Lesson Planning Repurposing Hacks that will help you Save Hours
- literacytales
- Dec 7, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 16, 2024
Teaching is a mix of creativity and strategic planning to engage students while meeting their educational goals. Finding ways to manage our workload and simplify our tasks is essential so we can focus on connecting with our students and enhancing their learning experience.
Reusing and adapting lesson plans is an easy trick to save time planning and keeping our students engaged while reviewing or reinforcing the skill presented.
It's just an easy way to meet all the different needs of our students without having to create everything from scratch.
Continue reading for more on how to reuse lesson plans to make teaching easier and more effective!
Why to Repurpose Lessons?
Save hours by reusing the lessons; repurposing your lesson plans isn't a shortcut or being lazy. It's working smarter, not harder.
Here's why you should repurpose your lesson plans:
📚 Saves Time: Reusing and tweaking the lessons will save you a lot of time planning so that you can perfect your teaching and recover your weekend.
📚 Meets Different Needs: Activities can easily be adapted to help different learning styles and abilities without starting from scratch.
📚 Sparks New Ideas: Revisiting old lessons can inspire fresh ways to teach or connect concepts across subjects.
📚 Prevents Burnout: Reusing materials lightens the load of constant planning, giving you more energy to focus on your students.
Reusing learning designs enables educators to reflect in a way that refines their teaching methods.
Check out this writing resource, which includes flexible prompts and activities for different lessons or themes. It's perfect for reusing throughout the year to fit your classroom needs.
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In fact, according to a study published in the Journal of Interactive Media in Education, this leads to more effective instructional strategies.
Repurposing Lessons:
Here are a few ways you can implement to reuse existing lesson planning:
I have used this strategy many times in my planning.
Cross-Curricular Connections Repurposing Hacks:
Connect past lessons to current events or other subjects to keep them relevant and interesting to students.
📚 Incorporate cross-curricular lessons wherever possible.
For example, A reading lesson about ancient Egyptian history can simultaneously be a social studies lesson.
📚 An English project on persuasive writing could turn into a debate in social studies.
📚 Reading and Writing Lessons It could be integrated into the science lesson through a reading activity.
Modify Lessons to Fit Different Levels and Students'Needs:
Adapt lessons to fit different grades or skill levels by simplifying concepts for a younger audience or adding depth for advanced learners.
Example: A fractions lesson can be about simple operations for young students and extend to practical applications such as doubling a recipe for older students.
Repurposing Lessons Hacks:
Original Lesson: Writing a Personal Narrative (ELA)
📚 Ask the students to create a social studies-based project in which they write as historical figures. Then, using the same narrative framework, create a science journal to document a fictional experiment.
Original Lesson: The Water Cycle (Science)
📚 Design an interdisciplinary English project where students create poems about the water cycle. Have students create an art project in which they draw or design a diagram of the water cycle.
Original Lesson: Exploring Shapes and Geometry (Math)
📚 Repurpose the use of geometry in an art lesson where students will be creating mosaics. Using shapes to explain the concept of angles in projectile motion.
Repurposing Lessons Tips:
I have used and implemented every single tip provided below. I have chosen each one carefully so you can utilize it to help you save time planning and preparing.
✅ Organize Everything: Store your lesson materials in one easy-to-access digital or physical folder, and label them clearly.
✅ Reflect and Improve: Following each lesson, note what went well and what didn't. Use this feedback to make tweaks and improvements for a revised lesson in the future.
✅ Collaborate with Other Teachers: Share your lesson planning with colleagues and obtain a larger pool of resources you have gathered.
✅ Encourage Student Feedback: Students often have great insights into enjoyable or valuable activities. Use their feedback to develop your lessons further and recycle them.
✅ Repurposing lessons is a win for the teacher and students: it saves time, reduces stress, and creates a more prosperous learning environment. You may already be doing some things that can help you adapt instruction and meet ever-changing classroom needs.
You'll constantly keep your lessons engaging yet effective by innovatively reusing the key elements you already have.
Ready to save time and make lesson planning easier? Share your favorite repurposing hacks in the comments below, or tag us on social media with your most creative ideas. Let's inspire each other and work smarter, not harder!