English language learners (ELLs) of all levels need to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in English. These abilities are best addressed through lesson plans that integrate such skills in practical contexts such as going to the doctor, food shopping or finding directions to a specific place, such as a workplace or school. Writing effective lesson plans integrate two or more language skills, address the economic and social needs of the student, and incorporate the grammatical structure of the English language.

Introduce each lesson with activities such as reading and writing a daily message. This will include the day's date and day of the week, introducing the lesson's topic, and sharing a current event. Students will read and write this daily message, and teachers can also point out the spelling rules the student followed, such as the silent "e" in "date." The students and teacher can also briefly discuss national or worldwide current events such as the price of food, a recent weather event, or sports and entertainment news.

Choose effective texts and technological resources to fit the social and economic needs of the student. For example, if students need to shop for groceries, use a section of a language picture dictionary that shows meats, cereal and vegetables. Be flexible enough to allow students to share their questions throughout the lesson. For example, one student may ask the difference between the vegetable "celery" and the similar sounding word "salary."

Introduce vocabulary that is relevant to the students' needs, whether to prepare for a job interview or shop at a grocery store. Be aware that some publishers and Internet sources offer similar topics, such as food shopping at the non-literate, beginner and intermediate levels. Also plan to address required standards used to determine skill improvement in reading or listening skills.

Plan a "Think, Pair, Share" time, where students are asked a question such as, "What vegetables do you like?" Students would then ask each other in a pair or group of three, answer the question, then listen to other students' responses. Finally, each pair would share their answers with the rest of the class.

Assign homework to review the language skills addressed in class. This can be accomplished through asking students to write a food diary for a day, or do portions of the workbook that correspond best with the lesson. With workbooks, it may be a good idea to try one or two questions in class before ending the class session, so students know what to do at home.