Four Easy ESL Lesson Plan Ideas for when You Are Sick (or Tired!)

We all know what it's like to be so exhausted that you have to pry your eyes open with a compass (ouch!). This can be especially scary when you've got a full day of classes and no way to get out of it. Either you've used up all your sick days or you can't bear to miss class (that's how I am). Wendy here has come to the rescue. The following are 4 very easy lesson plans that allow you to take a breather while your students either pay attention to each other or what's on the screen.

Please note that these lessons are great teaching tools, as well. They make learning English fun and also provide some "relax" time for students. Even your students need a break sometimes. Okay, on to the lessons.

1. Show a movie with subtitles

This one is a no brainer, but it totally works. Think back to those days when you watched movies in class - they were the best, right? In order to make this an effective English lesson, make sure that the movie itself is in English, but do provide the appropriate language's subtitles. Also, create a questionnaire or some sort of activity for the students to do while they watch the movie. This keeps them doubly engaged and also gets them using their English.

For example, if you show the movie "Alice in Wonderland," you could have your students write down the animals that they see and can name in English (in 30 minutes I had a student with 6 animals!).

Or you could have the students write down 5 sentences they understand in English that are spoken by a character.

2. Do a craft

Doing a craft not only takes up a lot of time in a class but also gets your students engaged with the work at hand. The craft of your choice can be very simple and easy to prepare. One of my favorite and easiest crafts is to have the students make a poster. Each student gets a piece of A4 (computer) paper and draws a picture with an English sentence. It's fun to see what the students come up with and they often play off each other and come up with great ideas.

For example, if your students are learning present tense phrases, have them write the phrase and then draw a picture to match the sentence (see picture). "I am painting," for instance, would have a picture of a paintbrush, an easel, or someone painting. I like to choose the best at the end of the class and display them for a week or two in the classroom.

3. Learn a new song

Students get really excited about learning English songs. You can incorporate this into your lesson by choosing a song that is easy to learn (ie. Lemon Tree, Holiday, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, etc.). One of the best ways to make this an effective English lesson is by providing the lyrics to the students. I like to leave a lot of blanks in the lyrics, have a word bank and then ask the students to listen and fill in the blanks. It usually takes 4-5 times listening before everyone has all the answers. Next, check the answers, sing the song together and if you want choose a few students to perform the song in front of the class!

4. Crossword or Word Search

You can often find these online. Either that or purchase a book/make your own. Hand out a medium-difficult crossword and/or word search and give the students an allotted amount of time to finish it. I say 20-25 minutes is an adequate amount of time. When they are finished, check the answers and go over the vocabulary. Have students stand up to read the answers and explain what the words mean (either in English or their native language).