 The Wand | I've found this flash movie somewhere on the internet. I thought it was simply great and inspiring for pupils. So I made out a lesson plan with it, to revise description of actions and to introduce comparative forms. The pupils simply loved it!
Watch the little movie first (click right and play) :
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this is a fash movie. If you want to save it, I advise you to download swf opener (http://www.browsertools.net/SWF-Opener/), which is a software allowing you to download and keep flash movies. Then, in class, you'll need a computer and a video-projector.
You can download the lesson plan here:
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Talking about future plans | Here is a small and simple lesson plan to talk about future plans with the lower level. I always like to start from my pupils' ideas and experiences. That's why I've chosen to make them talk about their future summer holidays, what they are going to do and everything. This allows us to learn new vocabulary about sport, outdoor activities or holidays activities.
! NEW ! THIS LESSON PLAN IS ENTIRELY IN ENGLISH
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Survival kit in England | This is a document I've made for my pupils who are going to London for a week, being hosted by families. It should help them in basic communicative situations.
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Packing your bag | As I am taking my classes for a trip to London, I thought it might be fun to review the content of a suitcase or a backpack when you go abroad. This was the opportunity to talk about how many/how much, to ask questions (have you got a / any ...?) and to talk about quantities (some / much / many / a lot of / a little / a few...).
This lesson plan can be done before the summer holidays for example.
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Shopping in England | This lesson plan introduces the theme of shopping and money through oral training and interaction. Pupils will perform a dialogue between a salesman/woman and a buyer in a shop (asking for prices / answering, etc).
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Talking about quantities | Here is a new lesson plan to teach young learners how to deal with quantities (mainly some / any). It will be an opportunity to revise food vocabulary and to make pupils act as salesmen / saleswomen and buyers in a lively and true-to-life dialogue.
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Writing a letter |  This simple lesson plan aims at training pupils to write a simple letter: how to place the date, the adress, the signature, etc. It also reviews the difference between simple present and the BE+ING form.
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St Patrick's Day |  St Patrick's Day is coming (17th of March) so it's a good opportunity to talk about Ireland!
With my beginner level, I'm doing a research in the school library based on a worksheet I've done:
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They will have to look for information on the internet, in the library books and also on those two sheets I've also made:
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With my lower-intermediate level, I had decided to work on a listening comprehension and then a reading comprehension. I won't be able to do this lesson plan in the end (I cancelled it) but I put it online anyway:
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WH- questions | How to work WH- questions with lower levels?? Time after the holidays is a good opportunity to ask them about what they did during this time (what did they ? where did they go? when? How? How long? etc).
You can find great WH- questions flashcards here: http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/questions.php
You can start with the simplest question: what did you do during the holidays? Let them ask the question to one another. Then show the different flashcards to obtain more information. One pupil says that he went to the mountains? Show the card "where" and ask a pupil to make the question: where did you go?
You can write all the activities they did on a sheet on the OHP and ask for more information thanks to the flashcards:
Ex: I went to the cinema. What? -> What did you see?
I went to Dysneyland. When -> When did you go?
etc.
Please note that I used the following school books for the recordings: Enjoy 6ème and Surf in English 6ème.
For the full lesson plan (beginners): click here
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for lower intermediate level, click here:
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A good diet | With my lower intermediate level, I chose to tackle the topic of food and diet to introduce MUST/MUSTN'T.
The idea came up thanks to a dialogue I found in a French school book (Enjoy 6è- éditions DIDIER). The dialogue is on page 55. It's a dialogue between a young boy and a vet. The vet is telling what the dog must eat and mustn't eat (because he is too fat).
I introduce the theme thanks to a great article I found in a magazine for learners of English. The references and the sheet are in the attached file.
My sheet (with fat pets on it) had a LOT OF success in class!!!! They loved talking about the images and it was a great way to start the topic.
Then we listened to the dialogue and made a summary. Then I asked them to imagine they wanted to lose weight. They had to tell me what they must do:
I must stop eating.... I must eat more.... I must eat less/fewer... That's when I introduced the concept of countable nouns and non-countable nouns. It went ok.
In the end, I ask them to write a dialogue between a dietetician and a patient, using all the structures and vocabulary we saw.
I'm starting the dialogues this week. Hope it will be fine.
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School in England |  I wanted to talk about cultural matters with my beginner level. It's hard to talk about the anglophone countries at this level because their English is often not complex enough to comprehend such topics as identity, way of life, etc.
So you have to start with basics. Some topics are simple enough to be dealt with at a low level, like the theme of school. It allows you to talk about habits (using simple present), about obligations (using must) and vocabulary (subjects, timetable, uniforms, etc).
That's why I chose to work on this topic with my beginner level. I propose you a lesson plan with several documents, all of them representing one aspect of the lives of British pupils: the uniform, the dress code, the school system, a typical day at school and the timetable.
The goal for the pupils is to create questions to integrate in the next test.
I advise you this very good website: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/
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Jazz Chants | I don't use Jazz Chants usually in my class but I thought this one was good and it fitted perfectly with my lesson plan about simple present.
The most famous Jazz Chants are made by Carolyn Graham. I'm not a big fan of Jazz Chants, they are nice to use a couple of times a year but not more, because I think it gets boring in the end. It's better to try other types of songs.
They are great for rhythm and intonation! (what our little francophone pupils have trouble with).
I propose you some ideas about how to teach this song:
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(for the MP3 file, please send an email).
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Good Habits | I've been teaching about Good Habits this week to my beginner level. I'm afraid I can't post the lesson plan for copyright reasons. The lesson is based on a document taken from a school book so I don't want to have any problems with them by reproducing it.
Basically, they are several pictures representing a little monkey doing everyday actions (focusing on good habits): wash your hand before meals, brush your teeth after meals, make your bed after getting up, etc.
You can create such a document with pictures found on Google images, it shouldn't be too hard.
It allows you to teach "always, never, sometimes, often". I tried to find flahscards representing those adverbs but it's difficult. How to you want to represent "always"? My pupils never guessed so I have to translate into French. If you have any tips about that, you're welcome.
Anyway. You introduce the vocbulary of Good Habits then you give an example: "I always wash my hand before meals"... "What about you?" (I introduced "what about you?" recently, they love it!). Then it's their turn to talk about their good habits. Have them talk as much as possible (mine talked about it for nearly 30 minutes!!!).
Then you can do a kind of survey. You need to introduce the question: "do you often...?". Then make them choose three questions, write them down in a grid. Then they stand up, go and ask their friends about their good habits. Pupils should answer Yes I do, No I don't. Then we report: X never makeS his/her bed, Y always doES his/her homework, etc.
I have then a oral comprehension about a little girl having bad habits. But it's taken from the book again, sorry.
Hope it gave you some ideas still. |
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Asking and giving directions | Today is a lesson plan to teach beginners/lower intermediate how to ask and give directions.
My lesson plan is based on a French school book but you basically need a map. A London map, a New York map, whatever suits you. It should be clear (pupils should be able to read the street names easily).
After looking at the map and describing it, you need to have a pairwork / roleplay. One student is a tourist, the other one is just a regular person living in the city. They can make up a dialogue in which the tourist asks for directions and the other one answers him. Make them stand as if they were in the street so that it's more realistic. I'm sure it's fun !
Enjoy !
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You will need the following MP3s:
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ENJOY !
edit: forgot to tell you that the MP3 files are coming from Mary Glasgow Magazines website. They are samples that I've downloaded. They offer A LOT of samples, you should have a look: | | Mary Glasgow Magazines |
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Super Heroes |  A new lesson plan today about Super Heroes. A great idea which I've found on : http://www.mes-english.com/vkeypals/supers.php.
Thanks a lot to Mark for this idea!
This lesson plan will allow you to talk about capacities, about superlative and physical description. You can then encourage your students to create their own super hero and talk about him/her. A great way for them to talk in English!
You will find the flashcards here:
http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/supers.php
Enjoy!
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Back to school, after the Xmas holidays | I'm proposing two new lesson plans with the same topic: coming back to scool after the holidays (the Xmas holidays as far as we are concerned, but you can adapt).
For 6ème form (elementary level), this is just an introduction of the past tense. Holidays are indeed the perfect opportunity to talk about the past.
For 5ème form (pre-intermediate), I chose to focus on DID questions (did you...) and short answers. I also chose to talk about question tags as there are some in the listening I chose (which I can't provide I'm sorry but the references are in the lesson plans - don't hesitate to send me an email for further questions).
The lesson plans are still in French (sorry for my anglophone readers, if there are any.)
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A sheet to use with the OHP:
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The last exercise in the "5ème" lesson plan is taken from www.onestopenglish.com and more exactly from this sheet :
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It's Christmas ! | I started typing my lessons on the computer so that I'll be able to share them online. So I begin today with two lesson plans about Christmas for young learners of English (level A1-A2 of the European Common Framework).
I'm sorry to say that they are in French and therefore not usable for anglophone teachers who may have foreign pupils (learning english as a second language). You can still download the document and just use the pictures / the english parts, etc.
I hope I'll be able to share more lesson plans with you (and that other people will share lesson plans with us!).
Don't hesitate to tell me what you think about it.
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Another lesson plan (corresponding to "5ème" form):
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And the vocabulary sheet going with it:
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I only had a couple of hours left before the winter holidays with my beginner level. So I made up a quick lesson plan about the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.
