TEFL lesson plan sample: a complete worked example
A TEFL lesson plan sample shows how a real English lesson is organised minute by minute: the aim, the class profile, and a timed sequence of stages with what the students and the teacher are each doing. Below we walk through a complete one-hour plan for an upper-intermediate reading lesson, taken from our TESOL course materials. The full unit lives on the 120-hour course.
What the sample plan covers
The plan is for a one-hour lesson with ten adult, upper-intermediate students (a mixed Japanese and German class). The stated aim is “to develop reading skills and lexis work on the subject of Nelson Mandela” - note that it names the skill focus (reading and vocabulary), not just a topic. Everything else in the plan exists to serve that aim.
The plan, stage by stage
| Time | Stage | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 5 min | Engagement | A ‘Yes/No’ game: students fire questions at the teacher (“Is this person male or female?”, “Is this person a politician?”) until they guess who they will read about - Nelson Mandela. The teacher can only answer yes or no, and prompts if students get stuck. |
| 10 min | Presentation | Photo of Mandela on the board; in small groups students discuss what they know about him, which three words describe him, and how he might have felt in prison. The teacher monitors, notes errors for later, and boards quick feedback. |
| 20 min | Study | The teacher pre-teaches difficult vocabulary from the text (uprooted, scrambling, exile, revitalise, ruthless…), then students read an extract from Long Walk to Freedom silently and answer comprehension and concept questions in pairs, with plenary feedback. |
| 20 min | Practice | Freer writing: students imagine they are members of the External Mission writing a letter of encouragement to Mandela in prison, trying to use at least three items of the new vocabulary. Selected letters are read out and reviewed. |
| 5 min | Warm down | The balloon game: in groups of five, each student defends a character (Mandela, the Pope, David Beckham, Barack Obama, Madonna) and argues why theirs should not be thrown out of the balloon. |
Why this is a good model to copy
- Every stage is timed. Timings force you to balance the lesson and give you a fallback when an activity over- or under-runs.
- Student activity and teacher activity are written separately. This makes it obvious when the teacher is talking too much and the students too little.
- The stages link thematically. The warmer sets up the reading, the vocabulary feeds the letter-writing task, and the warm down recycles the topic in a lighter way.
- Controlled work comes before free work. Comprehension questions check accuracy first; the letter task then lets students use the language freely.
Evaluating the lesson afterwards
The sample ends with a short evaluation checklist - a habit worth keeping for every lesson you teach:
- Was the focus right? If it is a reading lesson, is reading genuinely the central element, and do the timings reflect that? (The author notes this plan is quite work-heavy, and the text level could be tricky for some.)
- Where might students lose interest or finish early? Have a back-up ready - here, shortening the passage to two paragraphs and letting fast finishers carry on with the third.
- What would you improve? The author suggests more time for the warm down, or swapping the writing task for a speaking one.
If you want the theory behind this structure - why the stages are ordered this way and how to build your own plans - read our companion guide to lesson planning and staging.
Get the full unit on the course
This page is the public guide. The original unit is part of the 120-hour TESOL Premier course and is released after you enrol - we do not publish purchased course PDFs as free downloads.
View the 120-hour course → Browse all TEFL/TESOL courses
Frequently asked questions
What should a TEFL lesson plan include?
A good TEFL lesson plan includes a clear lesson aim, the class profile (number of students, ages, level and first languages), and a timed stage-by-stage table showing what the students do and what the teacher does at each point. It should end with an evaluation section so you can note what to improve next time.
What are the stages of a TEFL lesson?
A widely used model has five stages: an engagement activity (warmer), presentation of the theme, study (the controlled core of the lesson), freer practice, and a short warm-down. In the sample plan these take 5, 10, 20, 20 and 5 minutes of a one-hour lesson.
How long should it take to plan a TEFL lesson?
For a new teacher, planning one lesson can initially take as long as the lesson itself. The time is worth investing: tried and tested plans can be repeated with other classes and adapted for other levels, so planning gets much faster with experience.
Is this lesson plan free to use?
Yes. The worked example on this page is free to read and adapt for your own classes or TEFL course assignments. The original course unit is part of the 120-hour TESOL certificate and is released after you enrol.