Teach ESL to Kids

An ESL lesson plan centered on teaching verbs can be very fun to do with the kids. It provides lots of opportunities to get them up and moving, as well as speaking English.

In this lesson plan, I chose to use the target English phrase “Can you…?” with a response of “Yes, I can.” or “No, I can’t.”. This lesson plan can be easily adapted to use other verb-related target English phrases, such as “She is (verb+ing).” Do whatever best suits your kids at this time.

Teaching Verbs Lesson Plan

1. Play Simon Says.(5 min) Starting out with an active game like this surprises the kids and helps them to focus. Make sure you are using lots of different verbs and not just “Touch you…” For a twist, you can pass out three “chips”. As a student makes a mistake, they must give the teacher the chip. When they lose all their chips, then they are out of the game. (Note: This should only be done if your kids are already familiar with the Simon Says game. It works best if you can just jump right into it and not have to explain.)

2. Warm Up/Circle Time.(15 min) Do a simple warm up or circle time with the kids. Use easy and familiar concepts. If you need circle time ideas, then check out the circle time page.

3. Introduce the Verb Flash Cards.(5 min) Spend some time introducing or reviewing the verb flash cards. Go through them one or two times.

4. Introduce the “Can you…?” Structure.(5 min) As you go through the flash cards, start asking the students “Can you…?” questions. Make sure that they can respond in the appropriate manner.

5. Chopsticks Race.(5 min) Play the Chopsticks Race. If you need instructions for this, check out this page.

5. Charades.(5 min) As a way to end the class, spend a few minutes playing charades. Older students can do this on their own, but with younger students, you may need to secretly show them a flash card and have them act out that card.

This provides a basic structure for a 40 minute lesson on teaching verbs. If your class is longer or shorter, you can modify it as necessary.

Love,
Shannon Sensei

Click here to go from Teaching Verbs to the ESL Lesson Plan Page.