ESL Lesson on the Present Simple Be in Positive and Negative

Teaching the verb “be” can be challenging for beginners because it has irregular forms (am, is, are) and is used in a wide variety of sentence structures. It’s especially tricky in the negative, as students must learn to use contractions and adjust word order.

This downloadable lesson plan titled “All About People 1” teaches the present simple be in both positive and negative forms, and how to use it to describe themselves and others. Designed for upper beginner students at the WIDA: Emerging or CEFR: A2 level, this lesson is part of the Off2Class Step-by-step Curriculum, which takes students all the way from lower to higher proficiencies — lesson by lesson.

Whether in a classroom or online, this lesson sets the stage for meaningful communication and continued language development!

More about the Off2Class Step-by-step Curriculum

The Step-by-Step Curriculum is a structured, level-based program designed to help English learners progress systematically from beginner to advanced levels. Since our curriculum covers all proficiency stages, you just select a level, and start teaching.

They’re similar to a textbook or coursebook, because you can simply start at your student’s level and teach one lesson after another and your student will learn all the necessary competencies for that level.

The Step by Step Curriculum offers:

• A comprehensive, level-based approach to teaching English
• Sequential lessons covering all language domains (speaking, listening, reading, and writing, along with some explicit grammar)
• Targeted homework activities after each lesson
• Progress tests at the end of each unit

Download this lesson plan that teaches the present simple be in positive and negative

“All About People 1” is the first upper beginner lesson of the Step-by-step Curriculum. It is designed for students at the WIDA: Emerging or CEFR: A2 level. (If you’re looking for lessons with a lower proficiency level, click here.)

Objective: Learn and review present simple be, positive and negative form. Learn and review countries and nationalities.

Can do: At the end of the lesson, students can use the present simple of be to talk about themselves and other people, including saying nationalities and countries they are from.

You can download the lesson plan here:

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