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/

Counting Vehicles 1 to 20 | ESL Number Words, Numerals, & Quantity Activities

 This resource that connects math + vocabulary and ties into this larger unit  is included in the Transportation theme for Elementary ESL at this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Transportation-Unit-for-Elementary-ESL-4049752

The resource helps students review essential transportation-related words (e.g., bus, car,) to improve their vocabulary. The topic allows integration with math such as counting vehicles with multiple kinds of activities.

The ESL Numbers Flashcards are a versatile teaching tool to be used in various activities as seen below.

Counting practice using the flashcards. Show a flashcard with vehicles on a road. Ask: “How many cars are there?” Students count and answer: “There are three cars.”  This builds confidence in forming complete sentences.

Place any quantity flashcard and have the students count how many of each vehicle they can count.

Show a flashcard with several vehicles of different colors. Have students make sentences: “The mail truck is white.”

Review Adjectives with Flashcards. Show transportation flashcards and ask students to sort them: The limousine is big!

Practice adjectives related to transportation. Review the comparatives (faster, slower, bigger, smaller).

Flashcard Comparison: Hold up two flashcards and ask students to compare them using comparatives.

Students can practice prepositions of place such as: in front of, behind, next to, between and use them in complete sentences like: The white limousine is behind the red car.

Where’s the Vehicle? Practice prepositions (on, under, next to).

Flashcard Grammar Activity: “I like… but I don’t like…”

Students practice asking and answering questions about transportation using the correct structure and preposition “by.”

Small Cards

Labeling helps EFL students expand their vocabulary. This is especially important because vocabulary is the building block of language proficiency.

Students match the quantity small cards with the corresponding numeral flashcards, reinforcing number recognition from 1 to 20.

Transportation Bingo. Give students a bingo grid to write any number from 1 to 20. Call out the names of vehicles using the small cards. Students mark or cover the matching number.

transportation vehicles count to 20 ESL worksheet

In this interactive activity, students color the vehicles according to how you dictate, then cut them out and fold the flap provided to glue them onto the road worksheet. Students can decide how many vehicles to place and where to position them on the road. After creating their road scene, they write a short description using complete sentences. They describe the vehicles, their colors, their locations using prepositions, and add adjectives to make their sentences more descriptive.

Assemble like this!

 Read and Color the Vehicles worksheet where they read a phrase and color each vehicle according to the text.

Matching exercises Worksheet: Match transportation words to pictures.

Labeling activities Worksheets: Students label vehicles and the number on these two worksheets.

Games

A board game with four paths to encourage speaking. Players talk during the game using full sentences like “This is number twelve!”. Use the it as review.

Matching mats give students a clear visual framework to sort and match different representations of numbers.

Students color the vehicles on their worksheet according to the number they spin on the spinner. They must count and color the correct quantity based on the spinner result. Use it to practice number recognition (1–20)

Printable airplane prepositions ESL activities — fun worksheets, flashcards, and games to teach location words like in, on, under, beside to elementary English learners, all in the complete transportation unit. Take a look!

  https://eflelementaryresources.blogspot.com/2025/11/airplane-prepositions-activities-eslefl.html

Visit my blog for preschool teachers here: EFL Preschool Teachers Blog. You'll find practical activities, tips, and resources designed to make learning fun and effective for little ones!