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
ESL Worksheets for Everyday English: Slang, Informal Expressions, & Everyday Dialogue

ESL Worksheets for Everyday English: Slang, Informal Expressions, & Everyday Dialogue

•ESL Essentials
Teaching English as a second language can be extremely rewarding, from introducing students to the ins and outs of reading, speaking, and writing to witnessing them learn and grow more confident ...
Views 43,702 BegElemPre-Int
Teaching In Time: Clocks, Days, Months, & Seasons

Teaching In Time: Clocks, Days, Months, & Seasons

•ESL Essentials
Once your students have learned cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers, it’s a great time to teach them about time! (Pun intended.) As always, we suggest starting with a warmup from a ...
Views 39,204 BegElem
Travel, Countries, & Languages ESL Worksheets

Travel, Countries, & Languages ESL Worksheets

•ESL Essentials
Learning about travelling, other cultures, and languages is always fun, and there are plenty of ways to introduce these topics to your ESL students. If you're planning lessons around countries a ...
Views 33,725
Numbers Practice Worksheets - Counting & Writing Practice

Numbers Practice Worksheets - Counting & Writing Practice

•ESL Essentials
Numbers are a part of everyday life and one of the first topics students learn about when they enter preschool and elementary school. Learning to identify numbers and count is essential for young ...
Views 22,693
10 Verbs, Actions, & Activities Worksheets

10 Verbs, Actions, & Activities Worksheets

•ESL Essentials
Teaching verbs and actions is a crucial part of any student's education. It's the basis of learning sentence structure, subject verb agreement, and so much more. And while starting off with simpl ...
Views 17,629
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.

Preposition Worksheets

Preposition Worksheets

•ESL Essentials
Prepositions are a huge part of the foundation of any language, so exposing young learners to them at the start of their educational experience is critical. As educators, teaching prepositions ca ...
Views 19,718
Movie Worksheet Roundup - Reading, Writing, & Listening Practice

Movie Worksheet Roundup - Reading, Writing, & Listening Practice

•ESL Essentials
Watching a movie in class is always a treat for both students and teachers, but what if enjoying a film could be educational as well? There are several academic benefits that go along with movies ...
Views 15,967
Best ESL Crosswords for All Levels

Best ESL Crosswords for All Levels

•ESL Essentials
Using crossword puzzles in the classroom is more than a way to pass time. Teachers can utilize these worksheets as a way to truly educate their students on new subjects in an impactful, fun way. I ...
Views 22,801
Winter Worksheets, Vocab, & Activities

Winter Worksheets, Vocab, & Activities

•ESL Essentials
Winter is a magical time for kids, from the excitement about upcoming holidays and winter break to the fun spent outdoors in the snow. These few months provide plenty of opportunity for teachers ...
Views 27,322 BegElem
Best Holiday Worksheets for the Whole Year

Best Holiday Worksheets for the Whole Year

•ESL Essentials
Whether you teach student in the United States, China, Canada, or another country, there are many shared holidays on the calendar. Incorporating festive activities into your lesson plans is a grea ...
Views 13,926
9 ESL Worksheets For Russian Speakers

9 ESL Worksheets For Russian Speakers

•ESL Essentials
Whether you speak the langauge or not, teaching students from different cultures and countries has its fair share of challenges, along with its benefits! In this post, we'll go over how to use ES ...
Views 16,386
Fill in the Blank Worksheets

Fill in the Blank Worksheets

•ESL Essentials
Fill in the Blank formats are used for a variety of educational activities, from tests and quizzes to worksheets and mad libs. They can serve as excellent practice for students learning to read a ...
Views 21,881
9 Fun Short/Long Vowel Worksheets

9 Fun Short/Long Vowel Worksheets

•ESL Essentials
Teaching short and long vowel sounds is one of the first things most teachers introduce to their students after they learn the alphabet. A strong understanding of these sounds is an incredibly im ...
Views 31,605
9 Objects Worksheets - Classroom & Household Objects

9 Objects Worksheets - Classroom & Household Objects

•ESL Essentials
From classroom objects to personal items to household belongings, these objects worksheets will help your students learn basic vocabularly and describe the world around them. These activities are ...
Views 14,250
Top 10 Rhyming Worksheets

Top 10 Rhyming Worksheets

•ESL Essentials
The benefits of rhyming in early education are endless. Not only does rhyming help young learners gain an interest in language, but it also helps prepare them to excel in reading and writing. It' ...
Views 15,736
Best ESL Flashcards for Beginners

Best ESL Flashcards for Beginners

•ESL Essentials
Help ESL students master common words and phrases with these free flashcards! Flashcards are one of the best ways to kickstart learning in young students who are being introduced to new subjec ...
Views 32,441
9 Free Sight Word Worksheets For Kindergarten

9 Free Sight Word Worksheets For Kindergarten

•ESL Essentials
Learning to read and write comes with its fair share of challenges for young learners, but teaching sight words are an excellent way to help students recognize common vocabulary as they navigate t ...
Views 9,093
8 Awesome Addition Worksheets

8 Awesome Addition Worksheets

•ESL Essentials
Learning math and the terminology behind it is often a challenge for many students, but it is possible to make it an enjoyable experience for young learners with the right tools and activities.&n ...
Views 7,159
10 Free Dot-To-Dot Worksheets and Printables

10 Free Dot-To-Dot Worksheets and Printables

•ESL Essentials
Finding simple and fun ways for young students to learn numbers and letters can feel like a challenge, but dot-to-dot worksheets are one of the best options!    Typically, dot-to-dot ...
Views 11,393
10 Free Math Coloring Worksheets

10 Free Math Coloring Worksheets

•ESL Essentials
Learning math at a young age is essential, but it's important for teachers to introduce new concepts with fun and creative methods, like coloring!   It's no surprise that math isn't every ...
Views 13,134 BegElemPre-Int
14 Intriguing Science Worksheets & Printables

14 Intriguing Science Worksheets & Printables

•ESL Essentials
From the rock cycle to the solar system, there's so much to explore about science. And while it may be one of the more complex subjects to teach, it can be one of the most rewarding when student ...
Views 13,693 ElemPre-IntInt
14 Great ESL Topics for Your Young Learners

14 Great ESL Topics for Your Young Learners

•ESL Essentials
Working with kids is an awesome experience, and as teachers, you have the ability to shape them, encourage them, and help them learn essential life skills at a young age. Though there are many ...
Views 524,398 All
Tips for Teaching American Culture to ESL Students

Tips for Teaching American Culture to ESL Students

•ESL Essentials
While the United States is not the only place English is spoken, it contains a culture that many English language learners find intriguing. Students may be exposed to American companies, such as M ...
Views 53,731 All
Why You Should Use Cell Phones in Class: 8 Activities For Putting Phones to Positive Use in the ESL Classroom

Why You Should Use Cell Phones in Class: 8 Activities For Putting Phones to Positive Use in the ESL Classroom

•, ESL Essentials
When the typical teacher sees her students using cell phones in class, her response is to put it away, take it away or through some other means remove the phone from the classroom. Today’s ...
Views 86,626 All
7 Secret Pronunciation Rules Your Teachers Never Taught You (but You Should Teach Your ESL Students)

7 Secret Pronunciation Rules Your Teachers Never Taught You (but You Should Teach Your ESL Students)

•ESL Essentials
English spelling is at best confusing and at worst a hot mess. It is no wonder so many ESL students struggle with making the connection between written words in English and how they are prono ...
Views 454,527 All

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

Submit a Worksheet