Education 401/402: Professional Development Program (PDP)

SFU Library Resources for PDP Unit Planning

If you need help, please contact Hope Power, Liaison Librarian: Education at 778.782.4359 or hpower@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.

*TIP: Did you know that most SFU Education students are eligible for our free Telebook service that delivers library books and other resources to you directly at home!  For help getting started, try our online Telebook tutorial.

1) Curriculum Guides

• Curriculum Documents (aka Integrated Resource Packages for BC Schools) are available in full-text online from the BC Ministry of Education website. These documents include provincially required curriculum learning outcomes, suggested ideas for instruction, lists of recommended learning resources, and possible methods for teachers to use in evaluating students' progress.

2) Textbooks and other Recommended Learning Resources

• Many of the BC Ministry of Education's Recommended Learning Resources (aka Grade Collections) for subjects taught in BC schools are available in the SFU Library's Curriculum Collection.  This special collection of K-12 textbooks, selected IRPs and curriculum guides, and books for children and young adults is located on the second floor of the Bennett Library (Burnaby campus).
• These textbooks and other learning resources can be located by keyword, title, or author searches in the SFU Library catalogue limited to the "Curriculum Collection" and can be ordered via Telebook.
  • NEW: SFU Library's Collection of Recommended Learning Resources: An Excel workbook, with subject tabs (Math, Social Studies, etc.). This spreadsheet lists all of the provincially recommended resources currently available at SFU Library.

3) Books about Teaching

• Books about teaching methodologies and teaching in specific subject areas are available in the Bennett (Burnaby) and Fraser (Surrey) library stacks. 
• These resources can be located by keyword, title, or author searches in the SFU Library catalogue (for example: a keyword search for teaching AND art AND elementary).  Click on the title of a book that you're interested in to find out more information about it -- including which subject headings it's catalogued under [for example, Art -- Study and teaching (Elementary)].  Then, click on any of these subject headings to find more books on your topic of interest and order them via Telebook.

4) Lesson Plans

• Teachers are very generous about making their lesson plans and unit plans freely available online.  A quick Google search can turn up many results for just about any topic (use search terms such as "lesson plans" or "unit plans" as well as keywords related to your topic of interest) ... but sometimes these may include too many out-of-date or off-topic resources.
• For subject-specific information and resources you may wish to check out the BC Teachers' Federation's directory of Provincial Specialist Association webites
• A number of recommended lesson plan collections online are also listed under the Additional Resources section of the Education research guide.  Many of these will let you search for lesson plans by grade/age level as well as by keyword (for example, the Gateway to 21st Century Skills website
• Wondering what kinds of materials that you find on the web are copyright-cleared for educational use in the classroom?  See Copyright at SFU.

5) Films and Video Clips

• Education Central at SFU has an excellent collection of educational DVDs and videos, with titles covering a wide number of learning resources. These materials are available on a sign-out basis for student, staff, and faculty use.
•  The SFU Library's Media Resource Centre (Bennett Library) and New Media Collection (Fraser Library) also have a number of feature films and documentaries with public performance rights for educational use at SFU.  These films can be borrowed from the library and booked for classroom showing but are not eligible to be delivered via Telebook.
• A number of film and video clip collections online -- including the NFB's Online Screening Room and the CBC Digital Archives -- are also listed under the Additional Resources section of the Education research guide.
• Looking for online clips of demonstrations or lectures or training and developing teachers?  Check out the Education in Video database.

6) Images

• See Finding and Using Online Images.

7) Books and Magazine Articles for Children and Young Adults

• Many Canadian and award-winning books for children and young adults are available in the Curriculum Collection and can be ordered via Telebook.  To find these books, try keyword, title, or author searches in the SFU Library catalogue limited to the "Curriculum Collection".
• For magazine articles for children and young adults, try the MAS Ultra - School Edition databse (full-text of articles, reports and special issues of over 460 popular magazines).

9) Other Resources

Looking for more information?  Many more Education-related resources -- including books, e-journals, databases, and additional resources -- are listed on the Education research guide.

*Tip: Wondering what kind of SFU Library services are available to you after you graduate?  Check out our Services to Alumni guide!