Free ESL Lesson Plans to Download
English Assistant
| English MP3s | Private
Lessons | American Slang
This page was originally designed to share my materials with other English teaching assistants in France,
especially those who have no experience in teaching ESL yet. I've also included worksheets that I used
for private English lessons in France as well as some of the materials
I used in my ESL classes in the United States. Feel free to use them
as you'd like. Some of the lessons listed under the Assistant section
can also be used for private lessons and vice versa.
Recommendations
The one ESL book that I brought to France was Highway
to ESL .
A few other helpful books are: Keep
Talking,
Lessons
from Nothing,
Pronunciation
Games,
Games
for Language Learning,
How
to Teach Vocabulary,
Teaching
ESL/EFL with the Internet,
Teaching
American English Pronunciation,
Teaching
Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
Languages,
Fifty
Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners,
and Teaching
English as a Second or Foreign Language.
For fastest downloading, use the DownThemAll add-on
for Firefox.
This will allow you to download all of the documents on this page at once
and increase the download speed up to 400%.
English Assistant in France
Lessons
Refer to the Teaching
section of the Assistants Guide if you'd like a more detailed account
of how I used these lessons in my classes, as well as links to other plans
that I found online. Most documents are available in Word format; however
if you do not have Microsoft Word, you can still open the documents in
OpenOffice, which is a free software. (I try to provide my documents in
Word format instead of PDF format so that you can modify them.) The majority
of the below documents I have written myself, but some I have found online
and can no longer locate the original source to link back to.
Conversation / Speaking
You should only have to focus on teaching conversational
English (listening, speaking and pronunciation skills). The students will
learn reading and writing skills in their regular English classes. Your
school may have some materials and books that you can use, but try not
to fall into the trap of only teaching the stilted form of English found
in these books. You should incorporate authentic language (such as from
television and movies) as well as reduced forms (such as gonna, wanna,
doncha, etc.) because that is the way that most Americans talk and that
is what the students will need to understand the most. Textbooks will
focus on the formal ways of speaking and writing, but students need to
learn the informal ways too.
|
Just Get Them to Talk - Plan for the first day
with a new class when the teacher instructs you to "just get
them to talk" and you have nothing else planned |
|
Formal vs. Informal Conversation -
Table of greetings and good-byes for formal speech and informal speech |
|
Interview Your Partner - Unscramble words to form
questions to ask partner, then write a paragraph about him/her. Also
includes space to review countries & nationalities. |
|
Two Truths & One Lie - Students write three
sentences about themselves; two that are true and one that is false.
The rest of the class must guess which is the lie. |
|
Describing People - Phrases to use for describing
a person with basic personal information, as well as likes & dislikes
and personal appearance |
|
"People" cards - for students to describe.
Includes name, age, nationality, where they live and what they like/dislike
doing |
|
Color Cards - for games (Go Fish, Memory, etc.)
to review colors and family members, and perhaps "do you have
/ have you got?" |
|
Expressing Likes, Dislikes & Indifference -
Sample phrases followed by nouns and gerunds, as well as space to
write more |
|
Telephone Conversations - Students match up English
& French phrases, read sample dialogs and write their own |
|
Debate Topics - Students choose topics and write
a dialog in pairs debating the pros and cons of both sides |
|
Anglophone Countries - Students give oral reports on anglophone countries of the world |
|
Fillers & Reduced Forms - common fillers and
reduced forms in everyday speech with sample sentences |
|
Synonyms of say & uses of like - Plus exercises
on switching from informal to formal language (reduced forms) |
|
Common Reduced Forms - Includes all the reduced
forms presented in Slangman Book One, but not in the order of the
chapters |
|
How to Present a Document - For Terminale students,
guide on how to present the unknown document on the oral bac |
Pronunciation
|
Vowels of English: Spelling vs. Pronunciation
- list of American English vowels with IPA symbols, English examples
and French examples; sorting exercises and spelling exceptions, as
well as 25 sentences to practice pronouncing |
|
Vowels of English: Diphthong Version - same as
document above, but with diphthongs of the "long vowels"
in English |
|
Letter Combinations & Pronunciations - Another
list of long vs. short vowel pronunciation according to spelling,
as well as exceptions |
|
English Pronunciation Poem - A poem to show that
spelling cannot always help with pronunciation; author unknown |
|
Different Vowel Sound - Students circle the word
that has a different vowel sound than the rest, even though they're
spelled with the same letters |
|
Consonant Sounds - IPA symbols of consonant sounds
in American English, with room to write example words |
|
Homophones - Set of 75 homophones in American English
(different spelling, same pronunciation) |
|
Heteronyms - Two sample sentences comparing each
heteronym (same spelling, different pronunciation) |
|
Pronunciation of -ed and -s - Sort past tense verbs
and plural nouns according to the pronunciation of their endings |
|
Word Stress - Mark the stress on the advanced vocabulary
words for Terminale topics (environment, gun control, immigration,
health, organization of speech) |
Listening
|
Minimal Pair Listening Exercise - Students
must circle word they hear among minimal pairs: want, won't, or went? |
|
Similar Sentences Exercise - Students mark the
sentence they hear: She's taking a bath or She's taken a bath? |
|
I've Never Been poem - Good for stress and intonation
patterns; author unknown |
|
Little Tree by ee cummings - Short poem to read
at Christmas, with fill in the blank exercise |
|
Cherokee Nation Lyrics - Good for teaching about
Native Americans in November |
|
Girl Next Door Lyrics - Includes typical vocabulary
for American high schools |
|
Dear Mr. President Lyrics - Great song for anti-Bush
sentiments |
|
Strange Fruit Lyrics - Sad song to show severity
of racism and lynching in the South |
|
Animaniacs Presidents Song - Funny song to learn
about the US presidents, up to Bill Clinton. Video available online
too. |
|
Animaniacs Capitals & States Song - Another
fun song to learn the US states and their capitals. Video available
online too. |
Random Vocabulary & Grammar
BINGO |
Make boards with just the pictures (such as body parts, clothes,
sports) at ESLHQ.com for free.
This way the student must understand the words you say, and remember
how to say them back to you in order to win the game. |
|
British vs. American English - Fill
in the blank exercise; write American vocabulary on board and students
match with British vocabulary |
|
Sports - Match names of sports with pictures, sort
sports according to their verbs (to box vs. to play soccer), small
review of short answers |
|
Scattergories - Enough categories for 3 games;
you choose the letter (students should know how to play - it's called
Le Petit Bac in France) |
|
Terminale Vocabulary - Vocabulary list for the
topic of health (junk food, smoking, drinking, drugs) |
|
Nations & Nationalities - Flags, nations and nationalities with fill-in-the-blank worksheet |
|
Countries & Locations - Phrases for describing location of EU countries, plus nationalities |
|
Fake English - List of fake English words used in French and their actual translations in real English, correct the mistakes and matching |
|
Count vs. Uncount Nouns - Explanation of uncount, matching, translating, correct mistakes |
|
Adjectives/Verbs + Prepositions & Prepositions + Nouns - Students sort collocations according to prepositions |
|
Translation Problems - When translating from French
to English and with the verbs devoir and pouvoir; wrong translations
in English for students to correct |
|
Common Translation Mistakes - Sentences in French
for students to translate, many with faux amis or verbs that are often
translated wrong |
|
Simple Mistakes - Another correct the mistakes exercise, with explanations and multiple choice |
Le
Web Pédagogique also has several other "fiche vocabulaire"
for bac topics.
Culture
Don't forget to teach culture in your plans.
Students are
really interested in how the United States differs from France,
so make
sure to include these differences. This is also a good way of
increasing
vocabulary. (Some of these resources are very specific to my
life in Michigan, especially pertaining to the school system, so you may
need to make adjustments to the lessons.)
|
General US Quiz - General questions
about the US to quiz the students on |
|
US Questions - Short exercise in creating questions
from given answers, on the subject of basic US information |
|
September 11 - Transcript from
the first Daily Show with Jon Stewart after 9/11. The video is available
online too. Follow up with discussion on Patriot Act. |
|
US Election Quiz - Short multiple choice quiz mostly
about the government and electoral college |
|
Electoral College Info - Map of US with number
of electoral votes for each state, a short explanation, and the number
of votes from the 2000 election |
|
Republican or Democrat? - Students agree or disagree
with statements to determine if they are more Republican or Democrat |
|
In Flanders Fields - Poem for students to study
around Veteran's Day, includes picture of a poppy |
|
Thanksgiving Article - Two page article on Thanksgiving
customs, history and contemporary celebrations |
|
American Thanksgiving - Shorter (one page) article
about Thanksgiving with pumpkin pie recipe |
|
Story of Thanksgiving - Past tense fill in the
blank exercise (regular & irregular verbs) using the story of
Thanksgiving |
|
Thanksgiving Day Photos - Photos of Thanksgiving
dinner and the typical food Americans eat for the holiday |
|
Label Thanksgiving Clipart - Label the clipart
about Thanksgiving, for young learners (write words on board so they
can choose) |
|
Pearl Harbor - Article about the attack on Pearl
Harbor, Roosevelt's speech, comparisons between Dec. 7 & Sept.
11, and passive mood exercise |
|
US Geography & Directional Words - Map of US
with list of directional words for students to practice describing
the location of a state |
|
Famous Cities - Student locate cities on map of
US and determine the three with the highest populations (NY, LA &
Chicago) |
|
Distances between cities - Students locate cities
on map, and determine which two cities correspond to the distances
given; also includes some famous places to see in the US |
|
Size of US compared to Europe - Two maps (to scale)
that compare the size of the US to the size of Europe (The US is 17 times larger than France) |
|
Tourism in the US - Match tourist attractions with
location, and identify pictures of nine tourist attractions |
|
Weather in the US - Describes weather in 5 regions
of US, plus translation exercise for weather vocabulary (French to
English & vice versa) |
|
US High Schools - Short article on American high
schools, mostly what is different from French high schools |
|
High School Test - Multiple Choice & True /
False test on American high schools |
|
Interdictions & Obligations: Modals - Choose
correct modal to fill in sentences about American high schools |
|
Interdictions & Obligations: T/F - Interdictions
and obligations about high school, students determine whether true
or false and correct the false ones |
|
Schedules & Grades Compared - Sample schedules
and grades (marks and years) comparing the school systems in France
and the US |
|
Student Vocabulary - List of nouns and adjectives
for describing teenagers or students, with French explanations |
|
Stereotypical Students - Pictures of stereotypical
students, students fill in nerd, jock, goth, band geek, preppy and
slacker |
|
Martin Luther King Article - One page article on
MLK, as well as comprehension questions |
|
ACLU ad - Pictures of MLK and Charles Manson, with
caption stating that MLK is more likely to be pulled over by police
because of his skin color |
|
"I have a dream" speech - Transcript
of the last 5 minutes of MLK's famous speech |
|
St. Patrick's Day - Paragraphs about the holiday,
map of Ireland & Northern Ireland, and fill in the blank questions |
|
American's Guide to France - Funny article about
stereotypes of the French & France (and Americans!), with clipart
of stereotypical French man |
|
American Restaurant Quiz - Multiple choice quiz
about eating in restaurants in the US, with some common restaurant
expressions at the end |
|
American Restaurant Menu - Sample menu from a typical
American restaurant that serves everything (modified from a Coney
Island menu) |
|
Food & Pronunciation - Vocabulary relating
to meals and food in the US, with food vocabulary sorted according
to vowel sounds |
|
Memorial Day Food - List of foods typically eaten
at cookouts in the US, plus explanation of Memorial Day in French |
|
Cookout Food - Photos from a Memorial Day cookout,
showing typical American foods |
|
American Breakfast Food - Photos and labels for
American breakfast foods, plus matching (with cookout foods) and short
answer exercise |
|
Bushisms - List of Bush quotes for students to
correct |
|
