GOOGLE SLIDE format
• 97 page lesson plan PDF  with  12 DIFFERENT lessons  (45-55 min each.)
• 2 page graphic organizer to analyze debate questions (HANDOUT + sample answer key)
• 2 page Vocabulary Building Graphic Organizer and Venn diagram (HANDOUT + sample answer key)
• 1 page Communication Learning Skills SELF-EVALUATION handout
• 2 page Communication Review Assessment – What did you learn? (6 short answer questions + sample answer key.)

We just saved you an incredible amount of prep work!

And the slides and handouts look legit good. Just sayin’.

Who are these Effective Communication Lesson Plans for?

Teachers  could use these communication lesson plans to introduce the concept that  communication is a skill . And, we can choose to use strategies to communicate more clearly.

Communication Lesson Plans for Homeroom teachers / Advisory Class

• Do this package in the first month of class, to set the gold standard ideal for what good communication looks like.
• Throughout the year, when students are having tough moments, you could explore whether they were being assertive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, or passive and this becomes a framework to help them communicate more clearly, especially when they’re in conflict or upset.

Communication Lesson Plans for English Language Arts teachers (English teachers / ESL / ELL teachers)

• Reading Lesson  – Reading notes about 4 communicate styles and using criteria to come up with assertive responses. (Activity 11)
• Writing Lesson – Creating memes (Activity 9) and assertive responses (Activity 11)
• Express meaning in multiple ways
• Ask questions or listen actively
• Verbal communication
• Non-Verbal communication
• Visual communication
• Clearly express yourself
• Respect different perspectives – local / global
• Media Literacy Lesson – inferring meaning from emojis and memes (Activity 9) and inferring communication styles and meaning from videos (Videos 2-8)
• List communication strategies and communication styles. (REMEMBER)
• Explain communication styles (UNDERSTAND)
• Watch new videos / scenarios and justify which communication style is predominant (APPLY)
• Compare / contrast different communication styles (ANALYZE)
• Justify an opinion by appraising the evidence supporting and against a specific communication style for a given video (EVALUATE)
• Some students will create a deep understanding (ah-ha moment) about the subtle differences between the 4 communication styles (CREATE)

Guidance Teachers / Life Skills / Social-Emotional Learning

Healthy Communication is a key component of building Relationship Skills and Social-Emotional Learning.

Use this communication curriculum to help students

• communicate their needs, wants and hard limits more effectively.
• develop positive relationships with themselves, their friends and family, their teachers and classmates, etc.
• resist peer pressure and societal pressure by communicating assertively.
• stand up for others and communicate as an active bystander.

School leaders / Admin

Principals, Admin, Division Leaders) could use these communication lessons in their schools to create a common language and exploration of growth mindset.

• This unit provides a systematic way for a grade, division, or school to explore learning skills / character development as a framework for delivering curriculum.
• Communication is often taken for granted. If all students are exposed to this framework, it makes it easier for teachers and students to try to be more assertive and to communicate more clearly.
• Doing the same (Frayer model) vocabulary building graphic organizer provides a common tool / framework that students and teachers can build around in other areas (i.e. math concepts, grammar concepts, science concepts, etc).

Ultimately, these communication lessons are meant to kick off a year / lifetime of discussion, as opposed to being a one-off activity.

• If all classes start off with the same approach, then throughout the year, as teachers do different activities, you could still connect it back to concepts of communication.
• During group work, students could be asked if they are being assertive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, or passive. Which strategy might help them to better communicate and get the learning done?

SAMPLE TWO WEEK LESSONS about Communication: (12 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION LESSON PLANS)

We base this schedule on a 50 minute period and provide around 40-45 minutes of content per lesson. Depending on your teaching style, how often you see your class, and class dynamics, you may find that you can get through all 12 lessons in 10 days… or it stretches out to a month.

Communication activities for students – PRO TIPS:

• If you’re short on time:  pick and choose which communication games to do with your class, and which videos to watch. (You don’t have to use everything in these communication lesson plans – although you can!)
• Watch the video yourself about the Four Basic Parts of Communication  to get an idea of where the unit is going in terms of Sender, Receiver, Message, and Feedback. This way you can paraphrase student answers from this perspective to help them make connections later on:   https://youtu.be/3AYdHzUVmZY
• In Part 1, we have 11 different ice breakers / activities  that highlight different aspects of communication.

OPTION 1: Do all of the ice breakers / communication games in a row

• Thereby developing classroom spirit and finding patterns in communication.

OPTION 2: Do one or two icebreakers / communication games each day

• Each class could start with a different icebreaker each day before getting into some of the more complex and deep conversations around communication styles (assertive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, passive)
• By spreading it out, it’s not like they’re learning a bunch of games in one day.

THE BIG LIST of EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION LESSON PLANS / ACTIVITIES

Here are 11 different communication activities and communication games for students to explore how communication works and why it breaks down.

If we understand the communication process, and problems with communication, we can reflect on how we can improve communication so it doesn’t break down (and the message gets across clearly.)

• Who Am I  (Express meaning in multiple ways, ask questions, listen actively, verbal communication) – oral communication lesson
• Charades  (Express meaning in multiple ways, non-verbal communication)
• Pictionary  (Express meaning in multiple ways, visual communication)
• Taboo  (Express meaning in multiple ways, verbal communication) – oral communication lesson
• Follow the Leader  (Express meaning in multiple ways, non-verbal communication)
• Counting Numbers  (“Listen” actively to understand what is communicated, non-verbal communication)
• Twenty Questions  (Express meaning in multiple ways, ask questions / listen actively; verbal communication)
• Describe the Drawing  (Express meaning in multiple ways, ask questions / listen actively; clearly express yourself; verbal communication)
• Metaphors and Symbols. Memes and Emojis.  (Express meaning in multiple ways, express yourself; written communication, virtual spaces)
• What’s your style?  (Express meaning in multiple ways, ask questions / listen actively; clearly express yourself; respect different perspectives; verbal communication)
• Strategies to be Assertive / Practice being assertive  (Express meaning in multiple ways, ask questions / listen actively; clearly express yourself; respect different perspectives; verbal communication)

Communication Lesson Plans – PART 1. EXPERIENCE

Day / lesson 1 (50 min) communication games for students/activities part 1 (slides 1-20).

• Introduction to Communication (slides 1-5) – 5 min
• #1 Who am I Communication Game (slides 6-10) – 15 min
• #2 Charades Communication Game (slides 11-15) – 15 min
• #3 Pictionary Communication Game (slides 16-20) – 15 min

DAY / LESSON 2 (45 min) Communication Games for Students/Activities Part 2 (slides 21 – 34)

• #4 Taboo Communication Game (slides 21-25) – 15 min
• #5 Follow the leader Communication Game (slides 26-29) – 15 min
• #6 Counting numbers Communication Game (slides 30-34) – 15 min

DAY / LESSON 3 (45 min) Communication Games for Students/Activities Part 3 (slides 35 – 52)

• #7 Twenty Questions Communication Game (slides 35-39) – 15 min
• Round 1 (slide 40-45)
• Round 2 (slide 46-48)
• Round 3 (slide 49-50)
• Round 4 (slide 51-52)

DAY / LESSON 4 (50 min) Communication Games for Students/Activities Part 4 (slides 53 – 85)

• Introduction (slides 53-54)
• What is a metaphor (slides 55-60)
• What is a symbol? (slides 61-63)
• Emojis (slides 64-71) – 10 min
• What is a meme? (slide 72-76)
• Success Kid (slide 77)
• Jack Sparrow Being Chased (slide 78-81)
• Grumpy Cat (slide 82-85)

DAY / LESSON 5 (45 min) Communication Games for Students/Activities Part 5 (slides 86 – 89)

• #9 Communication Activity Part 2: Create your own meme (slide 86-89) – 45 min

DAY / LESSON 6 (50 min) Communication Games for Students/Activities Part 6 (slide 90 – 152)

• #10 What’s your style? Communication Activity (slide 90-115) – 20 min
• #11 Styles of Communication Communication Activity (slide 116 – 152) – 30 min

DAY / LESSON 7 (50 min) Communication Games for Students/Activities Part 7 (slides 153 – 170)

• Review assertive communication style (slide 153-159)
• Strategies (slides 160-169)
• Practice handout (slide 170)

Communication Lesson Plans – PART 2. WATCH

Day / lesson 8 (50 min)  videos part 1  (slides 171 – 187).

• Minds on – What are the different parts of communications (slide 171-173) – 5 min
• Watch video – identify 4 parts of communication (slide 174-176) – 10 min
• How could communication break down (slide 177 – 178) – 5 min
• What could you do to prevent communication break down (slide 179) – 5 min
• Review (slides 180-181) – 5 min
• Back to the Future Video #2 (slide 182-187) – 20 min

DAY / LESSON 9 (55 min)  Videos Part 2 (slides 188 – 216)

• Passive Aggression Video #3 (slide 188-189) 15 min
• Watch the video / discussion – 5 min
• Scenario A – 5 min
• Scenario B – 5 min
• Scenario C – 5 min
• Communication Strategies for when life is hard (slide 207 – 216) 15 min

DAY / LESSON 10 (60 min) Videos Part 3 (slides 217 – 233)

• Wrong Flower Video #5 (slides 219 – 222) 15 min
• Golf Video #6 (slide 223 – 226) 15 min
• Eels Video #7 (slide 227 – 230)  15 min
• Live Theatre Point of View Video #8 (slide 231 – 233) 15 min

Communication Lesson Plans – PART 3. UNDERSTAND

Day / lesson 11 (40 min) vocabulary builder (slides 234 – 250).

• Introduce Part 3 / Minds on (slides 234 – 236)
• Understand (Vocabulary Builder) (slide 237 – 238)
• Filling out the graphic organizer (slides 239 – 242)
• Revising graphic organizer (slides 243-247)
• Summary (slides 248-250)

DAY / LESSON 12 – Self Evaluation / Review 40 minutes total Self Evaluation / Review – (slides 251-256)

• Student Self Evaluation (slide 251-255) – 10 min
• Chapter Review Test (slide 256) – 30 min

HERE’S WHAT YOU GET  when you download the zipped file:

THE READ ME file in the PREVIEW file section tells you exactly what you get when you buy these communication lesson plans.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below!

We provide handouts:

• 5 handout packages of different activity cards: Who am I, Charades, Pictionary, Taboo, Copy this Drawing
• Create-your-own meme activity handout
• “What’s your Communication style?” student survey
• 3  DIFFERENTIATED  versions of a communication styles handout  + answer key
• “Practice being Assertive” handout  + answer key
• Vocabulary Builder graphic organizer (to develop a deeper understanding of what  Communication  means.)
• Student Self Evaluation of their “ Communication ” Learning Skill
• Chapter Review assessment and answer key of possible answers

We provide 3 different versions of the lesson slideshow (256 slides):

• A link to the Google Slideshow so you can show it right away. ( Get started in seconds!)
• A link to a version of the Google Slideshow that you can make a copy of the presentation. ( Edit the content to fit your exact classroom needs. )
• A powerpoint file that you can download (PPTX) and modify. (Edit the presentation to fit your needs, and  use the presentation when the internet is down! )

SAVE HOURS OF PREP WORK

What communication lessons do you use to teach effective communication strategies to your students?

What kind of communication lesson plans do you like to use in your classroom.

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Presentation Skills Lesson Plans: From Boring to Brilliant

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

22 March 2020

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How do I give a presentation? How do I learn to attend an interview, communicate effectively and grow in confidence? Here are practical answers; an antidote to anxiety. Immediately, you can use these lesson plans and activities that contain an element of fun. Coupled with fit-to-purpose resources, your students will build confidence and skills as they learn to -

• Know the difference between ineffective and successful presentations. • Discover and see what stress and nerves do to the body. • Develop ways to turn pressure to their advantage. • Introduction to presentation skills in the context of business / marketing. • Acquire practical skills that make for effective presentations. • Stay motivated, right to the end.

Please contact Claire Vorster for free resources, or with other questions.

Resources included in this pack Confidence building activities Discussion starters Expert advice and tips Examples of presentations (good & bad) Handouts Online resources Games

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What Are Effective Presentation Skills (and How to Improve Them)

Presentation skills are essential for your personal and professional life. Learn about effective presentations and how to boost your presenting techniques.

At least seven out of 10 Americans agree that presentation skills are essential for a successful career [ 1 ]. Although it might be tempting to think that these are skills reserved for people interested in public speaking roles, they're critical in a diverse range of jobs. For example, you might need to brief your supervisor on research results.

Presentation skills are also essential in other scenarios, including working with a team and explaining your thought process, walking clients through project ideas and timelines, and highlighting your strengths and achievements to your manager during performance reviews.

Whatever the scenario, you have very little time to capture your audience’s attention and get your point across when presenting information—about three seconds, according to research [ 2 ]. Effective presentation skills help you get your point across and connect with the people you’re communicating with, which is why nearly every employer requires them.

Understanding what presentation skills are is only half the battle. Honing your presenting techniques is essential for mastering presentations of all kinds and in all settings.

What are presentation skills?

Presentation skills are the abilities and qualities necessary for creating and delivering a compelling presentation that effectively communicates information and ideas. They encompass what you say, how you structure it, and the materials you include to support what you say, such as slides, videos, or images.

You'll make presentations at various times in your life. Examples include:

Making speeches at a wedding, conference, or another event

Making a toast at a dinner or event

Explaining projects to a team 

Delivering results and findings to management teams

Teaching people specific methods or information

Proposing a vote at community group meetings

Pitching a new idea or business to potential partners or investors

Why are presentation skills important? 

Delivering effective presentations is critical in your professional and personal life. You’ll need to hone your presentation skills in various areas, such as when giving a speech, convincing your partner to make a substantial purchase, and talking to friends and family about an important situation.

No matter if you’re using them in a personal or professional setting, these are the skills that make it easier and more effective to convey your ideas, convince or persuade others, and experience success. A few of the benefits that often accompany improving your presentation skills include:

Enriched written and verbal communication skills

Enhanced confidence and self-image

Boosted critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities

Better motivational techniques

Increased leadership skills

Expanded time management, negotiation, and creativity

The better your presenting techniques, the more engaging your presentations will be. You could also have greater opportunities to make positive impacts in business and other areas of your life.

Effective presentation skills

Imagine yourself in the audience at a TED Talk or sitting with your coworkers at a big meeting held by your employer. What would you be looking for in how they deliver their message? What would make you feel engaged?

These are a few questions to ask yourself as you review this list of some of the most effective presentation skills.

Verbal communication

How you use language and deliver messages play essential roles in how your audience will receive your presentation. Speak clearly and confidently, projecting your voice enough to ensure everyone can hear. Think before you speak, pausing when necessary and tailoring the way you talk to resonate with your particular audience.

Body language

Body language combines various critical elements, including posture, gestures, eye contact, expressions, and position in front of the audience. Body language is one of the elements that can instantly transform a presentation that would otherwise be dull into one that's dynamic and interesting.

Voice projection

The ability to project your voice improves your presentation by allowing your audience to hear what you're saying. It also increases your confidence to help settle any lingering nerves while also making your message more engaging. To project your voice, stand comfortably with your shoulders back. Take deep breaths to power your speaking voice and ensure you enunciate every syllable you speak.

How you present yourself plays a role in your body language and ability to project your voice. It also sets the tone for the presentation. Avoid slouching or looking overly tense. Instead, remain open, upright, and adaptable while taking the formality of the occasion into account.

Storytelling

Incorporating storytelling into a presentation is an effective strategy used by many powerful public speakers. It has the power to bring your subject to life and pique the audience’s curiosity. Don’t be afraid to tell a personal story, slowly building up suspense or adding a dramatic moment. And, of course, be sure to end with a positive takeaway to drive your point home.

Active listening

Active listening is a valuable skill all on its own. When you understand and thoughtfully respond to what you hear—whether it's in a conversation or during a presentation—you’ll likely deepen your personal relationships and actively engage audiences during a presentation. As part of your presentation skill set, it helps catch and maintain the audience’s attention, helping them remain focused while minimizing passive response, ensuring the message is delivered correctly, and encouraging a call to action.

Stage presence

During a presentation, projecting confidence can help keep your audience engaged. Stage presence can help you connect with your audience and encourage them to want to watch you. To improve your presence, try amping up your normal demeanor by infusing it with a bit of enthusiasm. Project confidence and keep your information interesting.

Watch your audience as you’re presenting. If you’re holding their attention, it likely means you’re connecting well with them.

Self-awareness

Monitoring your own emotions and reactions will allow you to react well in various situations. It helps you remain personable throughout your presentation and handle feedback well. Self-awareness can help soothe nervousness during presentations, allowing you to perform more effectively.

Writing skills

Writing is a form of presentation. Sharp writing skills can help you master your presentation’s outline to ensure you stay on message and remain clear about your objectives from the beginning until the end. It’s also helpful to have strong writing abilities for creating compelling slides and other visual aids.

Understanding an audience

When you understand your audience's needs and interests, you can design your presentation around them. In turn, you'll deliver maximum value to them and enhance your ability to make your message easy to understand.

Learn more about presentation skills from industry experts at SAP:

How to improve presentation skills

There’s an art to public speaking. Just like any other type of art, this is one that requires practice. Improving your presentation skills will help reduce miscommunications, enhance your time management capabilities, and boost your leadership skills. Here are some ways you can improve these skills:

Work on self-confidence.

When you’re confident, you naturally speak more clearly and with more authority. Taking the time to prepare your presentation with a strong opening and compelling visual aids can help you feel more confident. Other ways to improve your self-confidence include practicing positive self-talk, surrounding yourself with positive people, and avoiding comparing yourself (or your presentation) to others.

Develop strategies for overcoming fear.

Many people are nervous or fearful before giving a presentation. A bad memory of a past performance or insufficient self-confidence can contribute to fear and anxiety. Having a few go-to strategies like deep breathing, practicing your presentation, and grounding can help you transform that fear into extra energy to put into your stage presence.

Learn grounding techniques.

Grounding is any type of technique that helps you steer your focus away from distressing thoughts and keeps you connected with your present self. To ground yourself, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and imagine you’re a large, mature tree with roots extending deep into the earth—like the tree, you can become unshakable.

Learn how to use presentation tools.

Visual aids and other technical support can transform an otherwise good presentation into a wow-worthy one. A few popular presentation tools include:

Canva: Provides easy-to-design templates you can customize

Powtoon: Animation software that makes video creation fast and easy

PowerPoint: Microsoft's iconic program popular for dynamic marketing and sales presentations

Practice breathing techniques.

Breathing techniques can help quell anxiety, making it easier to shake off pre-presentation jitters and nerves. It also helps relax your muscles and get more oxygen to your brain.  For some pre-presentation calmness, you can take deep breaths, slowly inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

While presenting, breathe in through your mouth with the back of your tongue relaxed so your audience doesn't hear a gasping sound. Speak on your exhalation, maintaining a smooth voice.

Gain experience.

The more you practice, the better you’ll become. The more you doanything, the more comfortable you’ll feel engaging in that activity. Presentations are no different. Repeatedly practicing your own presentation also offers the opportunity to get feedback from other people and tweak your style and content as needed.

Tips to help you ace your presentation

Your presentation isn’t about you; it’s about the material you’re presenting. Sometimes, reminding yourself of this ahead of taking center stage can help take you out of your head, allowing you to connect effectively with your audience. The following are some of the many actions you can take on the day of your presentation.

Arrive early.

Since you may have a bit of presentation-related anxiety, it’s important to avoid adding travel stress. Give yourself an abundance of time to arrive at your destination, and take into account heavy traffic and other unforeseen events. By arriving early, you also give yourself time to meet with any on-site technicians, test your equipment, and connect with people ahead of the presentation.

Become familiar with the layout of the room.

Arriving early also gives you time to assess the room and figure out where you want to stand. Experiment with the acoustics to determine how loudly you need to project your voice, and test your equipment to make sure everything connects and appears properly with the available setup. This is an excellent opportunity to work out any last-minute concerns and move around to familiarize yourself with the setting for improved stage presence.

Listen to presenters ahead of you.

When you watch others present, you'll get a feel for the room's acoustics and lighting. You can also listen for any data that’s relevant to your presentation and revisit it during your presentation—this can make the presentation more interactive and engaging.

Use note cards.

Writing yourself a script could provide you with more comfort. To prevent sounding too robotic or disengaged, only include talking points in your note cards in case you get off track. Using note cards can help keep your presentation organized while sounding more authentic to your audience.

Learn to deliver clear and confident presentations with Dynamic Public Speaking from the University of Washington. Build confidence, develop new delivery techniques, and practice strategies for crafting compelling presentations for different purposes, occasions, and audiences.

Article sources

Forbes. “ New Survey: 70% Say Presentation Skills are Critical for Career Success , https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2014/09/25/new-survey-70-percent-say-presentation-skills-critical-for-career-success/?sh=619f3ff78890.” Accessed December 7, 2022.

Beautiful.ai. “ 15 Presentation and Public Speaking Stats You Need to Know , https://www.beautiful.ai/blog/15-presentation-and-public-speaking-stats-you-need-to-know. Accessed December 7, 2022.

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How to Create an Effective Lesson Plan Presentation

Regardless of the subject or content you’re teaching, having a lesson plan in place prepares you for class by offering detailed guidelines for the session. The lesson plan doesn’t have to be lengthy or complex—it just needs to include elements about what you’re teaching, the method of presenting this material, and what objective and goals you wish your students to achieve as part of the curriculum.

Why Lesson Plans Are Important

It’s crucial for teachers to prepare their lessons in advance and implement the best teaching approaches. Attending a session without a lesson plan can be counterproductive for both students and teachers. Without the right preparation beforehand, classes can end up being unproductive or confusing.

Below are a few reasons why you should consider lesson planning:

Lesson Planning is Handy for Classroom Management

Developing the lesson plan from the learning objectives provides flexibility in adapting to different teaching methods and classroom management techniques. For instance, hybrid or online classes require a different delivery approach from the traditional classes, which means making modifications to any existing plans. With the right foresight and plan in place, classes can stay on topic and effective. Such circumstances underscore how crucial lesson plans are in ensuring that the class runs smoothly, regardless of the learning environment.  

Lesson Planning Creates Student Success

Various studies have shown that students benefit immensely from and appreciate well-structured lessons. Thus, success is more likely when students engage and show interest in the material being taught. Using a curriculum guide, teachers can develop valuable lesson plans based on specific objectives and goals (what’s intended for students to learn). 

​​Lesson Planning Is Central to Teacher Success

Teachers’ success is, to some extent, pegged on students’ success. Besides that, the documents you develop as part of the lesson planning process are often part of your assessment by school administrators. What’s more, as you advance your teaching career, your lesson plans serve as a repository for your expanding body of knowledge. Thus, the significance of lesson planning cannot be overlooked when it comes to advancing your career as an educator.

Lesson Planning is Vital in Student Assessment

Lastly, lesson plans turn the learning sessions into clear objectives for students and a way to gauge their understanding of the subject matter. One notable benefit of the lesson plan is tailoring the assessment to a particular objective while considering students’ specific needs. You can use common assessment methods such as quizzes, tests, and homework assignments.

How to Write a Lesson Plan

Lesson plans include different sections that clarify questions students might have about the subject on hand. What are the lesson objectives? What subjects will be covered during the session? How long will the course take?

• Introduction – As the lesson commences, it’s good to have a concise yet vivid introduction about what the lesson will cover. The ideal practice is to create a memorable title for every lesson to create a general understanding of the learning material students will be interacting with.
• **Lesson Objectives –**This section is critical as it allows the students to ascertain each lesson. When it comes to objectives, it is crucial to consider the acquired skills you expect the students to gain by the end of the session. Each objective should be measurable and actionable; meaning after every session, students should be able to apply what they’ve learned.
• Learning Activities – This should be a detailed account of how each activity will lead the class to achieve its predetermined goals. To create valuable activities, consider how each learning activity fits each objective, and the requirements students need.
• Practice – Practices are primarily intended to assess students’ comprehension of the material and aid in memorizing what they have learned in class. Therefore, it is crucial to include this in the lesson plan so that assessments can always be done at the appropriate time.

Today, lesson planning has been made less time-consuming and easier, thanks to smart whiteboards for the classroom . A digital whiteboard like the Vibe Board Pro provides unmatched performance that shows you know your craft and are way ahead of the pack.

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How Smart Whiteboards Simplify Lesson Plan Creation and Presentation

Not only does using a smart whiteboard make learning accessible , it’s also a great way of enhancing and enriching your lesson plans with interactive activities for the class. Smart whiteboards function as a touch screen for all; during class sessions, you and your students can use it as a digital whiteboard to create a space where students’ engagement, knowledge, and teamwork are appreciated.

While the smart whiteboard aids in making your lesson more engaging, interactive, and educational, you as the teacher can still customize your teachings to what you want them to be. This helps in foiling any hitches in your lesson presentation and makes switching from one topic to another seamless.

Below are more specific ways how smart whiteboards make your lesson plan presentation better:

Take Advantage of Built-in Templates

Once you invest in a smart whiteboard, make sure to take advantage of the wide variety of built-in lesson planning templates. You can use these templates to improve lesson plans while leveraging the technology associated with smart whiteboards. Even better, these templates can be easily customized for every lesson plan and cover different subject matters, allowing you to create new lesson plans without always starting from scratch quickly. How cool is that?

Organize and Present Lesson Plans Better

Smart whiteboards combine the power of the traditional whiteboard and a TV/projector into one hub, allowing you to write on the board while concurrently projecting it to the classroom. This allows you to conduct lesson plan presentations on a larger scale while also letting students see what’s going on.

For instance, if you’re presenting on an extensive topic involving multiple subtopics, a smart whiteboard will help you walk students through each subtopic with ease. Begin with the presentation divided into primary or main sections, highlight key definitions, and add infographics and videos to ensure that every student understands the tiniest detail.

Additionally, you can get students involved in the lesson plan presentation by asking questions, polling them on key points, or allowing them to follow along on their tablets or laptops.

Record Lesson Plan Presentations

Another benefit of using smart whiteboards in the classroom is that a lesson plan presentation can be recorded and accessed long after the session is over. This allows your students to access the material on their own time.

Final Words: Creating a Lesson Plan Presentation

Lesson plan presentation offers students the first interaction with the material they will learn. Take your time, appreciate the process, and create an attractive and comprehensive lesson plan that will encourage your students to have deep and thoughtful learning experiences. Even better, all of this can be made easier with smart whiteboard technology. Leave the spiral notebooks and sticky notes at home. A smart whiteboard is all you need.

What is the presentation stage in lesson planning?

Presentation is usually the core of the lesson plan. During this stage, theteacher introduces the topic and the key subject matter the students need to master. Presenting with smart whiteboards is exceedingly easy and less time-consuming.

What are the 5 steps in lesson planning?

The five steps are:

• Objective: A learning concept or objective is introduced.
• Warm-up: Revise the previous lesson
• Presentation: Present the material using suitable tools and techniques.
• Practice: Students try to apply what they have learned.
• Assessment: Evaluate whether the objectives were achieved

How does lesson planning help teachers?

Planning lessons in advance allows teachers to arrive at class each day prepared to introduce new concepts and facilitate engaging discussions rather than improvising as they go. In other words, without a lesson plan, teachers may be left scrambling, making students lose interest in the material to be learned.

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9 quick and easy study skills lesson plans for high school

by mindroar | Mar 26, 2021 | blog | 0 comments

Are you approaching that time during the academic year when deadlines are flying at your face like lemon meringue pie at a clown?

Do your students have a dedicated study skills class? Or do you just want to help your students to brush up on their study skills in your subject lesson?

Either way, we’ve got you covered because all teachers understand the importance of study skills to academic success. Below are 9 quick and easy study skills lesson plans for high school.

Taking Notes

Taking notes is a skill that saves so much time. IF students can do it competently. Which they often can’t (see here to find out why your students’ notes suck and how you can improve them).

If you want a quick way to bolster your students’ note-taking skills, check out our lesson plan below.

Lesson plan:

• Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills ( here on YouTub e) about taking notes.
• Get your students to take notes. This can be done using any style that they are already familiar with, or that they feel confident with. If students are not familiar with any note-taking styles, tell them to pick one of the styles from the video. It shows Cornell note-taking, mind mapping, or outline notes. Or, if you want a quick and easy way – use our visual note-taking worksheets (available on TPT here ) or from our shop here).
• Discuss what elements students should include if they want their notes to be effective. Suggest elements such as vocabulary words, capturing main ideas, elaborating on ideas, revising notes, asking questions about content etc.
• Get your students to practice taking notes. Do this however you like. They could take notes from a newspaper article, a textbook chapter, or a chapter from a novel. Doesn’t matter. The important thing for you as the teacher is finding out who knows how to do it and who doesn’t. Because research shows that those who don’t know how to study often don’t realize that they don’t know. If you can identify who needs help you can target your attention more effectively.
• Show students what to do with notes once they’ve taken them. Again, do this however you like. Show them how to make Anki cards online. Or, show them how to create practice exam questions or how to make flashcards. Demonstrate how to use mind maps or Cornell notes to study. What’s important is that students learn that taking notes in class is not the end of the learning: they also need to go home and study them!  

Reading assignments

As students get into higher grades in middle and high school, so much of their learning comes from reading. Teaching students how to read more effectively (and how to prioritize their reading) is important.

1. Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video (above or here on YouTube) about reading assignments.

• Get your students to take notes. This can be done using any style that they are already familiar with, or that they feel confident with. Or, if you want a quick and easy way – use our visual note-taking worksheets (available on TPT here ).
• Ask students to pull out whatever planner they use to do their homework. Then ask them to write down all of the reading they have to do for the next week. Then, ask them to prioritize it.
• Discuss students’ prioritized lists as a class. What reading did they rank the highest and why was that reading the most important? Discuss ideas such as whether the reading is essential or recommended. Query whether the reading is for assessment and when the reading is due. Ask about what other activities they have prioritized above their reading and why.

A post about study skills lesson plans for high school wouldn’t be complete a lesson about how students’ memories work. Knowing about the most effective ways to memorize information saves students time and stress.

Lesson Plan:

Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video (on YouTube here ) about memory.

• Ask students to pull out whatever planner they use to plan and organize their homework. Then get them to write down all of their upcoming exams and tests. Then, ask them to work backward and schedule study sessions in their planners for 3-4 weeks prior to the exam. Tell them to make sure they have study sessions planned every few days for each upcoming test.
• Then, ask students to demonstrate their understanding of the spaced learning effect in some way. They could draw a poster, write a recipe, create a presentation, or draw a cartoon explaining what spaced learning is and why it works.

Planning and organization

Research shows that many students arrive in middle and high school with sub-par planning and organizational skills. This happens for a variety of reasons, including a lack of parental skills (see here and here for more info).

Obviously, you can’t quickly teach a wide range of planning and organizational skills in a 20-minute mini-lesson in ELA. But hopefully, your school has a study skills class of some sort and your mini-lesson can reinforce students’ learning there.

Either way, this mini study skills lesson plan for high school will benefit those students who either haven’t learned organizational skills or who need a quick refresher.

Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video about planning and organization (on YouTube here ).

• Ask your class about which basic organizational skills they think they need to improve the most and pick two to focus on. (You’ll have to wing it a bit in this lesson!). Some great activities might be to model how to set up a study schedule or how to create a study space. You could show examples of different organizational strategies such as using a diary/binder/online calendar/to-do list.
• Get students to demonstrate their learning in some way. They could create a presentation or video showing how they organize their learning. Or they might draw a diagram of a ‘perfect’ study space or create the ‘perfect’ study playlist etc.

Focus and concentration

Learning how to focus and concentrate is a skill. And the more students practice the skills, the better they’ll get at it. This study skills lesson plan for high school shows students easy strategies to focus and concentrate better.

• Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video about focus and concentration (on YouTube here ).
• As a class, create a list of distractions that students face when trying to study. Then create a list of strategies to reduce those distractions. For example, turning off social media notifications or putting their phones in their bags on silent. Or listening to a ‘study’ music playlist with earphones.
• Ask students to demonstrate their learning in some way. They could create a presentation explaining why they personally get distracted and strategies they plan to use to avoid it. Or they might draw a cartoon showing common distractions and strategies to avoid them. They could also reflect on their study sessions from the week prior and rate how focused they were and why they think that was the case.
• If you have a little extra time, show students some productivity-tracking apps. This will help students can identify how they are spending their time and how they can squeeze in study sessions.

Procrastination

Research shows that students who are more confident about their study skills often procrastinate less than their less confident peers. Some reasons students procrastinate include that they don’t know how to start or they want to do their work perfectly. Other students simply can’t face the idea of hours hitting the books after being at school all day.

Either way, this study skills lesson plan for high school will help your students learn to switch off the urge to procrastinate by giving them concrete strategies to use.

• Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video about procrastination here .
• Get your students to take notes. This can be done using any style that they are already familiar or confident with. Or, if you want a quick and easy way – use our visual note-taking worksheets (available on TPT here ).
• Discuss major reasons why students procrastinate and offer strategies for overcoming procrastination.
• Ask students to demonstrate their learning in some way. They could list their top procrastination triggers or explain the difference between high-density fun and low-density fun. Students could create posters explaining how motivation works. Or, students could create a procrastination points system where they get ‘points’ for each task they complete without procrastination and then have corresponding ‘rewards’ for accumulating points.
• If you have a little extra time, get students to practice using pomodoro timers doing a task in class. For example, give students a reading comprehension task, set a timer for about the amount of time that you think the task will take, and then ask them to complete it. When the timer goes, if students have concentrated well, ‘reward’ them with free time, a chance to talk to friends, or the chance to play a game etc.

Studying for exams and tests

Studying for exams and tests is something students tend to do inefficiently. Some students think that re-reading or copying out notes is the best way to study. But research shows that active learning with spaced repetition is the most effective way to study.

In this lesson plan for study skills in high school, students will learn active learning strategies as well as how to plan a study schedule.

• Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video about studying for exams and tests (above or here on YouTube).
• Ask students to list the ineffective strategies they use to study (for example: re-reading work, copying out notes again). Then, ask them to create a list of efficient, active strategies. If students get stuck, offer suggestions such as creating practice exam questions or taking past exams. You might also suggest using flashcards or Anki cards, studying with a partner, or practicing similar problems. Finally, ensure students understand that they need to identify areas that they need clarification on from their teacher.
• Get students to demonstrate learning in some way. They could create a poster showing active learning strategies or describe how to use spaced repetition. They could create a ‘recipe’ for a perfect study session.
• If you have time, allow students to practice these metacognitive skills in class. Students are more likely to use these skills if they are given time to do it. You may like to give students a chance to create flashcards for an upcoming exam. Or help them locate and take past exams. You could also model identifying areas where students need more help by showing an exam with incorrect answers. Or you could give students time to create a study schedule for the week.

Test anxiety

Many students experience anxiety about taking tests – and it can reduce their academic results. This study skills lesson plan for high school can help students identify why they are anxious and give them strategies to cope.

• Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video about test anxiety (above or here YouTube).
• Ask students to write a list of the reasons they feel nervous or anxious before a test. Then, ask students to give a strategy for each reason they feel nervous.
• Get students to demonstrate learning in some way. They could create a poster showing strategies to combat test anxiety. Or they could create a graphic novel about a student overcoming anxiety. Students could research a famous figure who has overcome anxiety to succeed in life (John Green comes to mind).

Writing papers and essays

Writing papers and essays is harder for students who lack organizational and research skills. By teaching students a process that they can work through each time they have to write a paper or essay, you can help them use their time more effectively.

This study skills lesson plan for high school students is quick and easy. But it also explains an effective process for going beyond research and actually writing and editing the paper or essay.

• Watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video about writing papers and essays (above or here on YouTube).
• Ask students to demonstrate their learning in some way. Students could practice doing a ‘content’ edit or a ‘technical’ edit on a piece of writing. Students could do some peer editing with their own writing. You could get students to practice identifying sources of information for a topic or practice annotating research. Or you could get students to write a ‘how-to guide for dummies’ about how to write a draft of a paper or essay.

Exercise for improving academic results

This section isn’t going to give a study skills lesson plan for high school per se. But we will simply state that exercise or movement has been shown to improve results.

If you think your students would benefit from learning more about this topic, watch the CrashCourse Study Skills video above or on YouTube here .

You want to but don’t have time?

If you’ve read this far, you know you want more lesson plans for study skills in high school, but you aren’t sure how to squeeze it all into your jam-packed curriculum.

The good news is that teaching (or reteaching) study skills doesn’t have to take up much class time. You can show a short video (like those listed here) and get students to take notes. Or can ask them to do it for homework.

And preparing a study skills lesson plan for high school students doesn’t have to be hard, especially if you use our CrashCourse Study Skills visual note-taking worksheet bundle on TPT or available from our website shop here ). It’s just print and go.

What have other teachers said?

Some teachers have used this study skills lesson plan for high school during distance learning – either as a printout in a take-home packet or printing at home. Others have used it effectively in class too.

So if you want to save yourself some time and have ready-to-go study skills lesson plans for high school, check out our worksheets on TPT or from our website shop to accompany the CrashCourse Study Skills videos.

That wraps up this post about study skills lesson plans for high school. However, keep reading for other posts you may be interested in, other TPT products you may like, and the references for the academic research cited in this post.

Other blog posts you may be interested in:

Study skills:

• Why your students’ notes suck and how you can improve them
• 8 awesome reasons to focus on study skills in ELA
• 4 FREE simple solutions for note-taking while distance learning
• 3 FREE videos with examples of study skills to watch at the start of the year
• Stop cramming – 9 simple but successful study skills

Outline note-taking:

• Quickly teach your students to take effective outline notes

Mind mapping note-taking:

• 5 research-backed reasons you should be teaching mind mapping
• 3 FREE mind mapping tools for middle and high school students

Cornell note-taking:

• Easily teach your students to take effective Cornell Notes

Visual note-taking:

• Take vibrant visual notes with these 3 free easy videos
• A Tired Teacher’s Guide: What You Need To Know About Visual Note-taking
• A tired teacher’s quick and easy guide to mind mapping

Other TPT products you may be interested in:

If your students enjoyed the CrashCourse Study Skills videos and worksheets, they may also enjoy the CrashCourse Navigating Digital Information video series and worksheets .

This video series is about practicing critical literacy online. It shows students how to:

• read laterally
• evaluate the validity of sources of information including photos, videos, data, and infographics
• work out which sources of information to trust
• using click restraint
• and evaluate stories on social media

Other TPT products your students may enjoy include the worksheets for CrashCourse Literature and CrashCourse Geography .

Research cited:

Gambill, Jill M.; Moss, Lauralee A.; Vescogni, Christie D. 2008. “The Impact of Study Skills and Organizational Methods on Student Achievement.” Action Research Project., Saint Xavier University. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED501312.pdf

Hassanbeigi, Afsaneh.; Askari, Jafar.; Nakhjavani, Mina.; Shirkhoda, Shima.; Barzegar, Kazem.: Mozayyan, Mohammed R.; Fallahzadeh, Hossein. 2011. “The relationship between study skills and academic performance of university students.” Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 30 (2011): 1416-1424. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281102101X.

Loranger, Ann L., 1994. “The Study Strategies of Successful and Unsuccessful High School Students.” Journal of Reading Behavior , 26 (4): 347-360. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/10862969409547858

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

50 Fun Earth Day Crafts and Activities 🌎!

30 Lesson Plan Examples for Every Grade Level and Subject

Lots of ways to prepare for top-notch learning.

Writing lessons might be a fun activity for you (all the things you’ll do!) or it may be a necessary evil (so many boxes to fill). Either way, it’s an important part of teaching and can make or break your week, month, and year. Whether you’re a brand-new teacher or an experienced educator looking for some new ideas, these lesson plan examples offer inspiration for every subject and every grade level.

Lesson Plan Sections

Preschool lesson plan examples, elementary school lesson plan examples, middle and high school lesson plan examples.

Many lesson plans include some or all of the following sections.

• Objective : These should be specific and measurable. Often they align with Common Core or other learning standards.
• Materials: List any items you’ll need, including worksheets or handouts, school supplies, etc.
• Activities: This is usually the longest section, where you’ll lay out what the lesson and its activities look like. Some teachers write these in great detail. Others include just an overview to help them plan.
• Assessment: How will you assess your students’ learning? This could be a formal assessment or something simple like an exit ticket. ( Get lots of formative assessment ideas here. )
• Differentiation: Describe how you’ll vary the level of difficulty for students at all levels, including any enrichment for early finishers.

Some people think preschool is just playtime, but pre-K teachers know better! Here are some of the ways preschool teachers plan for their lessons.

Weekly Lesson Plan

Venngage/pre-K lesson plan via Venngage.com

Weekly preschool lesson planning helps you plan each day and ensure you’re tackling all the most important skills.

Learn more: Venngage Pre-K Weekly Lesson Plan Template

Pre-K Theme Lesson Plan

Pre-K Printable Fun/Caterpillar and Butterfly Lesson Plan via PreKPrintableFun.com

If you like to plan by theme, try a template like this. It includes space for a variety of activities that fit your topic.

Learn more: Pre-K Printable Fun

Alphabet Letter Lesson Plan

This Crafty Mom/Letter S Lesson Plan via ThisCraftyMom.com

If you’re focusing on a new letter of the alphabet each week, try lesson planning like this. You can see the week at a glance, including all the materials and books you’ll need.

Learn more: Alphabet Letter Lesson Plan by This Crafty Mom

Centers Lesson Plan

Pocket of Preschool/Centers Lesson Plans via PocketofPreschool.com

Your centers need some planning too! Whether you change them out weekly, monthly, or as needed, use plans like these to stay prepared.

Learn more: Pocket of Preschool

Weekly Unit Lesson Plan

This Crafty Mom/weather unit lessons via ThisCraftyMom.com

Adding pops of color and a few images can make it easier to locate the lesson plan you’re looking for in a snap!

Learn more: Weekly Weather Unit Lesson Plan by This Crafty Mom

Since elementary teachers tackle multiple subjects every day, their lesson plans might look like a general overview. Or they may prepare more detailed lesson plans for each topic to help them stay on track. The choice is up to you.

Weekly Overview Lesson Plan

Mrs. Jones Creation Station/lesson plan example via MrsJonesCreationStation.com

Don’t be afraid to write out your lesson plans by hand! A side-by-side setup like this lets you see a whole week at once. We love the use of color to highlight special things like fire drills.

Learn more: Mrs. Jones Creation Station

Yearlong Schedule

Planning a whole year may seem daunting, but it can show you where you’re going to need to stretch a unit and where you can circle back and review. Mrs. D from Mrs. D’s Corner has ideas on how to structure a yearlong lesson plan using Google Sheets.

Learn more: Mrs. D’s Corner

Guided Math Lesson Plan

Tunstall’s Teaching Tidbits/Guided Math lesson plan example via TunstallsTeachingTidbits.com

This example on adding three numbers together can be altered to fit any math lesson plan.

Learn more: Tunstall’s Teaching Tidbits

Art Lesson Plan

Artsy Blevs/lesson plans via TeachandShoot.com

While these are elementary art lesson plan examples, you can easily use this style for teaching art at upper levels too.

Learn more: Artsy Blevs

Special Education Lesson Plans

The Bender Bunch/lesson plan example via TheBenderBunch.com

Lesson planning for special education looks different than general classroom lessons in that the lessons have to cover specific IEP goals and include lots and lots of progress monitoring. The Bender Bunch starts each lesson with independent work (read: IEP practice) and then heads into mini-lessons and group work.

Learn more: The Bender Bunch

Interactive Read-Aloud Plan

The Colorful Apple/interactive read-aloud lesson plan example via TheColorfulApple.com

Interactive read-alouds aren’t something that should be “on the fly.” The Colorful Apple explains how to choose a book, get to know it, and get ready to teach it. Once you’re in the book, sticky notes may be the best lesson-planning tool you have for marking questions and vocabulary words you want to point out to students.

Learn more: The Colorful Apple

Social Studies Lesson Plan

Mrs. Jones’s Class/social studies lesson plan example via MrsJonessClass.com

Including images of your anchor charts is a great idea! That way, you can pull one out and have it ready to go in advance.

Learn more: Mrs. Jones’s Class

5E Lesson Plan for Elementary School

What I Have Learned Teaching/example from 5E lesson planning via WhatIHaveLearnedTeaching.com

The 5Es stand for Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaborate, Evaluate. This type of lesson planning can be helpful for students as they work through each of the 5Es related to the topic you’re studying.

Learn more: What I Have Learned Teaching

Science Lesson Plans

Venngage/Science lesson plan example via Venngage.com

If you like to plan your lessons in more detail, take a look at this elementary science lesson plan example.

Learn more: Venngage Science Lesson Plan Template

Reading Groups Lesson Plan

First Grade Fairy Tales/reading groups lesson plan via TheFirstGradeFairyTales.com

Lots of elementary schools have differentiated reading groups. Use a template like this one to plan for each one, all on one page.

Learn more: The First Grade Fairy Tales

P.E. Lesson Plan

American Coaching Academy/P.E. lesson plan via AmericanCoachingAcademy.com

Gym teachers will love this lesson plan idea, which includes directions for playing the games.

Learn more: American Coaching Academy

Music Class Lesson Plan

Victoria Boler/music lesson plan via VictoriaBoler.com

Plan out the skills and songs you’ll need for a meaningful music class with a lesson plan like this one.

Learn more: Victoria Boler

At the middle and high school levels, teachers often need more detailed plans for each class, which they may teach multiple times a day. Here are some examples to try.

Google Sheets Lesson Plans

Busy Miss Beebe/Google sheets lesson plan example via BusyMissBeebe.com

Google Sheets (or Excel) is terrific for lesson planning! Create a new tab for each week, unit, or class.

Learn more: Busy Miss Beebe

Weekly History Plan

Teachers Pay Teachers/Coaching History lesson plan via TeachersPayTeachers.com

This example shows how you can plan out a week’s worth of lessons at once, and see the entire week all in one spot. This example is for history, but you could use this for math, ELA, or social studies too.

Learn more: Coaching History on Teachers Pay Teachers

Outline and Pacing Guide Lesson Plan

Read it. Write it. Learn it./pacing guide example via ReadItWriteItLearnIt.com

A pacing guide or outline works for both you and your students. Share it at the beginning of a unit to let them know what’s ahead.

Learn more: Read it. Write it. Learn it.

5E Lessons in Middle and High School

Teach Science With Fergy/5E lesson plan via TeachScienceWithFergy.com

5E lesson plans (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaborate, Evaluate) are great for middle and high school as well. This example is for science, but you can use the 5E structure across all lessons.

Learn more: Teach Science With Fergy

Math Intervention Plans

Lindsay Gould/middle school math lesson plan via TeachersPayTeachers.com

When students are in math intervention, they’re reviewing material they learned last week or last year. Lesson plans need to provide time for them to activate their prior knowledge (and make sure they’re remembering it all correctly) before reteaching and practice.

Buy it: Teachers Pay Teachers

The Sticky-Note Lesson Plan

The Wise & Witty Teacher/sticky note planner via WiseWittyTeacher.com

At some point, you’ll know what students are doing each day, you’ll just need some reminders for questions to ask and key points to cover. The nice thing about using sticky notes for lesson planning is if you get ahead or behind schedule, you can move the entire sticky note lesson to another day.

Learn more: The Wise & Witty Teacher

Read more ways to use sticky notes in the classroom .

Backwards Planning Lesson Plan

Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching/Understanding by Design lesson plan example via cft.vanderbilt.edu

If your school uses Understanding by Design or other backwards planning, you’ll be thinking about the outcome first and working back from there (rather than forward from an activity or task). Backwards planning lesson plans are intensive, but they’re also something you can use over and over, modifying them slightly for each group of students you have.

Learn more: Vanderbilt Center for Teaching

Visual Arts Lesson Plan

Venngage/visual art lesson plan example via Venngage.com

Detailed lesson plans take longer to prepare, but they make it easier on the day (especially if you wind up needing a sub).

Learn more: Venngage Visual Arts Lesson Plan Template

ESL or Foreign Language Lesson Plan

TeachEnglishAbroad.co/ESL lesson plan via TeachEnglishAbroad.co

Whether you’re teaching English as a second language (ESL) or a foreign language to English speakers, this lesson plan style is perfect.

Learn more: Teaching English Abroad

Music Lesson Plan

Melody Soup/lesson plan example via MelodySoup.Blogspot.com

Use a lesson plan like this for choir, orchestra, band, or individual music lessons.

Learn more: Melody Soup

Blended Learning Lesson Plan

Hot Lunch Tray/blended learning lesson plan example via HotLunchTray.com

If your instruction includes both computer-based and in-person elements, this lesson plan idea might be just what you need.

Learn more: Hot Lunch Tray

One-Sentence Lesson Plan

Norman Eng/Introducing the One-Sentence Lesson Plan via CultofPedagogy.com

This kind of lesson planning isn’t for everyone, but the extreme simplicity works well for some. Describe what students will learn, how they will learn it, and how they’ll demonstrate their knowledge.

Learn more: Cult of Pedagogy

Need more help with lesson planning? Come ask for ideas on the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook !

Plus, check out 40 ways to make time for more creativity in your lesson plans ..

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Home » Blog » General » High School Interview Skills Lesson

High School Interview Skills Lesson

As educators working with high schoolers, we understand the significance of interview skills in their transition to adulthood and future careers. Whether it’s a college admission interview, a job interview, or a scholarship interview, mastering the art of interviewing is crucial for success.

In this blog post, we will provide you with a comprehensive guide to help your high school students improve their interview skills. We will explore a step-by-step lesson plan and a related worksheet activity titled “The Dos and Don’ts of Interviewing” to reinforce key concepts. By equipping your students with essential interview techniques, strategies, and the confidence to showcase their abilities, you can empower them to excel in any interview setting.

Teaching Interview Skills to High Schoolers

• To equip high school students with the necessary skills and strategies to excel in interviews.

Materials Needed:

• “The Dos and Don’ts of Interviewing” worksheet (one copy per student)
• Visual aids (slides or posters displaying interview tips and techniques)
• Mock interview scenarios (prepared in advance)
• Feedback forms or rubrics for assessment

Understanding the Interview Process

• Present an overview of the interview process, including the stages of preparation, the actual interview, and post-interview follow-up.
• Discuss the importance of researching the organization, understanding the role or position, and anticipating common interview questions.
• Introduce strategies to manage nerves and enhance self-confidence, such as positive self-talk and visualization exercises.
• Share tips on appropriate dress code, body language, and verbal communication during interviews.

Interactive Activity: Mock Interview

• Divide the students into pairs: one student will be the interviewer, and the other will be the interviewee.
• Provide a list of interview scenarios or prepare mock interview questions related to college admissions, scholarships, or job applications.
• Conduct the mock interviews, ensuring that each student has an opportunity to be both the interviewer and the interviewee.
• After each interview, provide constructive feedback to both the interviewer and interviewee.

“The Dos and Don’ts of Interviewing” Worksheet

• Explain the purpose of the worksheet, which is to reinforce the concepts covered during the lesson.
• Review each section of the worksheet, including dos and don’ts of interviewing, common interview questions, and self-reflection.
• Encourage students to complete the worksheet independently, using their knowledge from the lesson and the mock interviews.

Extension Interview Skills Activities and Reinforcement

Additionally, check out these reinforcement activities and ideas to improve carryover for this high schooler interview skills lesson plan!

• Provide additional resources for students to further enhance their interview skills, such as online tutorials or interview preparation guides.
• Encourage students to practice elevator pitches, create portfolios, and participate in mock interviews outside the classroom.
• Assign students the task of conducting informational interviews with professionals in their desired fields, encouraging them to prepare questions and gather insights.

Sample Video

Students learn best from watching real students their own age model skills. Try out this sample video-modeling lesson below. We offer our entire Social-Emotional Learning platform free for 30 days here !

Related Blog Posts:

Making Career Goals Lesson Plan

High School Social Problem Solving Lesson Plan

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Home » Financial Literacy » Resources for Teachers » Financial Literacy for High School Students

Are You Teaching Financial Literacy To High School Students?

The teaching curriculum consists of fourteen lesson plans & worksheets designed to augment a semester course in life skills and personal finance management. The Teacher’s Guide, compiled in a separate, easy-to-use notebook, includes an outline of the curriculum:

• Lesson objectives
• Suggested resources
• Teaching notes
• Chart indicating appropriate age groups for the key learnings offered in each lesson
• Presentation slides
• Answer keys to worksheets (when necessary)

Introductory Overview to Financial Literacy for High School Students

Lesson one: making personal finance decisions.

Each day, we are faced with many decisions. While most decisions are simple, such as “what should I wear?” or “what should I eat?,” others are more complex, such as “should I buy a new or used car?”  As decision-making skills are used and improved, a person’s quality of life is enhanced. Wiser choices result in better use of time, money, and other resources.  This introductory lesson provides students with an opportunity to learn more about decision-making. The lesson starts with an overview of the decision-making process followed by a discussion of various internal and external factors that affect decisions.

Teacher’s Guide –  Lesson One: Making Decisions

Student Guide – Lesson One: Making Decisions

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson One: Making Decisions

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson One: Making Decisions

Lesson Two: Making Money

Building your career is one of the surest ways to increase income and make money. When planning for the future, one of the most critical financial decisions is determining your career path.  In this lesson, students will be encouraged to consider various topics related to career planning and the financial aspects of employment. This variation of the decision-making process can help a person match personal abilities and interests with appropriate employment opportunities.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Two: Making Money

Student Guide – Lesson Two: Making Money

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Two: Making Money

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Two: Making Money

Lesson Three: The Art of Budgeting

A personal budget is a financial plan that allocates future income toward expenses, savings, and debt repayment. “Where does the money go?” is a common dilemma faced by many individuals and households when it comes to budgeting and money management.  Effective money management starts with a goal and a step-by-step plan for saving and spending. Financial goals should be realistic, be specific, have a timeframe, and imply an action to be taken. This lesson will encourage students to take the time and effort to develop their own personal financial goals and budget.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Three: The Art Of Budgeting

Student Guide – Lesson Three: The Art Of Budgeting

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Three: The Art Of Budgeting

Teachers Power Point Presentation – Lesson Three: The Art Of Budgeting

Lesson Four: Living on Your Own

As young people grow up, a common goal is to live on their own. However, the challenges of independent living are often quite different from their expectations. This lesson provides a reality check for students as they investigate the costs associated with moving, obtaining furniture and appliances, and renting an apartment.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Four: Living On Your Own

Student Guide  – Lesson Four: Living On Your Own

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Four: Living On Your Own

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Four: Living On Your Own

Lesson Five: Buying a Home

For many, buying a home is the single most important financial decision they will make in their lifetime.  However, the process of becoming a first-time homebuyer can be overwhelming, and requires a foundation for basic home-buying knowledge.  This lesson will provide students with information on buying a home and where and how to begin the process. After comparing the differences between renting and buying, students will be introduced to a five-step process for home buying. This framework provides an overview for the activities involved with selecting and purchasing a home.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Five: Buying A Home

Student Guide – Lesson Five: Buying A Home

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Five: Buying A Home

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Five: Buying A Home

Lesson Six: Banking Services

If the fee for an ATM transaction to withdraw money is $1 and a person withdraws money twice a week, the banking fees for that person will be $104 a year. Over a five-year period, those fees invested at five percent would grow to more than $570.  Most students know that banks and other financial institutions (credit unions, savings and loan associations) offer a variety of services. However, few people know how to make wise choices when using financial services. In this lesson, students will learn about the different types of financial service products available and the features of each.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Six: Banking Services

Student Guide – Lesson Six: Banking Services

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Six: Banking Services

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Six: Banking Services

Lesson Seven: Credit

In today’s world, credit is integrated into everyday life. From renting a car to reserving an airline ticket or hotel room, credit cards have become a necessary convenience. However, using credit wisely is critical to building a solid credit history and maintaining fiscal fitness. While most students have a general idea about the advantages and disadvantages of credit, this lesson provides an opportunity to discuss these issues in more detail.

Teachers Guide – Lesson Seven: Credit

Student Guide – Lesson Seven: Credit

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Seven: Credit

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Seven: Credit

Lesson Eight: Credit Cards

What is APR? What is a grace period? What are transaction fees?  These and other questions will be answered in this lesson as students learn about credit cards, and the different types of cards available and features of each, such as bank cards, store cards, and travel and entertainment cards.

As students start to shop for their first (or next) credit card, this lesson will make them aware of various costs and features. Included in this section is a discussion of the methods for calculating finance charges.  Various federal laws protect our rights as we apply for and use credit cards, such as procedures for disputes and protection from card theft and fraud. In this lesson, students will also be given an opportunity to analyze the information contained on a credit card statement.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Eight: Credit Cards

Student Guide – Lesson Eight: Credit Cards

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Eight: Credit Cards

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Eight: Credit Cards

Lesson Nine: Cars and Loans

“Should I buy a new car or a used car?”  “Where is the best place to finance my automobile purchase?”  “Is it better to take the rebate or the low-rate financing plan?”  These are typical questions asked by people buying vehicles. In this lesson, students are asked to identify costs associated with owning and operating a motor vehicle. Since these costs are commonly underestimated, guidelines are provided on how much to spend when buying vehicles.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Nine: Cars And Loans

Student Guide – Lesson Nine: Cars And Loans

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Nine: Cars And Loans

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Nine: Cars And Loans

Lesson Ten: The Influence of Advertising

In today’s modern world, advertising seems to be everywhere we look; online, television, billboards, magazines, newspapers, on buses, grocery carts, even cell phones.  In addition, some forms of advertising can be subliminal, such as the strategically-placed soda can in a movie. We can’t help but be influenced and manipulated as consumers. In this lesson, students will become aware of the various techniques and appeals used to influence consumer behavior.

Teachers Guide – Lesson Ten: The Influence Of Advertising

Lesson 10: The Influence of Advertising – High School Student Guide

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Ten: The Influence Of Advertising

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Ten: The Influence Of Advertising

Lesson Eleven: Consumer Awareness

Decisions, decisions. With so many choices available to us, how can we be sure we’re making the right decision?  Wise consumer buying starts with a plan. Using a systematic purchasing strategy will provide students with an ability to make more effective purchases. Comparative shopping techniques will be discussed to encourage students to carefully consider price, product attributes, warranties, and store policies. Next, this lesson covers a variety of buying methods, such as buying clubs, shopping by phone, catalogs, online, and door-to-door selling.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Eleven: Consumer Awareness

Student Guide – Lesson Eleven: Consumer Awareness

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Eleven: Consumer Awareness

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Eleven: Consumer Awareness

Lesson Twelve: Saving and Investing

Saving just 35 cents a day will result in more than $125 in a year. Small amounts saved and invested can easily grow into larger sums. However, a person must start to save.  This lesson provides students with a basic knowledge of saving and investing. The process starts with setting financial goals. Next, a commitment to saving is discussed.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Twelve: Saving And Investing

Student Guide – Lesson Twelve: Saving And Investing

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Twelve: Saving And Investing

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Twelve: Saving And Investing

Lesson Thirteen: In Trouble

The material in this lesson will help students become aware of the warning signs of financial difficulties. This lesson includes information on where to go for debt consolidation help and for nonprofit credit counseling .

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Thirteen: In Trouble

Student Guide – Lesson Thirteen: In Trouble

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Thirteen: In Trouble

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Thirteen: In Trouble

Lesson Fourteen: Consumer Privacy

In today’s information age, keeping your personal financial information private can be challenging. What you put on an application for a loan, your payment history, where you make purchases, and your account balances are but a few of the financial records that can be sold to third parties and other organizations.  This lesson, with attached budgeting activities, will encourage high school students to take the time and effort to develop their own personal financial goals and spending behaviors.

Teacher’s Guide – Lesson Fourteen: Consumer Privacy

Student Guide – Lesson Fourteen: Consumer Privacy

Teacher’s Slide Presentation – Lesson Fourteen: Consumer Privacy

Teacher’s Power Point Presentation – Lesson Fourteen: Consumer Privacy

Supplementary Resources

In an effort to give you the most up-to-date information for teaching and making personal financial decisions, we’ve compiled the following lists of periodicals and organizations that can enhance your use of Practical Money Skills for Life.

More Resources for Students: The Cost of College 

The cost to attend college has soared faster than almost any segment of the economy over the last 30 years. The average cost for students attending a public university is up 213% ($3,190 in 1988 to $9,970 in 2018), while private school is up 129% ($15,160 to $34,740) over the same time period.

That’s the primary reason Americans are $1.4 trillion in debt on student loans.

The good news is that are hundreds of online sites offering tips on not just what it will cost, but what you can do to pay for it. So, take a deep breath and check out these sites that should help you find a college you can afford to attend.

• www.collegedata.com : This is a wonderful resource for everything from cost factors to how to apply to how to pay your own way.
• www.trends.collegeboard.org : They specialize in providing historical data on college pricing, financial aid and what your degree will be worth when you graduate.
• https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/prepare-for-college/choosing-schools/consider/costs : This is the site for the Department of Education, which provides approximately 67% of college financial aid. You will find detailed evaluation of costs and financial aid here.
• https://www.aie.org/ : This site offers answers on the cost of college, how to finance it and even how to manage money while you’re there.
• https://nces.ed.gov/ : This is a government site that collects and analyzes date from every college and provides accurate data on average cost of attendance.
• www.mykidscollegechoice.com : Very focused on finding a college you can afford and ways to pay for it.
• www.collegecountdown.com : Asks and answers questions about actual costs of college, school that fit you financially and how to evaluate offers you receive from colleges.

Other Resources for Teachers

• Debt Relief For Teachers
• Student Loan Forgiveness for Teachers
• Financial Literacy for Teachers

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