Becky Sparks wins the May 2007 Festivals Lesson Share Competition with a lesson about Glastonbury - Britain's most famous annual music festival.
Young learners: Daily routines and habits Read about the daily habits of three people and learn vocabulary associated with daily habits, basic foods, times and countries.
Young learners: Halloween Students practise vocabulary relating to Halloween.
Young learners: Once upon a time there was... In this enjoyable lesson by Sally Clarke and Sandy Stevens, students practise using possessive -s in a fairy tale context.
Young learners: at the supermarket To revise the names of food items; to distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns; to expose students to the meaning of the structures 'there is', 'there are', 'there isn't', 'there aren't'.
Young learners: daily routines of monsters, zombies, ghosts and aliens Practise third person –s, talking and writing about routines, saying and writing common action verbs, making questions about days, times and routines.
Young learners: Frodo's backpack To practise using 'some' and 'any'.
Young learners: Frodo's supplies To practise using 'How much?' and 'How many?'.
Young learners: my family Learning to differentiate basic members of the family; revising basic colours.
Young learners: scrambled sentences A team game in which learners first have to unscramble sentences then create their own scrambled sentences.
Young learners: teddy lesson Asking for and giving information (name, age...); understanding and giving instructions about movement and parts of the body; speaking about emotions and appearance; expressing possession; speaking about abilities.
Young learners: the fastest animal To revise superlative adjectives and names of animals.
Young learners: the home game Students practise names of household furniture and prepositions of place.
Young learners: what do they like? Expressing likes and dislikes – 3rd person singular.
ESOL: Alan's story This lesson prepares students for writing a short text on personal experience through reading and speaking activities.
ESOL: HIV and AIDS awareness To raise learners’ awareness of facts relating to HIV and AIDS.
ESOL: John and his new house This is a lesson about how to use the Yellow Pages within the context of household problems.
* Grammar: A very bad day Lucia Walliams wins the Lesson Share competition with a fun lesson on the third conditional. * Grammar: Let me talk about my life A lesson plan to give students written and oral practice of using the present perfect to talk about experiences. * Grammar: On the cards Activities to practise using the past form of irregular verbs. * Grammar: Past tense practice with hilarity A fun way to learn and practise new verbs in the past tense. * Grammar: smart crackle cakes To practise the passive form by converting imperative instructions to passive descriptions, followed by free practice of the passive. * Grammar: Tag teams To practise making tag questions by guessing information about other students. * Grammar: Using proverbs A lesson to teach proverbs and use them to remind students of, and clarify, language rules which may cause them difficulties. * Grammar: Yoga in the classroom An original take on teaching imperatives. This active drama lesson provides a great opportunity for bodily-kinaesthetic learners in the classroom. * Grammar: The future's bright Gráine Lavin wins the Lesson Share competition with this fun lesson about making predictions for students to practise using will for the future. * Grammar: a team game This is a vocabulary and language functions revision exercise. * Grammar: bargaining To present common verb and noun collocations related to household activities. To present and provide speaking practice in using the first conditional for bargaining and negotiating. Includes a card game. * Grammar: broken hearts and fish out of water: practising time clauses A reading, speaking and writing activity designed to present and practice time clauses. * Grammar: can you do it? To present the modal verb can (for ability) using a game of questions. * Grammar: can't you be more positive? This is primarily a fluency-based lesson to develop students’ phrase-building skills with language chunks based on the keyword ‘can’t’. * Grammar: card game for countables and uncountables Developing skills relating to, asking for and giving information about quantities, degrees of quantities, speaking about containers and places where things are put. * Grammar: card game for irregular verbs Pupils practise irregular verbs with games, using short sentences and / or single words in English. * Grammar: countable vs uncountable nouns To develop countable and uncountable nouns along with the structures: there is / there aren't / there should be. The roleplay focuses on shopping and the language needed for complaining. * Grammar: embedded question drill To provide learners with an opportunity to practise the word order of embedded questions. * Grammar: figure it out! Practise using modals of deduction. * Grammar: how to prepare it Practise imperatives; learn useful vocabulary; use sequence connectors; learn how to write a recipe. * Grammar: magazine interview role-play Practising 'used to' with an interview roleplay. Since the topic is mainly about the differences between men and women it can also be used for comparatives. * Grammar: making instant decisions Introduce 'will' or 'won't' for instant decisions; provide fluency practice using 'will' or 'won't'. * Grammar: 'Meet the Parents' To practise and contrast the past simple and present perfect and give students listening practice of these structures in context. Promotes the use of video as a useful classroom tool. Includes a great warmer 'lie-detector test'. * Grammar: meeting word partnerships To Introduce students to collocations with the word ‘meeting’ and to practice using them. * Grammar: money - just imagine! For the introduction and practice of first and second conditionals, including oral practice. * Grammar: my alibi To practise past continuous interrupted by another action or by a specific time, in a business setting. * Grammar: name that city - the cost of living To practice making comparisons. * Grammar: past tense card game A simple game designed to help with reviewing past tense questions and answers - (adaptable to other grammatical forms). * Grammar: personality assessment task To improve vocabulary when describing character, especially when dealing with literature (most of the time students use good, bad, happy, nice). * Grammar: personality traits To consolidate understanding of adjectives to describe people's qualities *
Grammar: present perfect continuous game Students use the present perfect continuous in a game based on jobs. * Grammar: professions To revise vocabulary and general knowledge in relation to professions. To reinforce speaking activities and working together. To revise the simple present tense in context. * Grammar: pub quiz A quiz game for present and past simple question forms (writing and speaking). * Grammar: reporting verbs To get students practising and using reporting verbs. * Grammar: rock band role-play Students work on a press release about a rock band, practising use of the present perfect. * Grammar: should I stay or should I go? Teaching 'should' using a song. * Grammar: teacher trumps To practice boasting, comparisons / superlatives. * Grammar: the adverb game To practise adverbs. * Grammar: the no-go game Practising past tense sentences. * Grammar: the passive voice To practise and revise the use of the passive voice. * Grammar: the past and future forms of 'be able to' Provide students with the tools to explain reasons for absence clearly and politely. * Grammar: the sentence machine To strengthen the students' knowledge of grammatical rules when forming and combining sentences in English. To revise verb tenses. * Grammar: what's been changed? This is an integrated skills activity with an emphasis on speaking practice using the present perfect simple passive (vs. active) in a very active, functional and fun way. * Grammar: wishes and regrets Practise expressing wishes and regrets, reading for specific information, dialogue building, fluency. * Grammar: you must not! Practice in using negative obligations, 'You must not...'
# Animal Top Trumps
Andrew Scully wins the Lesson Share competition with this comprehensive integrated skills lesson where students play the game 'Top Trumps' to practise animal vocabulary and comparatives and superlatives.
* Reading: Choose your own adventure!
Paul Charles presents an exciting lesson in which students work together to negotiate a route through a story with several possible outcomes. * Reading: Fantasy creatures
A lesson to practise all four skills. Students read a short passage on a fantasy creature, fill in a table by listening to descriptions and speak from notes. * Reading: St. Patrick's Day Jeopardy
Graine Lavin's fun St. Patrick's Day reading lesson includes a quiz on all things Irish! * Lesson share of the month: TV, hamburger, obesity gene
A great reading activity from the onestopenglish Lesson share archive leading to a role-play on the theme of obesity and fast food. * Reading: charity shops
To introduce the topic of charitable giving with particular reference to students or people on tight budgets and to stimulate debate about giving to particular causes. * Reading: David Beckham
A simple text on the footballer David Beckham with comprehension questions and a vocabulary focus on words with the prefix 'un-'. * Reading: graded reader blind date
A way of introducing students to graded readers through speaking and personalization, allowing students to find out about each others' tastes in books. * Reading: International Year of Rice
A reading-practice lesson plan that focuses on the the International Year of Rice. There are two reading passages: one gap-fill and one jigsaw reading. * Reading: meditation on the A30
A lesson plan based on a John Betjeman poem. * Reading: text reconstruction
Provides students with an opportunity to practice and develop their reading skills, as well as to interact and work as a group. * Reading: using novels
To stimulate students’ interest in intensive reading. * Reading: Who's better? Who's best?
This game integrates the skills of reading and speaking within a fun context.
* Speaking: Comparing and contrasting
A winning lesson by Bronagh Mc Laughlin and Gabby Hewitt to improve learners' ability to compare and contrast cities using comparatives and superlatives. * Speaking: Guessing game
Natalia Pellati presents a guessing game designed to help students practise the present continuous. * Speaking: Learning styles
A lesson by Fari Greenway to encourage learners to consider their own and each other’s different learning styles. The lesson can be used to various extents for learners from pre-intermediate upwards. Advanced learners can go on to debate teaching methods and learning styles that they find most effective. * Speaking: Making offers
Simon Mumford wins the Lesson Share competition with this lesson for students to practise using I'll for making offers. * Speaking: Murder in the classroom
Students take on roles in a murder mystery game and work together to discover the identity and motive of the murderer. * Speaking: the bargain hunters
To negotiate the sale of various second-hand and antique items in a market or shop. * Speaking: Interrupting and disagreeing politely
Simon Mumford wins the Lesson Share competition with this original idea for students to learn to interrupt and disagree politely. * Speaking: Party, party, party!
A winning lesson plan by Rachel Lunan that will really get students talking, perfect for an end-of-term conversation class. * Speaking: a round table talk about the environment
To develop speaking skills; to reinforce the vocabulary on the topic; to encourage the students to think over and discuss the problems of the environment. * Speaking: adopt Ivan
Speaking practice to develop discussion – offering opinions, agreeing and disagreeing. The discussion is a serious and ‘authentic’ extended task which gets learners really talking. * Speaking: blackboard baseball
Students use their textbooks, class notes, previous quizzes, etc. to come up with the questions and answers. Great way to review for mid-term (or semester) exam. * Speaking: Blankety Blank
To practise and reinforce vocabulary of emotions; pronunciation practice. * Speaking: cartoon stories
Provides practice of: listening, speaking, reading, writing, present tense questions, prepositions of place, present continuous for describing what’s happening now. * Speaking: character adjectives game
To improve vocabulary when describing character, especially when dealing with literature; speaking, giving examples, exchanging information, assessment. * Speaking: circles of similarity
'Getting to know you' activity to practice agreeing and disagreeing. * Speaking: collaborative story writing
Students review vocabulary on a chosen topic, write a number of stories collectively, review the use of verb tenses in a narrative, and discuss their choice of tenses, then edit and correct their own and each other’s work. * Speaking: computer vocabulary game
A communication activity that combines general speaking with the acquisition of computer terminology. * Speaking: dictionary bluff
A definitions games that involves all four skills. * Speaking: dreams
To become familiar with definitions, collocations and idioms related to the concept of dreams. * Speaking: drugs
To develop team work, fluency practice, modals, ‘should’ and ‘must’ + 'be'. * Speaking: film interview
Students interview each other about their film preferences. Practice includes adjectives describing emotions and -ed and -ing forms. * Speaking: first class mingle
Mingling speaking activity. Students speak to everyone in the class and find out as much information as possible about each other. * Speaking: in search of 'good' British food
A lesson plan on British cuisine. Students use the internet to research the culture of British food. * Speaking: inventions
The main objective is speaking fluency, but also comparative and superlative adjectives and modal verbs of speculation (could be, might be…) * Speaking: lateral thinking stories
An entertaining lesson involving predicting the end of funny stories. Aims to practice Yes/No questions. * Speaking: love and marriage
Vocabulary development and lots of discussion on a topic that everyone likes talking about. Functions include giving advice. * Speaking: making conversation
Develop students’ conversation skills by making appropriate responses and follow-up questions. * Speaking: man and wife
To practise a wide range of question forms. To review a variety of tenses depending on the questions, but mainly present simple. *
* Speaking: my perfect partner
Develop adjectives describing personality and physical characteristics. * Speaking: ordering a pizza
A roleplay lesson for elementary students. Functional language covered: requests, 'Can I have...?', 'I'd like...'. Target vocabulary includes numbers, money and food.
* Speaking: sentence structure game
A card game for revising vocabulary, sentence structure and word order. * Speaking: speed-dating
To practise speaking and revise adjectives to describe character; revise question forms.
* Speaking: Taboo for English learners
A team game for vocabulary and language functions revision. * Speaking: talking about a friend
To practise the use of gerunds when talking about likes or dislikes, e.g. 'I love travelling'. To extend and use adjectives of personality in context, e.g. friendly/unfriendly, talkative/quiet, lazy/hard-working. * Speaking: the internet dilemma
To raise students’ awareness of the dangers of the internet and to think about ways of ensuring their safety when meeting cyber-friends in real life. *
Speaking: Travel trouble
This board game provides an opportunity for students to practice various functions that have been covered in recent lessons. * Speaking: weird science
Introduces and provides fluency practice for character adjectives. This is a good ice-breaker lesson for first classes. * Speaking: what's in a name?
Aims to extend vocabulary and boost confidence. This is an exercise for the first lesson with a new group: a really creative ice-breaker. * Speaking: what's your problem?
To practise giving advice and suggestions using should and shouldn’t. * Speaking: where would you find…?
Introductory exercise to familiarize students with the different sections of an English newspaper. Listening and speaking and practice with prepositions. * Speaking: working with pictures
Asking questions, listening, making notes, using notes to complete a task.
* Writing: A nice story
Jane Richards wins the Lesson Share competition with this original and useful lesson to encourage students to use a wide range of adjectives, rather than depending on high-frequency lexical items such as good, nice and bad. *
Writing: blockbuster
Practising writing and speaking skills as revision or examination preparation. * Writing: controlled narrative writing
To present and practise narrative writing. * Writing: creative writing
Students summarize well-known stories. * Writing: fun with formal letter writing
A fun, interactive lesson to introduce formal letters for pre-intermediate and above. Students analyze useful sentence stems in context and then practise them with an interactive, competitive writing game. * Writing: Hollywood: present perfect practice
The aim of this exercise is to practise the present perfect and past simple in an authentic context by producing a magazine article at the end of the lesson. * Writing: the reporter game
A game in which students create stories for an imaginary newspaper. * Writing: yearbooks
A short but very useful lesson plan for the end of the school year. Students work together to write yearbook entries for each member of class.
