The Christmas parties are over and it’s the start of a new year. Have you made any resolutions? What will you do to improve your life this year? This is a New Year Resolutions EFL ESL lesson plan for kids of about 8 to 12 years old and you could adapt it for a class of teenagers too. It will last about an hour. If you’re looking for a simple but fun lesson to do after the Christmas holidays, this should be perfect. During this lesson we will talk about different kinds of resolutions and practice the future tense with will. We will also make a list of class resolutions together. So, let’s start thinking about what to do this year to make it the best year ever!
For this New Year Resolutions EFL ESL lesson plan, you will need:
- A whiteboard or blackboard
- Paper and pens
- Coloring markers
- Card to make flashcards
- A grid for Hearts, Stars and Bombs – see below, you’ll need to complete this before the lesson – Don’t let the kids see it!
Songs and Videos:
- Happy New Year Song by Joyce Paultre
Introduce the New Year and your lesson
Start the class with your usual Hello routine or, if you prefer, use one of my favorite Hello songs. Then wish the kids a Happy New Year and welcoming them back after the holidays (if you’ve had them). Then go around the class and get each of them in turn to wish a Happy New Year to the child next to them. Learn and sing the Happy New Year Song together and have a dance to get everybody wide awake and in the mood.
New Year Resolutions
Introduce the idea of resolutions to the class by telling them what you will do this year. You could choose any activity that you think they will understand. For example, “This year, I will do more exercise” or “I will eat more vegetables”. Then make a list on the board together of all the resolutions they can think of, using a phrase with I will for each one. Give each child a blank flashcard or a small piece of paper and ask them to write down one resolution and illustrate it without showing anyone else. Give them a couple of minutes to do this.
Play a guessing game
When they’ve finished filling in their cards, put all the cards into a box or a bag. Then, one at a time, let the kids pull out a card and read it out to the class. Can they guess who made the resolution? Ask them to make a phrase, ” I think Sophia will eat more fruit this year”.
Practice with a Hearts, Stars and Bombs game
For this game, you will need to divide the kids into two teams. Each team starts with three points. You will need a pre-completed grid like the one in the picture above. Feel free to change and add names and resolutions. Just don’t let the kids see it. Draw another grid on the board with the names and actions filled in but leave the rest blank. This is a really simple game which kids love and which gets them making full sentences without even really realizing it.
In turn, one member of each team has to make a phrase using a name from the left hand column and an action from the top. As they make each phrase, check your personal grid to see if it corresponds to a heart, a star or a bomb and fill it in on the board. if they get a heart, they get a point. A star means they lose a point and a bomb means a point goes to the other team. There are lots of different versions of this game on the internet but this is the version I have found works best with kids. The winning team is the one with the most points when the grid is complete.
Let the class practice asking questions
Put the kids in pairs and get them to practice the question, What is your New Year resolution? “I will practice my violin every day”, “I will help my Mom”. When they’ve finished, change partners and do this a few times so everyone has a chance to practice and hear different resolutions.
Make a class New Year Resolutions list together
You can do this on the board and then either make a poster together or individual lists for each child. Decide together what your class resolutions will be. Will you sing more songs? Maybe you will learn 10 new words in English a week? Or try and watch an English movie at home? Let the kids go wild and decide what they want to do. Then you can color and illustrate the lists and hang them up in your classroom as a reminder. At the end of the year, you can do an activity where you look at your list and see what you have done and haven’t done.
Conclusion
Finish your lesson with your usual Goodbye routine or use one of my favorite Goodbye songs. Then remind the children of their resolutions if any of them want to do things and home. Wish them a Happy New Year again and sing the song again if you want. Hooray, it’s been a great lesson to start the brand new year!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this New Year Resolution EFL ESL lesson plan. If you have and you would like to try some of my other lesson plans, you can find them here. As always, I’d love to hear from you if you’ve tried a lesson plan. Any feedback or ideas are always welcome! Keep up to date with ideas for new activities and lesson plans by following the GoogooEnglish Facebook page or by signing up for email updates below. Happy New Year everyone!