Interesting Topic Lessons for ESL
Each set of materials on this page forms an integrated skills lessons for intermediate level English language learners. Whether or not students will find the topics interesting is a matter of personal taste, but the classes I taught using these lessons did have a bit of fun!
The worksheets are in PDF form, so to view, save and print them you will need Adobe Acrobat.
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Click on the contents list to go to the handouts you want to see, or scroll down for the full list.
Contents:
- Haiku
- I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
- Rap
- Making a Comic Book
- Horoscopes
- Inventions
- Mysterious Strangers
- Newspapers
- Romance
- Clothes and Fashion
Please note that for the Mysterious Strangers lesson you will need pictures of people cut out of magazines, and for the Clothes and Fashion lesson you will need pictures of different fabrics and patterns, and photos of fashion models.
Interesting Topic Lessons
Haiku
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
Rap
Making a Comic Book
Horoscopes
Inventions
Mysterious Strangers
Newspapers
Romance
Clothes and Fashion
- striped
- checked
- polka dot
- woollen
- plain
- tartan
- corduroy
- flowery
- fur
- leather
- suede
- animal print
- snake skin
- leopard skin
- paisley patterned
This lesson has one worksheet and is based around Bashô's haiku. There is a section to pre-teach vocabulary, then students analyse a haiku by Bashô on seasons. Finally, students write their own haiku.
This lesson has a single worksheet and is about the song "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". There is a section to pre-teach vocabulary then students read the song lyrics and draw the pictures the words make in their minds. Finally, students discuss what they would do for the world and how they would like the world to be.
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing Lesson in PDF form
This is a single worksheet on the topic of rap music. Students write down the name of a person they admire and give three reasons for admiring this person. Then they write a rap about the person in question. I used this sheet as part of a lesson where I would play the Hip-Hop song "Young Einstein" by Ugly Duckling, which is about the band's much-admired DJ. Students would do a cloze activity on the lyrics and this worksheet would be follow up. Since this particular Hip-Hop song was extremely fast, it tended to scare intermediate-level students! So this lesson might work better with a different song or if the worksheet is used independently.
This lesson has two worksheets and is most suited to upper-intermediate or even advanced level classes. Students work in pairs or groups to create a story board for their own comic book, planning aspects of setting, style, characters and adventures. Then they go into more detail to plan the characters of the chief good guy and chief bad guy. Finally, students draw and write their comic books. My blank mini-book can be used for this, or blank poster paper.
This lesson on horoscopes has four worksheets. First students do a vocabulary comprehesion exercise, then an activity about the characteristics of people born under each star sign. Following this is a reading comprehension exercise on "This Month's Stars". Finally, students write "Next Month's Stars". This lesson can be used to practise the first conditional and modal verbs.
This lesson has two worksheets. Students draw and label their own futuristic invention, then they write a newspaper article about it. I used these materials alongside a newspaper article on an amazing cellphone - how dated this article now seems!
You will need two magazine photos of interesting/mysterious people for this lesson.. Stick a photo in each of the boxes on the first worksheet before photocopying it for the class.
In this set of two worksheets, students list adjectives to describe two "strangers" shown in pictures, then they write a paragraph on each stranger describing who they might be and what they could be thinking. This lesson can be used for practice with modal verbs and the language of speculation.
Mysterious Strangers Lesson in PDF form
This is a single sheet of cards that can be cut out and distributed to the class. In this lesson, students work in groups to make a front page for their own newspaper. The cards give each person in the group a writing assignment for the paper. There are also additional task cards for if individuals in each group finish their main assignment early. When I taught this lesson, I would make up three or four newspaper names and stick them at the top of a large piece of paper and give a different "newspaper" to each group. Students would arrange good copies of their articles in columns on the front page and display their work on the classroom wall.
Newspaper Lesson Materials in PDF form
This is a single worksheet for a lesson about writing a romance. Students plan the main characters' names and personalities, and make notes in a planning grid, before writing their romance story.
To teach this lesson you will need pictures of different kinds of fabric and patterns. You will also need photos of fashion models/celebrities wearing "interesting" outfits.
There are four worksheets in this set. When I taught this lesson, first I showed flashcards of different fabric and patterns, and went over the names. Then students did worksheet one, in which they have to unscramble anagrams of fabric and pattern words. A discussion about clothes and fashion follows, then a vocabulary-building activity to brainstorm adjectives about the texture, style, shape etc of clothing. Finally, students work in groups and are given photos of models. They plan a fashion show where they introduce each model and describe what she is wearing. The "fashion show" part of the lesson teaches the order of adjectives.
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Clothes and Fashion Lesson in PDF form