1.

Nice to meet you

basic expressions for meeting and greeting each other. Avoid explaining any grammar at this stage.
The students only need to know the meaning of the questions and greetings.

2. Countries and nationalities

the names of important countries, nations and nationalities. The lesson assumes a basic knowledge
of the verb be.

3. Possessive adjectives
the possessive adjectives my, your, his, her its, our, your, and their.

4. Describing people
basic adjectives and structures for describing peoples appearance and personality. images

5. Telling the time

how to tell the time practise basic numbers.

6. Jobs and routines

the names of various jobs are introduced, the present simple. The present simple affirmative and
question forms.

7. Family
vocabulary for family members and possessives. Basic questions for requesting information about
people.

8. Free time
vocabulary for typical leisure time activities. adverbs of frequency (never, rarely, sometimes, often,
etc.) once/twice/three times a week/month/year. How often ...?

9. Whats the weather like?

basic vocabulary for describing the weather. adverbs of frequency.

10. I like it!

like, don't like, hate, love + -ing. conversation about likes and dislikes..

11. Elementary review 1

the vocabulary and grammar from Lesson plans 1-10 the verb 'be', countries and nationalities,
possessive adjectives, adjectives for describing people, telling the time, present simple, family
vocabulary, adverbs of frequency, describing the weather and like + -ing.

12. I can drive

how to talk about ability using the modal verb can/cant.

13. Social expressions

students learn and practise some basic social expressions.

14. Who was he?

learn and practise the past forms of the verb "be". The second part of the worksheet provides plenty
of speaking practice as well as opportunities to revise some vocabulary from other worksheets, e.g.
Family, Whats the weather like? and Countries and nationalities.

15. At the coffee shop

In this lesson, students learn how to order coffee and snacks in a coffee shop. For the listening
activity, teachers can play a dialogue or animated video of a coffee shop scene. There is a role play
activity at the end of the worksheet.

16. In the home

In this lesson, students learn how to describe different types of homes, typical features of homes as
well as expressions for describing household chores. The lesson assumes prior of knowledge of the
present simple and expressions of frequency.

17. Celebrities
This lesson introduces students to the past simple forms of regular verbs. The worksheet is based on
a text about Michael Jackson and includes a gap-fill exercise and speaking activity on the topic of
celebrities before they were famous.

18. At the weekend

In this lesson, students learn the past simple forms of common irregular verbs and talk about what
they did at the weekend.

19. Crazy hotels

In this lesson, students learn how to create sentences with there is and there are. The worksheet is
based on a text and dialogue about four unusual hotels. There is a vocabulary exercise and a
speaking activity in which students practise the target language. The lesson develops reading,
listening and speaking skills.

20. At a hotel
In this lesson, students learn how to book a hotel room and check in at a hotel. There is a role play
activity at the end of the worksheet.

21. Elementary review 2

In this lesson, students review the vocabulary and grammar from Lesson plans 11-20 of our
Elementary English course plan, including can/can't + infinitive, social expressions, home vocabulary,
coffee shop expressions and the past simple.

22. On holiday
This lesson introduces elementary students to the present continuous. The target language is
presented in a dialogue and there are several activities in which students practise the new structure.
The worksheet also presents expressions for describing typical holiday/vacation activities and revises
language from previous lessons, e.g. Free time and Whats the weather like?

23. Location
This lesson filler presents common prepositions of location (in, on, next to, in front of, behind,
between, above and under). Students practise describing the location of people and objects in their
classroom.

24. Asking for directions

In this lesson, students learn how to ask for and give directions. There is a role play activity at the end
of the worksheet.

25. The body

In this lesson, students learn key vocabulary for describing parts of the body, body actions and the
five senses. Basic knowledge of the present continuous as well as verbs of liking/disliking is
assumed, and the worksheet can be used to recycle these grammar areas.

26. Transport
In this lesson, students learn vocabulary related to public transport as well as practical expressions to
use at a train station, in a taxi and at an airport check-in desk. The lesson plan includes a listening
activity with the option to play animated video clips representing the different transport situations.
There is a role play exercise at the end of the worksheet.

27. Something to eat

Students learn vocabulary for describing food and drink, as well as the use of countable and
uncountable nouns with some and any. This lesson is a great opportunity to review structures and
build on grammar covered in previous worksheets, especially Crazy hotels. The lesson includes a
video clip and rounds off nicely with a role play activity in which students put the target language into
practice.

28. At a restaurant
In this lesson, students learn how to order a meal at a restaurant. There is a role play activity at the
end of the worksheet.

29. Question words

In this lesson, students practise asking questions with the words who, why, where, when, whose, etc.
The worksheet assumes a basic knowledge of the present simple, present continuous and past
simple.

30. Elementary review 3

In this lesson, students review the vocabulary and grammar from Lesson plans 22-29 of our
Elementary English course plan, including the present continuous, prepositions of place, asking for
directions, parts of the body, food vocabulary, transport vocabulary, some/any, and forming questions.

31. Healthy living

This worksheet is great for getting students to interact with each other using quantifiers. The lesson
begins with a pairwork activity in which students interview each other about their lifestyles. Students
practise forming questions with how much / how many and answering with a lot, much, many, a few, a
little, etc. The lesson rounds off nicely with a fun and motivating activity in which the students try to
guess some facts about their partners using the target language. The activities can easily be adapted
for one-to-one settings.

32. At a supermarket
In this lesson, students learn useful words and expressions that they can use when shopping in a
supermarket.

33. Wild man

This lesson plan is based on a newspaper article about a hermit living alone in the Scottish
wilderness. It is a great way to reinforce the grammar and structures covered in previous worksheets,
including the past simple, countable/uncountable nouns and quantifiers. The lesson also introduces
new vocabulary for describing the outdoors as well as past time expressions with in, on, ago,
yesterday and last.

34. In a clothes shop

This lesson plan covers basic vocabulary for describing clothes as well as practical expressions for
clothes shopping, which the students learn through listening and role play. There is an animated video
version of the dialogue included.

35. Clothes and colours

In this worksheet, students review words for different items of clothing and learn how to describe
different colours. There is also a grammar review exercise on 'some', 'a/an' and 'any'.

36. Next week

Students learn the structure going to + infinitive for talking about the future. The lesson plan includes
a listening and motivating role play activity

37. True or false

In this lesson, students study the comparative form of adjectives and at the same time learn the
names of different animals. At the end of the lesson, there is an engaging activity in which students
work in pairs, comparing gadgets with comparative forms.

38. Extreme places

In this lesson, students study the superlative form of adjectives by reading about the most 'extreme'
places where people live. At the end of the lesson, there is an engaging activity in which students ask
and answer questions about extreme places in their own countries.

39. Cultural differences

In this lesson, students compare the behaviour and cultural habits of people from different countries.
The structure and use of common adverbs is introduced and practised. The lesson ends with a
speaking activity in which students talk about how people behave in their own countries or cities.

40. Elementary review 4

In this lesson, students review the vocabulary and grammar from Lesson plans 31-39 of our
Elementary English course plan, including much/many/a few/a little, at the supermarket, expressions
for buying clothes, going to + infinitive, comparative/superlative forms and adverbs.

41. At the cinema

This worksheet presents basic cinema vocabulary and gets students talking about films using simple,
understandable sentences. There's an American English version of the worksheet available: 'At the
movies'.

42. Ready to travel

In this lesson plan, students learn how to use the infinitive for expressing purpose. The worksheet
also recycles grammar covered in previous lessons in our Elementary English course plan, including
the past simple, question forms, going to + infinitive, etc.

43. Devices and the Internet

In this lesson, students learn the names for common electronic devices as well as verbs for
describing how they use their smartphones and the Internet. The worksheet reinforces some of the
grammar learnt in previous lessons including can + infinitive, adverbs of frequency and the infinitive of
purpose.

44. Good advice

In this lesson, students read some simple money-saving tips and learn the positive and negative
imperative forms.

45. The future

In this lesson, students learn the structure will/won't + infinitive for making future predictions. The
lesson includes a pairwork activity in which students respond to each other's predictions.

46. Visiting the doctor

In this dialogue-aided lesson plan, students learn how to describe a number of typical medical
ailments, symptoms and treatments. The lesson includes two simple doctor-patient dialogues. A basic
knowledge of the present simple, present continuous and past simple tenses is assumed.

47. I have been to ...

This lesson introduces elementary students to the present perfect of the verb be.

48. Basic phrasal verbs

In this video-aided lesson, students learn 14 common phrasal verbs and put them into practice. The
worksheet also teaches the grammar of separable transitive phrasal verbs and is designed to
reassure elementary (A2) and higher-level students with 'phrasal verb phobia' that they are not that
difficult.

49. Achievement
In this lesson, students practise forming sentences and questions in the present perfect simple, as
well as learn some common irregular past participle forms. The worksheet includes a text about Brad
Pitt and rounds off with a 'Find someone who ...' activity.

A guide to teaching the different age groups

Many of the techniques and approaches we mention here apply to all levels. No matter what age and
ability level you are teaching you should always try to promote learning through fun, accommodate
different learning styles, have clear classroom management systems in place and aim to be a positive role
model. Here are some specific ideas for dealing with each age group

Kindergartens (aged 4-6)

Depending on your approach, these cute kids can either be the nicest young people you will have the

pleasure of
teaching or a nightmarish group of unruly children that
reduce grown men to tears! Teaching young children properly is not for the fast quitter as it will take time
to get into the swing of it. There is a good chance that at some point you will have to deal with crying,
toilet issues, screaming and students who have the attention span of a gold fish. Some useful tips are:

Be clear and direct in how you speak. Use simple 1 or 2 word commands and be prepared to

apply a firmer tone to your voice when need be.

Be animated and lively. Not everyone will be comfortable with jumping around, singing and

dancing for an hour but it will certainly make you more likable if you are able to act silly in class.
Use TPR activities whenever possible: Kindergartens tend to respond extremely well to TPR

(Total Physical Response) based activities whereby they produce the language through physical
actions. If you are teaching animals, have the students doing the actions and noises, when teaching
them feelings; have them performing the emotion etc.
Short, sharp games and activities: The best way to keep your kids attention and save time

dealing with bored students is to keep things moving all the time. When planning your lessons, start
off by introducing your grammar point or vocabulary then run through a series of 5-10 minute games
and ALWAYS have back up plans. When you see students losing focus, move onto the next activity.
Change the environment: mix up your classroom setting often to steer them away from

boredom. Get them on their feet, swap the seating plan and sit them in a circle on the floor.
Dont be afraid to use your teaching assistant: younger learners will struggle more than

anyone to grasp your meaning in English. To save time and tears of despair, have your TA translate
the commands and tasks to them before you start playing.
Use gimmicks: any small change or new object that you bring into class will feel like a completely

new adventure to your young students. Surprise them by bringing in a simple gimmick to use in your
activities such as a ball, a dice, a puppet or some pictures.
Reward them: sweets/candy obviously gives young children an incentive to learn but without this
kind of luxury you can easily keep them eager by giving them other kinds of rewards. A high-five or
pat on the back after a successful activity and at the end of class will make them feel like they have
achieved something, as will the opportunity to do some drawing or colouring activities during the
lesson.

Juniors (aged 7-12)

Junior classes vary significantly depending on your students maturity, personalities and ability. You will
find though that when you have developed a good overall structure to your lessons and a decent repertoire
of activities you will be able to apply a fairly similar approach to all of your lessons. Teaching this age

group will be demanding in different ways than teaching kindergartens. To make your lessons engaging
and in order to maintain a good learning environment you should aim to:

Have a clear structure to your lessons: try to follow the 4 Ps structure to your lessons. Get

administrative procedures and miscellaneous tasks done first then introduce your topic, grammar,
vocabulary and focus the remainder of the lesson on practicing and drilling the new language.
Expose them to different cultures: at this age your students are more intellectually capable

than kindergartens and more eager to learn about the world than many of the teenagers you will
encounter. It will likely be the case that your students are interested in a particular aspect of western
culture. Whether they like basketball, hamburgers, music or clothes, take some time to teach them
about your culture and give them something different to learn about in English than the grammar and
vocabulary set for each lesson.
Classroom management: put good systems in place for dealing with badly behaved students and

rewarding good learning. Juniors will generally respond well to some form of team points system
whereby you put the students into teams at the start of the lesson and give out/take away points
accordingly. This way they will largely discipline themselves.
Cater for different learning styles: at this age your students brains are unknowingly adapting

and developing towards a particular style of learning. Generally speaking, the major learning styles
are thought to be auditory (learning through hearing), visual (learning through having something to
look at) and kinaesthetic (learning by physical activity). You dont need to study educational
psychology to learn how to cater to your students needs. All you need to do is be aware that your
students have unique ways of taking in information and use a variety of techniques and activities to
give everyone in your class the best chance of learning.
Take an interest in your students lives beyond the classroom: taking a few seconds to ask

a student about an aspect of their life outside the classroom will make a big difference. If they think
you care about them they will generally be more inclined to care about what you have to say in the
lessons.
Be a positive role model: try to set a good example in how you interact with people and

approach your work. Show them that successful learning can happen through having a good work
ethic, being respectful to others and having some fun with your tasks.
Motivation: it is likely that some of your students will have already had a day of school before they
come to your evening class to practice their English. At this age they are becoming harder to
motivate. Through positive re-enforcement and giving them something every lesson to show for their
time you can keep them enthused. Praise is very important. Be liberal with giving praise to all of your
students- regardless of how significant/insignificant whatever they did to earn it is.

Seniors/teenagers
Some ESL teaching jobs involve working with teenage students or seniors- as they are often referred to

as. Its unlikely

you will have to deal with crying, screaming and downright crazy
kids to the same extent as the younger groups but you will have some challenges along the way. For many
of us, our teenage years were synonymous with thoughts of school being boring, authority figures being
the enemy and learning another language being a pointless venture. The mentalities of many young adults
abroad are no different. Before you start to panic about the prospect having to teach English to a
classroom of adolescents, here are some things you can do to make your life easier and lessons better:

Keep the dry content quiet: if your aim for the lesson is to teach something complicated like

Past Perfect tense, dont write this on the board or make them aware of what you are trying to feed
them. Start your lesson by giving them situations and explaining that in these cases we use a
particular piece of language then get stuck into some activities to practice it. If you have a particularly
dry piece of reading to focus on, find ways to make it more interesting, make fun of the characters and
have them rewrite a part of it to make it more fun.
Be a team leader: rather than going into class and seeing yourself as an authority figure, try to
imagine yourself as a team leader or mentor amongst a group of colleagues. Show some empathy,
take an interest in their lives outside the class but at the same time guide them through the tasks. Tell
them that you are on their side and that you know how it feels to be in their shoes. Having this

mentality will help you to earn the respect that can be so vital to whether or not you succeed with this
age group.
Be a role-model: dont let them see you as the same kind of old, boring and robotic authority

figures that they most probably see their parents and school teachers as. Try to make them think you
are different, cool/interesting and that you actually care about how they feel. If they admire you as a
person they will be more willing to follow your instructions and will listen to you when they get out of
hand.
Make yourself the object of humour: taking yourself too seriously when teaching teenagers

decreases your chances of creating a good learning environment. Sensibly make fun of yourself when
the opportunity arises. Instead of having the students use their new language to insult each other,
have them write crazy stories about you in mildly uncomplimentary ways. Done in the correct way,
making yourself the figure of fun puts your students at ease in your classes and will most likely
actually increase their levels of respect for you if you are perceived to have an ability to see the funny
side of life.
Use grown up gimmicks: whilst having teams and giving out points may work for younger

teenagers, it will certainly not be as effective as fake money! Photocopy some foreign currency or raid
the schools Monopoly set and take some fake cash into your class. If a student gets a correct answer
or goes the extra yard to try and improve their English, give out the money. You can even go a step
further by getting them to bet against each other about whether sentences are grammatically correct.
Research their interests: If the key to impressing juniors is caring about their interests, with

teenagers you should go a step further and learn about their interests. Take some time before class to
find about the countrys popular singers, movie stars, national laughing stocks. Throw these names
into your lesson, use them as the subject of a sentence accompanying a new piece of grammar, have
them write stories involving these people, get them to analyse pictures of them etc. The more
material they can relate to the better.
Get them moving around whenever possible. An English class at this level wont involve much
jumping around and making animal noises. However, when youre faced with this potentially lazy age
group, it is vital that you dont let them sink too far into their chairs during the lesson and spend too
long daydreaming about happenings outside school. Get them up to brainstorm ideas on the board,
set activities that involve walking around asking each other questions and sneak in 5 minutes of Tai
Chi!