English Teaching Lesson Plans
Beginner Students -- Level One

It's very easy for the student to get bored so you need to keep things moving with different acivities.

If I had my druthers I would only teach intermediate and advanced level students because conversation is so limited in the beginner ESL class.

Teaching Basic Grammar

If you follow the Basic Grammar in Use book as I recommend below, just go lesson by lesson. You might want to spend several days on one lesson. The second part of the lesson is one page of questions and fill in the blanks. I might use this as a test. Go over with them the mistakes.

Then give them a photocopy of the same questions and have them do it again. You could even give them the same test the next day.

You don't want to stay on the same ESL lesson too long because they might get bored but you don't want to go too fast through a leeson just to get through it because they won't get the meat of the what's there and they won't have the basics.

Be Encouraging

I think achieving an adequate level of English conversation quickly is very important. This is good not only for you but for the student. To get the conversational juices flowing have the students, if you have more than one, ask and answer each other questions.

When they get things right praise them and smile maybe even applaud and say "Yeaaaa!" It's important to keep the energy up and fun.

Also, it's important to praise your students a lot. You don't want to be fake and unctious about it but you do want to keep it positive.

Anything they get right praise, anything they get wrong move on to the next person or correct them. And make sure they got the correction and that they can repeat it back to you.

Keep the class moving, keep it up, keep it fun and be positive and cheerful and above all encouraging. Make it so that they look forward to coming to your class

Books I recommend...

Because this level has minimal conversation skills I use one book for this. I must admit the book I use has become somewhat of a crutch for me.

But it's such a good book and each ESL lesson is so clear and well put together that for me it really helps to provide focus for the class. And I can get through an entire lesson in an hour. What a beautiful crutch! That book is...

Basic Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy As far as I'm concerned all these "...in Use" books are the best. They consistently get 5 star ratings on Amazon from ESL teachers as well as students. You cannot go wrong with any of these books. I wouldn't even waste time looking at other grammar books. These are the Rolls-Royce as far as I'm concerned. Within each lesson I try to engage the beginning student in some kind of question and answer thing that's related to the topic. This always seems to work well and gets the student thinking.

Another good book is...

Basic Vocabulary in Use by Michael McCarthy

Also good are the...

Side by Side by Steven J. Molinsky Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 ...which help to teach by having the student identify objects and concepts through pictures. These books are an excellent way to get the students talking, reading and writing compositions. A really good break from the sometimes tedious job of teaching grammar and a great way to "mix things up" in your lesson plans.

Of course, it's always important to focus on pronunciation. Correct every mistake the student makes when they are reading or talking. It's important to be patient but not slack up on this. Be persistent and consistent.

Also, you can do some dictation right out of the Basic Grammar in Use book as well. With the Vocabulary in Use have the student make up their own sentences.

The best way to find good deals on the above books is to google them using the search tool below.

ESL Lesson Plans for Intermediate Students -- Level Two

ESL Lesson Plans for Upper Intermediate Students -- Level Three

ESL Lesson Plans for Advanced Students -- Level Four

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