Free Smart Board Lesson Plans

There’s nothing like finding a standards-aligned lesson that’s smart board ready! Lessons with slideshow presentations help teachers stay on track and keep students engaged. Being able to rely on a well-designed slideshow can be especially helpful when teachers decide to deliver a lesson on a topic they don’t feel particularly confident about…like climate change. The following free smart board lesson plans feature slideshow presentations that organize resources so that teachers don’t have to keep a dozen tabs open on the smart board! 

Understanding Weather

Grades: K, 1st, 2nd

Subjects: Science, Earth and Space Sciences, English Language Arts

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

Inquire

Students generate ideas in response to the question "What is weather?" and watch a read aloud video of the book Fabienne’s Wild Weather Adventure.

Investigate

Students learn the definition of weather and start an individual weather journal to track the weather each day.

Inspire

Students design their own weather wheel and make a prediction of the Earth’s climate 30 years from now by drawing a timeline.

This SubjectToClimate lesson plan uses a well-designed slideshow to introduce young students to the concept of weather. Students play a fun weather vocabulary game using the vocabulary cards that are included in the lesson and watch a read-aloud video of the book Fabienne’s Wild Weather Adventure. The slideshow gives students instructions on how to track the daily weather in their individual weather journals and design their own weather wheels. At the end of the lesson, students will use what they have learned to draw a timeline and make a prediction about Earth’s climate 30 years from now.

Teachers will love how this free smart board lesson organizes discussion questions, thinking prompts, resources, a glossary, and activities, making it easy to deliver a fun and impactful lesson on weather. Having all the materials linked and embedded in the slideshow will make delivering this lesson a breeze!

This lesson provides an excellent introduction to the relationship between climate and weather. It is also a great way to build vocabulary skills and encourage students to learn collaboratively. Teachers can group students with mixed abilities to encourage collaboration on the weather wheels and the climate predictions.

The Magic of Mangroves Elementary Lesson Plan

Grades: K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th

Subjects: Science, Biology, Climate Action

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan from the University of California Irvine Science Project teaches students about the importance of mangrove forests. The resource includes a teacher slideshow, extension activity slideshows, and an infographic. Students will learn about threats to mangroves, mangrove forests' essential role in solving the climate crisis, and how to help protect this valuable ecosystem. 

Teachers will appreciate how this smart board lesson incorporates colorful and thought-provoking photographs, well-designed infographics, and intriguing videos into an easy-to-follow slideshow. In addition, the main lesson slideshow and the extension activity slideshows contain helpful speaker notes that will keep teachers feeling confident as they deliver the lesson.

This lesson plan is packed with student questions for discussion, so pre-selecting students for small groups and revisiting class discussion protocols may be beneficial to maximize student discourse. The first extension activity slideshow teaches students about infographics and how they can be used to convey information about mangroves. The second extension activity slideshow teaches students how to make a public service announcement about the importance of protecting mangrove forests. 

It's an Alien Invasion!

Grades: 3rd, 4th, 5th

Subjects: Science, Social Studies, Biology, Geography, Health

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

Inquire

Students watch a video outlining invasive species and write a summary outlining their new knowledge.

Investigate

Students play a digital game and a hands-on game to understand how invasive species can outcompete native species in their environments.

Inspire

Students use guided questions to conduct research about an invasive species in their community and create a presentation to spread awareness.

In this free smart board lesson plan from SubjectToClimate, students learn how cultural practices can spread ideas and traditions as well as invasive species! Students watch a video about invasive species and write a summary outlining their new knowledge.  Afterwards, students play an online game that shows how invasive species can outcompete native species, which is followed by a hands-on game. Finally, students use guided questions to conduct research about an invasive species in their community and create a presentation to spread awareness.

This lesson offers a clever mix of digital media, kinesthetic learning, writing practice, and community service, all neatly organized in a slideshow. Teachers will love that the lesson includes directions for the hands-on game, printable game cards, and a graphic organizer for students to do their invasive species research.

Teachers can teach this lesson exactly as it is written, or they can choose to omit parts that will not work for their students. For example, classes that do not have access to one-on-one technology can skip the online invasive species game and instead choose to do extra rounds of the hands-on game. 

Chief Oshkosh and a History of Menominee Forest Conservation

Grades: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Subjects: Science, Social Studies, Biology, History, Justice

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan includes a well-researched slideshow with audio and a video explaining the history of the Menominee people and their fight to preserve their land from the United States. Students will learn that during westward expansion, Chief Oshkosh negotiated with the United States government to preserve a portion of the Menominee land, which is still thriving today because of the Menominee people's sustainable forestry practices.

Unfortunately, it can be challenging to find high quality, well-researched lesson plans that focus on Native American leaders. This excellent lesson plan and video from PBS make it easy to deliver a meaningful lesson on an important historical figure with whom many students are unfamiliar. 

Teachers will need to scroll down to the “Teaching Resources” section to access the lesson plan and slideshow. American history classes could use this lesson to teach about Manifest Destiny and its impact on Native Americans. Science classes could use this video and lesson to introduce the concept of sustainable forestry practices.

Is This Greenwashing?

Grades: 6th, 7th, 8th

Subjects: English Language Arts

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

Inquire

Students watch and discuss ExxonMobil's advertisement called "What Carbon Capture Can Do."

Investigate

Students watch a video describing greenwashing and answer guiding questions.

Inspire

Students watch a series of videos from various companies. Students select one video and write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph arguing if the video is an example of greenwashing or not.

In this free smart board lesson plan from SubjectToClimate, students learn about greenwashing, watch a series of videos, and write a claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph arguing whether the advertisement is greenwashing or not. The lesson includes a number of real video advertisements, discussion questions, a video that explains greenwashing, and student handouts.

ELA teachers know that writing activities are more meaningful when there is a purpose behind the activity. The writing activity in this lesson gives students the chance to think critically about advertising and messaging while practicing claim-evidence-reasoning writing.

The slideshow and the handout use a color coding method to help students with their sentences. Teachers can encourage students to keep their text highlighted as they write to keep them focused and organized. Teachers can differentiate the lesson by having weaker writers focus on elements such as the music, the tone of the narrator’s voice, or the imagery in the videos. Stronger writers may be encouraged to include more concrete evidence in their paragraphs.

The Magic of Coral Secondary Lesson Plan

Grades: 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Subjects: Science, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

This smart board lesson plan from the University of California Irvine Science Project includes everything needed to deliver a highly engaging lesson about coral bleaching. In the main lesson and accompanying slideshow, students learn through inquiry and reflect on how humans impact coral ecosystems. The resource also includes an extension activity with a slideshow to help students cultivate awareness, culminating in an art installation.

The slideshows that accompany this lesson are beautifully designed and well-researched. The speaker notes that accompany each slide are thorough and will help teachers deliver an engaging learning experience. 

This lesson would work well in a biology or Earth science class. Students learn about the important role that coral play in sustaining biodiversity in ocean ecosystems and how human actions are impacting coral.

Mini-Debate: National Parks

Grades: 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Subjects: Science, Social Studies

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson from Arizona State University, students will learn how an increase in visitors is impacting national parks and then have a debate about limiting the number of visitors. The slideshow helps keep the debate focused and organized.

Teachers will love the way that this lesson plan walks students through each stage of the debate process. Students can prepare their pro and con arguments using the linked resources to learn about problems that arise when national parks have too many visitors.

Teachers can use this lesson plan exactly as it is written for a no-prep lesson, or they can use the framework for the debate in other climate science-related topics. 

Artistic Slogans & Parallel Structure

Grades: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Subjects: English Language Arts, Art

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

Inquire

Students evaluate visual and writing components of three slogans on climate change awareness and advocacy.

Investigate

Students watch introductory videos on climate change, take notes on the main ideas, reflect on meaningful evidence, and discuss the effectiveness of climate protests.

Inspire

Students learn four types of parallel structure and create slogans combining parallel structures, climate change facts, and art.

In this creative SubjectToClimate smart board lesson, students evaluate three slogans on climate awareness and advocacy and create their own artistic slogans using four specific types of parallel structure. The slideshow provides photos of climate slogans, videos, and definitions and examples of four parallel structures, antithesis, chiasmus, anaphora, and epistrophe.

Teachers will appreciate that the lesson includes a student document and a teacher answer key, both of which can be used digitally or printed out. Students will enjoy putting their learning into practice as they write their own climate activism slogans using the four types of parallel structure. 

Students do not need any prior knowledge about climate change for this lesson; the lesson includes an introductory video on climate change and a video on how scientists know climate change is real, both of which will help students to understand the topic. Students will have the chance to reflect on the evidence of climate change, discuss the effectiveness of climate protests, and then use their creativity to make their own climate slogans and turn their favorite slogan into a piece of artwork. 

SubjectToClimate knows that smart board lesson plans help teachers to stay organized and keep the class focused. With the above lesson plans, teachers will have videos, games, instructions, links to resources, and directions for activities at their fingertips. These lessons, and all of the SubjectToClimate exemplar lesson plans, use slideshows that keep lessons on track and make them easy for teachers to deliver. 

About the Author

Emily has a bachelor’s degree in English and French and a master’s degree in library and information science. She spent seven years teaching information evaluation and research skills as a school librarian in K-8 public schools. As a lifelong resident of Southern Louisiana, Emily has a particular interest in how climate change affects coastal regions. She hopes to connect educators with resources that will help them to teach their students about the disproportionately adverse effects of climate change on historically marginalized communities.