ESL Lessons for Teens

Projects

• Projects in which teens work together to accomplish a major task provides opportunities for them to speak, write, read and listen. They can express themselves in their native language, and show you what they know in ways that are fun and meaningful to them. Projects provide students the opportunity to be independent and to be more in charge of their own learning. Have students work together to build a magazine. Depending on the size of the project, students can write features for a different sections of the magazine. This requires research on the topic, the ability to write, rewrite and discuss the topic with classmates.

Debates

• Teenagers typically like to talk and share their opinions. Teach your students the formalities of a debate, and then give them the opportunity to work individually and in small groups to learn about a debatable topic. Feature an entire day in your classroom in which students dress up for the debate and formally debate. Before this project, teach vocabulary for agreeing and disagreeing politely in English. Topics for debate can come from news reports or a current topic of interest to the students. Create a class list with the students of possible topics so that they have another way to express their ownership of the event. You might also include a requirement to write a brief on the topic to turn in to further hone students̵7; writing skills.

Blogs

• Integrate technology into your lesson to keep your teenagers interested. You can set up individual blogging accounts on a free, online blogging platform, such as WordPress, Blog or Blogger. Students can share comments on each other̵7;s blogs. This helps students create a written, meaningful dialogue that can last throughout the year and prepare them for working or studying online in the future. You might also arrange for students to comment to each other on a blog that you write, if enough computers are not available for individual blogging accounts at your school. They can also write one post each on a classroom blog on which other students comment. As you teach writing and reading skills, ask students to post a certain number of comments or posts that focus on your most recent lesson. If your students are learning about irregular past tense verbs, have them share a story from their childhood on their blogs or comment on other students̵7; stories.

Speaking

• Speaking activities keep teenagers entertained. They can also be expanded upon to integrate listening, reading and writing. Have your students create a list of interview questions they can ask other students about their backgrounds. You could provide a list of vocabulary words related to childhood, careers or other subjects that could be interview questions and have students write those words into their questions. Students then interview each other, write a short presentation on the person they interviewed and then present it to the class. After each person presents, students must write down and then ask a thoughtful question about the presentation.

Movies

• Most teenagers love to watch movies, and several lesson plan resources are available online for watching clips from movies. You can also watch short videos online such as those at English Media Lab, Learn English Feel Good, English Club and ESL Video. Find videos or movies that will keep your students̵7; interest. They are good ways to learn vocabulary, practice grammar and listening.