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
7 Back to School Games And Activities To Help Your Students Bond

7 Back to School Games And Activities To Help Your Students Bond

ESL Essentials
Whether you have a class full of antsy five-year-olds, shy teens, or busy adult learners, they all have one thing in common: they will be together for the duration of the ESL course, and they wil ...
Views 195,930 All
5 (Not So) Surprising Factors that May Affect Your ESL Students’ Test Scores

5 (Not So) Surprising Factors that May Affect Your ESL Students’ Test Scores

ESL Essentials
When ESL students don’t do so well on the test, what do you think? That they didn’t study? It’s not that simple. Although no one questions the importance of preparing for a tes ...
Views 41,514 All
What To Do With Reading Texts: 10 Creative Ways

What To Do With Reading Texts: 10 Creative Ways

ESL Essentials
This list of 10 creative ways to work with reading texts was kindly shared by Churchill House, and is available for public download on their website www.churchillhouse.co.uk.   The web is ...
Views 209,553 All
Play Ball! Bringing Summer Sports into the ESL Classroom

Play Ball! Bringing Summer Sports into the ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
With summer weather steadily approaching, now is a perfect time to use sports as a vehicle for your ESL lessons. Not only will it be fun for you, your students will have a ball learning a little ...
Views 42,440 All
3 Classroom Management Strategies Top Teachers Use

3 Classroom Management Strategies Top Teachers Use

ESL Essentials
Implementing proper classroom management techniques is important. A teacher who knows how to control his or her classroom will have far fewer “crazy days” than one who does not. The ...
Views 31,504 Beg
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.

Pronunciation 101: 7 Things Your Students Need to Hear You Explain

Pronunciation 101: 7 Things Your Students Need to Hear You Explain

ESL Essentials
Bad pronunciation is bad news for ESL students. It negatively affects comprehension and so, negatively impacts communication. The problem is compounded by the fact that good pronunciation is o ...
Views 98,211 All
Business English Lessons: Successful Activities

Business English Lessons: Successful Activities

ESL Essentials
Students from across the globe are taking Business English lessons and the reasons are obvious. In today’s globalized world, English is the language of choice when it comes to conduct ...
Views 233,043 All
6 Tips to Help Students Pass the FCE for Schools Reading

6 Tips to Help Students Pass the FCE for Schools Reading

ESL Essentials
It’s becoming more and more popular for young English learners to sit English measuring exams. There is continued pressure for youngsters (some young as 13) to take these exams – the ...
Views 31,069 All
Juicy June Lesson Ideas

Juicy June Lesson Ideas

ESL Essentials
Summer’s almost here, but some ESL teachers are busier than ever. Some of us in the northern hemisphere may be enjoying a long-awaited break, but there are others who still have plenty of t ...
Views 19,035 All
ESL Teachers Ask: How Do I Teach a Special One-Week Summer Class?

ESL Teachers Ask: How Do I Teach a Special One-Week Summer Class?

ESL Essentials
"Somehow I ended up recruited to teach a summer ESL class even though I have NO IDEA what I'm doing! The class is going to be for Chinese students ages 10-16. It's only a week long - I have no clu ...
Views 32,151 All
What Every Job-Seeking ESL Teacher Needs to Know

What Every Job-Seeking ESL Teacher Needs to Know

ESL Essentials
You want to teach English as a Second language, but where do you start? You are a teacher of ESL, but you are looking for a change. What now? These articles look at many of the options open to th ...
Views 35,792 All
10 Fun English Spelling Games for Your Students

10 Fun English Spelling Games for Your Students

ESL Essentials
Are your students ready for a fun filled game style spelling review? Here are some ways to get their pulse quickening and the letters in the right order. Try These 10 Fun English Spelling Game ...
Views 120,515 All
Ways to Say Mother and Grandmother in Different Languages

Ways to Say Mother and Grandmother in Different Languages

ESL Essentials
On the second Sunday in May every year, people in the United States celebrate Mother's Day. It's a time to stop and honor mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and like-a-mothers for everything t ...
Views 23,800 All
Teacher Appreciation: 5 Ways to Boost Your Attitude When You Need Some TLC

Teacher Appreciation: 5 Ways to Boost Your Attitude When You Need Some TLC

ESL Essentials
We all have those not so great days. Even the most enthusiastic of teachers needs a little TLC from time to time. But sometimes we feel like taking care of our teacher selves means short changing ...
Views 18,495 All
Heal the World: Earth Day Activities for Your ESL Class

Heal the World: Earth Day Activities for Your ESL Class

ESL Essentials
Teaching English is tremendously rewarding, right? But what if we were to teach our ESL students to be responsible, to take care of the environment we share with all living species? How much more ...
Views 124,545 All
5 Easter Games and Activities Your ESL Class Will Never Eggs-pect!

5 Easter Games and Activities Your ESL Class Will Never Eggs-pect!

ESL Essentials
Another major holiday rolls around and your students know you’ll be up to something. You’ve had special lessons for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, so they’ll be expectin ...
Views 256,226 All
April Fools, Earth Day, and More: 10 Themed Language-Building Activities for April

April Fools, Earth Day, and More: 10 Themed Language-Building Activities for April

ESL Essentials
Now that spring is in full swing, it’s time for a new set of language building activities. Try some of the following with your ESL students. Try These 10 Language Activities in April ...
Views 22,439 All
6 Splendid Spring Crafts for the ESL Classroom

6 Splendid Spring Crafts for the ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
Nothing says “spring” more than pastel colors, flowers, and baby animals, right? And why? Because spring is the season of rebirth, a time of year marked by new beginnings, when everyt ...
Views 53,899 All
How to Use Popular Music to Teach ESL

How to Use Popular Music to Teach ESL

ESL Essentials
I spend a lot of time listening to popular music—not originally by choice. But I have an adolescent daughter, hence I spend a lot of time shuttling her to music and basketball practice and ...
Views 153,408
3 Most Essential Reading Skills Your Students Need

3 Most Essential Reading Skills Your Students Need

ESL Essentials
Reading is so much more than starting with the first word on the page and moving along each line till you get to the end. Reading is an essential skill for academic success, and we all know how i ...
Views 213,928 All
Fantastic February Lesson Ideas

Fantastic February Lesson Ideas

ESL Essentials
Now that everyone has recovered from the holidays and had time to settle back into the routine, take advantage of the fact that your students are a bit refreshed from the time off and start the mo ...
Views 35,908 All
Teaching Kids English: 10 Things to Consider

Teaching Kids English: 10 Things to Consider

ESL Essentials
Teaching children can be immensely rewarding, anyone who has taught children can tell you that. But it’s not fun and games all the time, and sometimes it’s just not that easy. English ...
Views 417,365 All
When is the Best Time to Assess?

When is the Best Time to Assess?

ESL Essentials
When and how often to assess students has long been a controversial topic in education. Some argue that students are tested too much and that too much time is spent “teaching to the test.&rd ...
Views 29,991 All
Ways to Make Spelling Exciting

Ways to Make Spelling Exciting

ESL Essentials
Contrary to the belief of many students, the existence of spellcheck does not negate the need to learn how to spell. If you don’t know how to begin to spell words like antidisestablishmentar ...
Views 14,333 All
Heading on Virtual Field Trips

Heading on Virtual Field Trips

ESL Essentials
When you teach in a small, rural school district or in a district with little funding, finding places to visit and money for fields trips can be a challenge.  At the same time, teachers know ...
Views 6,791 All

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

Submit a Worksheet