English-4U :: ESL Lesson Plans

ESL lesson plans – for students of English

Hundreds of English learning materials for online classes and traditional classroom setting

English-4u ESL lesson plans are suitable for one-to-one and group classes.

Topical ESL worksheets based on current news

Students are more eager to speak when the topics are relevant to them. Controversial, intriguing, surprising news items presented in our ESL lesson plans are the same as the ones discussed around water coolers in their offices.

English lesson plans containing speaking, vocabulary, grammar and reading practice

This website offers thousands of English language activities that will broaden your vocabulary, improve reading comprehension, fix grammar mistakes, and above all, make students speak the language.

ESL lesson plans are ideal for teen or adult learners

We prepare our English lesson plans with teenagers and adult learners in mind. Therefore, the topics we choose reflect the interests of this group of learners.

Grammar

Grammar is an essential component in learning and mastering English. Below is a comprehensive explanation of the key topics in grammar:

1. Parts of Speech

  • Nouns: Words that name people, places, things, or ideas (e.g., book, city, happiness). Types: Proper, Common, Countable, Uncountable, Collective.
  • Pronouns: Words that replace nouns (e.g., he, she, it, they). Types: Subject, Object, Possessive, Reflexive, Relative, Demonstrative.
  • Verbs: Words that describe actions, states, or occurrences (e.g., run, is, have). Types: Action, Stative, Auxiliary, Modal.
  • Adjectives: Words that describe nouns or pronouns (e.g., happy, large, green). Comparative: bigger, Superlative: biggest.
  • Adverbs: Words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (e.g., quickly, very).
  • Prepositions: Words that show relationships between nouns and other words (e.g., in, on, at, by).
  • Conjunctions: Words that connect clauses, sentences, or words (e.g., and, but, because). Types: Coordinating, Subordinating, Correlative.
  • Interjections: Words or phrases that express strong emotions (e.g., wow, ouch).

2. Sentence Structure

  • Subject and Predicate: A sentence typically consists of a subject (who/what) and a predicate (what they do or what they are).
  • Simple Sentence: Contains one independent clause (e.g., She runs).
  • Compound Sentence: Contains two independent clauses connected by a conjunction (e.g., She runs, and he swims).
  • Complex Sentence: Contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause (e.g., She runs because she enjoys it).
  • Compound-Complex Sentence: Contains two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause (e.g., She runs, and he swims because they love sports).

3. Tenses

  • Present Simple: Describes habitual actions (e.g., I play).
  • Past Simple: Describes actions that have been completed (e.g., I played).
  • Future Simple: Describes actions that will occur (e.g., I will play).
  • Present Continuous: Describes ongoing actions (e.g., I am playing).
  • Past Continuous: Describes actions that were ongoing in the past (e.g., I was playing).
  • Future Continuous: Describes actions that will be ongoing in the future (e.g., I will be playing).
  • Present Perfect: Describes actions that occurred at an unspecified time (e.g., I have played).
  • Past Perfect: Describes actions completed before another action in the past (e.g., I had played).
  • Future Perfect: Describes actions that will be completed by a certain future time (e.g., I will have played).
  • Perfect Continuous Tenses: Used for actions that started in the past and continue (e.g., I have been playing, I had been playing).

4. Active vs. Passive Voice

  • Active: The subject performs the action (e.g., She wrote the book).
  • Passive: The object receives the action (e.g., The book was written by her).

5. Articles

  • Definite Article: “The” (used for specific things).
  • Indefinite Articles: “A” and “An” (used for non-specific things).

6. Modifiers

  • Adjective Clauses: Describe nouns (e.g., The man who is tall).
  • Adverbial Clauses: Modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (e.g., She sings as if she were happy).
  • Prepositional Phrases: Begin with a preposition and describe relationships (e.g., in the house).

7. Punctuation

  • Comma (,): Used to separate clauses or items in a list.
  • Period (.): Marks the end of a sentence.
  • Exclamation Mark (!): Shows excitement or emphasis.
  • Question Mark (?): Indicates a question.
  • Colon (:) and Semicolon (;): Used to connect related clauses or lists.
  • Quotation Marks (“ ”): Used to indicate speech or quotations.

8. Conditionals

  • Zero Conditional: General facts (e.g., If you heat water, it boils).
  • First Conditional: Possible future situations (e.g., If it rains, I will stay home).
  • Second Conditional: Hypothetical situations (e.g., If I were you, I would go).
  • Third Conditional: Hypothetical situations in the past (e.g., If I had known, I would have helped).

9. Reported Speech

  • Changing direct speech to indirect speech (e.g., He said, “I am happy” → He said he was happy).

10. Subject-Verb Agreement

  • Ensures that the subject and verb in a sentence agree in number (singular/plural) (e.g., He runs, They run).

11. Gerunds and Infinitives

  • Gerunds: Verbs that function as nouns, ending in -ing (e.g., Swimming is fun).
  • Infinitives: The base form of a verb, often preceded by “to” (e.g., to run, to swim).

12. Clauses

  • Independent Clauses: Can stand alone as a sentence (e.g., She laughed).
  • Dependent Clauses: Cannot stand alone and need an independent clause (e.g., Although she laughed).

13. Question Forms

  • Yes/No Questions: (e.g., Are you coming?).
  • Wh- Questions: (e.g., What are you doing?).