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As I’m working on my ESL Discussion Lessons for Every Day of the Year project, I discovered that Sean Banville has beaten me to it with ESL Holiday Lessons. Not surprising given how prolific he is and how fast he gets topical lesson plans up.
Sean’s site only covers unusual or fun holidays–today is No Housework Day, and the lesson plans are done in his usual format of a short reading, a phrase match, gapfills, comprehension questions, vocab work, ordering the text, a short writing with discussion questions written by …Continue
About, Discussions »
The first of April might seem a strange time to launch something new. However, that’s what I’m doing.
I’m going to try to write a discussion lesson plan for every day of the year. 365 discussion-oriented lesson plans on a different theme with some connection to the date. Everything from holidays like Valentine’s Day and Christmas to World Health Day and Science Day to historical anniversaries and events.
Of course there’s no reason you have to follow the lesson of the day if another topic captures your fancy.
Each lesson has a …Continue
Headline, Teaching »
It seems like my most popular lesson plans are for discussion/speaking lessons. And generally when fellow teachers come to for advice, it’s about running English clubs (And not for anything else :) ) So, I thought I would share my ideas on how I run an informal discussion club on the off-chance it’s useful to anyone. And also so I can get some feedback. I’d love to hear from others about how they do it.
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This discussion lesson plan explores the idea of happiness by having students evaluate their own happiness, think about the happiness level of their nation as a whole and look at data on the world’s happiest countries. Then students can talk about what they think about measuring happiness. A lot of extension ideas here.
Lesson Plan »
A lesson plan that I adapted from somewhere, but I can’t remember where exactly. This is an idea that can be adapted to any lesson on a song that has a music video. Students watch the music video first, without sound, and try to figure out what the song is about. Then they listen to the song together with the music. Finally, they get a chance to look at the lyrics. Great fun as their opinion on the song changes each time.
Activity/Game »
Had another awesome English Club. Of course, the theme was Valentine’s Day and there was a nice mix of boys and girls and new and old. Could have been a sensitive subject but no one was particularly shy. Like the best English Clubs, I kicked it off with a few questions and soon it took on a life of its own.
Issues that came up were what do young people call people they are dating: lover, girl or boy friend or sweetheart. I clarified like this: boyfriend and girlfriend is …Continue
Teaching »
The other day I had one of the best discussion club sessions ever. From my point of view, the point of English Club is to get people talking. There aren’t that many opportunities for English language students here to actually use the English language in a non-classroom setting. So I try to create an environment where people can speak freely. I don’t like to do lessons or have overly controlled exercises and activities. The best sessions are where students talk about whatever they want to, and try to express their …Continue
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A few of my Christmas lesson plans: Keep checking this post because I’ll keep adding to it as I have time.. Right now, I’ve got up a lesson plan to discuss Santa Claus and his counterparts in other cultures up and my reading lesson on “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”. Plus some other resources I use frequently.
Lesson Plan »
This is a lesson based on a movie by Muslim American filmmaker Lena Khan. She took a song by Muslim-American singer and songwriter Kareem Salama and made a sort of unofficial music video by asking Muslims what messages they wanted to send to the US about Islam. It’s a really funny and touching short film that should generate a lot of discussion as well as providing comprehension activities in listening and watching movies. Students can also make a project of doing a similar film to spread their message to the world.
ESL »
Lesson Plan, Paid Content »
This is a pretty simple discussion lesson plan to get students talking about food from different perspectives. It can be used as part of a lesson, or supplemented with activities, games, and so on. I found this was a good lesson to do when I was still getting to know students because it is a pretty universal topic and as a foreigner in a foreign country, students love telling me about their traditional food!
My name is Walton. I'm an English teacher in Astana. This site is mainly where I share my lesson plans and activity ideas to try to help other teachers and also to hopefully get some feedback. Feel free to use anything here, but just don't put them up on your site or pass them off as your own.