history lesson plan esl

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana (1863 – 1952), Spanish philosopher
  • January 13, 2022
  • General English
  • No Comments

Home » History

Latest lesson plans

International Trade

This free ESL lesson plan on history has been designed for adults and young adults at an intermediate (B1/B2) to advanced (C1/C2) level and should last around 45 to 60 minutes for one student.

History is the academic study of past events, as opposed to a story, which is the retelling of events (fictional or real). We study history to understand what led us to the present, and so that we learn not to repeat past mistakes. But history, or a version of history, is also used to instil national pride or to remind people where they came from. One thing is for certain: humans have a very long memory, and things that happened hundreds of years ago have been passed down through the generations and still remain with us today. In this ESL lesson plan on history, students will have the opportunity to discuss and express their opinions on issues such as the importance of learning history, who writes history, and how history has an effect on the present.

For advice on how to use this English lesson plan and  other lesson plans  on this site, see the  guide for ESL teachers .

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES

Reading activity Before the English class, send the following article to the students and ask them to read it while making a list of any new vocabulary or phrases they find (explain any the students don’t understand in the class):

Time | The Civil War Never Stopped Being Fought in America’s Classrooms. Here’s Why That Matters

The article highlights the efforts made by supporters of the Confederate side in the American Civil War to rewrite history. The war was fought over the South’s refusal to accept the end of slavery, yet decades after the war had finished, Confederate organisations embarked on a campaign to ensure school textbooks would teach the war was fought over states’ rights instead. At the start of the class, hold a brief discussion about what the students thought about the article. What do they think about the issues raised in the article? Do they agree with what was said? Can they think of any ways they might disagree with the content of the article?

Video activity To save time in class for the conversation activities, the English teacher can ask the students to watch the video below and answer the listening questions in Section 3 of the lesson plan at home. There are intermediate listening questions and advanced listening questions so teachers can decide which would be more appropriate for their students. Check the answers in the class.

The video for this class is called “Time: The History & Future of Everything” by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell which looks at the entire history of humans and what came before, as well as looking at what the future hold.

Courtesy of  kurzgesagt.org

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

The focus in the class is on conversation in order to help improve students’ fluency and confidence when speaking in English as well as boosting their vocabulary.

This lesson opens with a short discussion about the article the students read before the class. Next, the students can give their opinion on the quote at the beginning of the lesson plan – what they think the quote means and if they agree with it. This is followed by an initial discussion on the topic including the most significant events from history, what schools don’t teach in history classes, and whether there is one definitive version of history or many naratives.

After this, students will learn some vocabulary connected with history such as the course of history , to live in the past and to go down in history . This vocabulary has been chosen to boost the students’ knowledge of less common vocabulary that could be useful for preparing for English exams like IELTS or TOEFL. The vocabulary is accompanied by a cloze activity and a speaking activity to test the students’ comprehension of these words.

If the students didn’t watch the video before the class, they can watch it after the vocabulary section and answer the listening questions. Before checking the answers, ask the students to give a brief summary of the video and what they thought about the content.

Finally, there is a more in-depth conversation about history. In this speaking activity, students will talk about issues such as whether history hides the truth of the past, why people try to rewrite history, and what future historians will write about the current day.

After the class, students will write about their opinion of history. This could be a short paragraph or a longer piece of writing depending on what level the student is at. The writing activity is designed to allow students to practise and improve their grammar with the feedback from their teacher. For students who intend to take an international English exam such as IELTS or TOEFL, there is an alternative essay question to practise their essay-writing skills.

DOWNLOAD LESSON PLANS

history lesson plan esl

Did you find this lesson plan useful?

Your English Pal is a free resource to help fellow ESL teachers save time when preparing their classes. If these lesson plans have helped you, and you’d like to help keep the site free, please consider making a small contribution to help cover the site’s costs. Any help you can give is much appreciated!

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Copyright © 2023 Your English Pal

Privacy Overview

Topic: History

ESL lesson about history

Finders keepers?

In this ESL lesson about history, students watch a stand-up comedy piece, talk about history and learn useful vocabulary and idioms.

inversion in English

Female pioneers (inversion in English)

In this lesson, students learn how to use inversion in English. They also talk about gender inequality, watch a video and read short texts about women pioneers.  

conjunctions of purpose

Learning about the past for the present

With this lesson plan, students discuss why we need to learn history and other school subjects. They also watch a video and practise the use of conjunctions.

advanced speaking lesson

Families – extended, nuclear, chosen

In this advanced speaking lesson students will practise some vocabulary and watch a video about the history of the nuclear family. They will also discuss some statistics and talk about the changing family model.

genetic genealogy lesson plan

What can genetic genealogy tell us about our ancestors?

In this lesson, advanced students discuss in depth the issues raised by the article they read at home, and learn vocabulary related to genealogy and history. 

the history of the hoodie

The humble hoodie

In this lesson about the history of the hoodie, your students will discover the origins of this iconic garment (and some others) and learn several adjectives for talking about clothes.

Subscribe to get premium content

Subscribe to get access to professional, ready-to-use lesson plans in both digital and printable formats . Discover a variety of lesson types: Standard Lessons, Speaking Classes, Critical Reading Club worksheets and Flipped Classroom lesson plans.

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website, personalize content and analyze website traffic. For these reasons, we may share your site usage data with our social media, and analytics partners. You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Privacy settings

With the slider, you can enable or disable different types of cookies:, this website will:.

  • Remember which cookies group you accepted
  • Essential: Remember your cookie permission setting
  • Essential: Allow session cookies
  • Essential: Gather information you input into a contact forms, newsletter and other forms across all pages
  • Essential: Keep track of what subscription you select to buy
  • Essential: Authenticate that you are logged into your user account

This website won't:

  • Remember your login details
  • Functionality: Remember social media settings
  • Functionality: Remember selected region and country
  • Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken
  • Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number
  • Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page
  • Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions
  • Advertising: Tailor information and advertising to your interests based on e.g. the content you have visited before. (Currently we do not use targeting or targeting cookies.
  • Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location
  • Advertising: Use information for tailored advertising with third parties
  • Advertising: Allow you to connect to social sites
  • Advertising: Identify device you are using
  • Essential: Keep track of what you input in a shopping cart
  • Essential: Remember language version you selected
  • Advertising: Allow you to connect to social sitesl Advertising: Identify device you are using

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience.

FluentU Logo

Sneak Attack! How to Create an Effective “Back Door” ESL World History Lesson

Do your students sometimes wonder aloud just why they have to study English?

Have you tried storytelling in class, just to find your students don’t seem to have stories to tell?

Are you teaching history in a full immersion environment where students look at you while you lecture with faces as blank as a fresh piece of paper?

In any of the above situations, as well as others, you can use world history to animate your students to make use of their present level of English.

They can then improve upon that level by actively outlining and then telling their classmates about those events in world history.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Why Combine English and World History?

English has a place in world history.

English teaching and English usage have had an incredible impact on the world since the early days of British colonization. Students don’t always realize that English, despite its difficulties, didn’t just suddenly become the lingua franca of the modern world out of the blue.

It took centuries of sometimes dramatic events to lead English to surpass other languages, like Spanish or French, as the language of commerce, diplomacy and even air traffic control. World history is full of examples that you can share with your students to help them understand the importance of learning English today.

In many cases, students may resent having to learn English. It may be just the required class they have to attend twice a week, or the after-school activity their parents sign them up for. They don’t get why they have to study it.

On the other hand, they might be aware that the language dominates much of modern, day-to-day activity: from the popular music they hear on the radio to surfing on the internet. They know that English is somehow important but don’t really know how it got that way or why.

Beginning this activity by working through the world history behind English dominance can help your students understand why it became a lingua franca today, how it has shaped the modern world and why being familiar with English is important. Look at the history of how English, as a language, has developed into the modern-day “universal language.”  There are tons of stories of migrations, conquests and colonies that led to the modern English language, and ESL students often find them fascinating.

World history is full of great English language lessons

Exciting or controversial moments in world history can prove to be an excellent way to distract your students from any number of linguistic goals you want them to work on and achieve. While keeping your students focused upon the exciting events, you can sneakily slip in any number of language items:

  • vocabulary (century, eon, ancient)
  • verb tenses (simple past, perfect modes, past continuous)
  • conditional statements (if this had happened, then this would have been different)
  • passive voice (this was made possible by that, this result was caused by that)
  • time marking expressions (ago, since, when, during, in earlier times, after that)

Small frustrations with grammar and vocabulary are indirectly overcome while they are actively involved in researching and preparing a presentation on a significant world history event. Your job will be to observe them as they work through the activity, gently reminding them when a simple past or a specific time expression will best suit their storytelling needs.

History is particularly great for teaching the English past tenses

History is history because it took place in the past.

There is hardly a better way to get your students accustomed to using the past tenses and expressions than telling a story from world history. From verbal tenses to time expressions, to finally understanding the time-bridging characteristics of the perfect modes, telling a story from history will often indirectly bring that spark of comprehension as to when and why to use a particular tense or mode in English.

All the historical stories you share will provide excellent context for English grammar and vocabulary. By reading about history, or listening to you talk about history, they’ll gain a better perspective on how English is used to describe events.

By combining storytelling with the practice of past tenses and constructions, you end up contextualizing these structures. You can draw on each contextualization to help explain when to use the present perfect, past continuous or simple past.

You break away from simply diagramming and explaining the structures since you’ll have numerous examples from the stories being told.

History is storytelling

World history won’t just stop at why we use English everywhere, though. For thousands of years, mankind has kept track of what’s been going on in the world. That history is made up of an infinite number of stories to be told.

History has its roots in storytelling, and the vast amount of material available in world history will give your students ample resources to work with.

You can turn your students into storytellers

Always have students  share  what they’ve learned about the topic with their classmates in some way, using their English to tell stories. They don’t have to invent stories, they can simply tell what happened. In this way, they concentrate on both the organization and linguistic tools they’ll need to tell those stories. Plus, there are millions of ready-made stories available from the thousands of years of known history.

Storytelling is always a popular activity in the ESL class. Though it can put a student “on the spot” by having to perform alone in front of the classmates, group storytelling can become a confidence builder if handled with care and preparation.

You can employ “back door” English teaching

You may be teaching a straightforward ESL class and are looking for an alternative, distracting focus to practice specific language feats. Perhaps you’re in immersion teaching and the focus of the class is world history, with language acquisition taking an important, but necessary, back seat.

In these and other ESL teaching situations, using world history will help your students to understand events, map out linear thought while practicing the specific language needed in storytelling. The benefits are multiple, but the technique is subtly “tricky” on your part.

Backdoor teaching is a technique in which the teacher diverts students’ attention from a particular teaching objective with a larger, more general task. The teacher will thus establish two objectives: a distracting objective and a back door objective.

The distracting objective is the larger, more general objective that is meant to capture your student’s attention, excite them with the feeling that the activity that they’re concentrating upon is fun, different and entertaining. You’ll want your students to believe that this is the main objective of the activity.

The back door objective is what you, the teacher, really want them to be working on and practicing. This objective may be easily expressed in your teacher lingo, which often ends up being some combination of grammar terms and teacher-talk. This kind of objective, though important to you, can prove, at the least, boring and, at the worst, intimidating for your students.

In the case of a world history ESL lesson, as a distracting objective, you’ll inform your students that they will be preparing an oral presentation of a particular series of events in world history. You’ll want to sell this objective as something different and exciting, an excursion from the usual structure and grammar work from their textbook.

The back door objective will be the use of certain verb tenses and modes, time expressions or vocabulary. While you might outline those language items and remind your students when they’ll need to use them, you should keep the attention of your students on preparing the world history oral presentation.

So, backdoor teaching will involve, on your part:

  • setting goals for the linguistic objective you want students to practice
  • teaching and reinforcing the English language students should use to talk about historical events (or anything in the past)
  • focusing students’ attention on the larger objective of world history (rather than focusing on drilling the grammar or vocabulary)

Though you’ll let your students know the language goals, you’ll try to keep their focus on the larger world history lesson. This makes the language instrumental, but not principle.

In this way, the language objective enters through the “back door.”

How to Create a “Back Door” ESL World History Lesson

Here, we’ve got everything you need to do for a world history lesson broken down into three easy steps. For each step, we’ll show you how it plays out in an example World History ESL lesson on the topic “English teaching in Colonial India.”

1. Set Goals

Before you jump into the class with, “Today we’re going to look at Henry the XIII’s personal relationship problems,” you’ll want to develop a game plan for yourself that you can employ in any history lesson.

Since you’ll be teaching both language structure and storytelling structure, your presentation will also need to reflect this in order to reinforce the background for your students. That template will have three main parts:

  • Student objective: Students will prepare, practice and present a short explanation of a historical event.
  • Language to be practiced: According to level and course work, you’ll plug in a structure or two.
  • Presentation material: You’ll want to have read up on the historical event, have some pictures or graphs ready.

You’ll know best what your students already know, what challenges you need to present them with, what they need to practice, what new information you need to introduce.

Example goals

Lesson : English teaching in Colonial India

  • Student objective: Students will prepare, practice and present a short explanation of a historical event about the history of English teaching in colonial India.
  • Language to be practiced:  simple past, present perfect, past perfect and past continuous
  • Presentation material:  timeline of Colonial India from 1759 to 1958; pictures of English colonists and Indian citizens from the time period

2. Give a Presentation

You’ll want to present the entire activity clearly to your students. This presentation will have several parts, which you’ll have prepared when you’ve worked out the details of the section “Presentation material” in the template.

Let’s see how this plays out for the example topic, “English teaching in Colonial India.”

Give your historical event a title.

English teaching in Colonial India

Draw a timeline marking key events.

Use different colors and symbols (squares or triangles) when making your timeline to differentiate between verb tenses and modes.

1759 (bought) – 1787 (began) – 1797 (wrote) – 1813 (became) – 1830 (taught) – 1835 (introduced) – 1850 (used) – 1857 (established) – etc…

Employ your target grammar points to discuss each timeline event, as well as the relationships between those events.

Using the simple past to discuss each timeline event:

1759 — The East India Company brought English to India. 1787 — Rev. Swartz began establishing schools for the teaching of English. 1797 — John Miller wrote “The Tutor,” an English study book. 1813 — East India Company became responsible for educating Indians. 1830 — Private schools taught English to the Indian middle classes. 1835 — T.B. Macaulay introduced English teaching in South Asia. 1850 — 1947 — Indian intellectuals and freedom fighters used English as a political tool. 1857 — English universities were  established in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.

  Relating present events to earlier events using the present perfect :

Indians have studied English for over 250 years.

English has been taught as an administrative tool since 1904.

Relate the earlier event to another earlier event using the past perfect :

Though Gandhi had recommended native language in education, English continued to be taught .

English universities had developed  years before Gandhi’s suggestion.

Discuss a past event that was happening when a later past event occurred using the continuous past :

Intellectuals were using English as a political tool when Dhaka university was founded.

Universities were teaching English when India got its independence.

Tell the story in a continuous narrative.

Finally, once you’ve gone through the entire timeline outlining, marking past tense verb forms, drawing bridges between events to illustrate each mode, you put down your chalk, sit in front of your students and tell them the entire story, showing the pictures you’ve gathered.

With your introduction, review of vocabulary and structures and the help of realia, you’ll find your students understanding much of what you’re sharing.

Use video content

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language lessons.

3. Hand It Over

Once you’ve made your example presentation for them, you’ll want to hand the matter over to your students.

  • Put students in groups. Group your students in pairs or trios so that they work together, reducing solo performance stress. You can either make these groups randomly or wisely pair stronger students with weaker students for some peer-level self-help.
  • Hand each group a timeline that represents a historic event. This can be the one you’ve presented or a different event for each group.
  • Students highlight verbs in the presentation. Have your students follow your example of noting verbs in the different tenses and modes while bridging events on the timeline that they’ll use in their presentation. You can include a basic “cheat sheet” of how each tense is constructed to grease the way.
  • Divide the word. Have each group practice the presentation of the story, dividing the sentences up evenly among the members. For example, Sally says two sentences, then Tom says two more, then Bill says two more and then back to Sally. Their presentation should mock the one you’ve given.
  • Let students practice . Set a presentation date and allow your students a couple of practice periods in the meantime to hone down their oral work. It’ll be during these subsequent practice times that you’ll take a look at their work and help them out with corrections, pronunciation and vocabulary.
  • Add visual aids to the timeline. As an alternative, you can have the groups prepare posters of their timelines with cut outs from magazines or drawings. Make sure, though, that the basic timeline and the bridges are present and visible!

In a regular ESL class, you can adapt the above method for any number of language aspects and for any proficiency level. Beginners may only need to focus on using a few chosen irregular verbs to describe their timeline. Choosing a world history topic related to food production can introduce characteristic vocabulary related to food, farming, shopping and the like.

However you choose to adapt the lesson, make sure you keep in mind how much your students already know and what you want them to learn from the exercise.

If you’re teaching in an immersion program in which regular world history course work is taught only in English to non-native speakers, working with their ESL teacher can give you insights into how to combine the linguistic aspects with the historical study.

Having your students actively tell the stories aloud will help them not only remember their history lessons but will also lead them to more proficiency in English, which will only help them to improve in both ESL and course content areas.

World history offers so many rich opportunities for language practice, from understanding verb tenses to learning how to outline and tell stories. Getting the focus off of the grammar and vocabulary with this activity can give your lesson a fresh direction that can keep the dynamics of your classes motivated and upbeat.

Revel Arroway taught ESL for 30 years before retiring into Teacher Training. His blog, Interpretive ESL , offers insights into language teaching, simplifying the classroom, language class activities and general thoughts on ESL teaching.

Enter your e-mail address to get your free PDF!

We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe

history lesson plan esl

  • Teaching resources
  • Teaching secondary
  • UK history and literature

First World War

Find lesson plans and resources related to the First World War for you to use in your teenage classroom.

Soldiers in a trench

Life in the trenches

This lesson is about daily life in the trenches during the First World War.

history lesson plan esl

The outbreak of war

This lesson uses information gaps to create a speaking activity in which students recount three different eyewitness accounts of the outbreak of war in 1914. Students work in groups of three, with each describing the experiences of a different person. The lesson then features study of the past tenses used in these three accounts, and students again compare notes in groups of three to check their answers. 

The Brocklesby brothers

The soldier and the pacifist

This lesson is about two brothers, one a soldier who fought in the Battle of the Somme, the other a conscientious objector who was imprisoned for his refusal to do any work that supported the war effort. Students read some background about the brothers, do a jigsaw reading about their experiences during the war and then role play a newspaper interview with one or both of the brothers.

immigrants walking with baggage

Migration and the First World War

This lesson is about migration during the First World War. It provides students with information about where, why and when people migrated. It allows students the opportunity to compare migration trends around the War with today.

Alfred Leete's Kitchener poster

Joining the British Army in the First World War

This lesson examines the motives and men who volunteered to fight for the British Army during the First World War, and features a letter from a young recruit to his mother. This is closely based on the letter written by an English soldier called Frederick Wade, which is in   the collection of the Imperial War Museum .

history lesson plan esl

Soldiers from the Caribbean in the First World War

This lesson is about West Indian Soldiers during the First World War. It provides students with information about the history of the West Indies and its relationship with Britain and the First World War. It allows students to practise reading and learn vocabulary related to the war. 

Example of a letter

Letters Home

This lesson looks at letter-writing during the First World War. It gives students practice identifying and using present simple and present continuous tenses through the medium of letters. The letters help to bring the period alive and also provide a backdrop for a discussion about censorship. 

Silhouettes of two soldiers

Numbers and the First World War

This lesson is based on significant numbers related to the First World War. This lesson can also be used as a number revision activity for intermediate students.  

history lesson plan esl

Wilfred Owen

This lesson is based around the poem Exposure by the First World War poet Wilfred Owen . Exposure vividly depicts the experience of the soldiers on the front line of the trenches in the freezing winter of 1917. It provides students with practice in analysing poetry: identifying language features, finding examples in the text and discussing their responses to the poem. It also provides contextual and biographical information about the First World War and Wilfred Owen , including subject specific and historical vocabulary.

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

See our publications, research and insight

EL Civics for ESL Students

EL Civics Government and History Lessons for ESL Students

Learn EL Civics and ESL with pictures and easy words. The following EL Civics and U.S. History and Government lessons are now available: Statue of Liberty, Washington, D.C., American Bald Eagle, 50 U.S. States, and more. English Language Civics provides an easy way to learn about U.S. history, government, citizenship, geography, and culture. New lessons, worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, and lesson plans are added to www.elcivics.com every week. This year we will focus on Literacy for Work , beginning level lessons for workplace literacy classes.

Civics and Government

  • Citizenship Facts
  • Historical Photos

ESL Worksheet

  • Short Stories
  • Writing Prompts
  • Picture Worksheets

Map of the United States

  • State Symbols
  • Crossword Puzzles

Holiday Lessons

  • Fun Activities
  • Holiday Games
  • Short Videos

Life Skills Lessons

  • Photo Lessons
  • Signs and Notices

ESL Lessons

  • Printable Games
  • PowerPoint Presentations

ESL Videos

  • Types of Jobs
  • Safety Regulations
  • Access Employment Training

Recommended EL Civics and ESL Links for Students and Teachers

OTAN Adult Ed Teachers: California Department of Education website was created to promote the use of technology as a collaborative tool, the use of technology in the classroom, and to provide access to educational resources. Special thanks to OTAN technical support for adding links to this ESL student resource. Cheerful greetings to all of the OTAN staff. OTAN

United States Department of Education: Focuses on workplace literacy, English language acquisition, and civics education. Go to this website to learn more about EL Civics programs and funding for Adult Education. Adult Literacy and Civics

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Website: This is the official U.S. government website for citizenship information. It includes forms, learning material, and links to important resources. Teachers will want to take advantage of the Education and Resources section. It has downloadable Civics Flashcards and a list of sample U.S. history and government questions for naturalization test preparation. Their materials can be used in any classroom to help students learn about American history and government. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration

Citizenship and Civics: Jennifer Gagliardi has an amazing website with free resources including a podcast, worksheets, quizzes, images, and a blog. She posts new material almost daily and is very knowledgeable and helpful. US Citizen Podcast

Ohio State nav bar

Ohio state navigation bar.

  • BuckeyeLink
  • Search Ohio State

History Lesson Plans

The Opper Project, Using Editorial Cartoons in the Classroom - These standards-based, teacher-created, primary source lessons are based on editorial cartoons covering more than a century of American history.

The Opper Project , Using Editorial Cartoons in the Classroom: These standards-based, teacher-created, primary source lessons are based on editorial cartoons covering more than a century of American history.

Teaching History with Historic Clothing Artifacts

Teaching History with Historic Clothing Artifacts : The History Teaching Institute in conjunction with The Ohio State University Historic Costume & Textiles Collection provides lesson plans to teach history using historical clothing artifacts.

Cold Cases: Lessons in Historical Skills and Methods

Cold Cases: Lessons in Historical Skills and Methods : These standards-based, teacher-created, primary source lessons feature primary source materials from the Byrd Polar Research Center archives at Ohio State—all organized around the theme of polar exploration.

United States History

United States History Lesson Plans : Here you will find a variety of lesson plans for elementary, middle, and high school grades. Most of these use primary sources, and all were prepared by teachers.

The Great War in Global Context

The Great War in Global Context includes teacher created lesson plans, bibliography, and links to online resources that address the military, diplomatic, political, and cultural aspects of World War I.

Women students at Ohio State, 1890Ohio Chautauqua 2007: World War II

World War II Lesson Plans were created by participants at a summer institute for educators (Ohio Chautauqua).

The Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution : These lesson plans examine science, society, and culture from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

Ohio Chautauqua 2008: Inventors and Innovators

Inventors and Innovators Lesson Plans were created by educators at a summer institute (Ohio Chautauqua).

European History, 1450 - Present

European History, 1450 - Present : These lesson plans include several primary-source based lessons.

Central Asia in World History

Central Asia in World History : These are lesson plans in World History, World History AP, Geography, Family and Consumer Science, English, Journalism, Media Studies, and Global Studies for teaching Central Asia in World History.

Back to History: American History Lesson Plans

Back to History: American History Lesson Plans created by educators

Back to History: American History Primary Source Activities

Back to History: American History Primary Source Activities created by educators

Current Events Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans Based on Current Events : These lesson plans are related to content from the "Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective" web site.

The Holocaust

The purpose of this lesson plan is to place a human face on the Holocaust , by focusing on survivor's testimony, letters and journals from survivors and those who were killed, and poetry.

The French Revolution

This lesson plan focuses on the French Revolution and how it challenged political, social and cultural norms in European society.

Current Events Lesson Plans

This lesson plan addresses the effect the Industrial Revolution had on people and industry.

American History

These lesson plans focus on American history and integrate a variety of primary sources.

The Slavic Center at Ohio State University also has many K12 teacher resources, including some online teaching modules by some of our History Department faculty and graduate students. Check out their website here .

Direct links to the online teaching modules:

  • " From Population Exchange to Ethnic Cleansing: Forced Migration in 20th-Century Eastern Europe " by Dr. Theodora Dragostinova. Format: Youtube video with a  fully accessible transcript available .
  • " An Introduction to Uzbekistan " by Henry Misa, Alisher Khaliyarov, and Dr. Madina Djuraeva. Format: u.osu.edu website.
  • " Medical and Healthcare Innovation in Estonia " by Dr. Lorraine Wallace and Steven Mousetes. Format: Youtube video with a  fully accessible transcript available . PowerPoint available for download through  Knowledge Bank .
  • " An Overview of Czech Language, History, and Culture " by Ashton Kimbler. Format: Youtube video with a  fully accessible transcript available .
  • " Youth Culture in Postcommunist Romania " by Dr. Adela Lechintan-Siefer. Format: Google website with embedded content.

Benoit Villette dit:

Don’t know where to start follow our guide.

esl expertz english activities for adult learners

All our History ESL activities, games and lesson plans! Enhance or replace your lesson plans, review useful vocabulary and functional language or just to do something fun related to History to practice English for adults. ZOOM-friendly and designed for the online classroom, but also work great as printables!

mixed conditionals group activity image

If things had been different…

Total Teacher Access

history lesson plan esl

Conversation Activity Pack: History

history lesson plan esl

History and Me! Conversation About History

introduce used to

Introducing Used To: How Peeps Are Made

  • General English
  • Magazine zone

Black History Month

Black History Month

October is Black History Month in the UK. The event recognises black people's achievements and educates people about black history.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.

Preparation

Magazine: Black History Month – preparation

Introduction

The history of our world is a story of migration, diversity, empire and belonging. But these topics are not often taught in schools. Black History Month is about teaching ourselves fully and fairly about our history, and not just looking at it from one point of view. Black History Month challenges racism and promotes understanding by making sure that black people's achievements and stories are not ignored.

The origins of Black History Month

The idea for Black History Month started in the USA with the work of Carter G Woodson. He was a brilliant historian and in 1912 he became the second African American to get a doctorate from Harvard University. He was the son of people who had been enslaved, and he saw how the role of his people in American history was being ignored. He started 'Negro History Week' because he believed that teaching black history was essential to give descendants of African people a sense of pride and identity and to protect them within wider society. 

Black History Month in the UK

Black History Month in the UK was first celebrated in 1987. It was organised by community activist and London council worker Akyaaba Addai Sebo after a colleague told him that her son had asked her, 'Mum, why can't I be white?' Addai Sebo was sad to learn of the young boy's lack of self-esteem and his low sense of identity. So an event was organised to promote self-pride in people of African and Afro-Caribbean descent through positive teaching of their histories and culture.

Black history, current protests and historical statues

Following the killing of George Floyd in the USA in May 2020, there has been huge international support for the Black Lives Matter protests for racial justice. People want to talk about racism in our society – in our educational, political and justice systems – and how we can stop it. Part of this change involves thinking about how we educate ourselves and others about history. In June 2020, anti-racism protesters in the UK took down the statue of Edward Colston – a man who bought and sold enslaved people – and pushed it into the water in Bristol Harbour. Some people say acts such as these are destroying our history. Others argue that the protestors have actually helped to teach history – the ugly story of a man who transported 84,000 enslaved individuals from Africa to the Americas, 19,000 of them dying on his ships. The debate about what to do with public statues like this continues.

Black history all year round

The Black Curriculum is a group started by young people who want black British history to be taught in UK schools. They say that learning about empire, movement and migration helps young people build a sense of identity and improves social cohesion. Black history is a central part of British history, and learning about it is necessary for understanding diversity and fighting racism. The Black Curriculum and groups like it are asking the UK government to include black histories in lessons all year round, not just in October. This will make sure students get lessons that are relevant to them and that give them a positive sense of belonging. 

Magazine: Black History Month – 1

Magazine: Black History Month – 2

Is one month enough for black history?

Language level

Studying for more than one month about this topic will have good benefits in the future, that's a matter of time. Anyway, maybe the history of humanity must be told from different points of view to create better contexts and different opinions, in this way history wouldn't be a normal subject but would be an engaging and inspiring subject where the truth is taught.

  • Log in or register to post comments

I think it is enough if we are studying with dedication and give 3 to 4hour daily about black history and with in one month we easily know about the black people

Hello HumbertoIELTS2018,

If you're new to LearnEnglish then a good place to start is our Getting Started page:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/getting-started

You should also take a look at our FAQ page:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/frequently-asked-questions

I see you have IELTS in your user name. If you're planning to take IELTS then you should certainly visit our page for IELTS candidates:

http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/

You'll find a lot of information there, including practice materials in the preparation section .

The LearnEnglish Team

Online courses

Footer:Live classes

Group and one-to-one classes with expert teachers.

Footer:Self-study

Learn English in your own time, at your own pace.

Footer:Personalised Tutor

One-to-one sessions focused on a personal plan.

Footer:IELTS preparation

Get the score you need with private and group classes.  

PurlandTraining.com

Learn english for free.

PurlandTraining.com

Black History Month – Free ESL Lesson + Worksheets

Black History Month – Free ESL Lesson + Worksheets

This is a guest post by Alice from Hot Take English . The level is Upper Intermediate .

If you would like us to feature YOUR guest post on PurlandTraining.com, why not get in touch?

Practice vocabulary , reading , and grammar skills with this exclusive free ESL lesson and worksheets:

Black History Month – Free ESL Lesson

Direct download: https://purlandtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Black_history_month_worksheet-1.pdf

1) Discuss these quotes with a partner. What do you think the message of each quote is? What is your opinion about the quote, do you agree or disagree?

• “The time is always right to do what is right” (Martin Luther King, Jr.).

• “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” (Frederick Douglas).

• “Racism isn’t born, folks, it’s taught. I have a two-year old son. Do you know what he hates? Naps! End of list” (Denis Leary).

2) Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:

Match the words with their definitions

Match the words with their definitions

3) Black History Month Quiz:  

In pairs, decide whether the statements below are true or false.

When you have finished, check your answers:  

  • The United Kingdom abolished slavery in 1833.
  • The United Kingdom spent 20 million pounds on compensating slaves after they abolished slavery.
  • Garrett Morgan invented the traffic signal in 1923.
  • “ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” is a quote from James Baldwin.
  • The first African American to travel to space was Bernard A. Harris Jr. in 1995.
  • In 1955, police arrested Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man in Alabama.
  • Missy Elliot was the first African American woman to win five Grammy Awards in one year.
  • In 1953, the song “Hound Dog” was released by “Big Mama Thornton” and made it to number one in the R&B charts.
  • K’Naan is considered the creator of the music genre “Afrobeat”.
  • Nelson Mandela was the first African American Nobel Peace Prize winner.
  • Between 15 and 26 million people participated in the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States in 2020.
  • The Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2014 in response to the killing of Michael Brown.
  • A statue of Edward Colston was toppled by Black Lives Matter protestors in the city of Brighton in the UK in 2020.
  • Michael Jackson’s 1982 album “Thriller” is the best selling album of all time.

4) Grammar – the passive voice:

Which of the quiz questions are written using the passive voice?

5) Change these statements to the past simple passive. The first one has been done for you. When you have finished, check your answers:

  • The United Kingdom abolished slavery in 1833.  Slavery was abolished in the United Kingdom in 1833.
  • The United Kingdom spent 20 million pounds on compensating slave owners after they abolished slavery.
  • Lauren Hill won a Grammy for “Album Of The Year” in 1998.
  • Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
  • Michael Jackson premiered his music video for “Thriller” in December 1983.

See worksheet (above).

Image: Clay Banks on Unsplash

This material is completely free to use , so please feel free to share it widely!

If you have any feedback about these free resources, we’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment or review below or on Facebook or Twitter .

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

  • Free Syllabus
  • Elementary English Course
  • Free Worksheets
  • Wordsearches
  • Lesson Plans
  • Free Video Classes
  • Teaching Blog
  • Discussion Questions
  • Infographics
  • Learn Connected Speech
  • Purland Power Pack

logo for Englishcurrent.com, an ESL website

English Current

#CEASEFIRENOW | ESL Lesson Plans, Tests, & Ideas

  • North American Idioms
  • Business Idioms
  • Idioms Quiz
  • Idiom Requests
  • Proverbs Quiz & List
  • Phrasal Verbs Quiz
  • Basic Phrasal Verbs
  • North American Idioms App
  • A(n)/The: Help Understanding Articles
  • The First & Second Conditional
  • The Difference between 'So' & 'Too'
  • The Difference between 'a few/few/a little/little'
  • The Difference between "Other" & "Another"
  • Check Your Level
  • English Vocabulary
  • Verb Tenses (Intermediate)
  • Articles (A, An, The) Exercises
  • Prepositions Exercises
  • Irregular Verb Exercises
  • Gerunds & Infinitives Exercises
  • Discussion Questions
  • Speech Topics
  • Argumentative Essay Topics
  • Top-rated Lessons
  • Intermediate
  • Upper-Intermediate
  • Reading Lessons
  • View Topic List
  • Expressions for Everyday Situations
  • Travel Agency Activity
  • Present Progressive with Mr. Bean
  • Work-related Idioms
  • Adjectives to Describe Employees
  • Writing for Tone, Tact, and Diplomacy
  • Speaking Tactfully
  • Advice on Monetizing an ESL Website
  • Teaching your First Conversation Class
  • How to Teach English Conversation
  • Teaching Different Levels
  • Teaching Grammar in Conversation Class
  • Members' Home
  • Update Billing Info.
  • Cancel Subscription
  • North American Proverbs Quiz & List
  • North American Idioms Quiz
  • Idioms App (Android)
  • 'Be used to'" / 'Use to' / 'Get used to'
  • Ergative Verbs and the Passive Voice
  • Keywords & Verb Tense Exercises
  • Irregular Verb List & Exercises
  • Non-Progressive (State) Verbs
  • Present Perfect vs. Past Simple
  • Present Simple vs. Present Progressive
  • Past Perfect vs. Past Simple
  • Subject Verb Agreement
  • The Passive Voice
  • Subject & Object Relative Pronouns
  • Relative Pronouns Where/When/Whose
  • Commas in Adjective Clauses
  • A/An and Word Sounds
  • 'The' with Names of Places
  • Understanding English Articles
  • Article Exercises (All Levels)
  • Yes/No Questions
  • Wh-Questions
  • How far vs. How long
  • Affect vs. Effect
  • A few vs. few / a little vs. little
  • Boring vs. Bored
  • Compliment vs. Complement
  • Die vs. Dead vs. Death
  • Expect vs. Suspect
  • Experiences vs. Experience
  • Go home vs. Go to home
  • Had better vs. have to/must
  • Have to vs. Have got to
  • I.e. vs. E.g.
  • In accordance with vs. According to
  • Lay vs. Lie
  • Make vs. Do
  • In the meantime vs. Meanwhile
  • Need vs. Require
  • Notice vs. Note
  • 'Other' vs 'Another'
  • Pain vs. Painful vs. In Pain
  • Raise vs. Rise
  • So vs. Such
  • So vs. So that
  • Some vs. Some of / Most vs. Most of
  • Sometimes vs. Sometime
  • Too vs. Either vs. Neither
  • Weary vs. Wary
  • Who vs. Whom
  • While vs. During
  • While vs. When
  • Wish vs. Hope
  • 10 Common Writing Mistakes
  • 34 Common English Mistakes
  • First & Second Conditionals
  • Comparative & Superlative Adjectives
  • Determiners: This/That/These/Those
  • Check Your English Level
  • Grammar Quiz (Advanced)
  • Vocabulary Test - Multiple Questions
  • Vocabulary Quiz - Choose the Word
  • Verb Tense Review (Intermediate)
  • Verb Tense Exercises (All Levels)
  • Conjunction Exercises
  • List of Topics
  • Business English
  • Games for the ESL Classroom
  • Pronunciation
  • Teaching Your First Conversation Class
  • How to Teach English Conversation Class

The Lessons of History (Upper-Intermediate EFL Lesson Plan)

  • The reading passage summarizes key concepts from Will & Ariel Durant's " Lessons from History " book. Topics include the relationship between freedom and inequality, the role of race, moral relativism, and democracy.
  • Post-reading activities include three debates (the latter two could be considered role-plays), an activity that asks students to choose people to rebuild civilization , a history quiz activity, and famous quotations about history.
  • All lessons come with warm-up questions, comprehension questions, a vocabulary section, and discussion questions.

Chichen Itza in Mexico

  • This lesson is large (four pages). You'll probably want to skip/delete a few activities.
  • The English level is probably closer to C1 than B2. Nevertheless, it is a level below the advanced lesson plan.
  • This looks like a great civilization-related lesson: Restart Civilization on an Alien World . It's a creative role-play scenario that would take up at least two hours.
  • Please let me know in the comments what worked and didn't work for your class.

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE EFL Lesson on Lessons from History: Warm-up (Pair Work)

  • Do you know a lot about local, national, or world history?
  • Does your family have an interesting history?
  • Are you happy to have been born when you were?

Pre-Reading Activity: Brainstorming (Group Work)

You are going to read a list of lessons and truths about the history of human civilization. What ideas might be in the reading? Write down some of your own ideas about the below topics.

  • War: e.g. Human history has had much more war than peace.
  • Economics :
  • Government :

Membership is required to view this post. Please support EnglishCurrent by becoming a member today. Members, please log in . -- Lesson plan on the Lessons of History written by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. For questions, contact the author.

  • The authors believe in natural differences in ability between people.
  • They are inversely related. In other words, as one increases, the other decreases. The passage suggests that making people equal requires limiting the freedom of, assumingly, people of above average economic ability.
  • It shows that advanced societies have existed among varying racial and cultural backgrounds. This shows that race is not a factor determining a civilization’s success.
  • The industrial age encouraged individualism, so such an idea is compatible.
  • The author is referring to things that die.
  • They believe that it fails to motivate workers to produce.
  • They may forget to educate themselves (and likely, in turn, become poor rulers).

  Vocabulary Answers : 1-e, 2-m, 3-k, 4-b, 5-c, 6-n, 7-h, 8-i, 9-g, 10-j, 11-d, 12-a, 13-L, 14-f

The quiz answer is Myanmar

  • Endnotes from Reading
  • [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lessons_of_History
  • [2] https://growthabit.com/psychology-books/the-lessons-of-history-book-summary-review-notes/
  • [3] https://calvinrosser.com/notes/lessons-of-history-will-ariel-durant/
  • [4] https://growthabit.com/psychology-books/the-lessons-of-history-book-summary-review-notes/
  • [5] https://growthabit.com/psychology-books/the-lessons-of-history-book-summary-review-notes/
  • [6] https://www.getstoryshots.com/books/the-lessons-of-history-summary/
  • [7] https://growthabit.com/psychology-books/the-lessons-of-history-book-summary-review-notes/
  • [8] https://growthabit.com/psychology-books/the-lessons-of-history-book-summary-review-notes/
  • [9] https://www.getstoryshots.com/books/the-lessons-of-history-summary/
  • [10] https://www.getstoryshots.com/books/the-lessons-of-history-summary/

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

The history of toys.

history lesson plan esl

Level: Pre-intermediate (A2-B1)

Type of English: English for Teenagers

Tags: possessions describing a product/service playing games forming questions 10-12 years old Vocabulary lesson Speaking

Publication date: 10/17/2023

This lesson makes the students think about the toys they played or still play with. They learn names of toys, and also practise using past simple and the structure ‘used to’ in context of their early childhood. They watch two videos; one about toys in the ancient world, and one showing children playing with out-of-date toys today. They listen for details, and then use the video as a source of useful everyday language and a model of pronunciation. The language focus revises the use of questions, which the students practise in speaking activities.

by I. Rybak

history lesson plan esl

Teddy_bear_be.mp3

Be the first to share your thoughts on this lesson

Leave a Comment

Student worksheet

Teacher lesson plan

Download audio

Save lesson to

This lesson makes the students think about the toys they played or still play with. They learn names of toys, and also practice using past simple and the structure ‘used to’ in context of their early childhood. They watch two videos; one about toys in the ancient world, and one showing children playing with out-of-date toys today. They listen for details, and then use the video as a source of useful everyday language and a model of pronunciation. The language focus revises the use of questions, which the students practice in speaking activities.

Teddy_bear_ae.mp3

COURSE PLANS

This comprehensive course plan covers the full range of language needs – listening, role play, vocabulary development.

Worksheets in English for Teenagers (10-12) course plan

history lesson plan esl

Type of English: English for Teenagers Level: Pre-intermediate (A2-B1)

history lesson plan esl

Type of English: English for Teenagers Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)

history lesson plan esl

Make your lessons unforgettable

Did you know that your students can review the target language from our worksheets with our Expemo flashcard app? To let your student know, just enter their email address below (multiple emails can be separated with a comma).

Language Advisor

The Past Tenses and History – Lesson Plan for ESL

The english Past Tenses and History

The Past Tenses and History: A Comprehensive Free English Lesson Plan for ESL (Online and In-Class) with Free downloadable PDF and eBook to browse, Videos and Games

The Past Tenses and History

history lesson plan esl

Free lesson plans are valuable resources for educators and learners alike. These lesson plans provide structured outlines for teaching specific topics or skills, offering a roadmap for instructors to follow and ensuring a comprehensive learning experience for students . They are designed to be accessible and adaptable , catering to a wide range of educational settings, including classrooms, online platforms, and homeschooling environments.

Objective :

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

  • Understand and differentiate between the various past tenses in English, including simple past, past continuous, and past perfect.
  • Comprehend the usage and formation of each past tense, including regular and irregular verb forms.
  • Apply the past tenses accurately in written and spoken contexts when discussing historical events and figures.
  • Analyze and interpret texts about historical figures , identifying the appropriate past tense forms used.
  • Engage in discussions and debates about historical figures , using the past tenses to describe their actions, achievements, and impact.
  • Research and present information about a specific historical figure, demonstrating the ability to use the past tenses effectively to convey information.
  • Develop listening skills by listening to audio recordings or watching videos about historical events or figures , answering questions related to the past tenses used.
  • Enhance reading comprehension skills by reading texts about historical figures , identifying and understanding the past tenses used.
  • Reflect on the importance of understanding and accurately using the past tenses when discussing historical events and figures to ensure clear and accurate communication.
  • Recognize the connection between past events and their influence on the present , highlighting the relevance of historical figures in shaping the world today.

Level: Intermediate – Upper Intermediate – Advanced

Time: 60 minutes.

  • Digital whiteboard software: Video and Online Games
  • Handouts with exercises : Free eBook and PDF

Past Tenses Video

Play the video and explain the past tenses in English

warm up

Organise the word

Play this game on the Past Simple Vs the Past Continuous

Historical Figures

Students must each take a card and then talk to each other about their different historical figures using the past tenses

game

DOWNLOAD THE PDF FOR FREE

Kahoot game.

Play the Kahoot Game to learn about some historical figures

game

Breaktime Activity

Print off 3 copies of the Historical Figures worksheets. One to be cut up and one for use as reference.

Students have a name stuck to their back and must ask people yes/no questions to figure out who they are.

history lesson plan esl

Reading and Listening Comprehension

Terracotta army.

Play the video and go through questions and award points. When students answer three q’s for their team, they can play one round for their team .

King Tut Cards

Put students in pairs. Cut up answers and get them to race and come up with their answers.

Video: Pyramids of Giza

Play the video and then play the kahoot game

Also Check out These English Lesson Plans ESL

Jingle Bells and Learning Tales

Jingle Bells and Learning Tales

Snowman Spectacle

The Snowman

Smart Teens Christmas Talent Show: Unleashing Creativity and Cheer with a free English ESL Lesson plan

Smart Teens Christmas Talent Show

Christmas Lesson for Young Learners

Christmas Lesson for Young Learners

Live from London podcasts

Live from London podcasts

Christmas Activities for Young Learners

Christmas Activities for Young Learners

christmas mini-plays

Christmas: Mini-plays

Festivals: Christmas

Festivals: Christmas

Christmas Lesson Plans

Christmas Lesson Plans

Esl English Lesson Plan Have you Ever...

Esl English Lesson Plan: Have you Ever…

Esl English Lesson Plan Rules

Esl English Lesson Plan: Rules

Pokemon English

Pokemon English: Learn English Through Gaming

Subscribe to language advisor for monthly updates, related posts:.

Used to-Get used to and Phrasal Verbs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 Yes, add me to your mailing list

Practice English Online

  • Lesson Plans

Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan [Free PDF]

  • Posted by by ESL Questions About
  • 3 weeks ago

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan aims to celebrate the rich and diverse history of African American culture, achievements, and contributions. This lesson plan is designed to educate students about key historical figures, events, and cultural milestones within the context of Black History Month. Through this topic, students will explore vocabulary related to civil rights movements, significant figures in African American history, and important cultural traditions. By delving into this subject matter, students will gain a deeper understanding of the impact of African American history on global culture and society.

Vocabulary Building

Contextual usage.

– The school promotes diversity by celebrating various cultural festivals throughout the year. – The students discussed the impact of the Civil Rights Movement on modern society. – Segregation was widespread in many parts of the country during that time period. – She has dedicated her life to activism and fighting for social justice causes. – Discrimination based on skin color is disheartening and unacceptable.

ESL Warm-up Activity

To kick off the Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan, start with an engaging warm-up activity that sets the tone for learning about African American history and culture. Prepare a short video or presentation showcasing important figures and events from black history. Engage students by asking open-ended questions to encourage discussions and reflections on the impact of these historical events. This interactive warm-up will capture students’ attention and create a positive learning environment for the lesson.

Main ESL Lesson Activities

Vocabulary activity: timeline of events.

Create a timeline of significant events in African American history and ask students to match key vocabulary words with the corresponding events. Encourage group discussions to share insights and explanations for each match.

Listening Exercise: Speech Analysis

Play a famous speech from a prominent figure in black history, such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and provide a transcript for students to analyze. Organize pair work where students discuss the impact of the speech and share their interpretations.

Roleplay Activity: Civil Rights Situations

Assign roles related to civil rights situations (e.g., Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat) and have students act out these scenarios. This hands-on exercise encourages empathy and understanding of historical challenges faced by African Americans.

Reading and Writing Task: Biography Project

Ask each student to choose an influential figure from black history, research their biography, and then write a short essay or create a presentation. This activity promotes independent reading, critical thinking, and language expression while learning about important individuals in black history.

ESL Homework Assignment

For the ESL homework assignment, provide tasks that reinforce the lesson content on Black History Month.

1. Research Project: Assign students to research and create a presentation or written report on an influential figure from black history. Encourage them to dive deep into their chosen individual’s background, achievements, and impact on society.

2. Reflective Journaling: Ask students to keep a journal throughout the week to reflect on how the lessons about Black History Month have influenced their understanding of diversity, equality, and social issues. They can write about personal experiences or make connections to current events.

3. Vocabulary Quiz: Create a vocabulary quiz using key terms discussed in class related to African American history and civil rights movements. This will assess students’ comprehension of important concepts while reinforcing their vocabulary skills.

4. Creative Expression: Invite students to choose any art form (such as painting, poetry, or music) to express their understanding and appreciation for black history and culture. They can submit their creations for review and discussion in the next class session.

By assigning these tasks, students will have opportunities to further engage with the Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan content outside of the classroom setting while strengthening their language skills in various contexts.

In conclusion, the Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan has provided students with a deeper understanding of African American history, culture, and contributions. Throughout the lesson, we explored key terms such as diversity, civil rights movement, segregation, activism, and discrimination. These concepts have allowed students to engage in meaningful discussions and reflections on social justice issues.

By incorporating engaging warm-up activities and interactive exercises like speech analysis and roleplay scenarios, students were able to apply their language skills in a context that celebrates diversity and equality. The vocabulary building activities reinforced comprehension of important terms related to black history while promoting group discussions and collaboration.

As students reflect on what they have learned throughout this lesson plan journey, they are encouraged to consider how their newfound knowledge can be applied in their own language development. Understanding the historical significance of African American figures and events not only broadens their mindset but also enhances their ability to engage with diverse perspectives.

By incorporating the lessons from Black History Month into their language learning journey, students can develop empathy, critical thinking skills, cultural awareness, and a greater appreciation for inclusivity. It is through these experiences that they become more well-rounded individuals who can effectively communicate in an increasingly diverse world.

Why this topic is great for ESL learning

Enhances cultural awareness and understanding.

The Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan offers an excellent opportunity for ESL learners to broaden their cultural awareness and understanding. By exploring the history, achievements, and contributions of African Americans, students gain a deeper appreciation for diversity and different perspectives.

Promotes Language Development in Various Skills

This topic engages students in vocabulary building activities, listening exercises, roleplay scenarios, and reading and writing tasks. These activities provide opportunities for students to develop their language skills in multiple areas such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Fosters Critical Thinking Skills

Reflecting on the lessons about black history encourages critical thinking among ESL learners. They are prompted to think critically about historical events, societal issues surrounding discrimination and civil rights movements. This promotes analytical skills while also encouraging empathy towards others.

Encourages Global Citizenship

By learning about black history through this lesson plan, ESL students become more informed global citizens who are aware of the struggles faced by various communities. They gain a better understanding of social justice issues that transcends borders and helps them become active participants in creating a more inclusive world.

By choosing the Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan as a topic for learning English as a second language (ESL), students benefit from its ability to enhance cultural awareness, promote language development across various skills areas like vocabulary acquisition or listening comprehension exercises while fostering critical thinking abilities necessary for becoming global citizens committed to creating a more inclusive world.

Post navigation

history lesson plan esl

Luck ESL Lesson Plan [Free PDF]

history lesson plan esl

The Way of All Flesh ESL Lesson Plan [Free PDF]

IMAGES

  1. Lessonplan history

    history lesson plan esl

  2. History Lesson Plan Template Unique 6th Grade Ancient History Lesson

    history lesson plan esl

  3. history lesson plan

    history lesson plan esl

  4. THE HISTORY OF POPCORN worksheet

    history lesson plan esl

  5. History Lesson PLan

    history lesson plan esl

  6. Teaching America History Lesson Plan

    history lesson plan esl

VIDEO

  1. History lesson plan

  2. history lesson plan

  3. History Lesson Plan

  4. lesson plan/B.Ed 3rd Semester/ by

  5. 5EMethod Lesson Plan || History Method 5E Plan || #5Eplan #5Ehistoryplan #5Emethodhistoryplan

  6. History Lesson Plan

COMMENTS

  1. History

    This free ESL lesson plan on history has been designed for adults and young adults at an intermediate (B1/B2) to advanced (C1/C2) level and should last around 45 to 60 minutes for one student. History is the academic study of past events, as opposed to a story, which is the retelling of events (fictional or real).

  2. PDF Teaching History through English

    It involves developing knowledge and understanding of: events, people, structures and changes in the past; how the past influences the present; chronology; interpreting and evaluating sources; explaining cause and consequence; comparing and contrasting interpretations of the past; making links across historical periods; reaching conclusions.

  3. ESL Lesson Plans For Teachers Topic: Historical Events

    30 min 45 min 60 min Pre-intermediate (A2-B1) Intermediate (B1-B2) Upper-intermediate (B2-C1) Advanced (C1-C2) Media With video With audio With Expemo package Customised lessons Custom lessons Exclusive lessons Worksheet type Topic Vocabulary Function Grammar Age Series historical events lessons 38 lessons 60 min Salt and pepper

  4. History Lesson Plans

    With this lesson plan, students discuss why we need to learn history and other school subjects. They also watch a video and practise the use of conjunctions. Unlimited Plan Show C1 / Advanced Standard Lesson 90 min Add to saved lessons Families - extended, nuclear, chosen Global Issues Lifestyle

  5. How to Create a "Back Door" ESL World History Lesson

    How to Create an Effective "Back Door" ESL World History Lesson By revel arroway Last updated: January 22, 2021 Sneak Attack! How to Create an Effective "Back Door" ESL World History Lesson Do your students sometimes wonder aloud just why they have to study English?

  6. The Lessons of History (Advanced EFL Lesson Plan)

    The Lessons of History (Advanced EFL Lesson Plan) ESL/EFL Level: Advanced Lesson Topic: Themes from the history of human civilization Skill Focus: Speaking, Reading, Vocabulary Approximate Class Time: 2 hours Lesson Plan Download: lessons-of-history-durant-advanced-102022.docx Lesson Overview:

  7. First World War

    This lesson is based around the poem Exposure by the First World War poet Wilfred Owen. Exposure vividly depicts the experience of the soldiers on the front line of the trenches in the freezing winter of 1917. It provides students with practice in analysing poetry: identifying language features, finding examples in the text and discussing their ...

  8. Teachinghistory.org

    Effective lesson plans that target content and English language objectives start with content objectives. Decide on the topic, history content standard, and history objectives first. Then, determine the ELD objectives that compliment the content goals. In doing so, choose ELD objectives that all students should meet.

  9. Historic Events

    34 English lessons View a Sample Lesson Our Historic Events lessons are based on life-changing events and news stories that have captivated the world. Each lesson includes a one-page reading on the history and significance of the event as well as comprehension questions, vocabulary development tasks, and discussion questions. Sample Lesson

  10. Civics Lessons and EL Civics for ESL Students

    English Language Civics provides an easy way to learn about U.S. history, government, citizenship, geography, and culture. New lessons, worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, and lesson plans are added to www.elcivics.com every week. This year we will focus on Literacy for Work, beginning level lessons for workplace literacy classes.

  11. History Lesson Plans

    History Lesson Plans The Opper Project, Using Editorial Cartoons in the Classroom: These standards-based, teacher-created, primary source lessons are based on editorial cartoons covering more than a century of American history.

  12. ESL Lesson Plans and Worksheets

    Lesson 9. Elementary English Review 1. Elementary (A1-A2) In these review exercises, students will check their understanding of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and social English from Units 1-8 of the A1 course plan. If all the activities are completed, a score out of 100 is easily generated.

  13. History ESL Activities Games and Lesson Plans

    History. All our History ESL activities, games and lesson plans! Enhance or replace your lesson plans, review useful vocabulary and functional language or just to do something fun related to History to practice English for adults. ZOOM-friendly and designed for the online classroom, but also work great as printables!

  14. US History Lesson Plans Resources

    Manage Classes & Assignments. Sync with Google Classroom. Create Lessons. Customized Dashboard. Get More Features Free. Find supplementary resources for US History lesson plans. Motivate your students with videos and games aligned to state and national standards.

  15. ESL Preamble Lesson Plan

    This lesson plan helps ESL students learn about the preamble to the United States Constitution by using question words to disassemble the preamble. Students work to break the preamble into...

  16. Black History Month

    Preparation Introduction The history of our world is a story of migration, diversity, empire and belonging. But these topics are not often taught in schools. Black History Month is about teaching ourselves fully and fairly about our history, and not just looking at it from one point of view.

  17. History of Theatre

    The History of Theatre is a fascinating topic that offers ESL students a unique opportunity to explore language, culture, and history through the lens of performing arts. This lesson plan aims to introduce students to key concepts and vocabulary related to theatre history, while also providing engaging activities that promote language development.

  18. Black History Month

    Black History Month - Free ESL Lesson Direct download: https://purlandtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Black_history_month_worksheet-1.pdf Page 1 / 4 Zoom 100% 1) Discuss these quotes with a partner. What do you think the message of each quote is? What is your opinion about the quote, do you agree or disagree?

  19. The Lessons of History (Upper-Intermediate EFL Lesson Plan)

    Approximate Class Time: 2 hours. Lesson Plan Download: lessons-of-history-durant-upper-intermediate-102022.docx. Lesson Overview: The reading passage summarizes key concepts from Will & Ariel Durant's " Lessons from History " book. Topics include the relationship between freedom and inequality, the role of race, moral relativism, and democracy.

  20. The history of toys: ESL/EFL Lesson Plan and Worksheet

    The history of toys. This lesson makes the students think about the toys they played or still play with. They learn names of toys, and also practise using past simple and the structure 'used to' in context of their early childhood. They watch two videos; one about toys in the ancient world, and one showing children playing with out-of-date ...

  21. The Past Tenses and History

    The Past Tenses and History: A Comprehensive Free English Lesson Plan for ESL (Online and In-Class) with Free downloadable PDF and eBook to browse, Videos and Games. The Past Tenses and History. Free lesson plans are valuable resources for educators and learners alike.

  22. Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan [Free PDF]

    The Black History Month Journey ESL Lesson Plan aims to celebrate the rich and diverse history of African American culture, achievements, and contributions. This lesson plan is designed to educate students about key historical figures, events, and cultural milestones within the context of Black History Month. Through this topic, students will ...