2,124 FREE ESL Essentials - What Every English Teacher Needs To Know!
BusyTeacher Home » ESL Essentials

FREE ESL Essentials

ESL Essentials – Important Teaching Tips

In this section there are 2,124 articles that cover essential ESL topics such as how to teach grammar, use realia, and teach young learners. There are also a lot of lesson ideas and fun activities included in the articles. This ESL article, for example, is about teaching grammar and describes five great activities. It has been given five stars by other busy teachers so it obviously has useful content. Check it out for yourself or take a look at other articles that relate better to your questions or teaching situation.

There are a lot of dos and don’ts and tips and tricks that many teachers learn through teaching.

Our ESL Essentials section will help you master the basics of teaching English and will help you start teaching like a 'pro'. Every ESL Essentials article provides clear, to-the-point instructions that can be used with the students right away.
At the moment we have 2,124 ESL Essentials.
Sometimes that is the best way to learn but the experiences of others can also help you develop your teaching skills without having to make the same mistakes. If you have a great story or activity, feel free to submit your own article so that you can share your knowledge with others. We would love to hear from you!

Dramatically improve the way you teach:




Make A Word Search:

Create awesome-looking custom word searches in seconds!

Make A Word Scramble:

Instantly create custom word/sentence scrambles for your class!

Make A Double Puzzle:

Generate double puzzles your students will love - hours of fun!

ESL Articles
Rate this Category
4.7 out of 5, rated by 26 teachers




Sort by: Most Recent | Most Viewed | Rating
How Do I Grade “Attendance and Participation”? Assessing Classroom Behavior

How Do I Grade “Attendance and Participation”? Assessing Classroom Behavior

ESL Essentials
A part of the assessment of almost any class is “attendance and participation,” or similar wording, referring, in general, to how often the student attended class and how he or she beh ...
Views 68,012 All
Beyond “I Went to the Store. I Bought Bread”: Teaching Writing and Self-editing for Advanced Sentence Structure

Beyond “I Went to the Store. I Bought Bread”: Teaching Writing and Self-editing for Advanced Sentence Structure

ESL Essentials
There are a number of issues in teaching academic writing and how it differs from the conversational register, or variety, of English which students are more used to. Academic writing has differe ...
Views 12,809 All
We Changed the Name, Didn’t We? That’s Progress! Education and Bureaucracy

We Changed the Name, Didn’t We? That’s Progress! Education and Bureaucracy

ESL Essentials
Over the past decade or so, corporations or corporate cultures have become increasingly involved in nonprofit entities, such as public education. There is a belief corporations must know somethin ...
Views 4,953 All
Keep Their Eye on the Prize: 5 Visual Aids You Should Be Using in Your ESL Classroom

Keep Their Eye on the Prize: 5 Visual Aids You Should Be Using in Your ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
No other class benefits from visual aids more than a language class. If a picture is worth a thousand words, including the right visuals for your students to look at can be the avenue to thousand ...
Views 19,042 All
How to Nitpick Your Own Work: Self-Editing for 10 Common Errors

How to Nitpick Your Own Work: Self-Editing for 10 Common Errors

ESL Essentials
Teachers spend a lot of time marking students’ work. Indeed, some would say teachers “nitpick" work, or look at work too closely for errors. However, students cannot depend on their t ...
Views 18,324 All
Put BusyTeacher in your inbox

Sign up for the BusyTeacher Weekly and be the first to get direct links to our latest teaching articles, worksheets and lesson plans. Goes out to 323,134 subscribers every Wednesday.
See last week's issue.

Not All Responses Are Equal: Teaching Students to Wrap Up Unproductive Discussions (and Move Forward)

Not All Responses Are Equal: Teaching Students to Wrap Up Unproductive Discussions (and Move Forward)

ESL Essentials
Some classes are so quiet and unresponsive to each other that the teacher will greet any form of interaction with relief and encouragement. Certainly when students begin to open up with each othe ...
Views 9,930 All
Uh, D’yuh Wannuh Cupuh Coffee? The “Schwa” Sound and Common Phrases

Uh, D’yuh Wannuh Cupuh Coffee? The “Schwa” Sound and Common Phrases

ESL Essentials
You can’t speak American English without knowing the schwa sound. The schwa sounds approximately like “uh” in the phrases “uh-huh” and “huh-uh.” It is tr ...
Views 35,363 All
This Class ####%!$ Stinks! Relating to Students Who Show Blatant Disrespect

This Class ####%!$ Stinks! Relating to Students Who Show Blatant Disrespect

ESL Essentials
Most students, especially adult students, make at least a pretense of civility in the classroom, even if they don’t feel it. The least enthusiastic students usually come into class, take ou ...
Views 23,095 All
Creating a Happy, Healthy Classroom: 7 Tips to Make It Work

Creating a Happy, Healthy Classroom: 7 Tips to Make It Work

ESL Essentials
Every teacher wants a pleasant, enjoyable classroom. Students do, too. But the perfect classroom doesn’t come without a little work. Here are seven ways you can make sure your classroom is ...
Views 33,192 All
Survival English: 5 Tips on Where to Start with Absolute Beginners

Survival English: 5 Tips on Where to Start with Absolute Beginners

ESL Essentials
I remember going into a level one classroom one semester with certain expectations in mind. Every time I had taught that class, students had some knowledge of English vocabulary even if they didn ...
Views 58,359 All
More Than Multiple Choice: 5 Out of the Notebook Activities to Check How Well They Read

More Than Multiple Choice: 5 Out of the Notebook Activities to Check How Well They Read

ESL Essentials
Paper. It fills our text books, our lesson plans, and even our trash cans. So many activities we do are dependent on paper. It’s true in all classes, but perhaps even more so in reading cla ...
Views 10,450 All
Now Playing: How to Develop Language Learning Activities Based on Popular Movies

Now Playing: How to Develop Language Learning Activities Based on Popular Movies

ESL Essentials
Do your students love American movies? My students always do. They often watch movies in either the theater or on television, either way expecting a double benefit. The first is that movies are e ...
Views 20,291 All
10 Questions to Ask before Deciding on English Only vs. Bilingual Instruction

10 Questions to Ask before Deciding on English Only vs. Bilingual Instruction

ESL Essentials
When you are an English teacher and particularly when your students are absolute beginners, you may find that teaching in English is a real challenge. How can you teach in one language when your ...
Views 24,393 All
There’s Strength in Numbers: 4 No-fail Tips for Increasing TOEIC Scores

There’s Strength in Numbers: 4 No-fail Tips for Increasing TOEIC Scores

ESL Essentials
They put in hours of studying. They take practice tests. They ask questions and diligently memorize English grammar. Your students do all these things for one reason: to get a good score on their ...
Views 9,820 All
Calm Amid the Storms: 6 Tips for Dealing with Emotional Students

Calm Amid the Storms: 6 Tips for Dealing with Emotional Students

ESL Essentials
A classroom can be an intense and challenging place in which to work. ESL classrooms, in particular, often bring into sharp focus the kind of cultural issues and socio-economic differences which ...
Views 10,909 All
Two by Two: Top 13 Go to Activities for Pairwork in Speaking Class

Two by Two: Top 13 Go to Activities for Pairwork in Speaking Class

ESL Essentials
Are you looking for a go to list of activities you can use in speaking class? Here are thirteen in-class discussion starters just right for two students at a time. Try These Top 13 Go to Activ ...
Views 93,005 All
Tailor Made: 5 Tips for Designing a Curriculum from Scratch

Tailor Made: 5 Tips for Designing a Curriculum from Scratch

ESL Essentials
Whether you are teaching at a large language school or you are offering English classes independent of a language program, you have to decide what you will teach your students. Sometimes you can ...
Views 23,270 All
Write or Wrong? Creating Outstanding Error Corrections for Writing Students

Write or Wrong? Creating Outstanding Error Corrections for Writing Students

ESL Essentials
Nobody likes making mistakes, but as a teacher, it’s great to remind your students that mistakes are an opportunity to learn, not to be embarrassed or regretful. After all, they’ve em ...
Views 13,073 All
Are Your Students Ready to Read? 6 Tips for Making Material More Accessible to Your Students

Are Your Students Ready to Read? 6 Tips for Making Material More Accessible to Your Students

ESL Essentials
I am a strong proponent of using authentic materials in the classroom at every level of instruction. On a typical day you can find me carrying items such as magazines, books, menus, and letters t ...
Views 11,474 All
What Do We Say About This? Teaching How to Respond to a Topic

What Do We Say About This? Teaching How to Respond to a Topic

ESL Essentials
Often teachers and students alike cringe at the notion of a group discussion. It can be difficult to introduce the topic and get students organized into groups. And once that happens, the convers ...
Views 16,094 All
Finding the Rose in the Rubble: Dangerous Topics and Teachable Moments

Finding the Rose in the Rubble: Dangerous Topics and Teachable Moments

ESL Essentials
There are some topics that make most teachers cringe at the idea of introducing in class. The topic is too “dangerous” for a number of reasons: it is too controversial, at the more gl ...
Views 9,495 All
The Online Student Lifestyle: How to Practice L1 in an L2 Environment

The Online Student Lifestyle: How to Practice L1 in an L2 Environment

ESL Essentials
What do our students need in order to be successful language learners? Good language acquisition begins and ends with practice, but how can a student make progress if nobody else around them spea ...
Views 8,978 All
Any Thoughts on This, Elizabeth? Teaching Students to Encourage Peers to Speak

Any Thoughts on This, Elizabeth? Teaching Students to Encourage Peers to Speak

ESL Essentials
Students bring varying experiences to topics as well as varying personalities and predispositions toward extroversion or introversion. This can be seen in class discussion, where typically there ...
Views 12,261 All
The More The Merrier: 8 Reasons Big Classes Are A Blessing

The More The Merrier: 8 Reasons Big Classes Are A Blessing

ESL Essentials
Are you feeling down because you have a larger class and that means more work? Are you trembling at the thought that you might get the biggest class this semester? Large ESL classes have a lot to ...
Views 10,370 All
“Shut Up” Isn’t Allowed: Teaching Discussion Etiquette

“Shut Up” Isn’t Allowed: Teaching Discussion Etiquette

ESL Essentials
Discussion groups are an integral part of most classes that are above the basic level in middle school and beyond. Students are expected to discuss the course material, wrestle with it, and bring ...
Views 18,961 All

Got a great worksheet on ESL Essentials? Tell us about it and become a BusyTeacher contributor!

Submit a Worksheet