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As the new year approaches, it's the perfect time to reflect on our teaching practices and plan engaging, effective lessons for our English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Thoughtfully crafted lesson plans can make a significant difference in the learning outcomes and engagement levels of your students. Whether you're teaching young children, teenagers, or adults, the principles of effective lesson planning remain consistent. Here are some ideas, hints and tips to help you create dynamic and successful ESL lessons for students of all ages.

Start with clear learning objectives

Begin each lesson with clear, achievable objectives. What do you want your students to learn by the end of the lesson? Objectives provide a roadmap for both you and your students, ensuring that everyone is focused and aware of the goals. For example, an objective might be "Students will be able to use past tense verbs to describe their weekend activities." Clear objectives provide direction and help you measure student progress.

Incorporate a variety of activities

To cater to different learning styles and keep students engaged, incorporate a mix of teaching methods and activities. Here are a few ideas:

• Listening: Use audio recordings, songs, or podcasts to improve listening skills.
• Speaking: Organize pair or group discussions, role-plays, or presentations to enhance speaking abilities.
• Reading: Provide a variety of texts such as articles, short stories, or dialogues.
• Writing: Assign tasks like journal entries, essays, or creative writing exercises.
• Homework activities: For something outside of the classroom, a nature walk or a recipe can be used to help learn specific vocabulary.

Use authentic materials

Authentic materials—such as newspapers, menus, brochures and videos—expose students to real-world language and contexts. These materials can make lessons more interesting and relevant, helping students see the practical application of their language skills. Even better, they’re everywhere, so easy to find. Here are some more suggestions for how to select and use authentic materials in your English language teaching.

Integrate technology

Teachers are already used to leveraging technology to enhance lessons utilizing online resources, language learning apps and interactive platforms to create a dynamic learning environment. Why not take this a step further by using AI to create your own resources. Take a look at our blog on How to make the most of AI in the classroom for some more ideas.
 

The end of the school year can be bittersweet. Students are excited for the holidays, but teachers have the tricky task of keeping their attention as focus starts to fade. The upside? It’s the perfect chance to make this time fun, memorable and engaging with creative classroom ideas that really stick. Here's a list of end-of-year school activities to ensure your students stay motivated all the way to the final bell.

1. End of year projects

Longer projects are perfect for the end of the year because they encourage deeper engagement. Here are a few ideas to try out.

• Class memory book: Ask students to contribute to a collaborative memory book filled with drawings, photos, or written reflections on their favorite moments of the year.
• Passion projects: Give students the chance to dive into something they’re really interested in and wrap it up with a fun presentation or creative display.
• Local impact projects: Challenge your learners to brainstorm ways to support their local community. They could develop a plan or even implement their ideas.

2. Holiday-themed school activities

With the festive season approaching, it’s the perfect excuse to blend learning with holiday cheer.

• Cultural exploration: Encourage students to research and share how different cultures celebrate the holidays, fostering inclusivity and curiosity. They can also share how they celebrate the end of the year and any New Year traditions.
• Art session: Organise a holiday craft-making session where students create ornaments, cards, or posters. Encourage students to write and create cards to take home to their loved ones.

3. Interactive learning games

Interactive games are an easy way to maintain focus and excitement.

• Trivia challenges: Create trivia questions about topics covered during the year—bonus points for including playful or funny questions about inside jokes or class moments.
• Escape room activities: Turn your classroom into an educational escape room with puzzles, problem-solving challenges and hidden clues.
• AI Guess Who: Most AI chatbots will let you play games like Guess Who; play this with the class to liven things up. Let them take turns to guess who the chatbot is thinking of. You can also use 'Akinator'.
  

4. Group activities

Encourage collaboration with team tasks that bring students together.

• Talent show: Give students the chance to showcase their talents, from singing and dancing to magic tricks and storytelling. It can be a great way to encourage them to practice language skills.
• Debate tournaments: Divide your class into teams and set them up for friendly debates on fun or meaningful topics.
• Story circles: Build stories as a group by having students take turns adding to the tale.

5. Creative classroom ideas

Don’t hesitate to think outside the box with these unique ideas:

• Class awards ceremony: Create fun and light-hearted awards for each student, such as “Best Scientist” or “Most Curious Learner.”
• Time capsule creation: Have students write letters to their future selves or fill a box with objects representing the year.
• Themed classroom party: Use a theme, such as a tropical luau or winter wonderland, to bring the class together for a fun party with food, games and music.

6. Classroom party ideas

Every great year deserves a great finish. Host a lesson that brings your students closer together.

• Movie afternoon: Set up your classroom and dim the lights to create a cinema atmosphere for a class movie.
• Game board bonanza: Bring in board games and allow students a relaxed day of friendly competition. If none are available, get students to create their own games.

Keep the learning spirit alive

The end of the school year doesn’t have to signal the end of learning. With a bit of creativity, teachers can make the last weeks of school productive and enjoyable. From fun classroom activities to meaningful year-end projects for students, these ideas will set the stage for a memorable finish.

Sue Kay has been an ELT materials writer for over 25 years. She is the co-author of Pearson's Focus Second Edition and is one of the co-founders of ELT Publishing Professionals. In this article, Sue takes us through her experience of using video in the classroom and shows us how to motivate and engage students with authentic video.

Videos are no longer a novelty

When I started teaching in the early 80s, video was a novelty in the classroom. We only had one video player for the whole school and had to book it a week in advance. There was very little published material available, but thanks to the rarity factor, the students lapped it up. 

There was no problem with getting them motivated, even if the lessons accompanying the videos were not particularly exciting and consisted mainly of comprehension questions. Lucky for me, our school had a very dynamic Director of Studies who gave great teacher training sessions and I was very taken with a presentation he did on active viewing tasks. 

I was, and still am, a big fan of the Communicative Approach and I embraced the more interactive video tasks enthusiastically: freeze frame and predict, watch with the sound down and guess what people are saying, listen with the screen hidden to guess the action, etc. 

When I’m preparing a video lesson, I still try to include at least one of these activities because the information gap provides an ideal motivation for students to watch the video and check their ideas.