As a TEFL teacher, you know all too well how important lesson planning is. Without planning, the classroom would be utter chaos, and your students would be walking out the door faster than they could practice saying “goodbye.”
But what if you slept past your alarm and didn’t have time to create lesson plans or activities for your ESL students? Or, what if you’re putting your students to sleep with those mundane pronunciation drills? Lacking solid TEFL lesson plans or a variety of educational activities is a surefire way to ruin your class.
There are other challenges ESL teachers face too, like being short on resources, having to adapt your lessons to the length of class time, and having unruly students bouncing off the walls. Lucky for you, we’ve got your fix with four free ESL lesson plans to tackle each one of these challenges. Whether you’re teaching in Spain or Taiwan, ESL lesson plan format might vary by institution and individual instructor, but ultimately these ideas will inspire you to write engaging ESL lesson plans and address the needs of your higher- and lower-level kiddos.
When your students start to nod off at another class reading through “Goodnight, Moon,” wake them up with one of these free ESL lesson plans.
How to Choose the Right ESL Activity for Your Class
The best activities for ESL students aren't necessarily the ones that require the most preparation. A simple activity can be just as effective when it matches your students' language level, the skill you're practicing, and the amount of class time you have available.
Before choosing an activity, think about what you want students to accomplish by the end of the lesson. Are they practicing new vocabulary, improving listening comprehension, speaking more confidently, reviewing grammar, or simply getting some much-needed movement after sitting for too long? Starting with a clear learning goal makes it easier to choose an activity that supports the lesson rather than just fills time.
A few other factors can help you decide:
- Language level: Beginners may need visual cues, repetition, and simple instructions, while advanced students can handle longer conversations and more independent tasks.
- Class size: Pair and group activities can give more students opportunities to speak in a large class, while smaller groups may allow for more individualized practice.
- Time available: Keep a few five- or 10-minute activities ready for unexpected gaps, along with longer options you can expand when you have a full class period.
- Resources: Interactive ESL resources can make classes more engaging. But just a whiteboard and a little creativity can go a long way, too.
- Energy level: A restless class may benefit from movement, while students who need to settle down may respond better to a focused reading, writing, or listening activity.
- Learning objective: Whenever possible, connect the activity to language students are already learning rather than choosing a game simply because it's fun.
It also helps to build flexibility into your lesson plan. An activity that works perfectly with one class may fall flat with another, even when the students are the same age or proficiency level. Have an easier variation, a more challenging extension, or a backup activity ready so you can adjust without abandoning the lesson objective.
With that in mind, the following four simple ESL activities can be adapted according to your students, resources, and available class time.
4 Simple Activities for ESL Students
Use these TEFL lesson plans if...
1. You’re short on resources: My favorite mistake.
Finding free lesson plans for teaching English as a second language has never been so easy! All you need is a marker and a whiteboard for this reading comprehension activity (or chalk/a chalkboard if you’re old school). It’s a great “do now” activity to start class off with, so that your students can review the English content from the last class. Write three to five sentences on the board, each with its own mistakes. Have students write down the sentences, circle the errors, then fix them.
Tired of the same old drills in the same old workbooks? Take one of these ESL writing lesson plans for a spin instead.
Example: An ESL lesson on plural/singular nouns using classroom materials.
1. The pencils is blue. (The pencils ARE blue/The pencil IS blue).
2. The corrector pen are red. (The corrector pens ARE red/The corrector pen IS red)
3. These notebook are black. (These notebooks ARE black/This notebook IS black)
For lower-level students, circulate around the room and see how quickly students are getting it. After a few minutes, check your answers with them. I like to have my students raise their hands and volunteer to come up to the board and correct the errors.
To modify this ESL lesson plan for higher-level students, write down one sentence at first without an error, so that the students cannot assume that they’re all wrong; then have them explain why that sentence is correct. Also, have students make up their own “favorite mistakes” and write their incorrect sentences on the board. Make sure they understand the corrections.
2. You have a long class: Scavenger hunt.
This ESL lesson plan is a fun way for students to get a breath of fresh air and do some hands-on language learning. Before progressing into these activities for ESL students, make sure your principal is okay with your students leaving class and scouring the hallways for about five to 10 minutes while looking for these items. Set parameters before starting this activity, like a late policy. If students take longer than 10 minutes to come back, they’ll lose points (or they can’t participate). However, you could just stay inside the classroom, too.
A chalkboard or whiteboard is all you really need to have an engaging ESL lesson.
I’ve used this for an environment unit for a tenth-grade class studying the difference between organic (natural) and inorganic (man-made) materials. I divided my students into groups of four to five, then assigned them to find eight to 10 organic or inorganic materials around the school. I wrote example items on the board, such as leaves and rocks for organic materials and candy wrappers for inorganic materials. My students then looked for different items and brought them back to class. The principal appreciated us helping clean up the school, but I should’ve prohibited my students from dumpster diving.
Once the time is up, each group presents their items and the whole class practices pronunciation of the items. To bump up the difficulty, higher level students can work in pairs to create a dialogue. For an environmental lesson, create a 10 sentence dialogue between two students who disagree whether or not it’s okay to litter. They can then practice their speaking by performing their skit in front of the class. No mumbling or hands covering mouths, though!
3. You have a short class: Telephone.
Listening activities for ESL students like this one are lots of fun because they break the ice and lead to some giggle-worthy misunderstandings. There’s a reason why this is a childhood game, so why not bring into your ESL classroom to practice vocabulary? Here’s how to do it:
Write 10 vocabulary words on the board. Students will sit or stand in equal rows, then they’ll whisper a word from the board to the first student in each row. Those students return to their row and whisper the same word to the student behind them. This continues until the end of the row. The last student in each row runs to the board to touch the correct vocabulary word.
Modify these ESL lesson plans for higher-level students by, instead of whispering single vocab words, having your students whisper entire sentences. Or, play with word pairs— give the students one word and have them touch the word on the board that matches it. For example, give the word “Nairobi” and students touch the word “Kenya” on the board. Last, to practice writing, the last student in the row writes the word on the board.
Keep students engaged in class with any one of these activities for ESL students.
4. Your students are antsy: Total physical response.
Kinesthetic learners especially love learning by doing, and this strategy uses movement to teach English language learners. Say a vocabulary word or phrase and perform an action to represent it at the same time. If you’re studying sports, say “I play tennis!” Your students will then copy your action of hitting a ball with a tennis racket while they say the phrase. You can turn this into a listening or speaking activity, or both, depending on your students’ needs and what types of activities for ESL students they enjoy most. Bonus points if you can turn the movements into a song.
How can you adjust this ESL lesson plan for higher-level students? After practicing several times, say the word or phrase without performing the action, and have the students perform the action and say the word or phrase. Then, after practicing several times, perform the action and ask the students to say the word or phrase. If your students are killing their English language learning game, then stand in a circle and assign each of them a movement to go with a sport. Each student must remember the movements of the previous students in the order that they performed, and they perform their own.
Restless students (no matter the age or language level) can always benefit from a lesson taught in the great outdoors!
Need more activities for ESL students? Check out these 3 ESL Lesson Plans Fit for Any TEFL Teacher.
The Best Lessons Leave Room for Fun
Teaching English abroad is no piece of cake, but with these new TEFL lesson plan examples, you’ll be ready for anything that comes your way. Just remember to be willing to scrap an ESL lesson plan if it’s no longer working. Doing total physical response might work for one class, but it might not work as well for another. Be as flexible in your lesson planning as you are in the classroom, and remember to have fun! You don’t have to plan for laughter during your activities for ESL students, but when you’re having fun, the lessons stick best.
Ready to test these free ESL lesson plans? Start with MyGoAbroad.
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Charleen Johnson Stoever
Meaningful Travel Insider
Char is an introverted lover of dragon fruit juice. She loves sitting with Nicaraguan children on the side of the street while patiently breaking down North American stereotypes. With a short haircut and watermelon shaped earrings, she is passionate about mental health and the rewards that come with vulnerable travel. Not only does she write for five different blogs, she also teaches art and English classes in the mountains of Nicaragua.
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