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The present continuous

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Low-resource ESL lesson plan
Elementary/A2
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
Grammar
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
45-60 min
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
Low-Resource
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Overview

This ESL lesson plan focuses on teaching the present continuous tense to elementary-level students. By the end of the session, students will better understand the present continuous grammar, including how to construct its negative form.

We start the lesson with a suggested boardwork example, providing one simple and effective way to introduce the target language. After that, students will participate in several low-resource activities focusing on grammar and collaborative speaking exercises. We will conclude the lesson with a classroom game to help reinforce the present continuous tense, ensuring that students understand and remember the newly learned concepts.

Lesson Outline
Activities
Low-resource ESL lesson plan
Boardwork
1Make a statement
2What are you doing?
3Picture this
Games
1Pictionary
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Classroom activities

Low-resource ESL lesson plan

Use of the board

The students review the grammar of the present continuous and look at the construction of the negative form.

Start by explaining how verbs change in the present continuous. Then give an example of each spelling rule and add it to the top right-hand side of the board. Next, illustrate how the tense is formed by taking a basic statement in the present simple and converting it into the present continuous. After that, work through the diagram, eliciting as much as possible. Finally, ask the students for some example statements, add a few to the board and have them convert them into their negative form. If you can, lean on the L1 and let the students perform some translations.

Low-resource ESL lesson plan
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Low-resource ESL activity

Make a statement

A writing activity where the students make present continuous statements from a list of prompts on the board.

Low-resource ESL lesson plan
This lesson plan is exclusive to TEFLHandbook members. Join today and get instant access to our expanding library of teaching resources.
Low-resource ESL activity

What are you doing?

A pairwork speaking activity where students answer questions as if they were in another place.

Low-resource ESL lesson plan
This lesson plan is exclusive to TEFLHandbook members. Join today and get instant access to our expanding library of teaching resources.
Low-resource ESL activity

Picture this

Students have to draw images that accurately represent present continuous statements.

Low-resource ESL lesson plan
This lesson plan is exclusive to TEFLHandbook members. Join today and get instant access to our expanding library of teaching resources.

Classroom games

Low-resource ESL activity

Pictionary: Present continuous

Players have to draw images on the board to get their classmates to shout out the correct verb in its continuous form.

Low-resource ESL lesson plan
This lesson plan is exclusive to TEFLHandbook members. Join today and get instant access to our expanding library of teaching resources.

More elementary-level ESL lesson plans

Be sure to check out our entire elementary-level and upper-elementary collections, as well as our complete library of ESL lesson plans.

If you use an iOS or Android device, have a look at the TEFL Handbook app. An ESL lesson planner for English teachers. It has a lot more content and gives you faster access to our ESL resources, making it easier to use in class.