Free Unit Lesson Plans For High School Teachers of Psychology

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APA offers complimentary 3- to 7-day unit lesson plans that include a procedural timeline, content outline, suggested resources, and activities and references for high school psychology teachers.

These materials were produced by Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS), which represents the needs of psychology teachers at the high school level.

Please contact TOPSS if you have questions about these lesson plans.

Disclaimer: Teachers are responsible for understanding and staying current with legal developments that may affect their curriculum decisions and seeking appropriate consultation to understand or when uncertain about legal requirements. Read full disclaimer and notice.opens in new window

 

Unit lesson plans

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Cognition (PDF, 562KB) opens in new window

A three-lesson unit plan for high school psychology teachers*
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Gender (PDF, 345KB) opens in new window

A four-lesson unit plan for high school psychology teachers
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Industrial-Organizational Psychology (PDF, 260KB) opens in new window

A four-lesson unit plan for high school psychology teachers
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Positive Psychology (PDF, 164KB) opens in new window

A seven-lesson unit plan for high school psychology teachers*
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Social Psychology (PDF, 393KB) opens in new window

A six-lesson unit plan for high school psychology teachers
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Stress and Health (PDF, 453KB) opens in new window

A six-lesson unit plan for high school psychology teachers

*Note: The lesson plans on Cognition and Positive Psychology were published just prior to the revision of the 2022 National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula . We are making them available here, but encourage teachers to use the 2022 National Standards for lesson planning.

 

Archived lesson plans

The APA TOPSS Committee has archived the following lesson plans, most of which are aligned to the 2011 version of APA’s National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula and not the most current (2022) revision. Teachers are encouraged to use the 2022 National Standards for lesson planning. Teachers should note that these lesson plans have not been updated and may not reflect current research in psychological science. They are provided here as background information for teachers to use as needed.


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Looking for an activity you need tomorrow?


TOPSS has a searchable database of over 100 classroom activities available to teachers. Also posted are 2-day lesson plans from past award winning teachers .

 

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Additional resources

TOPSS offers a collection of APA resources for teachers of introductory psychology, including curriculum and classroom tools.

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Diversity resources

Research summaries, psychologist profiles, and guiding questions to help educators infuse diversity and representation into their lessons
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Resource vetting rubric (PDF, 80KB) opens in new window

Guidance to help educators vet resources to use in the high school psychology classroom
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TOPSS teaching resources

Collection of resources for high school psychology teachers and students, including a video and website on the value of the high school psychology course