Lions at School Vocabulary & Games

 This resource is included in the Zoo Animals for EFL. Click here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Zoo-Animals-Flashcards-for-EFL-3611842

This Lion at School resource helps students review school vocabulary in a fun way during the school unit. Learners listen, read, draw, write, and play while practicing school items and basic prepositions in meaningful contexts. Perfect for centers, small groups, or whole-class review, this resource makes vocabulary practice interactive and easy to implement.

Flashcards

Speaking Activity. In this activity, the teacher shows a lion flashcard to the class and guides students through simple, structured speaking practice.

Teacher: Who’s this?
Students: It’s the lion.

Teacher: What color is the lion?
Students: Yellow.

Teacher: What does he have?
Students: A red book!

The teacher then models a complete sentence:
“The yellow lion has a red book.”

This routine is repeated with different flashcards. The predictable question pattern helps English language learners gain in oral fluency.

Writing Activity: Describe the Lion. In this activity, students look at the lion picture and write simple sentences to describe it. Using the model provided, students write:

“This is a yellow lion.
It has a purple calculator.”

This activity helps English language learners practice sentence structure,

Small cards

Lion’s Backpack Activity. Print the backpack template and place it inside a clear plastic sheet on the table. Give students the lion small cards. Students listen carefully and place the correct card inside the backpack as the teacher gives directions.

Teacher:
“Put the lion with the red crayon in the backpack.”

The teacher repeats the activity using different lion cards and school objects.

Feed the Lion – School Objects Review. Print the lion with an open mouth template to create a Feed Me box. Place the box on the table and give students the school object cards.  Students take turns “feeding” the lion as they review the vocabulary.

Teacher:
“Feed the lion the globe.”

Student:
(Places the globe card into the lion’s mouth.)

This engaging activity helps English language learners practice school vocabulary, listening comprehension,

Grab & Say – Quick Speaking Game. Place the small cards face down on the table. A student picks one card and says a complete sentence to describe it:

 “It’s a yellow lion.”
“It has a gray laptop.”

This quick speaking game helps English language learners practice oral language,

Worksheets

Design Your Own School Lion. Students add school objects on the lion and describe it.

Read and Color. In this worksheet, students read simple sentences and color each lion correctly. They match the lion’s color and the school object by following the directions.

This activity helps English language learners practice reading comprehension. It works well as independent work.

Body Labeling. In this activity, students cut and glue the body word labels to match the correct parts of the lion’s body. They then draw arrows to connect each word to the picture.

Read, Draw, and Color. Students read the sentence cards and follow each instruction to draw and color on the lion worksheet. They listen or read, and carefully place each school object on, under, next to, in front of, or behind the lion.

This activity helps English language learners practice prepositions of place. It works well for small-group instruction.

What Does the Lion Have? Students look at each picture and read the question and sentence. They then write the correct school object and color word to complete the sentence.

Spelling Bingo – How to Play. Students write five words or short sentences on their Spelling Bingo worksheet. The teacher mixes and calls the words using the small cards.

As students hear a word or sentence, they cross it out on their paper.
The first student to cross out all five wins Bingo!

Draw & Follow the Directions (Prepositions Practice). Students pick a card and read the sentence aloud. They listen carefully and draw the school item in the correct place on the lion worksheet (on, under, behind, next to, or in front of). This activity helps students practice prepositions, school vocabulary, and listening comprehension in a fun, hands-on way.

Make a Mini Book – Lion at School

Students cut out the picture cards and put them in order to create a mini book. For each page, they write a simple sentence (for example: “I have a blue pencil.”) and color the picture. When finished, students read their mini books aloud to practice vocabulary, colors, and sentence structure.

Check the Zoo Animals Unit for Preschool and Elementary ESL BUNDLE, at this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Zoo-Animals-Unit-for-Preschool-and-Elementary-ESL-BUNDLE-5937781

Teachers, explore my links! 🎉

Visit my Linktree to find links to my blogs, resources and more to make learning fun and effective!  🔗 Check it out here: linktr.ee/HolisticEnglishResources

How I Use Thematic Units to Teach Elementary ESL Students

 Teaching English Language Learners in elementary school can  feel overwhelming to plan meaningful, language-rich lessons every week. That’s exactly why I use thematic units in my classroom with all you need to write your lesson plan.

 You can explore the 10 thematic units here:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elementary-ESL-Teaching-Units-EXPLORE-Bundle-10-Thematic-Units-14383276

My Elementary ESL Teaching Units- EXPLORE- Bundle, which includes 10 ready-to-use with minimal prep thematic units are designed specifically for elementary-age ELLs (typically grades 2–5).  These units are: transportation, town,farm, beach, routine verbs, weather, seasons, time,community helpers, adjectives.

This Bundle Supports Mixed Ability Levels. In one class, you might have newcomers alongside students who are ready for richer tasks. Thematic units allow you to differentiate easily—with visual supports, simple worksheets, and extension activities all in one place.

 Each unit includes:

Flashcards vocabulary cards for visuals and frequent review to introduce vocabulary. They are included in every unit to give students clear visual support, and make language practice interactive, hands-on, and easy to reuse throughout the lesson.

Transportation unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2024/12/transportation-flashcards-for.html

Small cards are included in each unit for hands-on practice, games, sorting, and sentence-building activities that encourage active student participation.

 town unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/03/town-small-cards-for-elementary-esl.html

Cutouts are included to promote hands-on learning through matching, sorting, and interactive language activities. Adjectives blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/06/adjectives-craft-stick-puppets-sorting.html

Worksheets help students reinforce vocabulary and language structures through guided, independent practice and review. Farm Unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/04/hands-on-farm-vocabulary-activities.html

Engaging games for production in group or partner interaction.They are important in this resource because they keep students motivated while providing meaningful, repeated practice of language skills in a low-stress, engaging way.

Beach Unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/05/beach-unit-games.html

Spelling activities are important because they help students connect sounds to letters, reinforce vocabulary, and build confidence in reading and writing English words.

Seasons Unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2020/03/seasons-and-nature.html

Printable books to support thematic literacy. They give students a meaningful way to practice reading, vocabulary, and sentence structure while creating a take-home product they feel proud of. 

Transportation Unit Blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/02/transportation-layered-book-for.html

Holidays: Christmas.  The bundle includes themed units for popular holidays, helping students practice language through familiar, engaging celebrations and seasonal vocabulary.

Weather Unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/12/christmas-snowglobes-numbers-120.html

Use the unit materials in centers where students can practice vocabulary through:

Matching games.  Telling the time blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2019/04/telling-time-for-esl-learners.html

Memory cards. Community helpers Unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/07/community-helpers-jobs-and-occupations.html

Sentence Association. Routine Verbs unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/07/routine-verbs-small-cards-for-eslefl.html

Students rotate through activities.

There are add ons:

Activities focusing on numbers 1–20 help students develop counting skills, number recognition, and number vocabulary through visual, hands-on, and engaging practice that supports early math and language development. Farm Unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/10/counting-120-cows-numbers-activities.html

Prepositions of location is also found in several units. It will help students understand how objects relate to each other in space (in, on, under, next to, etc.) through visual and hands-on practice. This is especially important for ELLs, as prepositions are challenging to learn and are best taught in context, supporting clearer sentence building, better comprehension, and more confident oral language use.

Beach Unit blog post:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/09/beach-prepositions-activities-with.html

Finally, Teaching tips to make planning easier and more effective. The 3ps lesson plans are ready to follow.

Follow me on Instagram for creative activities, classroom tips, and exclusive sneak peeks of my teaching resources! There Hands-on games and activities for young learners, freebies and more:   https://www.instagram.com/rosamelia_eslteacher/

Airplane Prepositions Activities ESL/EFL

  This resource (Airplane Prepositions Activities for Elementary ESL / EFL Learners) is included in the Transportation unit for Elementary ESL at this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Transportation-Unit-for-Elementary-ESL-4049752

Prepositions provide clarity and precision in language. They help learners describe spatial relationships, time, and direction accurately, which is essential for effective communication. Using the airplane theme helps engage students and give a concrete visual for abstract prepositions such as ‘next to’, ‘behind’, ‘between.

Lay out the prepositions of place ESL airplane flashcards and have students match them with written preposition words or sentences that describe the airplane’s location.

Show a transportation vocabulary ESL prepositions flashcard without revealing the word, and students must guess the correct preposition.

Cut the airplane themed grammar game ESL flashcards and give half the class preposition words and the other half flashcards. Students must find their matching partner.

Preposition Go Fish with the small cards. Print the picture cards in pairs (e.g., two cards of each). Students ask each other: “Do you have the airplane under the clouds?”
If yes, they take the card and make a pair. If not, the answer is “Go fish!”

Create Your Scene How to play: Give students airplane and cloud cutouts plus preposition cards. They place them on a blank paper or small mat and write or say the sentences.

Cutouts that come in b/w and colored version. Act It Out – Give students the airplane and clouds templates glued onto crafts sticks and have them place them in positions as they roll the dice.

Mini Diorama Placement. Provide students with the templates to cut and glue. Write the prepositions and then write a description of where the airplanes are in this interactive activity.

Worksheet 1: Read, Draw & Color. Students read the sentence and draw the airplane in the correct place around the cloud. Then they color the airplane and cloud to show comprehension of the preposition.

Worksheet 2: Fill in the Blanks. Students answer the question “Where is the airplane?” by filling in the missing preposition. Great for reinforcing vocabulary and sentence structure.

Worksheet 3: Color & Match. Students color the airplanes and match each picture to the correct sentence. This strengthens reading comprehension and preposition recognition.

Worksheet 4: Read, Color & Complete. Students read the simple sentence, color the airplane and clouds, and then fill in the correct preposition to complete the meaning.

 Matching Mat. Print the mat with labeled prepositions, and students place the airplane cutout in the correct spot on the mat.

Prepositions of place Puzzle Game. Students match a sentence with the correct picture.

Airplane Prepositions Flap Book. Students glue the printable onto another paper and cut the flaps. They lift each flap to reveal a space where they write their own sentence using the preposition.
 

 Students use transportation-themed flashcards and worksheets to count vehicles from 1 to 20. They match each quantity flashcard with the correct numeral flashcard, color the vehicles to show the quantity, and practice number recognition in an engaging, visual way, all included in the trasnportation pack. Take a look!   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/10/counting-vehicles-1-to-20-esl-number.html

  Go to the Transportation Unit BUNDLE for ESL/ELL in Kinder and Elementary! CLICK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Transportation-Unit-BUNDLE-for-ESL-Kindergarten-and-Elementary-7677380

Check out my Pinterest board for printable materials and creative activities!
From flashcards to worksheets, you'll find tons of useful resources to make your lessons fun and interactive.
Visit the board here: https://www.pinterest.com/ei98srl/esl-transportation/