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Introductions

Free
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
Beginner+/A1
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
Functional Language
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
45-60 min
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
Low-Resource
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Overview

In this introductory ESL lesson, beginner-level students will learn the basics of saying hello, introducing themselves, and saying goodbye. Mastering these essential social interactions paves the way for students to make positive first impressions and build their confidence.

The lesson kicks off with a boardwork example, offering a visual guide of the target language. Next, students will engage in several low-resource activities focused on collaborative speaking, providing opportunities to practice the newly learned language with their peers. Finally, we wrap up the session with a fun game that helps cement these key phrases while making the learning process more enjoyable.

Lesson Outline
Activities
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
Boardwork
1Good afternoon
2Classroom mingle
3Getting to know you
Games
1Snowball darts
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Classroom activities

Low-resource ESL lesson plan

Use of the board

Use the sample ESL board work below as a lead-in activity to introduce the students to the target language. These boards are colour-coded to give you an idea of the teacher-student interaction. Any text in blue is an opportunity to elicit a response from the class.

EFL - ESL Lead-in activity for beginners | Introductions

Low-resource ESL activity

Good afternoon

A role-play activity where students get to know each other while practising the target language for this lesson.

In groups of three, students will come to the front of the class to act out the dialogue from the suggested board work.

Low-resource ESL activity idea

Classroom mingle

Students move around the classroom, learning as much as they can about their classmates.

Begin by writing the following prompts on the board:

  • Name
  • Spelling of name
  • Age
  • Favourite colour
  • Favourite sport

Next, give the students 5-7 minutes to mingle with as many of their classmates as they can. When they find a new partner, they should take turns getting this information from one another.

Low-resource ESL activity idea

Getting to know you

We find out how much your students learned from the previous activity.

You will now have the students help you to introduce different members of the group. Select a student at random and ask the class questions about that student using the prompts from the last activity. Encourage the rest of the students to raise their hands and answer using the correct possessive adjective (his or her).

If it's practical, you should try to do this for every student in the class.

Classroom games

Low-resource ESL classroom game

Snowball darts: Memory

Students answer questions about their classmates to earn a throw of the snowball and a chance to win points for their team. 

Start by drawing a circular target on the whiteboard with several concentric layers of different score values. Next, crush a piece of paper into a ball. For each turn, ask a student a question about one of their classmates. Base these questions on the prompts from the activities for this lesson: 

  • Name 
  • Spelling of name 
  • Age 
  • Favourite colour 
  • Favourite sport 

The students should answer using the correct language rather than single word answers. If they get it right, they can throw a snowball at the board. Keep the scores on the board, and depending on the size of the class, play as an individual or team game.