English ESL lesson plans should all have the same basic format regardless of the grammar point that you're teaching: a "lead in," a picture, question or object that grabs the student's attention, a clear presentation of the grammar points on the board, controlled practice that you complete as a class and individually and a fun free practice activity that forces the students to use the language in a natural context. As a teacher, you should stimulate yourself to create new lesson plans for the same grammar points, to keep things new and exciting for you and your students.

Present Simple

This lesson plan is suitable for elementary students as an introduction to the present simple, and for higher level students as a review. Start the lesson by pointing to yourself; say, "I am a..." At this point your students should fill in the blank with "woman" or "man" or "teacher." Elicit more facts from them, by asking what country is this? What color is that? Explain to students that these are all facts and that when we talk about facts in the present, we use the present simple. Show students your coffee mug. Elicit from them what it is and what it is for. Ask them why you drink coffee. Ask them to guess how often you drink coffee. Explain, that drinking coffee is your habit. Write on the board a sentence like: "I drink coffee everyday" or "I drink coffee every morning." Explain that when we talk about habits, or things that we do every day or almost every day, we use the present simple. Put the positive, negative and question form of the present simple on the board. Have the class open up their books and do a sentence completion exercise that assesses how well they understand the form and usage of the present simple. Assign another, similar exercise for students to do on their own. Check answers together as a class. Put students into pairs and have them make a list of their habits and share them with their partner.

Present Perfect

The present perfect has several uses and is a very important tense in the English language. Thus, not to overwhelm students, just teach them another usage of the present perfect after they've mastered the first usage. Show them a picture of a friend. Introduce your friend to the class and tell them some things about what she has done. For example, you could say, "She has been to Tibet" and "She has met President Obama" and "She has graduated university." Ask the students when your friend completed these things. They should not be able to answer except for simply saying, "in the past." Explain that when we talk about things at an unspecified time in the past, we use the present perfect. Put the positive, negative and question form of the present perfect on the board. Tell students to open their books to a written exercise in their books that evaluates their usage of the present perfect. Complete one exercise together as a class. Ask the students to complete another exercise on their own. Check answers together as a class. Put students into pairs and have them ask each other whatever questions they like, they just have to start with the words, "Have you ever..." Students must also answer in the present perfect.

Present Continuous

Stand at the front of the room and ask students what you are doing at this exact moment. Students should be able to respond with things like "teaching" or "standing" or "talking." Explain that when we talk about actions around a specific point of time in the present, we use the present continuous tense. Put the positive, negative and question form of the present continuous tense on the board. Ask the students what they are doing right now. Students should be able to reply with "I am sitting" or "I am learning" or "I am talking." Ask students to open up their books to a designated exercise on the present continuous. Complete the exercise together as a class. Ask students to complete another exercise on this same concept by themselves. Check their answers together as a class. Put students in pairs and ask them to write down all the things that people outside are doing right now, or what the people in the next classroom are doing right now or what people in the cafe down the street are doing right now. Have them share their answers with the class.