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/

Community Helpers, Jobs and Occupations Games

Link to the complete resource(Community Helpers & Jobs Activities – ESL Vocabulary Games for Kids) to download at the store :

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Community-Helpers-Jobs-and-Occupations-2549710

Play remains essential in the classroom because it creates an engaging, low-stress environment where students can practice language naturally and meaningfully. Through games, learners build communication skills, reinforce vocabulary, and develop confidence while having fun and staying motivated. Teach jobs and community helpers vocabulary to young ESL/ELL learners with fun printable games: bingo, matching cards, spelling & board-game activities.

In this post, I’m sharing a 3P model lesson plan. This is the Production part of this approach.

Playing this community helper board game helps students reinforce vocabulary related to community helpers.  When a student lands on a space, they must name the worker (e.g., “This is a firefighter”).

This picture word matching activity card game helps students build vocabulary by connecting words to visuals. It also promotes critical thinking and peer interaction. They can also play Memory Game by turning the cards face down and take turns flipping two to find a match.

This spelling card game supports letter recognition, phonics, and vocabulary development by helping students connect letters to meaningful words.  Play Race to Spell: Give students a picture and see who spells the word first.

Bingo game helps reinforce vocabulary through listening and word recognition in a fun, low-pressure setting. It also encourages focus, comprehension from all students.  Have the students write the community helper word on each space. Then, call out the job name and students cover the matching picture. Use the flashcards as calling cards.

The Community Helpers & Jobs Worksheets Pack  is also included in teh complete resource. It combines illustrated worksheets, matching activities, reading comprehension, sentence structure drills, and games to make learning meaningful, fun, and practical. Use it for vocabulary introduction, class review, or homework — ideal for elementary-level students of various levels.

Visit Holistic English Resources by Rosa Amelia on Teachers Pay Teachers. My  store is filled with engaging, hands-on activities that support language development through fun themes, including prepositions, vocabulary games, and more. Perfect for elementary and kindergarten classrooms, these resources are designed to make English learning accessible and enjoyable for students. Check it out and find something new to inspire your lessons!

Most of the graphics for the covers come from Creative Fabrica. Check my affliate link: 

https://www.creativefabrica.com/product/firefighter-digital-paper-patterns-2/ref/2670802/?sharedby=user-3080428

Community Helpers, Jobs and Occupations Worksheets

 This resource ( Community Helpers & Jobs Vocabulary – ESL Worksheets & Printable Activities for Kids)  is also included here to download:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Community-Helpers-Jobs-and-Occupations-Flashcards-2549710

Worksheets provide structured practice with vocabulary, reading, and writing skills. They help reinforce the new vocabulary, allowing students to work at their own pace, and offer opportunities for independent or guided learning. The Printable Worksheets also serve as a visual and hands-on way to review and assess understanding in an accessible format.

Picture-word matching Worksheet 1. Read a sentence in present continuous with a description to match to a picture. As optional, have students write questions for each sentence on their notebooks.

Sentence structure (affirmative, negative) Worksheet 2.  It offers a prompt for students to complete changing from negative to an affirmative sentence, helping them use correct word order and grammar.

Worksheets set 3. These include drawing, Cut-and-paste , questionnaire, that keep young learners engaged with tactile learning.

Picture-to-word matching worksheets for recognition and spelling practice    Worksheet 4. Repetitive exposure through matching builds recognition and helps ELLs internalize spelling of new words.

Worksheet 5. Practice sentence structure, using context clues, related to community helpers.

Worksheet 6. Students will connect actions to professions by forming complete sentences. It supports present continuous tense.

Job Worksheet 7. It helps students practice first-person sentence structure using the verb “to be .”

Worksheet 8.  It helps students answering yes/no questions using the correct structure with the verb “to be.”

Worksheet 9.  Ask students to answer “Who are they?” encouraging learners to identify people by their roles and respond with complete sentences like “They are singers.”

Worksheet 10. students write the job under each picture to strengthen vocabulary recall.

Worksheet 11. Ask students to complete sentences using can as an expression of ability to describe what people are able to do.

Worksheet 12. Write labels for the clothes the firefighter is wearing. Let me know if I should add more of these with other workers.

This resource pack also provides a variety of printable games and activities (matching cards, bingo, spelling, board games) to practise occupations vocabulary in a fun, interactive way. Use it for whole-class games, small-group centres, or early finishers. Find the blog post here:   https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/07/community-helpers-jobs-and-occupations.html

Come join me on Instagram for teaching tips, sneak peeks of new resources, and classroom inspiration!

👉 @rosamelia_eslteacher

Let’s grow and share ideas together!

Free Resources for the Elementary ELL

 I have several freebies for you! They are part of the permanent collection at the Teachers pay Teachers  store. There are other freebies that I post for only a few days, so take a look once you are there. LINK to the store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

FREEBIE 1: This is an easy printable book for the early beginners.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Book-for-Kindergarten-EFL-1237468

Remember to leave a comment after you download the resource to get extra credits at the TPT store for when you want to make any purchase. Also leave comments for any other resource that you have downloaded either free or paid from any other seller in the store and grab your extra credits.

FREEBIE 2: This is a free resource for the Beach Unit. It comes with Beach Numbers 1 to 12 flashcards, and a printable sentence association game.

LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Beach-Numbers-for-Elementary-EFL-4079286#show-price-update

It is part of the Beach Resource for Elementary ESL Students.https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2018/09/beach-unit-for-elementary-esl-learners.html

Freebie #3. As EFL Teachers we should have little Birthday Certificates to give away. Just print and fill them out ahead of time and ready to hand in throughout the school year. There is more to this free resource. Check out the blog post and follow the LINK! 

https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2013/02/birthday-theme.html

Freebie #4. Community Helpers Flashcards in Spanish. I know that many teachers need flashcards in Spanish, which is my native language. I can make more upon request. LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Community-Helpers-Flashcards-in-Spanish-5619518

take a look!

Freebie # 5. There is a group of teachers that need Flashcards in Spanish. I made these available for FREE, but I will accept requests for any other theme of flashcards that you might need. Download your flashcards here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/El-Clima-Flashcards-The-Weather-Flashcards-in-Spanish-5342516

Freebie # 6. Easy to print and put together Family Members Puppets. Here is the link to download the file.   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Family-Unit-Puppets-4824345

Here is a closer look of the puppets.

Freebie # 7. Getting your students ready to write their name on worksheets, handouts or anything else. Here are 3 FREE worksheets to introduce the name. CLICK here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Name-Worksheets-for-the-Kindergarten-EFL-2836216

Here is the link to the blog post: https://eflpreschoolteachers.blogspot.com/2016/10/name-worksheets-for-preschool-ela.html

Freebie #8. I made a new resource for the same Seasons unit and just put this one for FREE to use with your Elementary English Language Learners. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Seasons-Unit-for-Elementary-ESL-5403227 

It includes: Seasons Flashcards, Spelling Bingo, Tracer Book, Picture and words cards, worksheets,clothes book. Check the blog post: https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2020/04/seasons-unit-free-resources-for.html

Freebie #9. This is a short printable book for the end of the school year that wraps up the units worked on. Download it here for FREE: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Me-For-Elementary-EFL-5934773

Here is a video on the book.

Freebie #10. These simple like plates are great to sort the fruit likes or the food items likes. You can even use it for the pets likes or any other. I used paper plates and the cutouts. It is free!!!   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fruit-likes-plates-2357249

Freebie #11.There are many spelling activities that you can do with the bottle caps. The template is for FREE. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Number-Bottle-Caps-2155938

Freebie #12. This is a resource that can go along your Birthday Unit. Just balloons! It includes: Number balloons Flashcards from 1 to 10, a Class Book and a Memory Game. All in black and White and colored versión.

Get it for free:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Balloon-Theme-for-Kindergarten-EFL-854092

Freebie #13. End of the school year props for pictures.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/End-of-the-School-Year-Photo-Booth-for-Teachers-8048685

I will add more freebies to this list so check back often and also on social media. Follow me!!