TEFL Resources and Lesson Ideas

Suggested levels: strong pre-intermediate to advanced.
Aims: to learn and practise using interesting conversational gambits in English; to practise informal speaking; to practise turn-taking, etc., in English conversations; to create a strong class bond.
Materials: these questionnaires (one for each student); enough classroom space to make two circles of chairs.
Procedure:

Give out the speed-date questionnaire (see above).

Ask students [...]

Suggested levels: pre-intermediate to advanced.
Aims: to engage with the structure of informal English letters; to practise skim-reading and reading for detail; to practise writing informal letters; to compose drafts and scan for grammatical and vocabulary errors, and mistakes in register.
Materials: some “doctored” agony aunt letters (pre-intermediate examples are here, upper-intermediate examples are here and advanced [...]

Suggested level: intermediate.
Aims: Students practise listening and speaking on the topic of superstition, and writing using the first conditional (I would use this after a lesson on the first conditional, as this is good free practice of it).
Materials needed: a recording of the song “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder (a great version on YouTube is here). [...]

Suggested levels: intermediate to upper-intermediate.
Aims: Students practise listening, speaking and writing, and learn miscellaneous vocabulary.
Materials: You will need a recording of “She’s Leaving Home” by the Beatles (a YouTube version is here), a copy of the lyrics, several copies of the first verse printed out (widely spaced) for the running dictation, copies of the gapfill [...]

Suggested levels: Pre-intermediate to low intermediate.
Aims: to build vocabulary and practise using functional language connected with travel via airports.
Materials: an interactive whiteboard; this IWB lesson; enough copies of this text and this gapfill task for each student, or pair of students.
Procedure:
1. Introduce the task by asking students what the longest journey they’ve ever taken is. [...]

NB I have adapted this activity from Deck of Conversations, on the onestopenglish website.
Suggested Levels: elementary and above .
Aims: to practise speaking, listening and polite turn-taking in informal conversations.
Materials needed: dice and students; a list of conversation topics.
Procedure: Before the class, prepare a list of conversation topics, one for each number of the dice; [...]

Aims: to practise using intonation to convey interest and enthusiasm, and to encourage students to bond as a group by giving feedback to each other.
Suggested levels: Strong pre-intermediate and above.
Materials needed: Copies of the Chindogu inventions at the bottom of this page (one for each group of three students), and paper and pens.
1. Pair your [...]

Please note that the idea of the body language table comes from Listening by Goodith White (Oxford Resource Books for Teachers: 1998).
Suggested levels: strong intermediate to advanced.
Aims: to focus on body language and how this affects communication; to focus on appropriate body language in different settings; to acquire and practise using vocabulary connected with the [...]

Note: the ideas for most of these activities come from Jim Scrivener’s excellent Straightfoward Pre-Intermediate Teacher’s Book.
Suggested levels: elementary to advanced.
Aims: to enliven gapfill tasks in coursebooks.
The One-Minute Gap Fill
This can cause a few laughs from students. Present the gapfill in the usual way, but set a strict time limit of one minute for students [...]

This webquest was designed by Steve Castle.
Suggested levels: intermediate to advanced.
Aims: to navigate the internet in English to find information; to practise scan- and skim-reading skills; to practise reading for detail.
Materials needed: one computer per two or three students and broadband internet access.
Pre-teach any unknown vocabulary; then put students in groups of two or three [...]