Finding appropriate Microsoft Excel lesson plans for middle school students isn’t easy.
You need lessons that are made for the right age group, engaging, and meet your course standards — not to mention help you prep students for the MOS Excel certification!
While you could create your own lessons from scratch, that takes a lot of time (especially if you aren’t a spreadsheet whiz) and there’s always the risk the lesson falling flat in the classroom.
However, you can also pick up Excel lesson plans from the Internet to find the ones that work for you.
On this page, you’ll find a list of the three best places to get Microsoft Excel lesson plans for middle school computer classes:
- Excel 2016 Tutorial from GCFLearnFree.org
- Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets Lesson Plan Bundle from Computer Creations
- Lessons & Activities Bundle for Microsoft Excel from TechCheck Lessons
In this blog, you’ll learn about each resource to help you decide which one(s) will work best for you and your students!
1. Excel Tutorial from GCFLearnFree.org
GCFLearnFree.org is a not-for-profit service from the Goodwill Community Foundation, a charitable arm of Goodwill Industries. GCFLearnFree provides free educational resources to help children and adults develop skills that will help them in today’s workforce. In total, the organization offers over 7,000 free lessons in a wide range of areas.
One of the most popular sections of the website deals with technology skills. The Technology section includes interactive lessons on the concepts and skills associated with major computer applications, like the Microsoft Office suite.
In this section, you’ll find a Microsoft Excel Tutorial dedicated to teaching students how to create and manage data through Excel spreadsheets. The tutorial is designed for Microsoft Office 2019 and 365, so you’ll be able to use the lesson regardless of which version you are using.
The Excel Tutorial includes 36 lessons organized into six units:
- Excel Basics
- Working with Cells and Sheets
- Formulas and Functions
- Working with Data
- Doing More with Excel
- Extras
Each tutorial lesson includes the same layout, which provides an easy-to-follow and consistent learning experience for students.
For each lesson in the tutorial, your students will see:
- Lesson instructions
- Overview videos
- Step-by-step instructions
- Screenshots depicting each step
- Hints and tips for deeper learning
In addition, you’ll find a quiz at the end of the tutorial for students to measure how much they’ve learned about Excel.
The GCFLearnFree Excel Tutorial is self-guided, so students can use it to learn and practice Microsoft Excel at their own pace in class or at home. This is great for teachers looking for a way to incorporate blended learning into their classrooms.
On the other hand, the fact that the lessons are fully self-paced can make it tough for teachers to keep track of how students are progressing. You’ll have to keep a close eye on your learners to make sure they are completing the tutorial and not falling behind.
Teachers looking for a free, interactive resource that allows their students to teach themselves spreadsheet basics, will find that the GCFLearnFree Excel Tutorial is a good choice for them. However, educators desiring to have a more structured curriculum that goes into depth with Microsoft Excel may want a more comprehensive option.
2. Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets Lesson Plan Bundle from Computer Creations
Computer Creations is a well-known publisher on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT), an online marketplace where educators share, sell, and buy resources.
Computer Creations has more than 340 products available to help teach technology topics, including a robust Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets Lesson Plan Bundle. In total, the bundle features over 100 pages of curriculum resources to help you teach middle school students to use Excel.
The resources you’ll receive in the bundle include:
- Detailed suggested lesson plans
- PowerPoint presentations
- Student worksheets
- Excel spreadsheet exercises
- I Can statements
- 19 task cards for independent work
- 20 question cards to test student knowledge
The ample amount of materials available here will allow you to spend a lot of time teaching your students to use Excel. Computer Creations estimates that these curriculum resources will help you fill two months of classes!
In addition, the lesson plans and other resources in this bundle are adaptable for distance learning, so they’re a great choice to use when students are working in class or on their own. Plus, you can use the spreadsheet exercises as projects to help measure your students’ success throughout the term.
Overall, this Microsoft Excel lesson plan bundle is a solid option for a teacher who needs resources that can be used either to structure a class or for students to complete as homework.
Unlike some resources, these lesson plans are not free. To access the full collection, you’ll have to pay $52.50. If this price is too much for your school budget, you may want to consider a less expensive alternative.
3. Lessons & Activities Bundle for Microsoft Excel from TechCheck Lessons
TechCheck Lessons is another publisher on Teachers Pay Teachers heavily focused on helping educators teach technology classes.
One of the most popular products from TechCheck Lessons is this bundle of lessons and activities for Microsoft Excel. Designed for learners in grades 7-12, this bundle includes twenty different lessons and activities focused just on Excel.
In total, there are 108 pages of content in this bundle, which gives you the ability to go in-depth with your students. The lessons include topics such as:
Microsoft Excel vocabulary- Basic functions and formulas
- Formatting cells
- Working with tables
- Inserting hyperlinks and images
- Conditional formatting
Each lesson includes a teacher-led presentation, step-by-step activities, and sample answers to review student work. These resources make it easy to integrate into a middle school classroom environment.
In addition, the materials in this bundle are designed to work with Microsoft Office 2019 and prepare students for the MOS Specialist Exam Certification from Certiport. However, since there aren’t any specific assessments in the bundle, you’ll have to come up with your own ways to test student knowledge on Microsoft Excel.
Compared with other Excel lesson plans, the TechCheck bundle is relatively less expensive. You’ll pay just $19.99 if you purchase these resources.
Overall, if you’re looking for an adaptable bundle of activities that you can use as prep for the Microsoft Office Certification Test, TechCheck offers quality materials at an affordable price.
Need More Comprehensive MS Excel Lesson Plans for Your Students?
In looking for Microsoft Excel lesson plans for your middle school students, it’s often difficult to strike a balance. Do you choose a resource that allows your students to explore the application on their own, or go with a more structured curriculum that includes detailed instructions and assessments?
If you’re looking to let your students learn and practice Excel on their own, GCFLearnFree.org offers a quality interactive program your students can use both in and outside of school.
If you prefer to lead students in more structured lessons and activities, Computer Creations and TechCheck both offer excellent instructional resources through Teachers Pay Teachers.
However, it’s possible that you want the benefits of creative, self-guided learning and more carefully structured lessons and objective assessments. In this case, you may want to consider Business&ITCenter21 from AES.
Business&ITCenter21 offers a complete Microsoft Office curriculum that includes Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and more. You can use the resources in AES to teach a full computer applications course that prepares students for certification.
