ESL Teaching Resources

ABC flashcards, colouring pages, easy phrases, numbering, and several other beginner flashcards and printable images.

Traceable letter patterns are the simplest way for students to practice writing the English alphabet. This page has a range of patterns and fun styles for for students to trace as they practice writing the alphabet.

Lesson plans and printable cards usable to teach dates, months, and other calendar vocabulary. Includes questions to assess students' learning.

Flashcards to teach basic actions, greetings and goodbyes, objects, animals, weather, time, and many other topics.

Flash cards with the letters A-Z and numbers 1-100 in a variety of fonts to teach letter and number recognition. Also includes exercises and an explanation of how to effectively use flash cards in lessons.

The lefthand sidebar contains links to printable resources for various phonics topics.

Flash cards are useful for teaching vocabulary in any ESL class.

Nursery rhymes are a common way for young native English speakers to learn and practice the language, and as such they are quite useful in low-level ESL classes. There are printable images for colouring as well as cloze exercises, word searches, and other activities.

Words, spelling, and pronunciation cards to teach English phonemes. All of the images are fun and aimed at young students.

Flash cards and exercises to teach phonics as well as an explanation of how to use the cards in lessons and activities.

Calendards are handy to have in the classroom and can also be used in lessons pertaining to days, dates, months, and seasons.

Cards can be used as a reward for any occasion and can also be used as part of a lesson. These cards can be customized with specific text and images.

Students enjoy rewards and recognition, what better way to give it than with a custom-made certificate? Certificates are printable and customizable for free.

Matching and memory games are an excellent way to test word recognition and to reinforce vocabulary. These cards can also be used as stand-alone flashcards to teach and practice new words.

Reading and colouring books on a variety of topics for younger students. Site requires free signup to print images and books.

Stickers are a great way to track student progress and reward achievement. These stickers can be printed on sticker paper or on regular paper and affixed with glue or tape. There are printable sticker charts as well so students can track their progress.

Flashcards are useful in phonics classes and are an excellent way to connect vocabulary to images. The downloadable flashcards through Sparklebox are full-colour and cover a wide range of topics.

Images and pictures can provide good fuel and structure for discussions. Students can be asked questions about what they see, and they can also be asked to write about the images and contents of the picture.

Word families are groups of words that share letter combinations (also called rimes). There are pages and worksheets for students to use to help them recognize word families, as well as posters that can be printed, coloured, and put up around the classroom.

Word walls are handy lists of words that can be printed and put up around the room. After using these words in a lesson, leave them up on the walls so that the students become familiar with the words.

Best used with intermediate or higher level students, this printable crossword puzzle is a good way to practice idioms that have been learned in class.

Images accompanied by correctly and incorrectly spelled words. Students must identify the correct spelling. Practicing identifying the correct spelling of common words helps develop sight reading skill. Site requires free signup to print images and worksheets.

Worksheets with story starters and sentence helpers. Students can illustrate their stories or draw pictures to use as inspiration while writing. Site requires free signup to print worksheets.

Simple, printable, pdf worksheets to practice spelling and phonics for common nouns and verbs. Students can colour the worksheets. Site also contains an audio portion so students can hear the words being said.

These downloadable and printable worksheets can be used as warm-up activities, parts of a lesson, or homework assignments. They are mostly vocabulary practice, but can be incorporated into almost any lesson.

This site contains links to downloadable and printable worksheets in PDF format. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) to view PDFs.

A fully searchable and sortable database of teacher-uploaded lesson plans, worksheets, activities, flashcards, and games. Searches can be narrowed by age, level, and type of activity, as well as keyword searches.

Printable worksheets for colouring, introductions, phonics, vocabulary, and other topics.

Links to a wide variety of activities, templates, and exercises on many different ESL topics, including articles for teachers and information on business and other specialized English.

Pre-made and customizable worksheets for use in phonics lessons with beginner students and those who are just learning to read English.

Free printable worksheets to practice reading, writing, spelling, and phonics. Also links to printable puzzles and games.

Worksheets to practice tenses, prepositions, -ing endings, completing sentences, and other grammatical elements for beginners.

Both printed and cursive writing appear on these worksheets, along with complete-the-story activities to put the writing into practice. Caution should be used when teaching cursive writing to beginner students. Introduction of a different writing system before the standard, printed writing system is well understood could cause confusion. It is not advisable to teach cursive writing to beginner students until they are well-versed in the printed alphabet unless it is a specific requirement of the school curriculum.

Worksheets and games to teach vocabulary for everything from Actions to Weather. Primarily aimed at children, but the worksheets can be adapted to any age.

Worksheets and word lists to practice vowel and consonant phonemes, blends, and digraphs in phonics teaching. Site requires free signup to create worksheets.

Printable exercises and worksheets for use in ESL grammar classes. Topics include parts of speech, tenses, as well as modals and conditionals.

Vocabulary worksheets on topics ranging from Action Verbs to Weather and Seasons. Each topic contains handouts and puzzles to study and reinforce vocabulary.

Quizzes and worksheets that can be used as stand-alone activities or incorporated into a lesson. A wide variety of topics and levels are covered.

Printable worksheets for use in almost any ESL classroom. Topics include grammar, writing, parts of speech, reading, as well as games and puzzles.

Puzzles, games, and other language worksheets to practice spelling and word recognition. Site requires free signup to create worksheets.

A wide variety of resources to use in lessons to build vocabulary. Topics include idioms and expressions, visual dictionaries, phrasal verbs, as well as quizzes to test expressions and vocabulary usage.

A wide variety of customizable and printable worksheets for use in any classroom. Spelling tests, vocabulary lists, and grammar quizzes and worksheets can be easily created on this site. A very handy site for teachers looking to create lesson activities, quizzes, or games for use in an ESL classroom.

Handouts include vocabulary exercises, grammar exercises, dictation exercises, letter-writing exercises, and miscellaneous exercises. These can be used as homework assignments or incorporated into full lessons.

PDF format downloadable and printable worksheets on a wide variety of topics. These can be used as homework assignments or incorporated into an in-class lesson.

This site is an easy way to make custom worksheets for lessons. Teachers have the option to make word scrambles, matching activities, or custom sorting worksheets of two, three, or four columns.

A wide range of worksheets for use with beginner students. All common ESL subjects are included in the over 40 worksheets found on the site.

A wide range of worksheets for use with beginner students. All common ESL subjects are included, and well over 180 worksheets can be found on the site.

A wide range of worksheets for use with beginner students. All common ESL subjects are included, and over 140 worksheets can be found on the site.

Explanations for advanced level grammar including further detail on conditional forms, adverb and adjective clauses, prepositional phrases, verb conjugation, and a variety of quizzes to text advance level English grammar knowledge.

Explanations for beginner level grammar including tenses, contractions, parts of speech, and other grammar, as well as some beginner grammar review quizzes.

Punctuation errors abound in writing. This site details some of the most common punctuation errors as well as explanations as to why something is an error, and suggestions for how to correct such errors.

From Adjectives to Voice, the Daily Grammar Glossary gives definitions of some of the most common grammatical terms. A useful resource for students and teachers alike.

Information and descriptions of the eight main parts of speech, verb forms, tenses, and expressions. A useful reference site for both teachers and students.

Explanation and dissection of some common English grammar constructions including tenses, adjectives of intensity, asking questions, giving advice, and other structures.

Sections include the parts of speech and verb tenses. Explanations are given, followed by examples of usage to illustrate how the grammar is applied. This site is useful for both students and teachers.

The four types of pronoun (subject, object, possessive, and demonstrative) are outlined with examples of usage.

Grammatical terms, parts of speech, and teaching tips for grammar. Some sections and activities require membership, but many are open to guests of the site.

Teaching grammar can be a daunting prospect for ESL teachers. This page contains definitions and explanations of common grammar. Each concept has a quiz at the end to test your knowledge. This site is useful for teachers and students alike!

This is a direct link to the grammar quizzes that accompany the English Grammar Explanations. Students and teachers can use these to test their knowledge and improve their English grammar skills.

Explanations for intermediate level grammar including the correct use of adjectives and adverbs, action vs stative verbs, appropriate formatting of direct and indirect quotations, conditionals, and common English mistakes, as well as some intermediate grammar review quizzes.

The structure of the past past simple and past continuous tenses are outlined, along with common uses and examples.

The structure of the present simple tense is outlined, along with common uses and examples.

The structure of the present tenses is outlined, along with common uses and examples.

Correct spelling is important for students and teachers alike. Teachers should pay close attention to the words on this list to ensure that they are not teaching their students bad spelling habits.

Contains information on identifying and correctly using the parts of speech in the English language. Useful to any ESL teacher as a grammar resource.

Online quizzes to practice a variety of advanced English. Some topics include personality adjectives, idiomatic phrases, English article usage, and listening comprehension.

Online quizzes to practice a variety of beginner English. Some topics include comparatives, countable/uncountable nouns, prepositions, pronouns, etc.

A handy starting point for ESL students. This page has daily quizzes, vocabulary, slang, listening, and pronunciation practice.

Generates a random vocabulary word with each touch of the button. If students don't understand a word, they can click on one of the dictionary links on the sidebar. Teachers can recommend a particular dictionary to suit their class, such as WordSmyth for Children.

ESL Club offers a variety of games to practice English vocabulary and comprehension. Games can be played by students on their own, or the teacher can use them in the classroom with access to a computer and projector.

ESL Club offers online quizzes for students to practice and reinforce language they have learned. Quizzes are a great, informal way to assess student progress and are useful for students to gauge their progress and understanding.

Quizzes to practice English grammar. Grammar skills for all levels are covered. Most are labelled by the appropriate level.

This site contains a worksheet generator as well as links to testable materials.

Online quizzes on everything from Adjectives and Adverbs to Vocabulary. Over 250 quizzes in total.

Specific topics such as Business English, Idioms, and Expressions, as well as a number of ESL grammar activities. Teachers can integrate these into a multimedia lesson, or students can explore on their own.

Online games to practice grammar and vocabulary, useful for students and teachers alike.

Online quizzes to practice a variety of intermediate English. Some topics include adjectives + prepositions, adverbs, collocations, as well as specific vocabulary and expressions.

A variety of online grammar and vocabulary quizzes as well as podcasts and YouTube links to audio and video lessons for ESL students.

Students read a passage and select the appropriate preposition or phrasal verb from a drop down list. The reading level required for the activities varies from intermediate to advanced.

Students can test their knowledge and listen to the phrases on the site. Activities to practice prepositions as well as other vocabulary.

Quizzes to practice comprehension on such topics as medical vocabulary, computers and technology, presentations, business English, as well as general reading skills.

Graded tests for business English as well as general reading comprehension. Students can do tests online and see their results as soon as they are finished.

Drawn from a database of over 3000 questions, each quiz asks students 20 multiple-choice questions where they must insert appropriate vocabulary to create grammatically correct sentences.

A variety of popular quizzes from About.com. Students can test their knowledge of such ESL skills as tenses, parts of speech, commonly confused words, and English grammar.

Identical to the Dictionary Flash Cards game above, but broken down by topic, from Adjectives and Colors to Transportation and Weather.

A variety of multiple-choice quizzes that students can complete online for instant feedback. Some quiz topics include colloctations, confused words, idioms, the use of adjectives, prepositional phrases, and many others.

Care should be taken when using online translators, but they can be a useful resource for students and teachers alike.

Dictionaries and thesauri are valuable resources for students and teachers alike.

Students and teachers can check back daily to see the word-of-the-day, or they can sign up to have it emailed to them.

A list of 170 English idioms and expressions, divided alphabetically with an explanation of meaning and usage.

Care should be taken when using translation websites, but they can be a useful resource for students and teachers.

A searchable list of English grammatical terms, separated into categories. Contains definitions of everything from "abbreviation" to "zeugma".

Nearly 500 idioms are explained, broken out alphabetically from A-G.

An A-Z list of irregular verbs along with definitions and explanations of usage. The list is also searchable.

Dictionaries and Thesauri are useful for teachers and students alike.

Dictionaries and thesauri are useful for ESL students and teachers alike. It is good to check a variety of resources to compare the wording of definitions and to see what synonyms and antonyms each provides. Students should be shown how to appropriately use these resources, and how to effectively look up words they wish to know about.

Students or teachers can enter a verb or preposition and the dictionary will list all of the phrasal verbs that contain those words. Each phrasal verb is defined. The page also contains an explanation of phrasal verbs and a quiz to test students knowledge.

Thesauri are useful for students and teachers as they search for the right word to use. These can also be useful to build lists of synonyms and antonyms.

Teachers are encouraged to come up with their own assessment criteria, but this rubric can offer some helpful guidance in what to look for when evaluating a public speaking performance.