Instructional Materials Overview

Instructional materials are any resources that will accompany your lessons and enhance student learning. Instructional materials can be used for any of the following purposes:

• Delivering Content: These are the primary materials that you’ll use to share the meat of your information. They could include textbooks, readings, videos, audio, and lecture plans.

• Assessing Knowledge: These are the materials that you will use to gauge the progress that your learners are making with the content. They could include quizzes, tests, homework assignments, or rubrics for assessing presentations.

• Scaffolding Learning: These are the materials that provide structure to the learning. They are particularly beneficial to learners that are struggling with organizing the content. Not every learner will necessarily need the scaffolding resources but you should be prepared to provide them for those that do. These could include guided notes, blank graphic organizers for filling in notes and cheat sheets. These could also include alternative or back-up activities or assignments for learners that need more practice or a different method for understanding the content.

• Facilitating Experiences: These are the material required for completing classroom activities. They could include computer software, calculators, lab materials, equipment, and safety supplies.

The University of Wisconsin - Madison provides an overview of instructional materials as well as links to open source resources.