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Teaching English in France is an exciting adventure, but it can also feel intimidating if you have never taught a class before. I remember feeling lost when I sat down to plan my lessons for the semester. How can I help my students excel in English? What are they really interested in learning? How do I even run a class?
My teachers offered me very little guidance on how to teach my lessons and what content to present to my students. There is a lot of freedom in preparing your classes which can make lesson planning seem both effortless and challenging. If you are looking for some ideas for your classes, here are 10 TAPIF lesson plans that my students loved throughout the school year.
During my experience with TAPIF, I taught high school students, but you can easily adapt these plans for any level. I had two types of classes: discussion classes for advanced students and grammar/vocabulary-focused classes for beginner to intermediate students. In the resources below you will find both types of lessons.
10 TAPIF Lesson Plans
1. First Day
The first two weeks of classes I introduced myself to each of my classes. I prepared a simple PowerPoint presentation about myself, my hometown and life in America. I’d recommend that you create your introduction PowerPoint before your first day; some teachers will ask if you want to introduce yourself right away. I added lots of pictures and words to help students of all levels understand my introduction. At the end of the presentation, I asked each student to introduce themselves with the question prompts on the presentation. Afterward I encouraged the students to ask me questions about myself and life in the United States. Many students are shy, so I included some question topics to help them think of questions.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- First impressions are important! In this lesson you will set the tone for the rest of the year. While I wouldn’t advise you to act overly strict, you should demonstrate to your students that you are in charge of the classroom.
- Include a picture of your house in the United States. Many French people are fascinated by seeing how Americans live — the differences between French and American homes makes a great discussion topic too.
- When your students introduce themselves, ask follow-up questions. For example, if your student says they like soccer, ask them if they have a favorite team. If students start to lose focus, ask group questions too. For example, if a student says they like soccer, ask the class, “Who watched the FIFA World Cup?” It is a great way to make individual introductions a class activity.
2. Innovation & Technology
A topic that almost anyone can discuss is technology. In this discussion lesson I asked students to work in small groups and brainstorm a list of technological advancements. After we discussed their ideas as a class, I had each group decide on what they thought was the most important technological achievement. Students shared their ideas again as a group. I followed our brainstorm activities with some short videos and group conversation questions — I recommend you print the questions for the students too. A great way to make students feel more comfortable speaking is to allow students to talk in small groups and then ask them to share their ideas as a class. I also called on students to share their thoughts if I noticed that they were not participating. Check out the PowerPoint presentation for this lesson here.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- Discuss italicized words and ensure students understand their meanings. During your lessons — especially discussion lessons — it is important that the students understand the questions and vocabulary you present, so try to take time to read the questions on the PowerPoint and ask if students need clarification.
- If your students are a bit quiet, try placing them in pairs to ease any apprehension about speaking in English. In your first few lessons, you’ll begin to get a better feel for whether your students are talkative.
- Play videos with subtitles. Ask students if they need to watch the video again — silence usually means yes. It’s usually a good idea to play a video more than one time to ensure that students understand all the information.
3. Halloween
My students absolutely loved my holiday lesson! It is also a great opportunity to share about uniquely American celebrations and traditions. I started my lesson by asking my students to form words using the letters from the word “Halloween.” Then we did a short group conversation on the students’ experiences with Halloween. Next I gave a short PowerPoint presentation of Halloween traditions in the United States and featured a lot of photos. I asked my students to discuss some questions as a group. For my longer classes I added a section on Halloween idioms and encouraged my students to try to use them in a sentence.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- Share childhood photos of yourself in Halloween costumes. Students love to see funny photos of their English assistant, and it is a great way to keep their attention throughout the presentation. If you made your own costume or have an interesting trick-or-treat story, share it with your class.
- Americans love to dress up their pets too! Ask the students their thoughts on dressing up pets for Halloween.
- If you are sharing a lot of information on a topic, include questions through out the presentation to keep your students’ attention. For example, in this Halloween presentation I asked my students if they liked scary movies, if they would ever visit a haunted house, and what candy they would give out to trick-or-treaters.
- If you have some extra room in your luggage, it’s a fun idea to bring some American candies to give to your students on Halloween.
4. Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is another unique holiday to share with your class. I briefly discussed the history of Thanksgiving and some controversy about the celebration (this can make a great discussion topic for more advanced groups). Then I shared some activities that are part of a typical Thanksgiving day and included some small discussion questions and activities in between. I ended my lesson with a short clip from Friends and some discussion questions about it. Check out the PowerPoint presentation for this lesson here.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- In the United States, Thanksgiving can be a sensitive subject, but don’t be afraid to share some current discussion and debates about the holiday. It’s important to share both the fun traditions as well as the more serious issues surrounding the holiday.
- If you want more discussion ideas related to Thanksgiving, Black Friday and consumerism are great topics for more advanced group.
- Many students know about American holidays and traditions, so before your lesson, ask to see what students already know about the holiday. Include traditions that are special to your family and Thanksgiving photos to keep your students interested.
5. Christmas
The week before winter break, I shared some American Christmas traditions. I began by asking my students about their holiday traditions — this was a great way for them to share their own experiences in France. Then I showed them a short Christmas “vlog” that my little sister kindly made for my classes. She showed the students the decorations in our house, Christmas lights, Christmas cookies and other holiday things. I discussed the video with my students and presented more Christmas traditions. Check out the PowerPoint presentation for this lesson here.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- Have a family member create their own Christmas vlog for your class! Of course, you can use my video, but your students would be excited to see Christmastime at your house and in your city.
- If you have extra time, sing some Christmas carols. This is a great way for your students to learn new vocabulary and partake in a fun Christmas tradition. You can print the lyrics and even make a fill-in-the-blank worksheet as an additional activity.
- Keep this lesson low-key. Many students are excited for break and busy with exams, so keep your lesson fun and simple and save a grammar lesson for another day.
After two weeks of Christmas vacation, you might be scrambling to find new lesson plans for your second semester. I remember feeling completed unmotivated to plan my lessons for the new year even though I felt much more confident as a teaching assistant. So, if you’re struggling to get out of vacation mode and need ideas for your upcoming classes, these are the lesson plans that my students loved during the second half of the school year.
6. New Year’s
The first week of the spring semester is the perfect time to present on New Year’s. I began my lesson by having my students write down two truths and one lie about their winter break, then everyone shared their statements and guess the lie. Next I asked students to work in small groups and discuss their New Year’s resolutions. For beginner/intermediate groups, we discussed how to talk about the future and express what they will do in the new year. Then we watched a short video on New Year’s traditions and gave my students a list of questions from the video to answer in groups. Check out the PowerPoint presentation for this lesson here.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- In order to help your students transition into school mode again, begin your lesson with a fun activity. A discussion about your students’ winter break is a great way to encourage your students to talk more since they’ll be sharing about themselves. If you play two truths and a lie, set the example by sharing about your own winter break.
- If you are discussing New Year’s resolutions and want to incorporate some grammar into lesson, consider presenting on modals of advice. Have students give advice for different resolutions (ex: I will eat healthier → Eat less sugar. Avoid junk food.).
- Make it a competition for students to answer the worksheet questions and declare the team with the most correct responses the winner. Turning a listening activity into a game can incentivize your students to be more engaged.
7. The Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is a unique American tradition to share with your class. I started this lesson by asking my students about their knowledge of American football, the NFL and the Super Bowl. Then I presented some general information about the Super Bowl and included some questions to quiz my students about the game. Next we watched three Super Bowl commercials, and I asked students to work in small groups to answer questions about each advertisement. Then students shared their ideas with the class, and I transitioned the discussion from the Super Bowl to sports. I asked students to share their favorite sport events, and we compared them to the Super Bowl. We ended the lesson by comparing the World Cup to the Super Bowl and students discussed the difference between American football and soccer. Check out the PowerPoint presentation for this lesson here.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- Include a map of the United States and the location of the game as well as the cities of the teams playing this year. This a great way to present some U.S. geography to your students and share about cities they might not be familiar with.
- If you don’t want to spend the entire lesson talking about the Super Bowl, incorporate general sports into your discussions. Your students might be limited in what they can share about the subject, so allow them to talk about their own favorite sport events and compare it with the American sport. Since advertising is another major theme, consider organizing your lesson around this topic too.
- Have a favorite football team? Share it with your students! They will enjoy hearing about your personal experiences. Since my team was playing in the Super Bowl the year that I gave this presentation, I shared a lot about my team and a few pictures of my family and me on game day.
8. Valentine’s Day
Your students will fall in love with this Valentine’s Day lesson. I began the class by giving my students a list of Valentine’s Day idioms without their meaning. They worked in small groups to guess the meaning of the idioms, then we discussed the answers as a class. Check out the idioms worksheet for this lesson here. Next, I prepared a deck of index cards with a Valentine’s Day idiom or word written on each card. I split students into groups of 2-3 and gave each group about 10 cards. They had to write a short story using the idioms and words on the cards. I ended the lesson by having each group share their Valentine’s Day story with the class. Check out the PowerPoint presentation for this lesson here.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- Give your students sufficient time to write their stories. This activity can easily take up the majority of the class, so don’t plan too many extra activities. However, if your class moves quickly through the exercise, hand out extra words randomly while they are writing for an extra challenge.
- If you want to spend more time discussing the idioms, add some discussion questions to your presentation that allow students to use them in context. For example, if you’ve presented the idiom a bed of roses, then ask students to discuss an experience that was a bed of roses for them.
- Add a creative element to your lesson by having students write and decorate their own valentines. You can even ask some students to present theirs to the class.
9. The Academy Awards
Almost anyone can talk about movies, which makes The Academy Awards a great topic for students. I started the lesson by giving students paper slips with vocabulary words related to movies and their definitions. Students worked in groups to match each word with its definition, and then we discussed the correct answers. Next I gave students questions about their movie preferences and they discussed with a partner. I showed my students a highlight video from last year’s Academy Awards and a list of questions to answer about the video. They worked with their partner to answer the questions and then we discussed the correct answers as a group. I ended the lesson by giving students several movie synopses and had them guess the movie of each synopsis. Then they wrote a movie synopsis and had their peers guess the movie. Check out the PowerPoint presentation for this lesson here and Academy Awards worksheet here.
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- Play videos with subtitles. Ask students if they need to watch the video again — silence usually means yes. It’s usually a good idea to play a video more than one time to ensure that students understand all the information.
- If you want to incorporate more activities related to the Academy Awards, charades and other acting games are perfect for this lesson.
10. Reality TV
Watching TV series is a great way for your students to learn English. You can encourage them to do so with a lesson on reality TV. I began the lesson by asking the students to brainstorm a list of reality TV shows they know about. Next I had students discuss a few questions about reality TV and their preferences with a partner. For the next activity, I gave the students a list of TV shows that we would be watching and asked them to guess the premise of each show. We discussed their ideas as a group then I showed them several short clips from different reality TV shows. After each clip, the students talked about the show, whether or not they would watch it, etc. I ended the lesson by having students agree or disagree with different statement about reality TV. Check out the PowerPoint presentation for this lesson here
Tips for this TAPIF lesson plan:
- Brush up on your knowledge of French reality TV. Many students will be familiar with French TV series, but don’t expect them to know about famous American reality TV. If you know some popular French shows, you’ll be able to share English-language versions with your students.
- Many reality TV shows use informal/slang words. If you notice any slang terms in your video clips, make sure to discuss it with your students.
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Which TAPIF lessons are you planning for your students? Let me know in the comments below.
