Last year, I spent a lot of time just randomly doing Google searches to find materials for my private lessons-basically, where to find good resources for teaching ESL classes. This year, I have done a better job of finding websites that continuously have good materials for private lessons. You know, materials that don’t have random ads all over them. Nothing says amateur teacher like bringing worksheets that have ads on them 🙂 On the other hand, ain’t nobody got time to make their own activities, so with that being said- here are some good resources for teaching ESL classes: worksheets, lessons, and games for your private lessons (or school classes!!!).
6 Good Resources for Teaching ESL Classes
1 // islcollective.com
Good for: Games, pre-made PowerPoints, pre-made worksheets and activities, fun things
Free website with downloadable (and editable) worksheets, activities, games, and PowerPoints. I download pre-made PowerPoints to show in class. This is a good website for private students, as well as group classes.
It’s necessary to make an account, but then you have total access.
2 // eslpdf.com
Good for: Printable PDFs to practice grammar, vocab, or other teachable categories.
This free website offers hundreds of printable pdfs that you can use with your students. They have a ton of grammar and vocab practice, but not many games and fun activities. They do say “another free worksheet from eslpdf.com” at the top of the page, but hey…ya win some and ya lose some.
3 // Dave’s ESL Cafe
Good for: helping you (the teacher) explain many grammar topics that can be difficult to explain if you don’t have a formal background in education (like most of us!).
For example, what on earth is an adjective clause?! We all know that feeling when a student asks you to explain something like this and you’re just like….”a what?” Now you know where to find the answer in a clear and concise way.
4 // Education.com
Good for: printable worksheets, activities, games, lesson plans, reading material
I stumbled across this website in the summer and was amazed by the amount of material they have available. It’s geared towards English-speaking students, but this makes it perfect for teaching Spanish students learning English because some of the activities that are geared towards very young children are great for normal-aged children in your schools. I print a lot of their reading activities, as well as the crossword puzzles, holiday activities and games.
FYI this one is not free, but if you split it with a friend or friends, you can share the membership and cost.
5 // getKahoot.com
Good for: a fun warm-up activity with a large group of older students
This is a website that has online quizzes that the students answer with their phones. It allows them to compete against one another and you can give a small prize to the winner. This is a great activity to use with a large class of students that have cell phones (with data!!). I plan to use it this week to see how much they know about Halloween. You can find pre-made “quizzes” and edit them or you can make your own. (My roommate showed me this site)
6 // British Council
Good for: more advanced English, such as business English, English in the news, etc.
This has a lot of activities for advances learners that help them practice English (by listening to news reports, or podcasts, for example) or learn English that is important for every day life (such as how to write an e-mail, or answer the telephone). There are many activities available on this site.
