ESL Lesson Plans

Search the archives of lesson plans to promote cross-cultural awareness in the ESL/EFL classroom.

Ideas for pair and group improvisations

At the its-teachers site, teachers can access 3SIXTY5 which provides teachers with activities for every day of the year. Although the full service is subscription-based, there are two sample activities each week. All the material is presented in a self-study format and in a printer-friendly classroom format with teaching notes.

In this lesson students can learn how to pronounce words beginning with the letter "u" (as in "untidy" or as in "union") and which indefinite article ("a" or "an") to use in front of them. Opportunities for practice are provided through a gap-fill exercise and a speaking task. Fluency is promoted through discussion questions relating to trade unions. For example: "How powerful are the unions in your country? How often do unions go on strike in your country?"

The Learning Page provides free, downloadable worksheets, ebooks, and lesson plans for teachers and parents of elementary level schoolchildren. There are hundreds of pages in theme-based and basic skills categories.

A stimulating lesson which coincides with the start of the new year. Vocabulary is practised with a gap-fill exercise which introduces the students to some idiomatic phrases containing the word "change". Students are given the chance to practise their fluency through personalized conversation questions such as: "Do you like change or do you prefer things to stay the same?" and "Have you ever been short-changed?"

A lesson that will generate a lively discussion among students. Vocabulary is practised with a gap-fill "definintions" exercise that introduces the students to some useful lexis related to the topic. Students are given the chance to practise their fluency through stimulating conversation questions such as: "If you were sent back in time to assassinate somebody, who would it be?"

Matching Pairs worksheets are good for things like collocations, translation of short phrases, first and last names of famous writers, presidents etc, phrasal verbs, opposites, synonyms, animals and countries, buildings and cities...and so on until you run out of ideas :)

Scrambled Word worksheets can be used to check vocabulary and spelling, and improve reading and writing skills. You can make these easier by choosing a theme, so that all the words are about one subject such as the "weather" or "transport".