Whether you're teaching your first lesson tomorrow morning or rebuilding a stale curriculum after years in the job, a good plan is the difference between a session that flows and one where you're scrambling for the next activity. Below: lesson plans organised by level, a universal framework you can adapt in minutes, and downloadable templates.
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The universal lesson framework (PPP)
Most online lessons (45–60 minutes, 1-on-1 or small group) work well using a Presentation–Practice–Production structure. It's old, but it's old because it works for new and adapting teachers alike.
| Stage | Time | Goal | Sample activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm-up | 5 min | Activate prior knowledge, lower anxiety | "How was your week?", quick quiz, vocab review |
| Presentation | 10 min | Introduce target language clearly | Concept-check questions, examples in context, model sentences |
| Controlled practice | 10 min | Build accuracy | Fill-in-the-blank, drilling, matching, transformation drills |
| Freer practice / production | 15 min | Use target language meaningfully | Role play, opinion task, picture description, mini-presentation |
| Review & homework | 5 min | Consolidate, assign next step | Recap, error-correction, set assignment |
Online adaptation
Online attention spans run about 70% of in-person. Cut each stage by 20–30% and add a screen-share visual to every stage — beginners lose track of audio-only content fast.
Beginner lesson plans (A1–A2)
Beginners need heavy visual support, repetition and confidence-building. Avoid metalanguage ("present perfect", "auxiliary verb") — just use the language and let them notice the pattern.
Plan 1: Daily routines (A1, 50 min)
Target language: 10 daily-routine verbs; "I + verb + at + time"; "What time do you...?"
- Warm-up (5 min): Show the clock on your screen. Ask "What time is it now? What time did you wake up?"
- Presentation (10 min): Share 10 images: wake up, shower, eat breakfast, brush teeth, go to work, have lunch, finish work, eat dinner, watch TV, go to bed. Drill each. Teach "I wake up at 7 o'clock."
- Practice (15 min): Drag-and-drop matching (use Google Slides or a Jamboard). Fill the gap: "I _____ breakfast at 8."
- Production (15 min): Student describes their actual day to you. You ask follow-ups: "What time do you go to bed? Do you go to bed early or late?"
- Homework: Write 6 sentences about your weekend routine.
Plan 2: Likes and dislikes (A1, 50 min)
Target language: "I like / don't like + noun / verb-ing"; food and activity vocabulary.
- Warm-up: "Look at this picture. What food do you see?"
- Presentation: Teach affirmative, negative and question forms with a thumbs-up/down visual.
- Practice: "Do you like ___?" survey — student answers about 10 foods/activities you show.
- Production: Student plans a perfect Saturday (food + activities) using target language.
Intermediate lesson plans (B1–B2)
Plan 3: Past habits with "used to" (B1, 60 min)
Target language: "used to + base verb" for past habits; contrast with simple past.
- Warm-up: Show a picture of a 1990s classroom. "What's different from today?"
- Presentation: Two timelines — "When I was 10, I used to play outside every day." vs. "Yesterday I played outside." Concept-check: "Is 'used to' for one time or many times?"
- Practice: Transformation drill — turn 10 past simple sentences into "used to" where appropriate. Discuss which ones don't work.
- Production: Student tells you about their childhood vs. now using at least 5 "used to" sentences.
Plan 4: Giving advice (B1–B2, 60 min)
Target language: "should / shouldn't", "I'd recommend", "If I were you..."; problem-solving vocab.
- Warm-up: "Have you ever had a problem with a colleague or a friend? What did you do?"
- Presentation: Three problem scenarios on screen. Model each advice structure.
- Practice: Match advice phrases to scenarios. Drill rhythm of "If I were you..."
- Production: Student is an advice columnist. You read out 3 problems; they give 2 pieces of advice for each, using all three target structures.
Advanced lesson plans (C1–C2)
At C1+, the focus shifts from teaching new structures to refining precision, register, idiomatic usage and fluency under pressure. Use real-world content (news articles, podcasts, business cases).
Plan 5: Hedging and diplomatic language (C1, 60 min)
Target language: "It seems / appears that...", "We might want to consider...", "There may be some concerns about..."
- Warm-up: Direct vs. diplomatic translation: "Your idea is bad." → How can we say this in a meeting?
- Presentation: 10 hedging structures. Discuss register and culture (UK vs US vs international business English).
- Practice: Rewrite 6 direct statements diplomatically.
- Production: Role-play — student is leading a project review meeting, giving negative feedback to two team members using only diplomatic language.
Plans for young learners (ages 6–12)
Kids need shorter activities (3–5 min each), high energy, lots of movement and a clear reward system. Plan 7–10 activities for a 30-minute lesson, not 3 long ones.
Plan 6: Animals and "can / can't" (age 7–9, 30 min)
- Hello song (2 min)
- Vocabulary: Show 8 animal flashcards, drill each (3 min)
- Listen and point: "Where is the elephant?" (3 min)
- Action: "A bird can fly! Show me flying!" (3 min)
- Memory game (4 min)
- Sentence pattern: "A fish can swim. A fish can't fly." (4 min)
- Drawing task: Draw your favourite animal, tell me 2 things it can do (5 min)
- Goodbye song + sticker chart (2 min)
- Homework: Show your parents 4 animals you learned today.
Business English plans
Plan 7: Email writing — declining a request (B2+, 60 min)
- Warm-up: "When did you last say no to a colleague? How did you phrase it?"
- Presentation: Anatomy of a polite "no" email: thank → contextualize → decline → offer alternative → close warmly.
- Practice: Identify weak vs. strong phrasing in 5 sample emails.
- Production: Student writes a real email declining a meeting invite. You give live feedback on tone and structure.
Blank lesson plan template
Copy this into your notes app or Google Doc and reuse it for every class.
STUDENT: ___________________
LEVEL: A1 / A2 / B1 / B2 / C1 / C2
LESSON #: ___
DURATION: ___ min
TARGET LANG: Grammar: __________
Vocab: __________
Function: _________
OBJECTIVES (students will be able to):
1. ____________________________________
2. ____________________________________
3. ____________________________________
MATERIALS: ___________________________
PROCEDURE:
| Time | Stage | Activity | Materials |
|------|------------|-----------------------|-----------|
| 0-5 | Warm-up | | |
| 5-15 | Present | | |
| 15-30| Practice | | |
| 30-45| Produce | | |
| 45-50| Review | | |
ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS:
- Problem: ____________ Solution: ____________
- Problem: ____________ Solution: ____________
HOMEWORK: _______________________________
POST-LESSON NOTES (fill in after):
- What worked: ___________________________
- What didn't: ___________________________
- Errors to follow up: ____________________
- Next lesson: ___________________________
Common planning mistakes
- Planning content, not outcomes. "Today we'll do unit 7" isn't a plan. "Students will request something politely using 3 different structures" is.
- Too much new material. 10–15 new vocabulary items + 1 grammar point is plenty for an hour. More and retention plummets.
- No production stage. If a student leaves the lesson without using the target language for real communication, they probably haven't learned it.
- Forgetting the warm-up. Five minutes of casual chat lowers anxiety and primes the brain. Skipping it costs you the next 20 minutes.
- Reusing identical plans for every student. Plans are templates; tailoring means swapping examples to match the student's job, interests and L1 errors.