ESL Lesson Plans

Welcome to TEFL.net ESL Lesson Plans. Here are some ideas and activities that will help you animate any class. Some of these lesson plans are arranged by level, but you can often adapt them quite easily to another (usually higher) level.

ESL Worksheet Generator
Make your own worksheets online, free!

ESL Worksheets
A range of freely photocopiable, printer-friendly ESL worksheets, including...

• Talking Point Worksheets
  Discussion-based worksheets, accompanied by handy teaching notes. New Talking Points monthly.
• Topic-based Worksheets
  No time to prepare? These ready-to-go, easy-to-teach ESL lesson plans by Liz Regan aren't just ideas for activities - they are complete, ready-to-teach topic-based handouts with teaching notes.
• Skill-based ESL Worksheets
  Variety of practical worksheets based around grammar, listening, speaking...
• TEFLtastic Worksheets
  A growing collection of varied and useful worksheets and activity ideas by Alex Case

ESL Games
Ideas for pair and group games in the classroom.

ESL Activities
Many of these are classic activities used around the world wherever people teach languages. They can be extremely valuable in introducing dynamism and reinforcing the points that you have taught.

Authentic Reading Material
The latest articles and news from a collection of English language sources around the world, updated in real time. Topical material for any lesson plan.

Teaching Tips
These helpful teaching tips are written in plain, jargon-free English.

Catering to Multiple Intelligences
Lesson plan involving houses

Useful Articles Relating to Lesson Plans

Immersion Role-playing
Going Beyond John and Mary: How to Use In-Depth Role-Playing
Jason White

Podcasts
How to Use Podcasts for Listening Comprehension
Jason White

Teaching with Bingo
Using bingo to teach a variety of lesson points
Glenn Huntley

The Name Game
A way to get students thinking about pronunciation, using common names
Glenn Huntley

Tips for Tutoring Adult Students
Methods and Materials for Conversation and Writing Tutors
By Eric H. Roth

The Chairperson
A technique to give responsibility, and make English purposeful
By Glenn Huntley

Fluency versus Accuracy
The value of fluency in teaching young learners
By Stefan Chiarantano

Writing Creatively in Another Language
Even beginner learners can be creative in the way they use language
By Gill James

Kids Class Blues
Kiss disciplinary problems goodbye
By Dante Cuevas

Onomatopoeia
Examples of words that mimic the sounds they make
By Stefan Chiarantano

Operation MathLog - a progress report
An internet-based EFL maze for logical-mathematical learners
By Rolf Palmberg

English is a mongrel language!
Examples of Japanese words borrowed into the English language
By Stefan Chiarantano

Dyslexia in the Foreign Language Classroom
A practical guide for teachers
By Ania Krzyzak

Top Teaching Banana Skins (and how to avoid them)
Solutions to the top three teaching mistakes
By Alex Case

A bag of tricks for the traveling YL ESL teacher
Don't leave home without it
by Stefan Chiarantano

Accounting For Style
How an understanding of individual learning styles can pay dividends in class
by Paul Meehan

YL Games for L2
Practical games and activities for young learners to test target language
by Stefan Chiarantano

Lonely Word Seeks Like-Minded Partners for Possible Collocation
How understanding word relationships is the key to successful vocabulary acquisition
by Paul Meehan

Our House
A text-based CALL lesson
by Rolf Palmberg

Lexis - the New Grammar?
How new materials are finally challenging established course book conventions
by Paul Meehan

NLP and Lazy Language Learning
Thoughts to make life simpler for language learners
by Diana Beaver

Speaking Practice through Presentations
Here we consider not so much the presentation as an end in itself as its use for speaking practice
by Josef Essberger

SAC Shock!! Tips for Self Access Centres
Students can suffer from "SAC shock" when faced with the choice between just two books
by Alex Case

Helping ESL Students Become Computer Literate
The question is not whether to teach computer literacy but how
by Bobbie Crockett

Hands off that e-Dictionary!
(Pros and) Cons of electronic dictionaries
by Glen A. Hill

Poolside Interview with Brian Boyd
Josef Essberger of EnglishClub.com interviews the creator of Grammarman, the world's first and only grammar superhero

Are You Netting the World's best ESL Resource?
You have the world's premier ESL resource at your fingertips
by Josef Essberger

Cutting Out Cutting Up: Tips for Lesson Plans
An article for anyone who has ever got tired of having a pair of scissors in their hands
by Alex Case

Taking off the Training Wheels
What can students and teachers do on the Internet?
by Douglas DeLong

20 Presentation Tips for Your Students
Helping learners to give presentations is an excellent way to encourage fluency
by Josef Essberger

Video in the Language Classroom
Video is an excellent medium for use in the language classroom
by Josef Essberger

Should ESL Instructors Speak Other Languages in the Classroom?
Should other languages be completely banned from the classroom?
by Eric Dondero R.

Ingredients for Successful Communicative Tasks
The success of communicative activities is almost always determined by the work the teacher does before the students begin
by Steven Tait